AFTER NIGHTFALL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 13 October 1941, Page 6

AFTER NIGHTFALL

TENSE ATMOSPHERE FAILURE OF HUNT CAUSES DISSATISFACTION DEATH OF HOME GUARDSMEN Hokitika, Oct. 12. i Intense dissatisfaction reigns through- ! out Westland at the failure to catch i 'Graham, and at the events leading to ' the deaths of the Home Guardsmen 'Coulson and Hutchison in Graham’s | second battle. There were no police and !no experienced men in the house that; I night, only young Home Guardsmen, , 'and after the tragedy, Hutchison, bleedling from a terrible wound, remained in , j the house for hours before he was j i rescued, though all the time the house , j was covered by men dug in at the Koi- | ! terangi Hall across the road. While the guards lay waiting for then next shot, no one stopped a taxi ; 1 with two reporters and the driver , which parked outside the house, while inside Home Guardsmen waited with , rifles at the ready for the slightest j movement. j This is the fifth day of the search, j land still Graham’s whereabouts in the; : bush are as little known as when he cleared out from the house, and he has been able to travel across country nearly every night and shoot his way 1 out of trouble. The bombing which was to have been j done is not now thought practicable. ■ because of the wide area of country Graham may now be in. It would have j ; been feasible if he had kept to the small I clump of bush near his home. One suggestion is that there should be fewer searchers, and that Graham should be trailed by men as good at bushcraft as himself, and stalked; through the bush. It would take steel j nerves to do the job, but, at the same j time, the continual night vigils with j death possible at any minute are taking I their toll of the men now on the job. j The tension along the country roads of Koiterangi and K«katahi after darkness falls is almost indescribable. The blackout of the bush is greater than can be achieved in any darkened city. On Saturday night possibly the only 1 through traffic from Hokitika to the Longford Hotel and Lower Kokatahi Hotel, both of which are vital points 'in the manhunt, was the taxi which | took two reporters and three other men, including the driver. There was a rumour that traffic was blocked, but 'no one attempted to halt the car. i As it came to the Lower Kokatahi , | Hotel, where shooting occurred at ; I dawn, an order was shouted for the car lights to go out. At the door of the j unlit hotel, as the car stopped, a rifle ! 'barrel poked out and a sentry shouted' a challenge. None of the party knew the password for the night, but they I announced their identity to the sergeant of police. He said there had been nothing doing that night so far, but ! trouble was expected. The Press party j was unarmed, possibly the only un- ! armed men that night in the district. I and it was not advisable to stay the ' night as had been intended. For extra | [safety they drove back along that road with lights out for some miles. Cars are about all that can move in safety,' ' for Graham, it is thought, cannot drive. 1 and in any case could not get a car, as they are guarded. The orders are for every man now : to shoot anything on sight that moves j iat night and stay where he is till the < : morning. In the bush at intervals last night 1 , could be seen small searchlights. An impressive tribute to the courage j [ and cooolness of the police and Home I Guard is that, with so many men keyed to a high pitch of nervous strain, some of them without sleep almost since ; j Wednesday, there has been no indis- ! ! criminate or accidental shooting.