FIGHT FOR LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11843, 21 December 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

FIGHT FOR LIFE.

' : TERRIBLE SCENE IN A LONDON BANK. CASHIER SHOT DEAD. ■ ■ ;/ TRAGIC DEATH OP HIS MURDERER. • There have been : few more , sensational crimes than that , which was enacted at the •Kennipgton branch of the London and South-Western Bank on Monday, No vera- ' . her 4, 'when- one of the' cashiers was shot •dead by a would-be robber, who .himself perished a few moments later through the / accidental discharge of his own revolver. Barely}- too, 'has a tragedy been associated . ■with' more .heroic devotion to duty, for, another official of the bank, undismayed by the murder of his colleague and by the. fact • that he himself had already been wounded, . refused to surrender his trust,. and threw •. himself , upon the assailant, eventually over-. " powering him in what proved foi- the criminal to be a fatal struggle for mastery. It • appears that, at five minutes past four, shortly after.the bank had been closed, a ■knock was heard at the door, and an :in- */.■ quiry .was made of the junior'clerk who; answered it as to whether the manager was in. 'Fortunately, •• perhaps, for Mr." Salmon, the manager,- he was away at the time, • • having been called to attend a meeting in the West E'ld. Notwithstanding that he was informed that the manager was away, the man who had sought admittance, and •■who is now stated have been identified as . v Joseph Porter, a, stoker out of employment, followed the clerk inside the bank. At this time Mr. E. G. Couche, one of the senior clerks, was standing behind the counter at •his till, his desk being the first inside the ■, — : doorway, and ./comparatively, close to the window. Mr. Crawley, the cashier, was // . also' standing behind the counter at his desk, which is situated between that of Mr. Couche and the • entrance to the manager's room. . Two/junior clerks, including the one who answered the door, were also in the bank at the time, being engaged in putting away the books., The thief, who had passed through the entrance lobby into the space in front of the counter, muttered something which (' was' interpreted as "Give me your till, or I'll fire," and before Mr. Couche, to whom the remark was addressed, had time to reply, > ? the ' intruder, sprang ;on to the counter like v a cat, to' use Mr. Couche's own expression. The counter is protected by a grille, which fortunately, constituted a serious obstacle, • for before the robber could .get- over it Mr. 3 Couche struck him either with his money 1 shovel or his , ruler in a manner which ' ■plainly' indicated that the display of a revolver would not be permitted to. overawe the staff. Almost simultaneously, as it appears, the man must have fired at Mr. /Couche, who found : his cheek blackened by J / the powder, and is now suffering, though •liappily not seriously, from a flesh wound in' the face/' The shV was so wel! directed that, had it deviated three-quarters of an inch. Mr. Couche would, have undoubtedly been killed. - . : Mr. Crawley was at this time standing at •/• . his desk,' apparently thunderstruck,'and Mr. %Couche shouted, "Look out, Crawley." Almost immediately the latter was fired at I . by the thief;. unfortunately with fatal con--sequences. . The murderer, putting the muzale of his revolver through the spaces of the Grille, had shot Mr. Crawley right in', the s'- • centre of the forehead. Death was immedi•V ate, the unfortunate cashier falling ' forward on his face. Between the end of the counter and the entrance to the manager's room is a i ~ doorway which. gives access to the interior ;>. : ' /' > ■if the bank. The murderer; however, does / not seem to have noticed this, for he hurt'-' '■ riedly passed into the' manager's room, with fe* ] the obvious intention of getting round be- . hind the counter by the more :• circuitous : v 'i- route. It was then that Mr. Couche, despite the injury to his face, stepped boldly -;/ . forward, to tackle the intruder, and by his * ; gallantry succeeded 'in saving the situation. ■ , A man of athletic build and a well-known footballer, Mr. Couche grappled • with his fdv\ ■ assailant, and eventually, after a prolonged ifc/y' l " combat, succeeded in getting the upper hand 'of him, and in throwing him across the table. v - .Meantime, one of the junior clerks had jumped across; the counter, and had gone - out to fetch the police. . ;• •• /• ,* 1% There were, it need hardly be said, the evi%P-' dences of a most determined contest, for the Hvi robber; although he may have'had some ad'',vantage of Mr. Couche in point of age, ap- ' 'pears to have found more than his match, iV J and to have accordingly fought with the P;< ; energv of despair. Mr. Couche's object was - to wrest the revolver : from his assailant, ■ who, br the way, also wore a life-preserver attached to one of his wrists, and it was in . the. struggle for the possession of the first- -., . • mentioned weapon that the murderer of ll-•i-i • Crawley was himself shot dead. The bullet ?■/"., entered his head just below the right eye, '«•-/- - and apparently penetrated the brain. At this time Mr. ' Couche had got the man by " - the throat, and it was in the course of the • efforts of the latter to use the revolver with ■■; his rich* hand that he himself accirientai \ pX • caused the discharge of the weapon and took f his own life. Mr. Couche, who is 39 years of age,'or 10 years the senior of his lamented ' colleague, Mr. Crawley, was naturally some- &•'* what exhausted by the struggle, in which ; his weight, which is between 13st and 14su, «,r . was doubtless considerably to his' advan- ' tage. Next morning, however, he was thors' - v oughly himself again. The revolver employed by the assassin was a small weapon, almost of the toy order, of the class which pll may be bought for six or seven shillings. '0 It was five-chambered and quite new. as • , was also the life-preserver. It was consider- - ed doubtful if the revolver would kill at &> • anything but-' a short distance. At the time •of the attempted robbery' there was not a If' great deal of money in the till, the practice m ;:' being "to work it short," as the phrase goes, g and to transfer any large quantity to the safes. Consequently, had the raid been successful, the thief would have been unlikely :?■' to reap any great advantage from his des- >?!- " r perate enterprise. The theory is that the fog which prevailed . at the time, and which is declared to have r,'--. been one of the densest ever known in the ' district, was regarded by the intruder as " affording him an admirable opportunity for '/ / , plunder, and that he anticipated that at the 1 , ■ sight of his revolver no opposition would be | |'V •offered to his helping himself, and escaping V\ immediately into the gloom of the street. ■ Fortunately, however, his expectation that his demands would be complied with proved V'i; ' unfounded, and he found himself face to ',f face with those who, unaided by weapons, / were nevertheless ready to resist his during ' ' scheme. The discharge of shots naturally reached ■ the ears of Mrs.'-Crawley, the wife of the cashier, who.resided on the premises with Zher husband and child. When she came ■ » downstairs the terrible news was, considerately enough, not immediately conveyed to her. She was informed that Mr. Crawley it; •was hurt, and she herself went out to fetch a doctor. Later, of course, the sad.news ' . of the death of her husband was made -- known to her. As might be supposed, the T directors of the London and South-Western fe Bank have shown themselves deeplr con- . cerned with the sad position in which Mrs. feEr Crawley is suddenly placed," and it is stated t- that- the pension to which she is. entitled : will be considerably augmented. Mr. Crawft ley was regarded as one of the most promis- •? s .; ing men in .the service of the bank, and he had not long since : received promotion. Neither he. nor, Mr. Couche lias been very long.at Kennington, where the branch was 1 . only established in 1898. Mr. Couche has =r.- • been-.in the service'of the bank for someIpX". thing dike 20 years, in the' course of which i time lie has"'also proved himself a trusted ,'i | , employee, and it may fairly be assumed that his courageous conduct on- the present occa- - on .will be deemed to entitle him to a further measure of responsibility. , ; . : v TUT. MUKTORER'S j.rt E STORY. •'

At first there was some mystery as to the identity of. the . murderer, but eventually it was found that he was named Joseph Porter. He'was only 24 years of age, and was son of a much-respected servant of the London , . and South-Western Railway • Company. A ; reporter visited his parents at their house in - : South Lambeth Road. Mr- and Mrs. Porter U are an aged couple, in very comfortable circumstances, and highly' respected by their neighbours. Naturally they are terribly distressed at this affliction. They were both too ill to'be seen, but a near relative gave , the following account. Joseph Porter, it l&K-xv ' KK-" v ■.: - . . '. '' ' v: ■■■

seems, from his childhood was highly excitable so much so that when still ,a. boy his parents had him I examined , by. a brain specialist; who said-that when under the influence of excitement Porter would not be accountable for his actions. When he left school he went into' the employment of the London and : South-Western Railway Company, and he had been there nine years—in fact, until a few weeks ago, when ho threw up his employment with the intention of going to South Africa as a railway stoker, the position he filled with the railway com- ■ pany. - The testimonial he got from the company on leaving bore witness to his "unimpeachable character," and his fellow-work-men presented him with a purse of gold on tpe .day he left his employment, as a mark of respect and esteem. Young Porter had a berth secured for him in South Africa, and far from being in want of money he actually drew a fairly large amount out of the London and South-Western Bank (not the branch where the tragedy took place) and only a day or two before the tragedy he showed a large sum to his mother in gold, and spoke of bis good prospects in South Africa. He was also generous with his money, giving it away freely; A few days ago he said that there were only three things now necessary for the outfit "for South Africa— a medicine chest, r revolver, and a life-pre-server. His friends believe that he was seized with a sudden and unaccountable impulse. Such outbursts were unusual with him. At Bournemouth, where he for some time lived, he was well known for the part he took in the athletic and social life of the town. He was a noted singer and footballer, and was for some time past secretary of the Young Men's Institute in the town. He was a tremendously powerful man, and on this account his friends believe that he must have committed suicide, as there were few men who would be able in a desperate struggle to turn a weapon against him.