THE BIRKDALE AFFAIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12818, 18 March 1905, Page 4

THE BIRKDALE AFFAIR.

Up to a late hour last night, there was 110 news of the arrest of the man who assaulted a schoolgirl at Birkdale on Wednesday evening. The incident 'is freely discussed iu the neighbourhood, and a great many stories have reached the police, of fugitive men who may be identical with the gill's assailant, but there has not been much material upon which to base an investigation likely to lead to his capture; A strict and careful look-out is being kept within a very wide radius of the scene of the crime. Iho '/nl i ; , fairly well considering her misadventure, but she is suffering somewhat from fright. A Workman at the Chelsea Sugar Works bus stated that between four a.m. and five a.m. on Thursday he saw a man riding in great haste anil barebacked towards Birkenhead. The horse was a gray, and corresponded with an animal missed from Mr. Small's paddock at Birkdale and subsequently found at Birkenhead, but the rider has not yet been traced. It is also reported that on Wednesday evening some boys at Birkdale were asked to ferry a man across the harbour to KcHsonville by a man whe appeared to be' in a great hurry, but as they had no rowlocks they could not row him over. Ho then loft the shore and went into the bush. It is difficult, however, to establish a connection between the time the boys saw the man and the time the girl said that Iter assailant left her. In the meantime the police ate leaving nothing undone to effect a speedy capture of the man who assaulted the girl.