THE RACECOURSE TRAGEDY

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13236, 23 July 1906, Page 6

THE RACECOURSE TRAGEDY

" ' <-' THE KICKING TO DEATH OF McLEO©. HORRIBLE 'SCENE AT FLEMINfiTON* ' V -oxß of the most .horrible 'tragedies in Vie. torian. history occurred on " %\» Fist" %% \ Hemlngton racecourse on Saturday »{t w . noon, July I*. jn*t after the Grind National Steeplechase had been run, Donald Mel***! a single man, 'aged 23 year*, being brut*fj»' ' murdered while attempting to escape (mat the. .racecourse without paying the- bets "w had made against Decoration, winner of th* ■ steeplechase. ■ McLeod was. it appear*, *■" w#lsh«r," and as loon as it was known that Decoration t^ won, lie sought to «r*d« his creditor* b» , slipping from the course, but hi* pur^-i , was detected and frustrated. A hue and en was raised, and., a large crowd save chaw ' 'It appears that after Decoration wots. Me--1 Leod indicated that he caul .-it pay out , One young man said, "Well, I'd have the •"" , value of; mine- out of him!" .'4cLr«<f' za* - off the box on which he had been standing and ; someone called out, "H»w his bay; There was by this time a jostling crowjaf several hundred:.. ' McLeod next attempted to run across tint . ' flat, but the crowd followed and closed cm - him about 100 yds from the gate. It soon became apparent that this howling frantic, cursing mob that, surged across thj flat in the wake- of .a man running wjtlj • despair depicted on his face was a mob that ' meant mischief. rAn the hunted man ran the crowd tearing after him grew till thousands joined in th« hunt. The "weigher" was a big, heavy fellow, rod faced and plainly scant of breath, and as ho ran he dodged and ducked through the throng that teuglit ; to detain him, and struck him as he pass©}, i Knocked down once the foremost rati* of his pursuer* reached him, an<! the *oun,-fo from the pack that swarmed ow; him wet* ' horribly wolf-like in their viciousness. Ji* ' '' was up again, and the burly form forced it» way out from the crowd, and, panting and , staggering, stumbled on to the . fence elose to the outer carriage paddock. lannis* against.it the m«.n faced his pursuers, arid appealed for mercy. "I can't pay you, for I haven't the money," ho said. " Give me "a chance, boys." A rain of blows was th* - answer, and cries of "Kill him!" "Deal j| out to him V were raised. One man, who is said to hav« invested the sum of Is with the defaulter, but whose ferocity was out of all-proportion the amount of his paltry loss, climbed over the fen«, and, dealing the defenceless man a terrifte blow on the back of tho neck, felled him to the ground amid the merciless feet of hi* mad and cowardly "assailants. Here ho wm&SI kicked and beaten, while the crowd fougtjt over him like dogs.- The end soon came. Insensibility relieved him, and death merei. fully followed quickly. : The horror of the "whole dreadful incident o,i' was relieved by two or three- rays of true humanity and courage supplied by* the pluck and love of fairplay of several young men, two of them well-known boxers, who risked ■their lives at tho hands of the unßOvcmabU crowd to save the life of the man who, by the want of moral principle, had caused the uprising that ended in his dreadful death. : i They floored men rigid and left, but scores were kicking at the doomed wretch on th« ground, who had no lu;pe of succour. Wjien the police forced their way into tin crowd the man was dead, and nothing remained but to carry his corpse to tho casualty room. A post-mortem examination disclosed the ' fact that, deceased's neck was broken and the spinal cord lacerated. Ills news was - broken and there was much extravasation of blood on the brain. H« was actually, suffocated by bo Wood thai •,' rushed down his throat. The police have ' boon furnished with descriptions of two op three men who are said to have been prominent in the assault. [The cablegrams have reported- the arrest of two men on the ! . charge of being concerned in the murder,] Mel/cod, or "Big Mick," as ho was called, had, it is said, made himself particularly "' \ : obnoxious to frequenters of the "Flat." Several other " welshcrs" were also sub- ,' jected to rough ireatment, one having most of his elothinjr torn off. Frank Ritchie, fish hawke?, who aet«l a* • - clerk to' the deceased, said that Xlcl.eod carried a. bag with the nnr»-if> "J. E. Bell" , on it. Ho made a book on tho Grand Na- > ' tional Steeplechase only, and took 26 or 27 bets, of which 1!> or 16 were on Decoration, tho winning horse. ■ As Soon an the raeo was oyer ho remained where he had been bet. ; ting. Several came tip to him with, their tickets, and he raid them th?ir own money,. "' and informed them that he would psv the balance "on Monday 'or tti-night'^'front of Wren's." ;Ho* marked : all except oih'i ticket. As he was walking away someone ' in the crowd sang out, "Get to him! Give him a hiding!" The mob rushed on him. ! Ritchie got & blow on; tho car from behind, and then ran away. - v