SENSATIONAL MURDER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19156, 23 October 1925, Page 11

SENSATIONAL MURDER.

LINER'S CAPTAIN SHOT. TRAGiC ANTWERP AFFAIR. TWO OFFICERS WOUNDED. SEQUEL TO ALTERCATION. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. (Received 10.25 p.m.) Renter—Sun. LONDON. Oct. 22. Information has been received in London to the effect that the commander of the Canadian-Pacific liner Melita, Captain Clows, was shot dead in Antwerp. It is alleged that the act was committed by an officer of the ship. The chief engineer and tho second engineer were wounded. Details of the shooting show that it took place early yesterday morning. The first officer of the Melita, named Towers, went to tho captain's cabin and shot him through the head. He then went to the cabin of the chief engineer, Mr. Holliday, whom he shot in the nose. The second engineer, Mr. David Kennedy Gilmour, who was among the other officers who were attracted by the noise, was shot twice in the lungs. Other members of the crew hurried to the scene and disarmed Towers. The condition of the wounded officers is grave. The police opened an inquiry, But as Towers is British and as the shooting occurred on a British ship, they could only take formal evidence. They placed Towers aboard the Melita, which sailed for London in charge of an emergency captain. The Antwerp correspondent of the Daily Mail says Towers returned to the ship after having spent the evening ashore. He accused the captain and other officers of having hindered his promotion. An altercation followed, which ended in the shooting. Mr. Gilmour, one of the wounded engineers, hails from Dunedin, New Zealand. He is married and lives at Glasgow.