LATEST MAIL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22252, 29 October 1935, Page 13

LATEST MAIL NEWS

family tragedies

fate of young couple

DISTRACTED MAN'S ACT mother bereaved by flood HUSBAND AND CHILDREN DIE r TP. OM" OT3 OWN COHHESPOSHEXT] SYDNEY. Oct,. 24 Ttto tragedies this week —one in New South Wales and the other in South Australia —left a family of five children without parent®, and. a mother without her children and husband. The New South Wales tragedy occurred at Kurri K irri. on the northern coalfield- On Tuesday of last week Mrs. Pai." Evelyn James, aged 28. was admitted to the Karri Karri Hospital for •treatment of a nervous complaint. At 3.30 a.m. cn Friday she was missing from her bed. Marks on the hospital wall suggested that she had got through a window 20ft. above the ground level, had made her way down the wall to a water-pipe about 10ft. from the ground and had then jumped into a gardenSearch parties scoured the country around tHe hospital for three days and on Monday morning Mrs. James body, clad only in a nightdress and a cardigan jacket, was found in scrub a mile and a-talf fruci the hospital, indications were that Mrs. James had died soon after she left hospital. A post mortem examination suggested that the woman s death was due to strangulation caused by a handkerchief tightly knotted around h£r neck. The knot was at the back of the neck when the body was found, but police believe it was tied by the woman herself. Five Infants Left Orphans Immediately it was known that Mrs. James was dead the fears of relatives turned to the well-being of her husband. John Gwilyn James, aged 30. Since his wifa's disappearance he had allowed himself practically no sleep. Even when search parties had withdrawn for the night he had gone on wandering through the bush, calling her name and making frantic excursions to points where he thought he might find her. __ The police were informed. When, after seeing the dead woman's body, James returned to his father's house, Sergeni Whitechurnh and Constable Watts interviewed him. He said in answer yO a question that he possessed no firearms. Sergeant Whitechurch confirmed this statement by a quick unostentatious inspection of Jamespockets. - The constable went off to

search another room. Suddenly James was on his feet with a revolver at his head. His brother-in-law, -srho was nearest- made a jump to stop him. Sergeant Wbitechurch moved just as quickly. Bel ore either could reach the distracted man, the revolver discharged. It is beheved that James had the revolver concealed beneath a cushion on a chair behind one of the doors. The five James children surviving range in age from IS months to eight years. Car in Flooded Creek The tragedy in South Australia was caused by a motor-car being washed awav in a flooded creek. The car contained sis occupants and all were drowned. The victims were:—-Henry Merritt Crocombe. aged 50, bookmaker : Harry Crocombe, jun., aged 26. railwav clerk; Gertrude Nell Crocombe, aged 26, shop assistant;; Linda Jean Stove, aged 19, shop assistant; Clarice Crocombe, aged 29, tiiiloress; and Dorothy Aldam Davies, aged 23, schoolteacher. Gertrude and Harry Crocombe were twins*. The only member of the Crocombe family now alive - v is the mother, who is in Adelaide.

The party left Port Augusta, where all itai members lived, about 2 p.m. and intended going to Ilmington, then to Quora and back to Port Augusta. A storm broke suddenly over the district. When travelling toward Quora, a deep creek waa encountered, and, on the advice of another motorist who was iraiting for the creek to subside, the party turned hack. 1 When crossing another creek, Mr. Crocombe's car stalled in the middle of the stream and the water rushing down Trashed the occupants away. Miss Stove and Miss Gertrude Crocombe were employed at a chemist's shop at Port Augusta, and it is thought they were anxious to get back to open the shop at 7 p.m., leading Crocombe to risk crossing the creek.

EVENTFUL PASSAGE

FEVER ON MOTOR-SHIP FIERCE GALES ENCOUNTERED [feom otte owx cosHESPa:<PE:vr] MELBOURNE. Oct. 23 An eventful passage of 68 days from Kotka, Finland, ended to-day, when the Norwegian motor-ship Tarn berthed at Victoria Dock. An outbreak of fever aboard made it necessary to put back to South Africa. Fierce gains were encountered in the Roaring Forbes. The Tarn., a comparatively new ship, left Kotka, for Australia, via European ports and 'South Africa, on August 16. A call was made at Dakar. West Africa, for oil fuel, and, although the '® Tarn was anchored off that port, tor only three hours, some of the crew contracted malaria. When the Tarn reached Capetown 14 ;f days later one seaman was so ill that he was taken ashore and sent to hos- ' pital. The passage was continued, but the fever was still spreading. When the liner anchored at Durban on October .2, two more seamen were taken ashore. Captain Berg, although he, too, had fcalaria,' (took the ship to sea. Next night, when the Tarn was 220 miles out. Captain Berg was so ill! that he decided to turn back. The Tarn returned to Durban, where Cnptam Berg was liken to hospital. The chief officer, Mr. 0. Andreassen, was appointed captain, and the passage to Australia was continued. Two days later the Tarn ran into a fierce gale with huge seas, which poured over the The ship was plunging heavily, and one of the passengers. Mr. T, L' Middleton, of the Melbourne Ihiversity Conservator!um of Music, was thrown from his seat at the dining II table and, had an arm dislocated. A wireless message was sent to Durban Hospital.. and the hospital wirelessed instructions, with the aid of which Mr. Andreassen set the arm.

NIAGARA AT SUVA I VESSEL MAKES GOOD TIME THE VOLUNTEER SEAMEN MONOWAI HELD IN STREAM [from ovb own coHJUCsro?o>£XT] ST~VA. Oct.. 24 With the arrival in port of the Niagara from Sydney direct and the Monowai from Vancouver residents of 1 Suva were able for the first time in many years to witness the two liners on the Sydney-\ ancouver run in port, at the same time. The Niagara, with a volunteer crew on board, made a good run from Sidney anil arrived m Suva at 7.30 a.m., an hour or two earlier than was zmticipated. The Monowai. which was not expected until 1 p.m.. arrived at soon. In view on" the fact that the Niagara was manned by a volunteer crew, and the Monowid by a union crew, there was some speculation as to the outcome when the two crews met in Suva. Any possibility ~A trouble was overcome, however, by the expedient of keeping the Monowai out in the harbour tor three hours until the Niagara left the wharf. Then the Monowai berthed. As soon iis the Niagara berthed an order for working clothing was immediately placed with one of the local firms, many ot the volunteer crew possessing nothing but the clothes they wore when they came on board at Sydney. One seaman, who was polishing brass, wore a pair oi trousers which apparently l>elonged to his suit of sunday best. He wore a felt hat turned up ail the way round and a shirt buttoned at the neck and minus the collar. A pair of braces completed the outfit. and he could very easily have been mistaken for a third class passenger who had merely removed his collar and tie and hist coat on account of the tropical sunshine. Another seaman who jxad been fitted out with a sailor's hat also wore a pair of horn-riinmed glasses, and his condition suggested that he had not been to sea for at least a year or two. Most of the men. however, have had seafaring experience. One stated that he had "not had a job for two years, and was very glad to a chance. One of the' stewards stated that crew did not want to strike, and they turned up at the union meeting in full force to vote against it. Unfortunately, added the steward, the meeting was with men who hold union membership but who rarely go to sea, and it was thoss men wno had deciced uhe question.

DANCE NOVELTIES

DISTRIBUTION BANNED BREACH OF LOTTERY ACT [:FKOM ara OTS cobbespo:NT>EST] SYDNEY. Oct. 23 At a meeting of the Auburn Municipal Council, the Mayor. Alderman Lamb, said thai the practice of distributing novelties at dances in aid of the Major's distress fund, had been stopped by the police, who had informed him that the distribution of jazz caps and other novelties wouid be regarded as a violation of the Lotteries and Art Unions Act, and that the Government w;is determined to stop it. Alderman Lamb said that the cessation of presenting novelties had caused a false impression among dancers and the attendances fell to such a degree that die dances had to cease. As a rpsuit, the fund had now no source of income. "It is contemptible and paltry." the Mayor added. " It surelv represents the limit in 'wowserism. The whole thing was inoffensive and harmless, and lie novelties cost less than 6d each." . , It was officially explained yesterday, on behalf of the Chief Secretary's Department. that tne allotting of prizes by chance, such as in ' spot ' dances and "lucky door'" tickets, was a breach of the Lotteries and Art Unions Act. When a prize was awarded for skill there was no breach of the iaw.

BOGUS DOCTOR

HOAX IN BRISBANE BARBER SENT TO GAOL In prosecuting Hoy Welsh, a hairdresser. in the Police Court at Brisbane on a charge of vagrancy. Detec-tive-Sergeant Brannelly said Welsh had applied for the position of resident doctor at Xormanton Hospital, had actually been appointed to the position, and was tci hare left Brisbane to take up the post. Welsh, the prosecutor >aid. arrived from a southern State and assumed the name of a well-known medical practitioner in Melbourne. He visited a number of prominent residents and doctors, and requested the manager of the Bank of New Smith Wales to arrange with the Melbourne branch for his account to be transferred to Brisbane. The Melbourne bank got in touch with the genuine doctor and the police were notified. . „ , ~s A , ivho pleaded guilty to the vagrancy charge, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

POST OFFICE DETECTIVE

LONDON OFFICIAL RETIRES many criminals tracked !'PBOM fICH OWTf COHBK- ; PONDI ] LOXDON, Oct. 5 The " Sherlock Holmes of the Post Office." Mr. F. C. Cartwrigbt, has retired after 46 years of tracking general Post Office criminals in ail parts or Britain. He received the 0.8. E. for breaking Bp gangs of telephone kiosk thieves. Mr. Cartwright's first detective work was cone at the age of 15, when he watched and caught a thief. " Many years ago," said Mr. Cartwright, in am interview, "a man stowed away in a larjie basket, which was put into the ms.il van of a train. When the guard was out of the van the man quietly loaded the basket with mail bags "containing money and himself slipped, into a passenger coach. The basket was. addressed to a confederate, and they gat away with quite a lot of monev. The largest sum I remember being" stolen in a postal packet was £12.000." Mr. Carttirright has had much experience in the trapping of people who used the mails for circulating "poison pen" letters in small towns and villages. 11 More women than men write this kind of letter," he said. " They do it through viadictiveness and dislila of other woman in the village."