Old Lady's Ordeal of Fear and Terror In Lonely Cottage

NZ Truth, Issue 1199, 22 November 1928, Page 7

Old Lady's Ordeal of Fear and Terror In Lonely Cottage

MAULED AND ROBBED BY MASKED MAN

EX-HOSPITAL MATRON ' ATTACKED BY ROUGH DESPERADO AT NIGHT IN A LITTLE HOUSE AT RAMARAMA

71 -YEAR-OLD- ,, woman ;. ; \ LURED FROM BED TO FRONT DOOR BY FALSE MESSAGE FROM FRIEND LIVING NEAR

ROUGHLY HANDLED, AGED VICTIM OFFERS BRAVE RESISTANCE /' . • , ■ i . '■■'''' From "N.Z. Truth's " Special Auckland Representative. x .^ OUT from the dark shadows crept a masked figure, furtive and sinister. He skirted the belt of trees and bushes and aided by jj g. . the black pall of night made his way unseen to the lonely cottage that lay hidden far from the observation of casual passers-by. || | The masked prowler of Ramarama, his mind set on the commission of a crime, had marked down as his victim a lonely old |j | woman of 71. , lj. | Gaining admittance to the house by a cunning trick he not only hutally treated the old lady but he robbed her under dire jj threats, and then, as swiftly and silently as he had come he vanished once more into the all-concealing shadows. if » ; i iiii'il

FOR upwards of twenty years Miss Cole-Baker lias Jived a life of tranquil peace and retirement m a little cottage that stands about 100 yards back m a clump 'of trees from the Great South Road. It is situated some little distance from the Ramarama store, and is about three miles distant from Pukekohe. The cottage is just faintly . visible from the road and is located m a lonely spot surrounded by trees and bushes. There are no other houses m the immediate vicinity, and the cottage provided an ideal setting for the crime that was perpetrated within its walls. The masked man must have known this, for all his actions indicated clearly that he knew the locality very, well. It was m the late evening- of Monday of last week that the placid life of the old lady was rudely and violently disturbed. For years she has lived alone, but the isolated position of her little cottage, hemmed m as it was by walls of silence, held no terrors for her. Who would wish to do her harm m a district where she is greatly beloved, for her many acts of kindness; especially m ministering to the needs of the sick? On the fateful night she went to bed early, as was her custom. Soon after' she had retired she was aroused by someone knocking at the front door. "Who is there?" she called out, thinking it was a neighbor paying a visit. There followed a brief interval of silence and then a man's voice answered, He told her that some neighbors, whose name he gave, wished to speak to her. The old lady replied that she would dress and come . out to see them. All unsuspecting, she left her bed, donned a few articles of clothing and walked to the front door, which she opened, a word of greeting on her lips. But, much to her amazement, there Was nobody to be seen. She closed the door and was retracing her steps to the bedroom when the sound of knocking on the back door reverberated through the house. She went to the back door and opened it, but again she was met by blank space and silence. There was nobody there. Thinking that the caller had gone round to the front door again, she opened it for the second time, with the same result as before. Nobody was visible. A faint wind sighed through the trees, but beyond that no sound broke the stillness of the night. . It was at this stage that the amazing courage of the old lady became manifest. Her suspicions were thoroughly aroused, and she determined to investigate th s e mysterious door-knockings.

House Searched

She closed the front door and listened, but she could detect no suspicious sounds. . . The situation had developed into a hair-raisingr nightmare that ' would have induced an outburst of hysterical panic, m the average woman much younger than the brave old lady who coolly faced the terror of what then was to her the unknown. ■- She was convinced that there was some unsavory work going on somewhere, and she meant to discover it, alone and helpless though she was. Stifling whatever fear she felt, and with commendable courage that scorned the protection of a defensive | weapon, •• she began a. ' systematic search of the whole house. Through each living, room she went carefully, but to no purpose. Nothing was disturbed and everything seemed m order. . . , , Perhaps, after all, somebody had been playing • a practical joke by knocking on the door and inviting her to get out of bed on the pretext that a neighbor wished to speak to her.

Wrote Cheque

The Scene of The Masked Mans Exploit

At last she reached the bathroom door. It was closed; but without the slightest hesitation she turned the handle and opened the door wide. Then she came face to face with the intruder. To any woman, let alone an old lady, being suddenly confronted at night by a masked man m a menacing attitude is the supreme test of feminine courage. But the old lady did not flinch. For several seconds the couple stood intently regarding each other. The face of the man was masked by a white handkerchief . ' f'-nm'the bridge of the nose to his. chin. He wore no hat and had dark hair. For what seemed an eternity, although it was only a. few. seconds, the old lady stood rooted to the spot more m amazement than m fear. But she quickly recovered her presence of mind. . "What do you want here?" she demanded. Without bothering- to reply, the

I masked man acted m a flash, He seized her with rough hands and bundled her without ceremony into the sittingroom. So unceremonious was he. that he almost threw her m. Closing the door behind him, he then demanded money under dire threats. He was told that there was no money m the house. Brutally treated as she had been, she had no intention of being intimidated or terrorised by the desperado. He persisted m his demands ;and refused to believe her. The only course open to him then was to see for himself, and he commenced a hurried search for any money there might be about. He was rewarded by discovering half a crown, the only money m the house. . Furious and dissatisfied, he renewed his demands, accompanying them with' further rough and brutal handling, coupled with threats of what he would do if his demands were not complied with. He refused to . be satisfied with h,er assurance that he had found all the money there was m the house, • and began to look round for other likely spoils. When* he ascertained that his victim possessed !a cheque-book, .he concentrated on that and demanded that she make out a cheque for him. The • ordeal through which she was passing had reduced the old lady to a very distressed and shaken condition, and although still courageous, she was m no state to withstand his demand for a cheque. Helpless, and at. the man's- mercy, she had no option but to comply. The cheque she wrote bore the number 2A099326 and was drawn on the Union Bank of Australia, Auckland, m favor of "Robinson," that being the name the man gave her. The amount of the cheque was £2/2/6, believed to have been a considerable portion of her ready cash m , the.bank. Having- secured the cheque, the

masked man made hurried preparations to depart from the scene. He employed considerable cunning m his methods of covering his retreat. He made the old lady keep the electric light burning, with strict instructions that it was not to be extinguished until she heard him whistle. With that he left the house and a minute or so later the signal came. His idea was to prevent any alarm ________________ being given until he was well away, and by making her keep the light burning he was assured that his victim had ; " not left the house. And so the brutal assailant of a helpless old woman made good his escape. He disappeared whence he had come — into the shadows of the night. But what of the aged woman m the house? Her courage was remarkable. There was no screaming, no collapse. She remained, alone m the house all night and told of her .experience early next morning.

Immediately there followed a hue and cry Cor the wanted man, but there was no trace of him anywhere. Auckland detectives scoured the countryside for miles around, but the masked assailant and thief had made good his escape. When representatives of "N.Z. Truth" called at the little cottage at Ramarama they hardly expected to find Miss Cole-Baker at home to visitors, fully anticipating that she would be prostrate m bed after her ordeal. But the old lady was at home, alone, and engaged about her household duties. , • ■ A face whose features bespeak the resolute courage of her nature, keen, penetrating eyes, Avhich can light up with kindly humor, and her headcrowned by a mass of snowy white hair, she is a striking study of sturdy old age. -. When the interviewers told of their mission their reception by the old lady was typical of her — direct and to the point. "I am telling you nothing," was her greeting, tempered, nevertheless, with a humorous twinkle m her eyes. But ! after a while she became more com- I municative. ■ "It is all like a horrible dream now," she said. Asked if she thought she would I be able to identify the man if she saw him again, she replied that she thought she would be able to do soi With obvious reluctance she answered a number of questions. She seemed anxious to forget the unpleasant episode. . She said the man had not seriously injured her, but he had rough -handled her and had used threats. , When she was commended for her courage her face lighted : up and with a merry twinkle m her eye she smiled and said with pride: "I'm Irish." She had nothing to " say about the resistance she had offered to the assault, but it was obvious that she had done her best to. protect. herself. ... .

"And no doubt you got m some good, hefty blows on the man?" it was suggested to her. "Oh, well" — and she chuckled — "I'm as good as any of them." She was quite satisfied m her own mind that her assailant was an un ; desirable nomad. . > . "I was thinking about writing to the newspapers complaining about the magistrates who send all the riff-raff into the country like they are doing," remarked Miss Cole-Baker. "It's not right that these men should be sent into the country to be got rid of, with women and children at their mercy." She said that the man had used threats, but when asked if -she had gathered from his attitude that he would have, killed her if she had not acceded to his demands, the old lady had no definite idea about this aspect of the affair. . , ' From , her appearance alone it was obvious that she had suffered considerably from shock. "And you are still living here alone?" was the next question. "Oh, yes, m the daytime; but I am not sleeping here." "No, I am not saying anything more," was her message as she bid the viewers good-bye. ■ From a resident m Ramarama ' ' i t was learned*, that Miss Cole^Baker was greatly beloved throughout the district. She was very Kind to anybody who was sick and was always doing some- . thing* for those who were m need ■> of help and assistance. Her good nature was also mentioned • by neighbors, who stated that she never turned a '•swagger away from her door. A cup of tea arid a meal were usually provided. The general opinion m the little township is that the man who assaulted and robbed the old lady had partaken of her hospitality when a "swagger," and that was the reason given for his knowing the locality so well, and also the fact that she lived alone, of which he 1 must have been aware.

I The outrage committed by this mysterious masked man opens up, as Miss Cole-Baker remarked, a serious' question — that concerning the increasing tendency of magistrates to; order the riff-raff who come before . theni to clear out of the cities and towns and get into 'the country. More than twenty years ago, Miss Cole-Baker was matron of the Auckland Hospital. As a nurse she learned how to discipline her nerves, and this training stood her m good stead when going through her severe ordeal a few nights ago. She gave way to no hysterical outburst of screaming panic m her hour of danger. It is not too much to assume that had she done so and raised the alarm the man might have silenced her with a

Where Is He ?

fatal blow, m which event the police would have been saddled with another murder mystery. The most dire threats were used to intimidate her, and the man was evidently of the type that would have stopped at nothing: to gain his ends. No stone must be- left unturned by the police to bring the guilty man to justice. ■ The outrage has caused a wave of indignation m the district, and women are wondering whether the desperado is still prowling 1 about the vicinity ready to rob and attack others. That he is a dangerous type is obvious. i The main chance of bringing him to justice lies m the passing of the cheque. But he is probably too cunning to run the risk of arrest by attempting to cash it. Probably he is lying low m some lonely spot," waiting for the ,hue and cry for him to subside. But it will be a long time before that occurs, for the man constitutes a menace to public saf ety, ' and ■as such his capture is imperative.