SOLDIER LEAPS IN TAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23687, 20 December 1938, Page 9

SOLDIER LEAPS IN TAY

CHEQUE OF £250 ___ (From Our Own Correspondent) 'By Air Mail) LONDON, Nov. 14. With a £250 cheque in his pocket with which to buy himself out of the army, a young soldier leapt into the flooded river Tay to Perth to avoid police and an escort who tried to arrest him. He was said to be an Australian in the Black Watch, from which he was alleged to be an absentee His adventure began when the escort approached two motor police patrol officers in Tay street, pointed to the soldier and claimed him as an absentee from the regimental depot. When the police went up to him the soldier dashed across the street, leapt the sft-high railings, and dropped into the river. His pursuers, afraid he would drown, called' further assistance Two officers put out in a boat. He was taken to the police station and later left with the escort for barracks. It is understood that the £250 cheque was sent by an aunt in Australia.