OUTLAW STILL AT LARGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24737, 14 October 1941, Page 6

OUTLAW STILL AT LARGE

COAST MAN-HUNT POLICE AND ARMY MILITARY EQUIPMENT STRONG FORCE ASSEMBLED (Special) HOKITIKA, Oct. 13. When darkness fell at Koiterangi to-night Stanley Graham was still at large. He is thought to be not very far now from his home and in the bush he knows so well. If the wanted man comes out tonight he will be met by a professional and amateur army well dug in in deep tand-bagged pits with a combined firing power sufficient to stop a small army. There are Lewis guns, tommy guns and all the' paraphernalia of a besieged township. That is what Koiterangi is at night, with one man who is able to move like a cat in the night doing the besieging. Early this morning shots were fired from machine guns and tommy guns and Verey lights were used, when territorials fired at what they thought was the figure of a man. Reports that there were answering shots from an .automatic pistol may be true, but there were so many shots fired that it is difficult to say. and there are so many bullet holes in the small group of buildings and surrounding fences and trees that new ones cannot be distinguished. Graham possibly may be suffering too badly from the effects of his wounds to move about as he has done before, but no one would dare to take any risk on that account. Meanwhile, as the search goes, on, Graham's seventh victim, Mr G. S. Ridley, of Christchurch. is still seriously ill in the Westland Hospital. It is stated that his condition has been serious ever since he was admitted.

Daring Trip up Hill

All to-day armed patrols scoured the countryside looking for Graham, and one remarkable trip was made up Camelback by Detective Sergeant H. E. Knight and two local men. It was a daring piece of work in country which would have afforded any hunted man ideal cover for watching his pursuers come up the hill. The party got right to the top of the hill, but found no trace of Graham. At one stage they came to a limestone cave, to enter which they had to climb up a steep grade all the way in. Ready to shoot at any time, they found that the cave when they clambered into the entrance was empty. To comb all the bush on Mount Camelback would take many men many days, but there is a feeling that Graham, with his genius for taking advantage of every piece of coverts still on the Koiterangi Flat, probably not very far from his home and the hall. Radio patrols manned by the signallers from Burnham maintained night and day communications in the bush, but once night falls the only man in the district who will move is Graham. Everyone else knows to keep still and wait. The position is really reversed in the daytime. In daylight the hunters look for Graham. At night they wait and Graham can, if he chooses, come and look for them. He has fieldglasses with him, and if he has a post of observation in daylight he must know by now what he has to face if he tries again to go to his house—but still he comes back, and so far has each time managed to leave as well.

Strain on Searchers

The physical strain on some of the men engaged in the search, especially settlers who have to milk large dairy herds night and morning, is proving severe, and haggard and gaunt men are everywhere to be seen. Some have not averaged two hours' sleep in 24 since Graham first took to the bush as an outlaw, and cannot tell when the strain will end. '

In the daytime except for men with rifles to be seen everywhere and lines of army trucks on the roads, Koiterangi looks a normal prosperous dairying valley. In some homes —for all the residents are not yet evacuated — there are even voung children playing about in an area where their parents have to get guards while they go to milk and where every noise at night means a high nervous tension. While the men wait with ears strained near Graham's home the only noise is the almost continual croaking of frogs from a large pond next door to the house. In the paddocks there are stock and when they move the noises thev make add to the confusion of the listeners in the dug-outs who have to regard everything they hear as a potential source of danger. Useful Service by Women

Every day valuable service is done by the women who are in charge of the food department of the Koiterangi Hall. These women who serve the meals are the wives of the men who have been lookinf for Graham since Wednesday afternoon. They are worried about them and the fate of their husbands, but they are the most cheerful persons there and their work and very presence is appreciated. NO REWARD OFFERED UNPARALLELED FEATURES OF CASE FUGITIVE ON DEFENSIVE (Special) HOKITIKA,' Oct. 13. No announcement has been forthcoming as to the possibility, of offering a reward for the capture dead or alive of Stanley Graham, and although no official viewpoint has been canvassed, the circumstances of the man-hunt would indicate that such a step has not even been entertained up to the present. In pest murders in the Dominion it has been the custom to offer such rewards where it has been required: but this case has no parallel. The attitude of all concerned in the hunt is a pronounced desire to end the dreadful events of the last six days and thoughts of giving a monetary reward in an attempt to hasten the conclusion have never entered the minds of the searchers. Besides, there might be the possibility of such a step bringing about in the minds of one or two a mood of sheer bravado, with further unnecessary risk of human life in attempting to capture Graham, who has now reached a point where no concern enters his mind for the life of others who have steeled themselves to bring about his capture dead or alive. A strange feature of Graham's clashes with his pursuers and lawful ambushers since Thursday is that he has not taken the offensive in the clashes when normally a man at large, who knew he was being hunted, must have known even if it was only after the first encounter that the countryside was searching for him, and that the police and even his neighbours were lying in ambush.

RAPID FIRE i TERRITORIALS IN ACTION MOVING FIGURE ON ROADWAY CLAIM DISCOUNTED BY POLICE (Special) HOKITIKA, Oct. 13. Verey lights and bursts of fire from machine-gun and Tommy-gun emplacements broke the darkness and the silence that hung over Koiterangi in the early hours of this morning, when territorials beside the house of Stanley Graham fired at what they took to be a moving figure in the roadway. Some of the territorials claim that there were answering shots, with the distinctive crack of an automatic pistol such as Graham has, but there is no proof that Graham did make yet another visit to his home. The theory that he did is discounted by the police. No one can say for certain whether anyone did or did not come down the road, because there was no sign of anyone when dawn came, and the tired soldiers, police and Home Guardsmen who had waited throughout a long and pitch black night came wearily from their posts. Machine Guns and Dug-outs

The story of the shooting is that one of the territorials thought he saw a movement in the road outside Graham's house and turned a Lewis gun #1 the place. A Tommy-gun from another dug-out also took up the firing, and there were other shots, but with no result. The dug-outs—some near the hall, one carefully protected at the side of Graham's house, and others near the school and the post office further down the road—have had to be manned with extraordinary care in governing the range of fire so that by no mischance at all can shots from one post go towards the men in another. They were all manned again as darkness fell to-night, and preparations began again for another night withoifl and with absolute vigilance. If Graham, who must know by now the reception that will be awaitng him, comes back again on his sixth night of freedom he will face a remarkable array of weapons. He himself must be sleeping during the day. but with his known wounds and the fatigue of ever-watchful Drowling in the bush his strength cannot now be what it was in his previous battle. The feeling is fairly general, however, that he has substantial caches of food in his bush hide-outs, not because of a premeditated Dlan of campaign for this nightly warfare, but because of his habits of going away deerstalking and spending nights in,the bush. Difficult Task for Aeroplane

An aeroplane was over the district again to-day. but as it is most unlikely that Graham will ever attempt to cross open country in daylight, the task of trying to locate him from the air appears to be as difficult as looking for a needle in a haystack. Throughout the day look-outs keep a careful watch on Mount Camelback for signs of movements or of fires. It does seem that with Graham's knowledge of bushcraft the police and others in the search will have to wait for him to come to them, as he has so often in the last few nights. The strength of the force against him has been greatly increased. More ma-chine-guns have arrived, and the army preparations are complete. A short while before the funeral of Constable Best from Kanieri this afternoon two shots were heard fired on the point of a ridge near Arthurstown, only two miles from Hokitika itself. The shots.were heard by a number of people, including reporters, on the rqad back after a trip to Koiterangi. They were instantly reported to the police, who sent men out to investigate. They found that a man had been testing out a rifle and had fired two shots. He was told in the strongest possible terms what was the official view of his action. Tension in Hokitika This incident was just another addition to the tension in Hokitika, where the feeling runs, although there can be no real justification for it, that Graham might attempt to come into the town, where his wife and children are. The Hokitika hotels are filled by visiting policemen, who go out for their shifts in the Koiterangi and Kokatahi districts, and come to the town to rest. TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS COMMISSIONER'S ADDRESS SYMPATHY WITH RELATIVES (Special) HOKITIKA. Oct. 13. Included in the large procession at the funeral to-day of Constable Edward Mark Best, the sixth victim of the Koiterangi killings, was a large representation of police officers from all parts of the Dominion. As a mark of respect the business people of Hokitika closed their v premises for three hours. Among the mourners was the Commissioner of Police, Mr D. J. Cummings. who was accompanied by Inspector D. L. Calwell. The following address was given by Mr Curnrnings at the graveside:— " Beside the grave or our fallen comrade I wish to express my very deep regret and that of all officers and comrades at his untimely and painful death, and I tender to his widow and relatives our most sincere sympathy. I also wish to tender to the widow and children of Sergeant W. Cooper, to the parents and relatives of Constable P. E Tulloch and Constable F. Jordan, to the wives and children of the two Home Guardsmen, Messrs Gregory Hutchison and R. J. Maxton Coulson, their parents and all near relatives, our heartfelt sympathy. Cruel and Merciless

"In paying this tribute to the six heroes who have fallen victims of cruel and merciless murders, I wish to associate with the expression of our sympathy to the bereaved ones, as well as to the people of the district, the names of the Prime Minister, Mr P. Fraser, and Mr P. C. Webb, both of whom have been the Ministerial head of the Police Department, the Ministers of the Crown, and the member for the district, Mr J. O'Brien. All are horrified at the unprecedented extent of the fatal blow which has fallen upon us and the whole district. I have received messages of sympathy from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland, Mr James Thorn, M.P. for Thames, Bishop Brodie, of Christchurch, and others who convey their heartfelt sympathy to the widows, children, parents and relatives of all of the dead.

. " Yesterday we stood here to witness the burial of the two Home Guardsmen who fell victims to the same person as did Constable Best. The lips of the open grave beside which we now stand proclaim to the world the real nature of our vocation. We are banded together to preserve for civilisation the priceless boon of peace and to maintain the conditions that promote it. The police officer, from time immemorial, has been known to the law as the peace officer, and in trying to make peace in certain circumstances last week we lost four of our loved and esteemed comrades and two other comrades who came to assist us in the attempt to arrest the culprit responsible for the untimely deaths. Duty Faithfully Done

" Our constables are at all times in the line of battle, readv always to risk their lives in the execution of the duties which they have sworn to perform faithfully according to their oath of office and the law oC the land. They may meet un-

expected conditions at any moment, such as an unprepared erfcounter with a person with an obsession or with a person with an impaired mind who has in his possession loaded firearms and is intent on using them." At all times the police officer literally carries his life in his hands. Our dead comrade here is witness to the truth of what I say. He is the last of a long list of men of our force who have laid down their lives in the execution of their duty in answer to a request for protection. "I wish I could adequately express my feelings on this very' solemn occasion. And now to my officers and men I say from thjs graveside: You return to your duties with your vocation exalted by the conduct and death of our comrades. We leave him here. Peace to his ashes, eternal bliss to his brave spirit, and also to the other five fallen comrades who fell victims at the hand of the same person. Tribute to Mr Ridley

"I also wish to pay a tribute to the bravery of Mr G. S. Ridley, who came to the assistance of our comrades on that fstal day and was also seriously injured by a rifle bullet; He now lies in hospital, where he is doing as well as can be expected under the skilful medical attention and nursing of the Westland Hospital. And finallv to our fallen comrades: 'Farewell until the day breaks and the shadows flee sway.'" POLICE REINFORCEMENTS OVER 100 IN DISTRICT (Special) HOKITIKA. Oct. 13. With the arrival of a further large contingent from various parts of New Zealand by service buses to-day, the ranks of the police force in the district have now been swelled to more than 100, including many high officials and several expert men. Under a roster s.ystem, the men come and go alternately with the dawn and darkness. They are accommodated to the best possible advantage, but the inevitable strain and loss of sleep is clearly evident in most cases. 4 When a policeman signs off after long daily tramps or all night vigils, his task is not finished. No delay can be allowed in the writing out and preparing of -the lengthy and detailed reports required. Because of 'the danger >at night with lights, many of the men are required to work either with torches or in confined candlelight in some country residence. The higher officers have to present the bulk of the data, which even now has reached immense proportions. With • a specially -selected staff at work, the Hokitika Police Station presents a scene of great activity. It is the central arrival and departing point of members of the force engaged in the investigation.