PROWLERS!

Southland Times, Issue 19578, 16 June 1925, Page 6

PROWLERS!

DARKNESS AND A FRACAS NERVES IN SOUTH INVERCARGILL THE HUNTING OF THE HUNTERS. The darkness of the wee small hours covered brave doings in South Invercargill one evening last week. The whole affair gees to show the great bravery of many goaded residents, but emphasises the sound moral in the old saw: “Look before you leap.” # The cause of the trouble was some gentleman or gentlemen unknown at- present to the Police er populace, who filled in the otherwise quiet suburban evenings by relieving clothes-lines of choice raiment, depriving meat safes of the mid-day sirloin and securing limited views of household interiors between the window sills and blinds. As is only naural, these piratical practices had played severely on the nerves of South Invercargill housewives, and the menfolk also began to feel the strain-. So it came to pass during the closing days of last week that a little party of irate males congregated at a certain house several hours after the shades of night had fallen Quietly, they planned out a campaign, and after tightening their belts and pulling (heir hats down firmly, they rallied forth to “fix” the light-fingered gentry. All this was very commendable, and would doubtless have ended successfully had the marauder been discovered. Unfortunately, however, in another house, was gathered another little vigilance committee, making earnest and whispered preparations to rid the district of undesirables. It is said that in party No. 2 was a stalwart in a uniform of blue, while party No. 1 was an amateur combination, unversed in the art of crime suppression. A few minutes later each party, unknown to the other, was patrolling in the black darkness. The party led by its professional hunter, betrayed no fear. It marched boldly along, confidant in the righteousness of its cause and the ability of its leader. On the other hand, the amateur army migrated from gateway to gateway in a sleuthlike manner, stepping with great caution on the grass beside the asphalt and stopping frequently to gaze with deep suspicion and excitement at such forbidding shapes as lamp-posts, gate-posts and shrubs. Finally, after about 15 minutes’ searching, they arrived opposite a gateway. There was a faint rustle—a most, alarming rustle—in the shadow of the house. “You hop jn and have a squint,” whispered the self-appointed leader, nudging a colleague. “We will wait to back you up.” “Hop and squint yourself,” that gallant replied. “Well, two of you go,” parleyed the leader. A hoarse argument followed, ending in two of the party creeping in the gate. There, for the moment, they may be left. Party No. 2 were having no luck. They had marched and marched, up and down, until even the professional was fed up. Then, like a bolt from the blue, came excitement. The professional had, to finally satisfy himself, stopped and looked back. “Crack; clang”—a gate had shut noisily a chain or two away. Quickly the forces were marshalled and with the full force of his lungs, he shouted the order to charge. The nerves of party No. 1 were overwrought. The two eager burglar-snatchers had, after a lapse of several minutes, advanced inside the, gate, which had swung to with hideous clamour. Simultaneously a maniacal yell resounded through the night, and with a rush of footsteps, a murderous gang of several thousand grinning savages—or so it seemed—sprang out of the blackness and smete them hip and thigh. At the sounds of strife on the street the two invaders were, for a moment, spellbound with astonishment, but with a dim sense of duty they turned to aid their comrades in this battle with unknown legions. “Take that, you robber!” .... "I’ll screw your thieving neck!” .... "Who are ycu? you .” Scrape, biff, bang! “Now then, you come quietly, or” “ow! Leave me alone, or I’ll break your head!” Then suddenly: “I say! Is that you ‘X’?” “Yes, it!” “I say, these fellows are friends of mine ” Slowly the combatants sorted themselves out, and after much profanity, ending in feeble laughter, shook hands all round. “Well,” said one enlightened soul, dabbing at his nose under cover of darkness, “I guess we'll go home.” So they all trooped up the street, talking the thing over. At the next corner a scared resident met them with a bicycle lamp. “Who are you?” he asked. “We are a vigilance committee,'’ said someone tactfully. "Well, I wish ycu had vigiled up here,” was the reply. “I have just chased a marauder away from the clothes line.”