NO TRACE OF GRAHAM

Southland Times, Issue 24565, 14 October 1941, Page 4

NO TRACE OF GRAHAM

SEARCH BEING INTENSIFIED

GUARDS FEELING THE STRAIN

MR RIDLEY’S CONDITION NOW DANGEROUS

(Special) GREYMOUTH, October 13. Graham still eludes the police in Koiterangi Valley, but the police consider he has little chance .of surviving the injuries he undoubtedly received in two encounters with the Home Guard and volunteers. The Commissioner of Police, Mr D. J. Cummings, stated tonight that a full search in every part of the district was contemplated immediately. For this purpose the strength of the police force now engaged was more than 70, while the military units had also been reinforced. Mr Cummings said the difficulties of the search were great because of the limestone caves, huge clumps of blackberries and dense undergrowth over a wide area, but he was satisfied that success would be achieved. It was reported this evening that the condition of Mr S. G. Ridley, the Canterbury Education Board’s agricultural officer, who is in the Westland Hospital, had deteriorated. He is on the dangerously ill list. Since Sunday there has been no appearance of Graham or an indication where he might have gone after the gunfight with the Home Guardsmen and the police. A report today that there had been a further encounter with him near Koiterangi hall last evening was categorically denied by Mr Cummings, who said that a small number of shots had been fired in the vicinity, but there was no appearance of Graham. Searchlights were used. ALL-NIGHT VIGIL Burnham territorials, members of the Army resident on the West Coast and about 100 Home Guardsmen and district volunteers maintained a night-long vigil for the fifth night under rigid orders that they must remain in their positions in order to prevent indiscriminate shootings. Practically no traffic except official was allowed to approach past Longford Hotel, of which Graham’s sister, Mrs E. Webster, is the licensee. It is 'some four miles from the scene of the tragedy. The police have maintained patrols since Friday. The whole of Koiterangi and Kokatahi is kept in 'darkness nightly, making for considerable tension in the district.

Searchers and police, who have been under constant strain since the shootings on Wednesday, are reported to be reaching an exhausted state because of the impossibility of sleeping during the night and the necessity for a careful guard during daylight. They are being relieved in short spells. One policeman, Detective-Sergeant C. H. Davis, of Greymouth, contracted measles and has been removed to the Westland hospital. Bom'LTng is now considered impracticable because the whereabouts of Graham, almost established cn Friday in a small area of thick scrub, has since Sunday’s visit remained a matter of the gravest doubt. It is considered that he may even have reached the bush fringing the scrub leading to higher country, which is of an extremely rough nature. It would be most difficult to spot him there from a plane, which has already made numerous reconnaissances with police officers and settlers who might be able to sight Graham. The military guards, including signallers, equipped with radio-telephony for a system of inter-communication from selected heavily-guarded outlooks, have not yet been called into action. They arc under Captain H. C. Caldwell, of Burnham, who with Captain A. R. Curtis, in charge of the West Coast staff, Sergeant S. Davy and Lieutenant R. Garters, are engaged in the disposition of the men. . SEARCHLIGHTS ERECTED Searchlights have been stationed some distance from Graham’s home so that a large area can be lighted should Graham appear at night. They will also provide additional protection for the searchers in the event of another shooting match. Police reinforcements have now enabled one policeman to work with every volunteer or Home Guardsman so that unnecessary risks will be avoided in the event of any more persons being shot at by Graham. It is a fine tribute to the ability and carefulness of the police, Home Guardsmen and volunteers that despite the number of times it has been necessary to open fire on Graham, none has been injured, although there have been some fortunate escapes. Graham’s ability as a shot is recognized throughout the district, where he has been known to shoot a deex - between the eyes 800 yards away and to shoot flying ducks with a .22 automatic. Since childhood he has been a recognized shot and a great deal of his time has always been spent in keeping in perfect order his large collection of rifles, including a Mauser, with which some at least of the shootings have been accqmplished. He is able to use the Mauser almost at the speed of a machine-gun. It is extremely doubtful if in New Zealand a finer shot could be found. Graham always kept on hand a large stock of ammunition, but his stocks at the secret hideout, if he has one, must be getting low as a result of the loss of a large bag when he made his escape on Thursday morning. The popular belief that Graham has cached a large store of food in secret hiding places in the bush is now generally dismissed because of the frequency of his visits to his home. On the other hand he is known to take a pride in his prize Ayrshire cattle. The knowledge that a considerable sum of money was left in the house and a natural interest in his wife and children would have a tendency to bring him out of hiding, the most favourable opportunities for which have been in the early dawn. GRAHAM’S PREPAREDNESS Despite the enormous odds he must know are against him, Graham seems undeterred in his guerrilla warfare, Sunday morning’s visit, when he was noticed within 50 yards of the scene of the shooting of Messrs Coulson and Hutchison, indicating his preparedness to meet any eventuality. Twenty Home Guardsmen joined in a gun battle early on Sunday morning and the police guarding the house engaged Graham, whose escape was dramatically made apparently through thick blackberry bushes near the house. When he first appeared he came near a barbed wire fence, over which he threw a dark grey blanket thought to have been taken on Saturday from Smith’s hut near Mount Camelback, nearly a mile away. Just as he put his hand on the fence he was challenged, but did not answer. A young policeman opened fire and Graham made off, dropping to the ground before reaching the blackberries. As orders had been given to all men to remain in the dugouts and barricades erected in the vicinity of the hall and the house, not till a consider-

able time had elapsed did the Guards move from their positions to investigate the results of the shooting. By then Graham could not be traced. The people of Hokitika paid a tribute to Constable E. M. Best’ at the funeral this afternoon. The cortege, over a mile long, included many police and representatives of public bodies. There were two trucks of wreaths. In a tribute to Constable Best at the graveside, Mr Cummings expressed the sympathy of the Government with the widows, orphans and relations of all who had lost their lives. He praised the zealous service given by all the dead police officers. IN LINE OF BATTLE “Our constables are at all times in the line of battle and are ready to risk their lives in the execution of their duty, which they have sworn to perform faithfully,” said Mr Cummings, ‘‘They may meet unexpected conditions at any moment—an unprepared encounter with a person with an obsession or impaired mind who has possession of loaded firearms with the intention to use them. Our dead comrades are witnesses of the truth of that. Constable Best was the last of a long list of men of the force who have laid down their lives in the execution of their duty in answer to a request for protection.” Before the sitting of the Magistrate’s Court at Greymouth Mr G. G. Chisholm, S.M., and members of the Westland District Law Society and the Police Force stood as tributes were paid to Sergeant Cooper, Constables Tulloch, Jordan and Best and Messrs Coulson and Hutchison. “As this is the first sitting of the Court in the district since the Koiterangi tragedy, I think it proper to express our sympathy,” said Mr Chisholm. “The tragic events which have taken place, involving the deaths of six men, came as a great shock to all police officers. I have been personally associated with Sergeant Cooper at Greymouth and Hokitika. Constables Jordan, Tulloch and Best I knew intimately in the course of my duties and they are officers. whom I held in the highest regard. These tragic events bring home to us the risks attending the service of the police to the community, and help us fully to appreciate the risks they undertake. To the relations I extend the Court’s deepest sympathy, also sympathy to Mr Ridley, and express the hope that his recovery will be complete and that those engaged in the difficult, trying task will bring it to a speedy and successful conclusion.”

Mr Kitchingham said the Bar wished to pay a tribute to the members of the Police Force who lost their lives in the execution of their duty and to the Guardsmen who.answered the call and had fallen. “We know that the police possessed the wide sympathy and kindness often characterized by the men of the force, who deal all the time with the flotsam and jetsam of humanity,” he said. WOUND IN GRAHAM’S SHOULDER BLOOD-STAINED GARMENT FOUND (P.A.) GREYMOUTH, October 13. It is now believed by the police that a wound in Graham’s shoulder is having an effect on his ability to keep going. It is noted that in the Sunday morning and Monday morning incidents he used a stolen police automatic and from this it is deduced that Graham finds the heavy rifle difficult to manage. The shoulder wound is believed to have been inflicted while Graham was in a crouching position and the bullet, after leaving a diagonal wound deep in the shoulder, scored its way down and across Graham’s back. This theory would account for the bullet holes lower down in the bloodstained garment recovered on Saturday. Graham, too, may be lying in the bush slowly dying from loss of blood and the effects of poisoning in his wound. Medical opinion is that in the cold and three nights in the open the shoulder wound has stiffened and is causing Graham agony. After dawn this morning the weary guards were relieved by fresh men and the search was renewed once again. Night had denied the promise of Graham’s capture, renewed so hopefully with the approach of each of the five nights he has been at large. There is a reign of terror in the district, the women and children of Koiterangi being evacuated each night and returning in the morning for the milking. There was some comment on the want of authority shown in the earlier stages caused by the absence of any police officers with local knowledge of the district, but conditions are now much improved. The present prospects of securing the hunted man are very difficult, though they may be eased if his reputed wound is serious. Action on Sunday was of a negative nature, strong units being posted at vantage points in the locality. The rapidity with which the hunted man has moved from one side of the river to the other without being seen has caused some astonishment and much conjecture. Every care is being taken, as the hunted man is one of the best sharpshooters of the district.

FUNERAL OF SERGEANT COOPER

A fully-representative gathering of the uniform police and detective forces from all parts of Otago and Southland attended the funeral at Dunedin on Sunday of Sergeant W. Cooper, a victim of the West Coast shooting. They formed an impressive guard of honour behind the hearse as it wended its way to the Anderson’s Bay Cemetery. A long line of private cars also followed behind the police squad. The service at the chapel in Clark street was conducted by Pastor W. D. Miore, and Sergeants D. Sugrue, W. Irwin (Invercargill), D. O’Carroll, S. Davenport, T. Johnson and H. Hogg acted as pall-bearers. Superintendent P. J. O’Hara, Inspector W. E. Packer, and Chief-Detective T. Holmes led the funeral cortege. Wreaths were received from the Prime Minister, Ministers of the Crown, and from police districts throughout New Zealand.