A GOOD SHOT.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12768, 14 April 1910, Page 4

A GOOD SHOT.

It is stated that Powelka is a wonderful revolver shot. He practiced on rats which used to frequent the abattoirs, and it was a common sight, it is said, for him' to be seated at dinner with his mates, pull his revolver from his pocket, and drop off each marauding rat with the precision of a crack shot pouring in bull's-eyes at a short distance.- .-■ - ..' . Although he is said to have been a very quiet man, it is stated that his alleged threat: to shoot his wife has led to ali his recent trouble. . He was married in September last, but his wife had left him. She is understood to have stated that she would come back to him if he furnished a house. This, it is alleged, he did. with extraordinary rapidity by entering upon a wholesalescheme of burglary, in which ■his notable disguise was^ a pair of iwhite-whiskersr . When he, threatened to shoot his wife she complained to.the police. He was arrested with a revolver upon him, and it was when the police went to his house to search for the ammunition that they found the place.full, of ; goods which they had the description of as stolen.

'■■.-, $ <.<P ; LANT" SUSPECTED, Th.^ special C6rresjE>ond.ent_of the "New Zealand ;. Times" writing on 'this man hunt closely, and have been over all of the country. and_l have believed for some time that Powelka has "a plant, 1 and that he has at least one solid friend. I 'have, reason to tiixnk that the police too feel sura tha^ man has an aider, so it is probable that when they: have time to. divert their attention from- the elusive Joe they- will occupy their- minds with the matter of discovering his abettors. ; - -'••"If it is Pqwelka.who hag stoien_so many things here he has collected tar too big a stock to carry about with, him." Still they are duly made use.ol. Therefore he must have a secret Btor- ' ag "Th««>'at which he left behind when he showed his, heels to Ashurst .on : Saturday was one which he betook unto his possession long before he be--1 came a fugitive. His wife recogms ;U ! the coat and explained that shei^ad I observed at. the "-time, that it was far itoo expensive for him to buy. Itvaa indeed a splendid coat. He didr-uot have that garment at Matthey 6 Bush. The 'coat; he had therei kss left -pn the saddle -when- he deserUsd his faairig.h6yß6 r - He must have vftained the fresh 'over mantle' from a friend's plapo or » 'plant'- of his Own. "Wbon he entered the store it Scarborough he looked as though he had been fed on cream for a monett.

That's how the shop assistant put it. If he is looking so well he could not 'have been roughing it much, and 1 nit was most likely owing to the help ct a friend. "However, the most that can bo said now is that the public need not be surprised if someone is arresttd on a charge of having assisted the, fugitive." . There was a young farmer in .Palmerston on Sunday night, the correspondent continues, who is alleged -.the authority is good) to have said that Le and several others had known that Powelka had slept in a certain haystack in their locality on three different nights. That particular young man, added that he gave Powelka a feed and that the escapee said that ha only wanted to shoot three persons, whom ho named as Detective Quirke, Sergeant Maguire, and his wife. » I is also alleged that the farmer sai.i that they would not inform the poire of the hiding place until a bigger reward was offered.

SUNDAY NIG-HT'S EVE -TB

Thousands of Palmerstonia.is, sajs the "New Zealand Times" convsj.Kindent, spent an anxious time on day night, and hundreds did u<:t v'<> t<J bed. Business men left t.ie r liOiiic? and put in the night on s.'ieir premise? , or in tho thoroughfares near by. Homo of the hotels were open ml nigi't, and Mr Devine, of tha Emy »c iio&U:l---ry, had the. watchers round the !''-?rguson street block supplied, with i-oi-fee steaming hot, and eataoi>3. After the shooting of Serge.uit .h<"guire, the policei were, strung out round tho block, and thuir stieu^ilA was hurriedly supplemented with civilians, who were snapped v; 1 by Si,bInspector O'Donovan and detaiktl oli to patrol and guard, ceoun j.ort!«)r.s of the streets.

All sorts of weapons uvMe ti surrected. Decent revolvers, old i«<olvers, short-barrelled rifles, less nodem rifles, and fowling pieces w<-re all requisitioned, and thrust' into tlie hands of the units of the lou^ < o;doi. of anxious men. The human luio encircling the supposed ref -g^ of \owelka was about a mile and a naif in length. - The night vigil was awarr ly unpleasant, and totally unpv-.i..ii:. It was a dark, wet night, and soriio'uf the follows were on guard. wioli.uL cv>rcoats. . ■■ .■ It seems pretty, certain from vJiat jean be gathered of the whole affair that Powelka was gone i.'c lean}, a qx.brter of an hour before the block was surrounded. In fact, it appears to have bean. another Matthews' bush af-fair—-no one knew with anything approaching certainty where the man went, and the force was consequently concentrated .in one place while the fugitive Qiad thei coast clear to decamp. Maguire's effort has been the_only really determilned attempt to capture the escapee. At Matthews' bush the police wereihot on his heels, aud then r he ( got oft' unharmed. In Hampton's grounds on Sunday night there must have been several within a fe.v yards of him, and yet, with the chance or 'a lifetime thrown in their path, tli^y "did not pursue the hunted man ii such a way that they could at loiit keep him in sight. If they had gone in with the intrepid deternunatiou, : which is the only thing that carries 4 man through against a desperado, a fight must ihave resulted. However, the police stopped. and attended- to the wounded sergeant. But thei 3 police ofiicers were not therei as ai bulaw.e men, and it was their duty ;o push, on and press the fugitive to she last extremity. At Ashhurst on Sunday morning the news was passed round thatl'owelka had left a latter in Ashhurst saying, in the course of it, that he was quite close to the polio© when they were looking for him on Saturday; also that he "was standing -within % a yard of Pat ■. Hanlon and could have shot him dead;" further, that he was almost prompted to do so through hearing Hanlon say that he (I'oweJka)' had attempted to shoot one of the women; and, finally, disclaiming the authorship of the Palmerston fires. ; The communication was said to have been written with a bullet. By the. ( time the story of the letter reached Palmerston, it had stretched. *' The letter was addressed "To the Manhunters of Ashhurst."

! Pat Hanlon. is a brother-in-law of the escapee's, arid it is quitei common knowledge that he has been living 'in fear of him for the last three weeks.

The following is a description of Powelka : — Age about twenty-two, height about sft 10in, butcher, native of Oxford, New Zealand, medium build, dark complexion, dark-brown hair, blue eyes, medium mouth, nose, and chin, usually clean shaven (had about ten days' growth of beard when he escaped), large scar near left shoul-der-blade, scar on inside near left knee-cap, pinched features; dressed in dark-grey coat, dark vest, greenish tweed trousers, light well-worn shirt (torn in front), blucher boots, no hat, collar, or socks. Apparently he has now procured and is wearing other clothing. ,