A FATAL ARGUMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1926, Page 17

A FATAL ARGUMENT.

MAN SHOT IN STREET. THE MELBOI'RNE TRAGEDY.. TROT'RLE OVER A CIGARETTE. Sydney, Dec. Hi. . On the footpath of a crowded Nlelbourne Street at half-past 12 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon a man drew a revolver and shot through the heart William Ernest Williams, aged 23 yearselectrician, a citizen of the United States and a native of Tasmania. Williams died within a minute of his arrival at the Melbourne Hospital. A man named William Richard Wallace, aged 43. has been arrested and charged with murder. The traged-v was the outcome of a trifling argument that arose among three men in the Waterloo Cafe, a small restaurant, at 210 King Street, between Rourke Street and Little Bourke Street. Williams and a companion, Jean D. MeRobertson. also an American electrician, went there to have lunch, and when thp meal was finished Williams lighted a cigarette. .According to a statement made l»v Mcßobcrtson. Wallace, who was seated at the same table, stopped eating, and, leaning across the table, said, “You cannot smoke here, we arc eating.” Williams, who spoke with a strong American accent, told him to mind his own business, whereupon, it is alleged, Wallace became very abusive. A short argument followed, and then to save further trouble Williams and Meßoberison paid their bill and left the cafe. COVERED WITH HANDKERCHIEF. “Williams was angry about the way in which he had been spoken to,” said Mcßobertson later. “We waited outside the cafe while Williams described the incident to several men who were standing round. When Wallace came out oi the cafe Williams intercepted him and said, ’What do you mean by talking to us that way? You've got to apologise.’ The man held up his left fist and said, ‘Don't you come near me.’ At the same time he moved his right hand towards his hip. Williams rushed at him and gripped his arm. Wallace fought with his left hand, while with his right he fumbled at his hip pocket. Suddenly he wrenched away and kicked Williams, doubling him up with pain. I joined in then, and tried to prevent him from reaching his hip pocket, but Williams did not take long to recover. He gripped the man's arm again, but could not hold him, and his assailant produced something covered with a handkerchief.

"There was a report, and Williams dropped with a groan to the ground. During the struggle we had been moving slowly toward Lonsdale Street, and when W'iJliams was shot we were practically opposite the butcher's shop of Mr. J. Hamilton, in Lonsdale Street.” The man who fired the shot seems to have made ne very determined attempt to escape. Mr. Hamilton, senr., an elderly man, the owner of the butcher's shop, was within a few yards of the struggling men when Williams dropped to th? ground. Describing the incident, lie said: “The man with the revolver stood looking at Williams lying on the ground for a few seconds. He then put the weapon away and began to walk toward Bourke Street. .1. ran after him and said, f ’You murdered him in cold blood? Without looking at me, the man replied, 'I had i o do it.’” POLICE EFFECT ARREST. The struggle on the. footpath and the shooting were witnessed by about JO persons, including a number of men w’io were standing outside Exell’s employment bureau, almost opposite. Hundreds of others heard the report, among them being Constable Cobbledick. He had his back toward the struggling men, and knew nothing of the fight until he heard the shot. He ran across the street and gripped the arm of a man who was pointed out to him by bystanders. Mr. Hamilton, the butcher, crept up behind, took a revolver from a canvas bolster which hung over the man's hip under his coat, and dropped it into Constable Cobbledick’s pocket. In the meantime Plainclothes Constable Fenness.v hastened to the sceue and assisted Constable Cobbledick to handcuff his prisoner. He made no attempt to escape. Williams w 7 as taken to the Melbourne Hospital in an ambulance. He was still breathing on arrival, but he died Avithiu a minute. Examination of the body revealed that a bullet had pierced the right ventricle of the heart. Williams was born in Tasmania, but went to the United States when a youth, and became a naturalised American citizen. Subsequently he settled in lowa, where he met Mcßobertson about five years ago, and early this year both came to Australia —xot with the United States squadron. Since then they have been successfully carrying on business as electricians in Melbourne.