ARMED HOLD-UP OF TRAIN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18540, 10 April 1930, Page 9

ARMED HOLD-UP OF TRAIN.

Bandits Escape With Booty LAWLESSNESS IN AUSTRALIA. (United Press Association—By ’Slectrlo Telegraph—Copyright.) SYDNEY. April 9. The most desperate and sensational train robbery in the history of Australia, occurred late last night near Glenbrook station, on the mountains line. Two masked and armed men held up the guard and escort in the mail van of the Mudgee express, rifled the mails and decamped with £4500. The guard, Mr E. Squires, was knocked senseless, and while one of the bandits held the escort at bay the other ransacked the mail-bags and bundles until he discovered the bag containing the money. The robbers then held the guard and escort until the express slowed down near a tunnel. Running to the door of the van the men leaped into the darkness with their haul and disappeared in the bush. The whole affair had been carefully planned. The train was just leaving Emu Plains when the bandits jumped aboard. Upon the arrival of the express at Glenbrook every mountain police station was informed and an intensive search is now in operation. Squires, who is badly hurt, and the escort are unable to give a description of the men’s faces, so well were they masked. THEATRE CASHIER HELD UP. ARMED MEN ACTIVE. (United Press Association—By !3lec f r': Telegraph—Copyright.) SYDNEY, April 9. A second hold-up occurred in the city last night. With a revolver levelled at her head, Miss Birtles, cashier at a theatre, was forced to stand against a wall while a man searched fruitlessly for the night’s takings. A few minutes previously Miss Birtles had locked away £2OO. After ransacking the drawers the robber dashed from the theatre and was soon lost in the crowd. DIFFICULT TASK OF POLICE. BANDITS DISAPPEAR IN BUSH. (United Press Assoc'atlon —By Electric 1 elegraph—Copyright.) (Received April 9, 8.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, April 9. The detectives are confronted with the difficult task of finding the bandits who held up the Mudgee train near midnight, and escaped with over £4OOO 'in notes and silver, representing a portion of the railwaymen’s pay. Car and cart wheel tracks were discovered near the scene to-day. They led into the bush, where a wire fence was cut, apparently by somebody anxious to avoid detection. The police in Penrith district came upon two men camped on the bank of the Nepean River. Both were arrested, one for having an unlicensed revolver, and the other was charged with vagrancy. Both were remanded. Cash Box Found. A telegram has been received from Binnaway, beyond the Mudgee, 200 miles from the scene of the train holdup, stating that a railway cash box, identical with the one stolen, had been found on the side of a road. The box is being sent back to Sydney. It was possible for the bandits to cover this distance by car between the time of the robbery and the hour at which the cash box was found.