NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1927, Page 4

NEWS BY MAIL.

ATTACK ON BANK. LONDON, -tug. y.

Ln. an attempt to raid the Alidland Bank at Uxbridge, Middlesex, yesterday. two well-dressed men struck the cashier on the head with "a. piece of lead piping covered with rubber and squirted liquid in his eyes, temporarily blinding him. They escaped oifipty handed when the alarm was raised and were in fact 10s poorer than when they entered, because they had to leave behind a note which they hacl employed tis a ruse.

The bank stands in the busiest part of Uxbridge road, tint the men chose the temporary quietness of luncheon time to enter the building. One of them passed a. 10s note across the counter and asked Air Albert Hains, the cashier, to change it. The note fell on the floor, and before the cashier could recover if one of the Haiders leant over the counter and squirted liquid from a syringe into his face. At the same time the other aimed a blow at Mr Hains’ hon'd, inflicting a slight wound. Air Hains, however, realising the situation, locked a drawer containing hundreds of pounds which was open by his side, and as he fell to the ground shouted for help. A junior clerk who was in the basement dash 1 upstairs, hut the two men escaped in a motor-car which was waiting with the engine running. The Ids note which the raiders had brought lay on the floor behind (he counter. '

Jt is believed that t'•■■id squirted in Air Hains’ eyes was a mixture of salt and -water. Me was able to catch only a glimpse of his a-Ssailanfs.

BATHERS KCAILED. PABIS, Aug. 0. “A jSliark! A shark. Swim for your life!” was the shout which went up at Le Aloui'illoti beach, near Tou'on, yesterday, when a mysterious marine monster was seen making its wav directly towards the shore. In the rush for safety a. young woman bather badly cut her leg by falling on a sharp rock. When the monster came to rest and was closely examined by fishermen it was found to he a torpedo which had been launched by a destroyer carrying out. torpedo practice off the const.

snake island. TOKTO. Aug. 9. Tho Emperor of Japan, who is returning from witnessing naval manoeuvres, is duo to reach the little island of .End Osliinui, off Kagoshima, on Saturday. Two thousand islanders have been clearing the island of poisonous snakes for a. fortnight to eliminate the least risk to tho ruler.

FAMOUS ST'PC FOX’S THANKS. PABTS, Aug. !). Professor Gosset, one of the most famous of French surgeons and private surgeon to Air Georges Clemenrcau, was himself operated upon yesday for appendicitis. The operation was performed by one of the professor’s pupils. Dr Jean Charries. It was completely successful .and Professor Gosset congratulated, his young assistant on his ability. The professor will be up within a few days.

TitAArONb .FIND. JOHANNESBURG-, Aug. 0. A remarkable story of a discovery of diamonds at the mouth of tho Ivei iltiver, near the Capo border, is told by AL- ,T. J. Van den Bergh, a Johannesburg attorney, who has returned from that area.

About two years ago Mr John Bock, | who is seventy years of age, bought | 10 acres of land on the east bank of I the estuary with the idea of growing fruit. One day his little soil eamo running into the house with a bril- ! Han’t stone which bis father put in his 1 pocket arid forgot, until some days . later lie read in the newspaper some news about Grnsfonteiri. diggings. [t then occurred to him that the stone found by the youngster might be of some value, and lie at once took a spade and sieve and dug at the spot where it was found on his 10 acre plot. In the first three sieves Air Bock examined he found eight diamonds. Air Bock thou took out a prospector’s license, the only one. ever issued iii the Transkei, where hitherto dialiionds have never been found, and he has since found no fewer than a thousand stones, the largest of which is a diamond of about 5 carats. So far, no digging has taken place more than 18in below the surface. MICE AIIX UP TRAFFIC. LONDON, Aug. 9. A traffic tangle, caused in London by uni mice for 15 minutes yesterday, during which tiriio they cheered and

I frightened thousands of passers-by, was unravelled when the traffic control policeman put his foot down. He left his post in Ludgate circus, and when he had killed one the other —to the despair of hundreds of City workers, who dearly love street incidents—took to flight. Traffic resumed its normal flow. The im'iee had suddenly appeared in New Bridge street and ran about 1 . unconcernedly. Drivers who saw them ; asked drivers who did not to go with • caution. It whs the resulting slowness of the traffic, the congestion of the pavements, and the little Screams of passing wdfnen that attracted the attention of the traffic policeman and stirred him to action. There was a disappointed ‘‘Oh!” a,s the policeman’s heel administered heavy justice.

CHIEF OF POLICE BE MOLED. LONDON, Aug. 9. There is a particularly daring gang of burglars operating in London at the moment, and just- to show that they have no respect for anybody they raided the house of Chief-Constable Hensley head of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard, during the storm in the early Ilnurs of Saturday morning, and while !io was sleep ing up stairs. Mr AVcnsley lives at Lvcholm, Powyslnnc, Palmer's Green, N., and it is well known to all .his friends and to members of the underworld that Lneholm was regarded by its occupier as impossible of entry by burglars. Some of the precautions are that the house is never left unoccupied by day or night, there are burglar alarms everywhere and patent locks and bolts on doors and windows. Tiie burglars have not left a single chic. \1 though they must have handled tnr.iiy things they did it in such a merrier that they left no finger-prints. Tt is believed that they climbed over the fence at the hack of the garden and forced open a tool shed, from which they took a ladder. This they placed against the. French door of the drawing room, crawling into the house through n small fanlight. They made a selection of cl! the silver articles in the room and rifled A! :• AVensleyhs colled am of an'litiues. They also took the c hief const aide’s police medals, including the Kipp’s medal for the gallant part he played in tbe “battle” of Sidney street, when an ins-'petor of “K” Division. They climbed out again through the fanlight. avoiding all “alarms.”

£0,009 THEFT. TJFR.T.IN. Aug. 6. Evidenc ? rf looseness in money mailer', is becoming a daily feature in Germ any. Cases are constant!'’ being published of de p aYnt.inns reaching astonishing sums perpetrated by m m in whom confidence has been placed by great financial institution and of large amounts of ready money being stolen from young men and women carrying it, through the streets, as well as of large sums being cbtained by burglary. To-dr-y’s reporl b, •>! a. high administrative* official of the Berlin Court of Justice disappearing—obviously because' he* realised that lie could no longer hope to conceal that, he had embezzled more than £O,OOO which ought to have been paid to the heirs of an estate.

Great exeiterribnt has bedn created also by the news that two high officials of the Prussian State Lottery, by manipulations during the drawings, have secured money prizes of more than £IO,OOO. The manager of a branch of a great Berlin bank, in which there was a bia; deficit, last night shot his wife and two children, aged 10 and 12 respectively. He then went out in his car, which he set going at full speed, and fired a bullet through his brain. The car crashed against a tree and the manager’s body was found among the debris ' , rr