NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1928, Page 1

NEWS BY MAIL.

PLAUSIBLE PATSY. BRUSSELS, Juno 2S. During her voyage from New York to Europe for a holiday Airs Violet iSinsheimer. a wealthy American widow. met a man named Dandy, who introduced hyr to Thomas Ratcliff, an Englishman, and disappeared. Ratcliff knew all about Brussels and Mrs Sinsheimer was grateful for liis offer to act as guide. Yesterday in the Avenue Louise they met Pat Murphy, or, ns lie sometimes oafls himself. Patsy O’Connor. J*at'6 eniotion nt meeting Thomas, whom ho had not seen for years, was so great that he had to be assisted to a cafe to recover. He told the usual tale of a fortune to be disposed of among charitable .institutions, and asked Airs Sinsheimer to look after the distribution in the United States. As a guarantee of her disinterestedness she parted wlith £6OO in cash, and a gold and diamond ring valued at £IOO. With these securities in liis pocket Pat fell ill again and Thomas led him away for treatment. That was the last the widow saw of them.

£IO,OOO-A-YEAR ROBBER. NEW YORK, June 26. Another colourful Chicago criminal disappeared last night when “Big fim” Murphy, mail robber and labour agitator, was shot dead in liis own garden. He was drawn from the shelter of his home bv a ring at his front door, and as he stepped outside in answer to the summons a motor-car drove slowly by. From the window protruded the ugly muzzle of a machine gun, and befoie Murphy could withdraw he was lying dead on his own lawn with a luillet in liis heart.

His wife returned from a church service soon after lie had been carried into his house and cried :

“I don’t know why they killed him. I knew he had enemies, hut 1 did not think any of them would kill that big, kind-hearted man.”

But. his police record is not so pleas ing. Aliirphy was the ringleader in Chicago’s most daring mail robbery in 1922. At Dearborn Street Station robbers in broad daylight carried off £25,090. . At one time “Big Tim ” ran one of tb© biggest gambling dens in Chicago. Recently be bad fallen upon less prosperous days and bail to be content with £-?0 a week drawn from a labour union. “in his great days £IO.OOO a year was liis acknowledged income.