THE INITIAL BUNGLE.

Manawatu Herald, 14 January 1899, Page 2

THE INITIAL BUNGLE.

It may be well here to put plainly | before the public what the mistake at the outset was, and to note the affect i of it. When Mr M'Neill— ttie brother- \ in law of the murdered man and his sisters— discovered the tragedy he rode ....^, i straight into Gatton to report it to the \f\ police. The news spread like wild- | fire. Acting- Sergeant Arrell, who was the only police officer in town, rode out at once to the scene to verify ' M'Neill's report. He was followed out by dozens of the townspeople, and countryfolk coming into town heard, of the dreadful affair, and rode or drove at once to the spot where the victims were lying. The acting-ser-geant put a guard .of four persons in the place — people whom he could trust — not to prevent any persons going into the paddock, but to keep the crowd back from the spot where the corpses lay. He saw to the safekeeping of the dead, and rode back to : report the matter to the officer in charge of the district. The four failed to keep the spot clear and it was overrun. The murderers themselves could have devised no better plan for cover- ; ing up their tracks. It is said that the ' acting-sergeant should at all hazards have kept the spot clear, but it must be remembered that he was brought, face to face with a tragedy of an appalling nature, and it is doubtful whether there are many of his rank in the force would have acted under such stress of circumstances with better judgement. Yet the mistake was most serious in its results. Ac%g Sergeant Arrell has a .good recwfd in the police force, and his superiors speak well of him. Like the general community he was greatly moved by the horrible nature of the crime with which he was confronted, and doubtless he did cot act with the coolness and judgment one would like to note.