GREYMOUTH OUTRAGE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10295, 2 June 1919, Page 6

GREYMOUTH OUTRAGE

ATTACK ON A POLICE OFFICER’S HOUSE. Details are given by a special correspondent of the attempt recently made at Groymouth to blow up the house of Senior-Sergeant Simpson, of the local police force. The rear of the house, after the explosion, resembled a building that had been bombed by an aeroplane. Senior-Sergeant Simpson stated that he was awakened by the sound of the explosion, breaking glass, and the swaying of the house on its foundations. The pictures in every room were thrown from the walls, while every piece of crockery was smashed and a glass door in tho hall, some distance from the origin of the explosion, was cracked. There was chaos in the kitchen. The back wall, which is at tho rear.of the house, was literally splintered, solid 4 x 8 studs being torn out of their positions and hurled across the room to the opposite wall. The mantelpiece was loosened and hanging, while a back window was blown clean out, tho broken glass being scattered all over the yard. There was a strong cupboard againsi the wall in the kitchen, this wall being the partition between the kitchen and a bedroom occupied by Mrs Simpson and an infant. The front of the cupboard was broken in by some of the debris, which was thrown across the room, and had it not been for this cupboard, it is certain that several pieces of 4 x 3 timber would have penetrated the wall into Mrs Simpson's room. There was a quantity of glass and crockery in this cupboard but nothing was, left whole, and the way in which the cupboard was wrecked indicates tho force with which the timber must have been thrown.

The charge was apparently placed in the angle formed by the brick kitchen chimney and the wall of the house, while it would be further confined by a large water-tank standing close to tin. chimney.' The charge was therefore enclosed by the tank and the chimney, and placed close up against the wall. The exact position ot the charge was shown by a piece of brick which was blown off the chimney. On the inside, up against this rear wall, was a b/mcii and sink, which were torn away and thrown on the floor, the woodwork bein splintered. An iron coal-scuttle was flattened out, as though it were tin, and a poker was forced through it. The water-taps and the pipes were broken clean off—in fact, the floor of thechen was completely covered with rubbish.

Apparently tho perpetrator of the outrage had ,a fuse attached to the charge in order to allow him to make his own escape. The condition of the house ns a result, of the explosion indicated fairly that a big charge of explosive must have been used, and the fact that the explosion was heard at such a great distance also suggests a big charge. In Tainui street tho detonation sounded like a signal qf distress given by a ship at sea. ‘ The result of the explosion was serious enough, as Mrs Simpson was suffering from nervous collapse, hut has now recovered. Had the debris penetrated the wall which separated their room from tho kitchen, the consequences would certainly have been much more serious.

It is evident that the deed was tarried out with criminal intent, but it is fortunate that the inmates ©scaped injury. There is no obvious motive tor the crime, which, however, must have been performed by someone with access to a supply of explosives. It is stated that this is the first occasion in New Zealand upon which an attempt has been made on the residence of a police officer. There seems no reason why Senior-Sergeant Simpson should bo selected for the perpetration of this outrage. a,s he is very popular with all with whom he comes into contact in the execution of his duties.

■ Dynamiting police officials is said to be not uncommon in some Quarters of America, but it is to be regretted that such an Incident' should have occurred in New Zealand.