Buckley's Place In"The Sun"

NZ Truth, Issue 1183, 2 August 1928, Page 4

Buckley's Place In "The Sun"

Real Stoty of Vainglorious Convict's Escape From IVlount Eden Putting Over Eyewash About Injured Eye ..•■.'■ ■ , ■ ■ ft ■ ■ ■ . ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Investigator.) Most of us have met the man who believes the moon is made of green cheese; that there is no base deception m anything and every man is honest We have also read the daily newspaper which publishes almost anything, so long as there is the veriest speck of news value tucked away inside :>a?i attractive trimming of exaggeration— crime \waves, spurious hangmen and supposed archcriminals — quite rigardless of its effect upon the public mind.

LET us .<jgxamlhQ .What is, apparently, the viewpoint of the "Sun" hewspape^s'dh' the- subject of "scoop" stories, pointing out *as delicately as possible, under the provoking circum- _ stances, what a deal of heart-aching laughter they might save their contemporaries. A few weeks ago the Chris.tchu.rch *'Sun" spread itseTf> in its characteristically, v^fifiaint . manner, upon the thrilling 4 diiscoyerjr of Crlppen's executioner/v£n ;""'. ; ■'„'::'■'■, .';.'.' ■ ,'. ■ A :'te^\ tKbnaents of iiriiild reflection, blen^a^witli a; smear of investigation, bHouI4 "haves^pnYincee{ them that the iyas ?a .specious ■humbug With &&\JnventiYe '.- inindi- rbutvthe\ "Sun 1 ' jlikes '^gejtvin^ftratr as ,; ; jt iyere, and ''when -^ -li^^laper- -is'-- in' a .hurry^'to #0 thatp^mere '^foundation is ,of no inomen^Aso: '■'-'■ long' as. the yarn reads frreii. . v ? ■■»;•;. ■■■:-.'>.■', ■■' ■■.■■■■; V. '■■■.■ ■■' 'On July 7 i3, the Apckfand "Sim"; - provided i-.a -feast of nonsense^ made palatable;^ by*, streamer headlines acreechiritfJ^jeuckle'yii-tells-.' the - 'Sun' .wh^jjlie:; broke gaol^' Therein, tfie':- readers? , "intelligence iwas filled witft'avfatubus" diatribe, relating how 'vßuckley- had decided- to ©scape from Mount BdeiiTgaol, because he did not consider his ..eyes were re-, ceiving requisite- attention from the prison medical authorities. •■"'■•. J6hn Buckley, ■"■> : .with ' : '&'.' string of pseudonyms ranging between Herbert X-eslie BucHleyi.or.iThom'pson/i is a vain, aeceit£ul;^atiiintdliigent criminal who de- : light^; '■ {b~ f enshrine^ his deeds m a (blank'et'-pf^false coloring.' ' ..: When^H^w'fpfeUa mysterious letter to th.Qi editor of the. Auckland "Sun," he was ' careful to explain that although the postmark., on the envelope Showed the specious' effusion to have been posted m ChYistchurch, he was actually m anothet;' town at the time. ffiSupet^Raffles Puerile melodrama — and an example of self which never] should have found, its way beyond the hungry mouth of the office wastepaper-x>asket. ihsteadi • it was made the feature story of the day and the method of its presentation fiirnished^the suggestion that Buckley Tvas, a super^Raffles m embryo, when, as a matter of fact, he isr an -inventive malingerer. . In^thls. letter ;he said that hls;&^iasses , •^were 1 ibroken' 'by M chip'; of ;: ; stbrie 'vwhilst v he wais . wbtki^f:;;!^ the :<iuarr^s,. :frag'i! ments^wof 'stope.; finding their lway'into: one of his eyes. . He immediately "ceased work, he saysi.'and'coniplained to the warder, -as the result of which , he' was examined m the gaol surgery, without success. So loud and long were his : complaints thdt^ the prison medico, Dr. Tewslej f ;. also conducted an examination, of the eye, but'he, too, could' find nothingno): could a further medical man disi coyer any foreign bodies m the eye. Buckley's persistence vyas rewarded, however, by his removal ■ to the Auckland public hospital, .yvhere the. ministrations of .j^rv.eye specialist resulted m the extraction of .three small pieces of glass — or ,so said Buckle^./ , "Meantime)'' continued this criniiiia] Munchauseh ' in' his one-and-a-hali columns of misinformation, to .the "jthe specialist told the warder, who. accompanied me ( to the hospital, that I wks to be taken hack to the hospital for "further "treatment;' if the .... pain^in^jnyiv eye;: persisted;: ...'■;■ , '•' , "I complained the next day to the jiuperintendent of the prison that my *y^e still pained. me and' reminded him tHat the eye,. specialist said I was tc #q back for treatment; ■"He did' not answer me, but „a prin-

cipal warder, who was present, said that I was riot to go back to. the hospital for further treatment. "That was enough for me! ' I could see .by this that . the prison officials did not care a — —.if I lost my eyesight or not. I escaped that night. "My intention was to go and see an eye specialist on my. own account, have my eyes attended to, and then stroll back to prison, but owing to an accident to my ankle, (which- occurred while negotiating the prison walls, my plans miscarried .; ; ." „ It was signed: . "The : Victuni of Unjust Accusations, John '.Leslie. Buckley, late Convict 289.!' . : - To say that this letter is the meretricious outpouring of a complacent, inordinately" vairi* criminal, is a statement of unvarnished fact.. ,■ ''■•. 'It is unfortunate that any newspaper should see fit to fill the minds of its readers with such stupid, swaggering inaccuracy. The psychological effect of permitting criminals like Buckley to flaunt their . clumsy escapades before the newspaper-reading public, is •to place a gilded frame around the relation of misdeeds and , to exalt the exploits of some notorious man or woman, providing the stimulus for other criminals to attempt similar exploits. The resultant scuffle for publicity achieves nothing more than unrest among the younger criminals, provoking them to all sorts of endeavors m

the direction which might -bring them within the focus of everyday' news. Buckley, for example, has been declared ah I habitual criminal, despite the fact that he is now only 24 years of age. ' V A painter by occupation, \his plaus- : ible . "demearior. -has enabled him> to dupe a number of people, who had not the faintest suspicion that for-years; he ; has gradually perfected his skill as a Housebreaker.' '• ' , . • ' , In his letter to the ."Sun," he .pro- : tested "against the manner m which the newspapers — your own. included— , ! are connecting my name with all sorts : of 'Penny Dreadful' escapades . . I am made ',6ut to be^a real desper- ' ado ' ':. ■ .■■ ."<•;' ' ■:■.:' . ' / ■■. "■?;'•-'■ :■ '■ , ' : Not at . all. Heaven forbid that "Truth," for instance,, sliquld permit a : vainglorious ' ibraggart like Buckley /to spread' his specious.' gospel through these pages! ■ , .."'. , „■ ; . : " ;. . . •■ Having made clear what, x he had to ' say concerning the supposed circum- ' stances leading to his'. escape from Mount Eden on May 25, it will be well ; ,to relate the true facts. . . . Convicts ' who are working m the . stone quarries, are supplied •with : closely, meshed goggles, to offset any risk attendant upon, flying particles of stone as the picks bite their "way through the solid rock. ' : The Doctor "Knew^ About eight days before Buckfey, escaped, he complained to the warder that a flying chip of stone | had smashed his glasses and said .' x he felf a burning pain m one of his \ ■■ .eyes. - .':- . ■ ":. - y ■'•:.■''■'-.''■'■■- ■■ The warder took hini; along to the I gaol surgery and asked, the. dispenser ] to examirie his... eyes.rfor traces of broken /glass,. well knowing, that the '' presence of small, sharp foreigrj bodies' * beneath the* eyelid, might easily prove serious. ' ■ .'. ; . ' The dispenser lifte.d both eyelids, but could detect no sighs .-of' glass," nor ' anything else .for that so ' Buckley was sent away again.' .Once with, his hands to. the wheel of .] opportiinityi .Buckley -;'.. did : not allow ] them to slip so easily, however,, and no sooner had he re-joined the quarry gang than he commenced a long chain of complaints, being/; finely rewarded by the attention of th'p gaol surgeon. The doctor, subjected 7 Buckley's eyes to a: most careful examination, but with negative result: arid the convict was again sent, .back to <work. , Not one whit deterred, he continued t his murmurings, sayiiig that his eyes t were giving him great pain,' until at | length he was sent to the Auckland , public hospital. . . „,• . .. . His persistence seemed to indicate' ( that he was scheming to de declared • an iri-patien^ of the public. hospital, ( whence he could easily escape, r When the hospital eye specialist examined Buckley's eyes, he found three, . comparatively^ large fragments "of - glass 'beneath one eyelid,: palpably m- | serted • not more than, half an hourv— or, at the most, an hour— before. 1 . "How long hay e . these .^been. m your * eye?" th'e doctor Queried.; • , „, "Five days, sir," was the prompt i Tepl^.;/;;.;u:,V : V/ : .;^:':^:l,I/ :/. ;.,/. , -.■ .? • Knowing human nature ; arid the ly- C

ing susceptibilities of convicts when there is a prospect of successful leadswinging, the doctor was not at all surprised to receive the reply. • "1 see," was his only comment, and immediately he dispatched Buckley back to the gaol. Where Bupkley secured those pieces of glass is not definitely known, but it is not unlikely that he plucked them from the window of his cell or maybe he picked them up from the floor of the quarry workshops. At. all events, it is a remarkable earnest of the lengths to which prisoners, may go m order to enjoy the benefits and comforts of the gaol infirmary—or to effect some plan of escape,. J.t may be imagined that when Buckle'y realized what short shift had been given his little scheme, he was furi.ous, and the next twenty-four hours must have been spent m conniving and working towards a means of escape, deriving satisfaction from the knowledge that the key he had m his possession would rid him of the rigors of prison life and open the gateways to a more pleasant existence outside. The key which he had so carefully secreted was the product of many hours' labor and scheming, even from the soap impression of the lock on his cell .door to the securing of a short, flat length of steel from which he constructed the means of escape/* When he and Frank Bailer, a fellow .convict, had opened the grill doors and .scaled the outer wall of the prison, they were foolish enough to contrive the passage of the key back to_ t anotber friend. Jt was during the process of conveyance ' that Buckley's arduouslywrought instrument' of liberty, fell into the hands of the authorities. : A Total Eclipse ? . So well and so accurately was the ; key wrought that it would open any of the grill doors of Mount Eden gaol, as well as those of another prison. .», ." • A f ew days later, Bailer was recaptured at Birkenhead, but nothing further was heard of his companion until July 16, when he /'worked" a few "jobs" m and around Wellington. Far from being a superRaffles, Buckley's methods were both clumsy and pitiably lacking m forethought. The veriest tyro m crime ' would hesitate' to pawn the proceeds of a recent burglary, but Buckley appeared to rely upon «' his smooth tongue to carry him through an embarrassing situation which a pawnbroker's questions might evoke. " . /. . Detective Jarrold, bade him a polite "Good evening", as he - - entered the doorway of a Willis Street pawnshop, so keen is the police sense of anticipation. Buckley: was astounded, but before le could recover his suave presence of mind he found himself at the central ietecti,ve * office and subsequently m the dock of the Wellington Magistrate's Court, where he was charged svith breaking and entering by night, is well as escaping from Mount Eden. ' . . ■■'> If: will take the full measure of his smooth-tongued eloquence to convince :he'presiding judge at the next session. ?f the Auckland Supreme Court that Buckley had a .cogent reason for )i'eaking from prison— that the real >bject off his escape was to consult an independent eye specialist. ~ ' To the "Sun"\ newspapers we comnerid the suggestion that the publication of dissembling epistles, such, as Buckley's does nothing more, than to nfiame the imagination of youthful iriminals, who might be encouraged to jmulate Buckley's vicious example. , 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111l