MOTORING PARTY HELD UP BY MASKED MEN

NZ Truth, Issue 1201, 6 December 1928, Page 7

MOTORING PARTY HELD UP BY MASKED MEN

! : ■ ■ - ' ' ■• HENDERSON and his ; party had been attending .the races at Te > , - ,Kuiti, , and- aftfer the meeting they set out on a leisurely, return to Auckland.. Henderson's". ' car,' a flyeaeater. Dddge Sedan, was occupied on leaving To Kuitl by the party of five Who ..were ' held Up, and 'H'ilrry Goldfinch, another jockey. • , The i journey before reaching;, the scene of the outrage was an'uneventful'one^ I • . i' ' "•■ . ; :• Goldfinch appeared to have enlivened the company with ■ his banter,lng\ remarks about the risk of a puncture, and there was no thought, m any of their minds : that - before ■ the night' was through they would have something more' exciting than a puncture to b/other t about. . > - ... ■ ■■> • ■.• > ■ ' • Goldfinch was dropped at 1 Taka- ■ nini, about twelve miles from, the •spot wherethe hold-up, men were '.waiting. He left his. companions with ; a jocular remark. that he- • hoped something- would happen to 7 them., " ; ' . This prophetic utterance was greeted .with laughter 'and. the' car. continued its' journey to Auckland. . The purring, of the engine had < by this time lulled !Len. Mahson to sleep. JEle'.and. his brother and Holland were m the back of" the car, and Len. knew nothing. ..more, until he was, dragged but into the road by one of the bandits. ."\ ' ' ■■■'„- -' ■"Travelling at., a fair .speed, the car reached. the Westfieid Freezing' Works, which stand back from the .Great South Road v Almost opposite the works, a. new .concrete road bridge is In ' course of construction, and to facilitate the passage of vehicular traffic a deep cutting skirts the bridge on the freezing works side." The temporary roadway is very narrow, and there is barely enough room for two cars to pass comfortably. „ ; . This was the spot the gun-men had selected- for the hpldU -P-" . ; .' ■/' .' '"■■'■' ■"'■'> ...As he approached the .-• entrance • t.o the deviation, Henderson slowed down ais is customary when a ! cat\ is passing tTiiro.ugh,- He then saw an obstruction across the road and pulled up. . . ; Barely had he done so, when a v-man, armed, with a i torch, and a pistol, and with.his face .completely concealed .behind a 'black 'crepe mask, jumped on to' the running board, pressed, the re- " volyer against his ribs, and ordered him to put the car into second gear : and drive on slowly. Simultaneously another man, -similarly masked .and armed, jumped on to the running board on the other side of 'the car; and kept the occupants covered by his revolver. Almost breathless with amazement, Henderson put the car into second gear. Mrs. Henderson, who had been dozing, felt the car pull up and she awoke with a start, to see the two masked figures hovering 1 over her.. The gun-man on the side opposite to the driving wheel had the muzzie of his -gun pointed at the back of Holland's head, and Mrs. Henderson thought that murder was m the air. She appealed to them not to shoot. "Take all we have got, but for the