George Allen Vowed That He Never Would Be Taken Alive-And He Wasn't

NZ Truth, Issue 1206, 10 January 1929, Page 7

George Allen Vowed That He Never Would Be Taken Alive-And He Wasn't

ALLEN took his life by the hideous means of pressing a shotgun barrel to his temple and pulling the trigger, but the attendant circumstances may not be so baldly related as that, since the last five hours of his life were crammed with consecutive minutes of sensation — violence, armed resistance, threats, danger of asphyxiation and, finally, suicide. Fx*ustrated passion has been known to break down the frail lying between sanity and the living death of an insane asylum, and it may be that the nervous-mental stress placed upon him when his engagement with Dora Beryl Withey was broken off, severed the strands of sanity, already sorely tried by his war experiences over ten years ago, inspiring him to brutally

[ assault her with the butt of the shotgun he used to end his own life. When Allen met Mrs. Withey two years ago she had been twice married. The first husband died, and the second she divorced. At the time. he met her, Allen was a thirty-years-old contractor whose diligence and intelligent application had reaped for him no small degree of success. Their acquaintance ripened into warm friendship and eventually they became engaged. Apart from the somewhat broken tenor of his affection for Mrs. Withey, Allen seemed to be troubled m his associations with a farmer named Clinton, who lived at Maxwell, particularly since the day when the young contractor gave evidence as chief witness for the police against Clinton, who was charged with alleged • sheep stealing and acquitted. Since then Allen's friends had observed in 'him a slight form of eccentricity which had not been apparent before. On one occasion, for instance, it is said that after a number of drinks m a Wanganui hotel, Allen openly boasted that at last he had scored his revenge against Clinton, his former employer. After that he commenced to manifest 'his grievances m a number of strange ways. Looking back upon the brief history of poor Allen's unstable mind now, it seems fairly evident that his faculties began to crumble shortly after the case against Clinton. Not only had he been the prospective husband of Mrs. Withey, but' also was he associated with her m a number of minor business transactions she was able to effect, and it must have been a further

shock to his already failing brain when he and his future wife severed their relationship, and she returned his ring. Before Mrs. Withey leased a small confectionery shop m St. Hill Street she earned a livelihood for herself and her young son by working m various local hotels. When she had saved sufficient capital for the purchase of stock to meet the other requirements for the flotation of a small business, she took over the "Parisian." Allen was associated with her m a number of small enterprises which served as offshoots to the business, but whether he acted merely as an adviser, or as a partner with a financial interest, no one is able to say. . Three months ago 'he was brought before Magistrate Barton, and' charged with having hurled a substantial piece of concrete through the plate-glass window of her shop. When his counsel pleaded that Allen, was truly re-' pentant and would not cause Mrs. Withey any future annoyance, the Bench placed him on probation, strictly oh the understanding that he packed his bag and went into - the country. Allen's repentance did not reduce the misgivings of Mrs. Withey and her friends, however, because Allen had

REJECTED LOVER'S MADNESS . o

Assault On His Former Fiancee Outside Her Shop HELD POLICE AT_BAY WITH GUN Fumes of Ammonia Drove Demented Man To Commit Suicide (From "N.Z. Truth's Special" Wanganui Representative.)

In the half-light which forms the first shroud of dwindling day, a man's figure stole along the sidewalk of St. Hill Street, Wanganui, crept warily into the dusk-enshrouded do orway of a tiny swee,t shop, crouched m the attitude of some forest monster about to spring, and waited. A woman came along the street, crossed the threshold of the shop and was about to enter, when the man raised a heavy weapon and brought it down three times with tremendous force upon her head. Scarcely had the unconscious form settled into a limp heap on the sidewalk before the man had slammed the door and bolted it from the inside. For five hours, policemen and detectives strove by every conceivable artifice to induce the man to leave his stronghold, .but without avail. He vowed he would never be taken alive . . . and he kept his vow.

written a number of threatening letters to her and her parents, who began to fear him. H. West, . Mrs. Withey's father, declares that Allen went so far as to prowl around the West home m Wilsqn Street, causing them no little annoyance, m addition to arousing not altogether unjustified fears for their own safety. .' . . Allen's poor failing mind must have been rapidly breaking up between October and the night on which he ended his life, judging by a number of operations which were highly dangerous m their possibility. Mrs. Withey had a small stall at Spriggen's Park, from which she served ices and- general refresh-

ments to those assembled to watch the various sports there. It is not ' difficult to imagine her consternation one day to find several plugs of gelignite beneath the boar.d.s of the stall. Later, some schoolboys discovered a similar quantity of explosive beneath another stall m Cook's Gardens, also run by Mrs. Withey. When the police were informed of the circumstances, Allen proffered the excuse that he had a prospective fire-wood-splitting job m the country, and because he did not relish the idea of keeping the gelignite at home, he thought it "would be safer m the gardens. The police accepted his explanation, and nothing further was heard of him until Wednesday of last week, when half the telephone receivers of Wanganui were ringing with stories that Allen had run amok with a gun, killing Mrs. Withey, barricading her shop, and

When Constable Mclntosh, the tallest member of the local force, walked up to the tiny window and tried to parley with Allen, he was waved away, but when another constable named Roache, who knew Allen m Feilding, appeared, Allen became more affable. Despite any blandishments which Roache had to offer, however, Allen was adamant. "Come on, George," said the policeman. "Open the door like a good chap, and tell me all about it." "That's all right, Mick. Just leave me alone and don't try to come m here. Friend or foe I'll 'drop' them," retorted Allen, a peculiar glare m his eyes. As he was m a practically unassailable position, since there was no back entrance to the building, and Allen had the front entrance completely covered, the police were temporarily nonplussed, since an attempt at a forced entrance would have meant an unnecessary sac-

not dead, and advised him not to be foolish and to come out quietly, but Allen seemed convinced that he had killed the woman, and refused to move an inch. ■ When night cast its blanket over the street, Allen switched on all the lights, then resumed his seat at the window, sitting like some huge cat of Bubastes, watching . . . watching . . . and waiting- for some surprise move he expected from outside. When nightfall came a more acute apprehensiveness on the part of the police, who feared that the constantly closing-in mob of curious, eager people might suffer death or some frightful injuries from the lethal tubes m the hands of Allen, who might have taken it into his head suddenly to open, the

door and fire into the closely vredgedin ranks. Various preventive measures were discussed, and at length the police, telephoned to Superintendent Williams, of the fire brigade, with the consequence that a fire engine was brought to the front of the shop, the hose attached to the nearest hydrant, and two men stationed at the valve to turn on the water at full pressure,' if necessary. Then it was decided to make an attempt at overcoming Allen with ammonia, and a hurried search through nearby establishments began. A few bottles were procured, but it was evident that the contents jOf these would prove hopelessly inadequate for the purpose, so the police cast about m their minds for the location of a quantity sufficient to achieve the end m view. Within a few minutes a police car was hurriedly dispatched to Imlay freezing works, where a large cylinder of ammonia, was secured, together with sufficient piping to precipitate the fumes into the building. Under cover of .darkness a hole of sufficient size for the insertion of the piping was cut m the wall. While this was' being done Detective Walsh continued talking with Allen, who on several occasions seemed suspicious, enquiring: "What's the garnej eh?" When everything was ready— piping inserted, cylinder m position; and tap adjusted m readiness- — Walsh received the signal to keep clear, a. valve was turned, and there was a sudden rush of deadly ammonia fum.es through the nozzle.

1 Within a remarkably short period the deadly, choking fumes had penetrated the little building and filtered

the firemen's hose, which transformed the rushing-, surging crowd of morbidly curious men and women into a shrieking-, dismayed bunch .of bedraggled citizens who yelled at the tops of their voices. During the five hours which had elapsed since Allen had assaulted Mrs. Withey, the woman was taken to the hospital, where she was operated upon by Dr. Hutchison, who feared cerebral pressure. According- to the latest reports from the hospital, Mrs. Withey is making good progress. On Monday, Coroner J. S. Barton held, an inquest on Allen. ' His ' verdict was that of suicide while under acute mental anxiety.