MIDNIGHT IS YOUR LAST HOUR

NZ Truth, Issue 1263, 13 February 1930, Page 11

MIDNIGHT IS YOUR LAST HOUR

1^ ' "* ■■■'„■ |V V, .■*■ •" " TOM*-* ... GROTESQUE THREATS 4» Weird and Eerie Epistle Signed With Cross of Blood

"AVENGER'S" HASH SETTLED

(From "Ijf.Z. Truth's" Special Sydney Representative)

"The Avenger" is dead, the "Demon" lies grovelling- m the dirt, while the "Fifth Ace" has crashed to his doom! And the peace-loving suburb of Marrickville is rid of one of the most extraordinary human nuisances it has ever known.

HIS conviction by- Mr. Laidlaw, S.M., at Central Court, Sydney, on a charge of sending by post letters containing words of a grossly offensive character printed above those aweinspiring nom-de-plumes will surely bring him to his senses. For reasons which were not explained m the court proceedings Samuel McGill Land, aged 24, a wellknown milk and ice vendor m Marrickville sat down on the morning of January 10 with a pen and writing pad and some extraordinary mental machinations produced the following epistle. BEWARE MIDNIGHT IS YOUR LAST HOUR. REMEMBER midnight. Your Doom is' Sealed. Death stalks you m the dreary, hours. Death lurks m the dai'kness (MIDNIGHT). The' Vital moment arrives Avhen the clock strikes. MIDNIGHT is the hour when the spirits walk. , AT this hour everything is solemn, and the dead soul leaves the earth to return no more. HAUNTING faces and maniacal laughs leer at you. You live m the peril of DEATH TERROR. Shapeless, terrible, flabby, dark forms fill you with weird and terrifying screams haunt you. The distant moaning of one, in'pain chills you. Having produced the masterpiece Lang; proceeded to make two duplicates of it. One he addressed to his own sister, Nurse Sloan, and signed it "The Avenger," another to his -former sweetheart, Margaret Strachan;, and signed it with a cross of blood.

The . original he addressed to John West, a lad who lived opposite him, which he signed "The Demon, The Avenger, The sth Ace." /'Beware, Midnight is your last hour Sounds." Lang also scribbled these words and posted them to "Mrs. S. Lang, care Mrs. Wright, 22 Ruby Street, Marrickville," but the magistrate did not regard them as offensive so dismissed the charge relating to that particular letter. All the letters were posted at 11 a.m., but at what post.offlce an official from the G.P.O. could riot swear. Constable H.JT. Beveridge, of vMarrickville, told flow he had gone to a room m Ruby Street/ where Lang lived, on January 10, and there saw Lang and told him he had a warrant for his arrest for wife desertion. According to the constable, Lang replied: "Very well. Wait until I write a note to" Mr. Wright so as I will be able to get bail." Writing Pad Clue When Langr got his writing pad out the astute constable noticed the heavy imprint of writing on the pad — it was the imprint of the writing of the mysterious letters, two of which by that time had reached their destination. In fact, the constable had but a few *Vninutes before been handed one of them and it was at that moment m his pocket. Lang was taken to the police ; > station m connection with the warrant for wife desertion, and subsequently a charge of sending offensive letters was preferred against him. "On January 3 5," continued the constable, "at Central Police Station I showed Lang two letters — one addresspd to Nurse' Sloan and the other to Miss Strachan. I said to him: 'One of these letters is addressed to Miss Straohan. whom, I understand, you wore keeping company with, and the other to Nurse Sloan at Bankstown.' "He replied:" 'Yes, she is a sister of mine and she is n. nurse. Wait 'till T get her m the box and I will give her some hurry-up!' " Eva Evplyn West,, of Riiliy Street, Marrickville, sn.M she was tV>« mother of John Henry West. She said she received a letter addressed to her son on January 10 — m the afternoon. She' had known Lang for about 12 months as he supplied her with ice and butter. ApVerl tn Marry John Henry West, a 17-VPars-olfl lad. said he had known Long for three years. He had been m his employ for over two weeks "off siding" op the milk cart, but he left the job because Lang would not pay him. 1 "Or| two occasions since then Lang challenaed me to fight. hut I did not accept" young West added. TClsip May Wright, who also lives m Ruby Street, said that she had rereived thr> letter addressed to Mrs. Lang m her letter-box, and she immediately handed it to Constable Beveridge. Mr. Roarh (tor Lang) : Do you know Mrs. Lang? — Yes. Where is she now? — I don't know. As a matter of fact she was a boarder with you, was she not? — No, she wasn't. ' How long have you known Lang? — for nine years. Margaret Strachan, an attractive little English girl, said that she lived with her parents m May Street, St. Peters. She had known Lang for 14 weeks. *. Constable O'Leary (police proiecntor>: And dm-iner that time did h» make any suggestion to j'ou? — Tesi he asked me to marry him. And did you become engaged? — Well . . . er . . . (coyly) Verbally only. And then what happened? — I. broke it off when I found out h© was married. Are you known by any other name than Strachan? — Yes, as Margaret Gains, which is the name of my stepfather. * The Magistrate: Were you frightened by -this letter? — Yes, when I suspected it came from him. An Old Friend Mary Gilmore Sloan, a nurse and sister of Lang, said she was a widow living m Rickard Road, Bankstown. She received the letter from her brother hot from the hands of the postman on the afternoon of January 10. As soon as she saw it she recognised her brother's handwriting. In reply to Constable O'Leary, Mrs. Sloan said that she would not sleep out after receiving the letter. "But I'm not afraid of him if he is on his own," she added. To Mr. Roach, the nurse said that she had been Lang's only friend for years. - But haven't #ou promised to "even things up with him?" — No. Didn't you have a disagreement with him over Miss Strachan? — No. At this stage the case relating to the letter to Mrs. Lang was dismissed. Lang went into the witness-box and swore that he did not write the letters. His defence was that some other people had got into his room and used his pad for writing the letters. He even named several young men who could have got into his room and used his pad. Lang also denied that he had asked Miss Strachan to marry him. The magistrate could not accept that, and convicted Lang, fining him £5, with £5/1/- posts. Lang was allowed three months to pay. "The inference is irresistible that you are the person who sent the letters through the post to these four people, although the evidence ia largely circumstantial." said the magistrate, addressing Lang.

Are there any convictions recorded against him, sergeant? Continuing:, the magistrate said the grotesque matter m these letters was offensive, and although it Avould not affect him, it might have had an effect on the mind of the women who received them. "He is liable to a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment under the Act. And he could be fined £100 m each case." ( In response to inquiries by the bench it was elicited that defendant is a milkman m Marrickville, and he is buying his run. Also that he is living apart from his wife. It was stated that he had forced her out of the "house by his conduct, and that she is at present an inmate of a hospital. When Mr. Laidlaw decided to fine defendant, he asked for six months m which to pay it, but the bench rather indignantly remarked: "I will not give] you six months to pay. Tori can't go writing letters like that and 'expect to get away with it."