The Attempt to Rob a Bank. A Lady Shot Dead.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 139, 30 January 1886, Page 6

The Attempt to Rob a Bank. A Lady Shot Dead.

A daring attempt was made on the 12th instant to rob one of the Colling wood branches of the Commercial Bank of Australasia. The attempt to commit a robbery proved futile, but it was attended with a sad result in the shooting to death of the landlady of the bank premises. This morning the manager, Mr Hill, took* money, consisting of notes, gold, and' silver, to the amount of £333 9s 3d, in a small black bag, and proceeded to open the bank in Hoddle - street ir. the usual manner. He placed the bag upon the counter, and laid his revolver, which he invariably carried, alongside it. He was engaged in reading an article in the "Insurance and Banking Record " when he| instinctively turned his head in the direc-: tion of what appeared to be a shadow at the! front door, and before he had time to leave his seat four young men of the larrikin type etole quietly in. They were in a Btooping position, and were half hidden by the high counter. Closing the door they demanded the cash in the bank, and by the time Mr Hill had recovered from the sudden surprise the four men were up to the end of the counter. He seized his revolver, which was about 6 feet away, and presenting it at the men, he fired, but the ball must have passed over their heads, for the next thing that Mr Hill remembers was being seized by one of the men at the end of the counter furthest from the door. This man placed his arm round Hill's neck, and with the other held the hand back which grasped the revolver. A struggle ensued, and the next thing that Hill remembers is getting free and firing: at what he took to be a man coming through the doorway with an iron bar in his hand. The three men had evidently become frightened when they heard the click of the revolver, which had missed fire twice, and they beat a hasty retreat. By this time a few persons who had been attracted by the noise gathered round the door, and Hill's single assailant, Avho had been left by his comrades during the stru( gle, said " Don't shoot ; I am your friend ; I am assisting you " In the excitement of the moment Hill followed him to the door, aud let him go. It was then for the first time that he learned that a woman had been shot during the firing. Some of the neighbours removed the body, which was afterwards found to be that of Mrs Ravenscroft, the landlady inside the house. Dr M'Farlane, of Johnson-street, was on the spot within a few minutes, but on examination he pronounced life to be extinct. The ball had entered the left side of her skull above the ear, crashed through the brain, and came out immediately over the left eye. At the inquest on the body, three men, Alfred Beale, Isaac Hopkin?, and Jame3 Murray, who are charged with the attempted robbery, were present in custody. The following confession by Hopkinp, on which the police were enabled to arrest the other prisoners, was put in :—": — " Collingwood, January 18, 1886. — I was in company with Alfred (surname unknown), whom I met in Little Bourke street. He asked me if I was on for a good thing. I eaid, eYes ' He said, ' There ia about £100 a- piece. It is a case of stickingup a bank newly started.' We came up Little Bourke street to Colling wood, and he pointed out tho bank which it was intended to stick up. We proposed to do it on the Tuesday. We went back to town, and wo made arrangements to meet on Monday. I then left and went to Williainstown. 'Alf has got two pulling boats. I worked one of them I saw him as arranged, on Monday. Ho asked me if ] knew- of anyone else that would go with us. After we had knocked about for an hour he then left. I met him again on Thursday morning. He asked me if I knew of anyone elee to join us. I said I did not know of anyone in particular. We were then coming up to do it ourselves. We met Jem Murray in Stephen-street. I asked Alf if he would do. He said *Yes.' He told me to go and ask him to come. I asked him if he was on for a good thing. He said, 'Yes.' Alf came over and told him what it was. He agreed to go. We came straight away to Collingwood, and then went to get the things. I went to get a cake of tobacco. We then met at the corner of Gipps street. Murray went up to have a look at the place. When he came back we went to the Laird o'Cockpen Hotel, and had three drink?. We then went straight up to the bank. The three of ub went in together. Alf presented the revolver at the manager and said: 'Bail up.' Murray had the toma hawk, and I had the auger. The bank manager rushed for his* revolver, and fired a shot. After that Alf dropped his revolver and went down on his knees. There were two or three shots fired. Murray rushed out of the door, and I went after him. I dropped the auger, and he dropped the tomahawk. Wo left Alf in the bank.' I saw a woman outside the bank door as I left. I ran down Hoddlestreet, and turned into Hood-street through a vacant piece of land, and was caught by a man on horseback, . and brought back to the bank. Neither of the other two was in custody when I came back, as I looked around the ckqwcU"