The Hawera Robberies.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7755, 6 March 1905, Page 2

The Hawera Robberies.

Arrests in Hew Plymouth. j THE CAPTIVES AHMED WITH I REVOLVERS. !t AN EXCITING ENCOUNTER, c An exciting episode occurred in t town on Saturday afternoon, when c Detective Benjamin, with the assist- f ance of plain-clothes Constable Do S Loree, smartly effected the capture i of two men inquired for in connec- ; tion with robbery at Ila were. i | ihe Hawera polite got on the 1 J track of some suspects, only 10 find i that they had decamped for New : Plymouth, with Ihe evident intention of proceeding on to Auckland. Ad- 1 I vice was at once sent by telegraph : to the New Plymouth police, and n doscription'of the parties suspected forwarded. Detective Jlcnjamin took up the matter, and inquiries elicited the intelligence that the men and ' their consorts arrived here by Fri- I day night's mail train, ami put up at the Trocadero in Egmont Street. The men's whereabouts were not discoverable on Saturday morning, as they had left the hostelry immediately after breakfast, but they returned in the afternoon, and the detective and the constable located ! , them at the Trocadero at between! I 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The ' representatives of the law had the J unwelcome visitors searched and : unarmed before they were on their ' guard, and then proceeded to put I I "the darbies" on their prisoners, on I whose person sufficient was found to identify them with the two "wanted." IjOne of the two apprehended, who subsequently gave the name of 'Edward Black, alius Maynon, aged I about 28, was found to have an unloaded revolver and loose cartridges in his pocket, while his associate, who gave the name of Frank Bol- ; ton, and is about 24 years of age, ■ had in his possession a loaded six- ' chambered revolver. It was a for- I | tunate circumstance that the police so dexterously relieved the men of ' these dangerous toys before proceeding to take them into custody, us both prepared to resist arrest.' A violent place, in which Black, the more powerful of the two, ■ proved a very tough opponent for Detective Benjamin, who has shown himself more than a match for many a criminal. During the mclec which took place in the sitting-room, the tabic and other articles of furniture were overturned, and a large flower . vase smashed. Black was at length [ overpowered and manacled with '.he aid of the constable, the other and . younger prisoner giving in without . much trouble. Whether from brava- . do or otherwise, Black boastfully re- . marked that if he had retained his revolver he "would have repeated the , Ellis trick." . I The two women who accompanied . Black and Bolton arrived on the scene just ufter the arrest, one sob- , ' bing bitterly. They were also taken > into custody, but, beyond wearing I some articles presumed to be among , the stolen goods, there is nothing to connect ~ thorn with a knowledge of the depredations. The women, who are young and not unprepossessing, gave the names of Elizabeth * ,CS i-11 and Florence Greeks, and tire 'believed to have come from Palmer- [ Ston. ' | The four prisoners were escorted ! to the police station in a cab, and formally charged with breaking into 1 the premises of Frederick Vastens, n:'t " Hawera, and stealing therefrom. As [ a- quantity of jewellery and various ' goods considered to be stolen pro- " perty were found in their luggage, " other robberies may also be traced : to the two men. On Monday morning the quartette will be brought up * at the Police Court, and formally remanded to Hawera.

i Black, according to the police, is an old hand at the game, having several convictions recorded against him for various offences', but nothing is known locally against Bolton. In going through the luggage the discovery was made of some dynamiee and fuse, useful, it may be surmised, for safebreaking purposes. The police arc to be complimented on their arrest.