A MOTORING MYSTERY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 25, 23 February 1909, Page 4

A MOTORING MYSTERY.

An extraordinary motor-car mystery is reported from Wales. Alias Violet CJiarlesworth, a young lady of 24, was driving one moonlight night alo;ig the •coast between. Conway and Penwaeu•mawr. Her sister and the chauffeur

were foiwid lying in a dazed condition near the edge, of the road, ia a place •whl'ie it skirt* a cliff, with a drop of sonic fifty feet to the beach. They told •with dillk-ully a story of the ear swerving suddenly, crashing through the thick •granite, wall at the side oj the road, aud •of Atiss Violet being Swiftly hurled •through the glass wind-screen of the •car aud over the cliff. Here were all •the elements of a terrible tragedy. People clambered down the rocks to the shore to rescue the body, but no body was seen. There, were no murks on, the

rocks asid no traces of blood. The water was only a foot deep. All that was found was a tam-o'-shanter aud a notebook. Still, am accident might conoci'vably have happened without any other traces being left. But Die whofo thing soon wore a very suspicious appearance. Out of consideration for the ■feelings of the sister of the victim and chauffeur, who appeared greatly upset, ■the police officer in charge of the case allowed them to go away without questioning them closely, intending to interview them next day. But next day he found that they had gome home without making any detailed statement. Then it occurred to people that a motor-car that had hit a massive granite wall with sufficient force to knock il down must show some considerable damage as a result of the impact. AstO'iiishiiiig to relate, the car was quite undamaged, and was taken away with its own power. The mudguards were Intact, .and the lamps'unbroken. But the wind-screen was certainly smashed, the wall certainly had a, hole hi it, and the girl was certainly

missing. The explanation generally accepted, according to latest advices, was ■that the accident wa's built up lor the occasiou. The Charlesworth sisters, who were the daughters of a rural postman, lived in a most extravagant style. ,Miss Violet had taken sundry shooting lodges aud country houses in England and Scotland for a period of years. She kept valuable dogs and motor-cars, possessed splendid diamonds, and had heavy accounts' with the tradespeople and

stockbrokers in the City. Some papers did not hesitate to say that her financial embarrassments were the reason for the disappearance, and nobody believed that she was lost over the cliff. '