A MELBOURNE SENSATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1915, Page 6

A MELBOURNE SENSATION.

BURGLARY AND MURDER AT THE TRADES HALL. Constable David McGrath was shot dead by robbers in the Trades Hall at about half-past 2 o'clock yesterday morning (says the Melbourne Argus of October 2). Three men are now under arrest, charged with the murder; two of them are in the Melbourne Hospital with bullet wounds, sustained in an encounter with the police after the murder of McGrath; the third is in the Melbourne Gaol. The names of these men are Richard Buckley, 51 years of age, John Jackson, 50 years of age, and Alexander Ward, 51 years of age.

The story of the affair is one of great courage on the part of Constable McGrath, Senior-Constable Dent, and Sub-Inspector McKenna. It was the "2 o'clock in the morning courage," which has been regarded as the best of all—a kind of cool gallantry which the police may be called upon to show at any time, and which, to their credit, they usually show.

At about a quarter past 2 o'clock, Constable Warren, on duty in Victoria street, near the Trades Hall, heard a sound of hammering from the building. Almost as he noticed it, Sub-Inspector McKenna arrived on his round. Warren remained on watch while McKenna went to the Russell street barracks for reinforcements. Senior-constable Dent and Constable McGrath returned with him, and the three forced an entrance through a window on the right-hand side of the front steps. They searched the lower floor and switched on the lights. Inside the main vestibule is a circular well, surrounded, on the second floor, by a guard rail and wooden banisters. The police saw moving shadows behind the banisters, and Dent and McGrath mounted the stairs. Dent went into rooms of the. Typographical Society. McGrath went down the corridor which leads to the council room. As Dent entered the room he heard McGrath call out, "Who's there? We are the police." Iniediately afterwards a fusillade of shots rang out. Dent rushed to the help of his comrade. As he did so a man slipped past him and made for the stairs. Dent fired, and the fire was returned. This man had a handkerchief over the lower part of his face. He and Dent exchanged shots until the man disappeared on the lower floor. Knowing that McKenna was below, Dent turned to find McGrath, As he did so, a second man rushed for the stairs, and Dent fired again. This man also returned the fire. Dent, then went towards the council room, and, lying on his back, just before the entrance, was McGrath. Dent spoke to him, but he was too far gone to speak. Dent heard further shots below. McGrath was breathing with difficulty, and was obviously flying. Meanwhile Sub-inspector McKenna had gone through towards the back entrance —the old Lygon street entrance, on the ground floor. He heard the shots above, and almost immediately two men I rushed into view, making for this exit. He called, "Staiid, or I fire." One man fired at him, the other immendiately fell, as McKenna believes, from the fire of the man behind. This was Jackson, i The other man doubled back, and for the moment disappeared.

By this time other police had:appeared on the scene guarding the exit, watching the building from all sides, and searching the rooms. Amongst these were Constable Hoban and Hillman, and O'Reilly. Hoban and Hillman found a second man crouched under a f6rm in the room of the Amalgamated Carpenters' Union. He was bleeding from a wound in the chest, high up under the collarbone, and another in the leg. . It was Buckley. Jackson was shot in the thigh, and had a broken ankle. There a third man in the building. He had no hope of escape by the doors. But, if he dared a leap from the upper uoor of the building on to the lawn in front, he might escape. He climbed out through one of the windows of the textile workers' room, and stepped upon the cornice, vhicli is aboiio 15in wide, Working along till he was over the lawn, lie was seen by the police from the street and from inside the building, and was immediately covered by their revolvers. He was dragged inside, and taken to the watchhouse, where two charges were entered against hi in—one of murder, the other of having been illegally on the Trades Hall premises.

THE PRINTER'S SAFE. . On the night of Eight Hours Day, thieves unknown—but guessed at by the Criminal Investigation Departmententered ithrough the old Lygon, street entrance, forced the window of the carpenters' room, and stole over £4OO, the takings for the day, from the secretary's office. On this occasion the mode of entry was exactly the same. The door was left unbarred, and the thieves forced the carpenters' window with a twojointed jemmy. Their objective was the safe, in the rooms of the Typographical Society, 011 the upper floor. The door of this room was forced in the same way—the jemmy was found inside. Then the shelves were dismantled, the. boards being used, together with pamphlets and books, to make a bed for the safe, which would deaden the sound of work'ng and act as a support. The safe, was tilted face downwards, at an angle, resting upon a chair and supported by tiie boards. A steel saw was brought into action, and one of the upper back corners sawn off, by the light of a candle in a cardbox, which screened the light from the street—the blinds having also been pulled down. Then, with immense labour, the back of the safe was ripped clown one side, and the cut was being carried 011 along the bottom when the hammering attracted tho attention of Constable Warren. Inside the safe was the treasure which had caused the death of a brave man and had put three men into gaol upon a charge of murder. It was miserably inadequate to the result it had effected—about £2O. The work of the safebreakers must have taken over an hour. After entering the Lygon street gate the burglars had barred it against entry,

SIGNS OP BATTLE, The Trades Hall vestibule and atair--case show many signs of the fusillade, and the bullet marks in tho walls and woodwork suggest that over 20 shots were flrcil. Piaster and cement are chipped from the walls, the balustrade is chipped, and two of the banisters around the well, in the upper story, are pierced by bullets, showing that" Constable Dent had |a fairly narrow escape or two from the return fire of the burglars. The room of the Typographical Society is a wreck, and the bloodtrails of the wounded men and the spot where poor McGrath gasped out his life, with two bullets in his lungs, give ghastly evidence of the battle. Insi4e the Typographical Spciety's room were found « jemmy, a chisel, an automatic pistol, gad a steel

On the way to the Hospital, Constable MePherson asked Jackson who' fired first—the police or their prisoner*. "They fired first," said 'Jackson; "and when a man is fired' at he must fire i back," The three men now under' charge for the murder of McGr&th are builders' labourers. One of them (Buckley) is a member of the union, which has rooms lat the Trades Hall, and there •is rea- | son to believe that another one (Ward) also belongs to the union. WARD BEFORE COURT. Pew people in the City Court yester* flay were aware of the desperate encounter earlier in the morning, or that one of the men arrested by the police— Alexander Ward —was then in a cell adjoining the court, waiting to be called on a charge of murder. Ward was put into the prisoner's dock about a 'quarter past 10 o'clock, and formally charged - With having been found by night In the Trades Hall with intent to commit a felony, and with having wilfully/murdered McGratli. Ward, who looked an*- ' ious, was shabbily diessed.

Sub-Inspector O'Brir-n said, that at about 2 o'clock on Friday morning Ward and two other men were found inside the Trades Hail. The three were armed. When the police attempted to secure them the men fired on them, .the resltlt being that Constable McGrath was shot dead. The police returned the fire, and two of tho men were wounded. Both were now in Melbourne Hospital. An inspection of the offices of the. Trades Hall show ed that a safe in one of the offices had been disturbed and damaged, Constable M. Tully said that he wos at the Trades Hall short I v after 2 o'clock on Friday morning. Police surrounded the building. After waiting some time, he heard .shots fired, and Immediately afterwards n nun passed out pi"'a window overlooking Victoria street, on the upper story.. -The man proved to be Ward. He .scrambled, nlong a ledge for some distance, and stopped. In company with Senior-Const;!hie Dent and fTßcilly, Tully went upstairs, and agisted to pi'll Ward back into the building, where he was handcuffed. Ward possessed a revolver, which was loaded .in one chamber. Mr. Dwyer, P.M. (to Wardl: Have yon anything to say? Ward: No: nothing. Sub-inspector (TBrion viid th».t the other two men. in the hospital, were too seriously wounded to appear in Court. It would he necessary to obtain the remand of Ward Tor eight dav« and probably a further remand would bs sought. Ward wus remanded, till Friday next, DISAPPEARANCE OF KKV«. , About two weeks a?o a bynd'o 0i keys, which would fit the whole of the lock-- of the doors of the ofHces in the Trades Hall, disappeared. The charwoman, who wa-i en;ja?eJ in another portion of the building, left the l.evs in the door of the Furniture Trader Union o.lieq at about 8 o'clock in the morniuy, and in a few minutes thev were removed. They were afterwards found in the dgor of the secretary's office, A strange fea. turo was that on the night pievio'isly Mr. Gray, the secretary, discovered that a Yale lock on his office door had been '"snibbed" back. An enquiry, in wh.'ci the police assisted, .\v.n held'by 'the building committee of the Trades Hall, and the conclusion wa: arrived at that the keys were not- i:>Un with fe!onipu> intent. As a precaution, hpwever, pat* ent catches were allixed to the locks of all union offices, for which duplicate k»vs were originally in existence. This sten was considered necessary, awing to the favt that in most of the union offices sums of money, ranging from £5 to £SO representing contributions, were frequently left overnight in email iron sales.