THE GREYMOUTH OUTRAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1919, Page 6

THE GREYMOUTH OUTRAGE.

•ATTACK ON A POLICE OFFICER'S. HOUSE. Details are given by a special corres.'pondent of the attempt recently made at, Greymoutk to blow up the house of Senior-Sergeant Simpson, of the local police force. Thu rear of the house, after the explosion, resembled a building that hadbeen bombed by an aeroplane. Senior-Sergeant Simpson stated that lu was awakened by the sound of the. explosion, breaking glass, and the swaying of the house on its foundations. Thei pictures in every room were thrown from: the walls, while every piece of crockery wis smashed and a glass door in the: ball, some distance from the: origin- of* tlie explosion, was cracked. j There was chaos in the kitchen,. The back wall, which, is at the rear of the bouse, was literally splintered, solid, folic by two studs being torn out of their.'! positions and hurled across the room; to the opposite wall. The mantelpiece { was loosened and hanging, while a back window was blown clean out, the broken;; glass being scattered all over the yard. There was a strong cupboard against the wall in the kitchen, this wall being the partition between the kitchen and tie bedroom occupied by Mrs. Simpson,! euid an infant. The front of the cupboard was broken in by some of the debris, which was thrown across the room, and had it not been for this cupboard it is certain that several pieces of four by two timber would have penetrated the wall into Mm Simpson's room. There was a quantity of glass and crockery in this cupboard, and nothing was left whole, the way in which the cupboard was wrecked indicating the force with which the timber must have been thrown.

The charge was apparently placed in the angle formed by the brick kitchen chimney and the wall of the house, while it would be further confined by a large water tank standing close to the chimoey. The charge was, therefore, enclosed by the tank and the chimney, and placed close up against the wall. ,The exact position of the charge was shown by a piece of brick which was blown off the chimney. On the inside, up against the rear wall, was a bench and which | was torn away and thrown on the floor, the woodwork being splintered. An iron foal scuttle was flattened out as though it were tin, and- a poker was forced through it. The water taps and the pipes were broken clean off—in fact, the floor of the kitcfiefi was completely covered with rubbish.

| Apparently the perpetrator of the outrage had a fuse attached to the charge in order to allow him to make his own escape. The condition of the house as a result of the explosion indicated fairly that a big charge of explosive must have been used, and the fact that the explosion was heard at such a great distance also suggests a big charge. In Tainui Street the detonation sounded like a signal of distresy given by a ship at sea. The result of the explosion was serious enough, as Mrs. Simpson was suffering from nervous collapse, but hay now recovered. Had the debris penetrated the wall which separated the room from the kitchen the consequences would certainly have been much more serious. It is evident that the deed was carried out with criminal intent, but it is fortunate that the inmates escaped injury. There is no obviouy motive for the crime, which, however, must have been performed by someone witli access to a supply of explosives. It is stated that this if) the first j occasion in New Zealand upon which an' attempt has been made on the residence of a poliqe Officer. There seems no reason why Senior-Sergeant Simpson should he selected for the perpetration of this outrage, as he iy very popular with all with whom he comes into contact in the execution of his duties.

Dynamiting police officials is said to be not uncommon in some quarters of America, but it is to be regretted that such an incident should have occurred in New Zealand.