Evening Despatch from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 5

EVENING DESPATCH THURSDAY 31 IT'S ONLY PURPLE STAIN By Walsh Daring we PoStmam tS EARUY IhiS MORAiWQ Escape he seem Allan asked he anxious for you to hit up the Not said the chauffeur confidently I never saw anyone cooler in my life I saw that because I looked at hint carefully after he told me it was motor-bandits that had tried to get him He turned a They were nearing the lower end of Regent-street by this The police car had gone on in one stream of traffic and by the time the other car came to Piccadilly Circus the way was barred xu lei tne East-West traffic go past Now step on Allan urged the chauffeur as soon as they were signalled to proceed I want you to make up the distance The Escape He was unprepared for what happened The chauffeur suddenly accelerated At almost the same moment and so suddenly that his purpose was accomplished before anyone was aware of what he meant to do he threw open the door and literally hurled himself through the opening to the roadway Naturally the car released from control swerved over and collided with a bus before Allan could manage to wrest the steering-wheel round He succeeded in bringing it to a stop with no other damage than a bent and dented radiator though with a little less luck the damage might have been serious to its occupants as well as to the car There followed the xisual hold-up and questionings by the nearest policeman and one of the detectives spoke to the constable while Allan sought for some trace of the chauffeur Quite a number of people had seen the man tumble out of the open door all were sure that he had picked himself up apparently unhurt but there definite information of any sort ceased abruptly No one seemingly had any idea where the man had gone to no one remembered clearly which direction he pad taken That in itself was quite understandable for the attention of everyone had been diverted almost immediately from the man to the collision Allan swore softly under his breath and went hack to the damaged car One of the detectives had already made a swift examination and had come to the conclusion that the only damage to the car had been to its looks At any rate its engines were sufficiently intact to run the rest of the way to the Yard What Has Happened Scotland Yard lighting a blackmailing Criminal organisation called the Purple Stain" which haa already victimised Inspector Fenner whose death is announced Septimus Rarstone a rich man irons whom money is demanded is kid napped but through a letter his daughter Edith receives Allan Dale of Scotland Yard is able to rescue him While the house is being searched Dale ees at a window the iace of Amos Menton a retired crook whom the Purple Stain is trying to force back into crime Dale calls on Barstone and is told that the Purple Stain had given him 48 hours in which to pay Martin Cranby a rich man is also threatened He wakes one night to find a masked man pointing a revolver at him and is forced to sign a cheque He is warned not to leave the house until 10 am nest morning Martin Cranby goes to the bank before ten and draws a large stun At the bank an attempt to arrest him is made He escapes in a car which when overtaken by the police contains only the chauffeur who pleads innocence somewhere in one of the network of back streets off Shaftesbury Avenue but the chances were that the man would be miles away before the police were able to comb the neighbourhood At the Yard he found Major Hilary and the real Martin Cranby awaiting him and crestfallenly related what had occurred To his surprise both men accepted the situation rather jhilo-sophicallv They had already got in touch with the bank and learnt what had happened there I see that to said Cranby to Allen did your best Were you the man who was watching me last night through the Allan gasped in bewilderment He stared from one to the other utterly and completely puzzled I thought it was a piece of Cranby rattled on you know cne of the pipes that usually run down on one of the outside walls Qf a house But this morning when I came to look 1 found that 1 must have been mis He stopped abruptly puzzled in his turn as he chanced to glance up and catch sight of face sorry Mr the suave voice of the Assistant-Commissioner broke in Dale knows nothing of that part of it I had an opportunity of explaining I think you should he said turning to Allan last night Mr Cranby had two visitos one he knew of and the other whom he was not aware had been in the house until I told him about it when he arived He went on to give Allan a detailed account of the visit of the Purple messenger TEN minutes later Martin Granby stepped out of the front door of his own house As lie came down the steps a man sidled up to him and Cranby stepped back abruptly Had he made a mistake in thetime? Was his clock slow by any chance? But his rising fears were stemmed the very next moment Mr said the stranger Good from Scotland Yard been trying to get you on the telephone hut your line seems to be out of order so I've been sent round to ask if you'd mind coming round and seeing the Assistant lie lowered his voice about the Purple Stain and what happened last The captured chauffeur now volubly willing to tell the police all he knew which much was allowed to drive his own machine though Allan and two detectives climbed in with himN The police car pulled out ahead GIVEN TO POPE JULY OF SUNSHINE FROST AND RAIN I J' Cool Ending Counterbalances Warmth of Early Part of Fickle Month KING EDWARD'S OTC AT STRENSALL Crucifix Used by Marie Antoinette Many Enjoying Their First Camp DRAMATIC CHOICE fine warm weather of June was maintained during the first half of July over most of England and Wales Although there were a few thunderstorms and heavy local falls of rain sunshine continued to be generally abundant and temperature well above normal On the first day of the month Pi degrees in the shade were registered even in the north-east of Scotland and on both the 5th and 6th readings cf 83 and 84 degrees were registered in and around London The exceptionally high figure of degrees In the sun was attained at Rickmansworth on the 7th I'p to the Utli the thermometer at Greenwich Observatory rose above ri degrees every day and dad not once sink below 50 degrees at night a record that had been equalled in this part of the month only twice in the last 90 years weather and nearly all parts or the country had frequent rain Heavy falls were widespread on several occasions particularly in tne north of England from the 15th to the 23rd In Central London the equivalent of 16000 tons of water to the square mile fell within ten minutes during a storm on tle afternoon of the 29 July The month as a whole ranks as a decidedly wet one in the North and East of England but over wide areas in the Midlands South and West as well as in some parts cf Scotland it was drier than usual until the present week HAPPY SOUTH COAST Sunshine at Hew totalled 6 hours up to 6 pm yesterday showing a deficiency of 35 hours from the ordinary July allowance The South Coast however fared much better than London in this respect Aggregates ranging upwards of 230 and 240 hours were reported from a number of places in Sussex Hampshire Dorset and Devon while Guernsey had over 260 hours These figures represent the daily average of 7f hours to 8 which is rather more lhan the normal amount The persistent coolness of the last fortnight more than counterbalanced the warmth of the first 11 days and the mean temperature in London was about one degree too low for July POPULAR CONCERTS Paris Thursday The authentic story of the Crucifix used by Marie-Antoinette during her imprisonment in the Temple and the presentation of the Crucifix to the Pope has just been generally revealed here as a result of the death of the Bishop of Nice Mgr Ricard The confessor of Marie-Antoinette acquired the Crucifix from the ill-fated Queen and later made a gift or it to a niece in the suburbs of Toulouse The woman cherished it as one it her most precious possessions and when near death she called a cur6 from the parish of St Peter who eventually was to become Mgr Ricard GUIDED HEAVEN After being administered the last sacraments the woman pointed out several objects on a table and requested the priest to choose one as a gift Prom numerous valuable objects the priest chose the simplest a small crucifix in wood and yellow brass You have chosen saad the woman for that is the crucifix of The priest offered to choose something else thinking the crucifix too valuable but the dying woman begged him to keep ii It is Heaven that guided your choice Keep she said And the priest kept the relic At his deatli the famous crucifix was willed to the Pope to whom it has just been presented From Correspondent Strensall Camp Wednesday The King School contingent of the Officers Training Corps under the command of Major Phillips DSO arrived at Strensall Camp yesterday after a journey of approximately four and a half hours Our arrival coincided with the commencement of a heavy storm of thunder and lightning which however soon abated Throughout the day public schools officers training corps have been arriving in special trains from all over England Many contingents were met at the station by the band of the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment who marched them into camp FOUR BATTALIONS The public camp representing one brigade is composed of four battalions each of whieh is supervised by a unit of the Regular Army In No 4 battalion of which KES represents one company we have a detachment of the York and Lancaster Regiment supervising our activities This evening the Brigade Commander Colonel 'Davenport DSO MC of the West Yorks Regt introduced himself to the OTC contingents in a short and entertaining address to the senior cadets of each school This took place in a massive marquee known as the sing-song tent in which concerts arranged by the Padre and performed by the boys from different schools take place That disposes -of he said nt the end The second visitor though in point of time lie was there first was a gentleman of different calibre Who or what he was matter at this juncture for quite a number of reasons one of which is that am not as yet at liberty to divulge his He looked Allan as he said this and the face cleared for he fancied he saw the hand of Lew Terei II! this Well this person secured entrance to Mr house last night He may haw had an inkling that the Purple Stain were going to try conclusions with Mr Cranby again he may not At any rate the fact-remains that ho saw an opportunity of spying on a Purple Stain man and he seized ft He was In the room on the floor above and by means of a periscope arrangement he had with him he was able to see what was going on in Mr room as well as the light would said Martin Cranby was what I thought was the pipe He had opened the window? the room he was in and let the periscope down until jt took in the view of my room I had no idea I was being spied on I might even have felt less comfortable had I known of it Jin sorry he said contritely I didn't mean to To bo continued FROM GREENLAND SCAB On the 12th however an influx of air from the Greenland seas brought much cooler conditions Early on that day some districts even in the south of England had the unusual experience of a mid-July freet Ground temperatures three or four degrees below freezing point were reported in Hampshire and Hertfordshire where the countrywide was white with rime until after sunrise This chance heralded a definite break in the fine sjsell After the middle thj month there was no more hot The death has taken place of Mr Charles Courtenay Wharton of Birdingbury and the British Thomson-Houston Co Ltd Rugby Mr Wharton was taken II last week whilst on his holiday in Yorkshire GRAND ODEON OF THE ODEON CINEMA IS BY THE FOLLOWING FIRMS INSTALLATION: '3r7m THE MIDLAND ELECTRIC POWER INSTALLATION CO Old Mill Street Wolverhampton LIGHTING: JOHN A HUNT Ltd Highfield Works Bradford Street Birmingham TALKIE APPARATUS: THE BRITISH THOMSON HOUSTON Co Ltd Rugby SWITCH GEAR: REVO ELECTRIC Co Ltd Tividale Tipton CABLES: CALLENDERS CABLE CONSTRUCTION Daimler House Paradise Street Co Ltd Birmingham MON AUG BUILDERS PARR HOUSE WORKS Monument Road Edgbaston BIRMINGHAM THE ODEON 1 Fibrous Plaster Relief and Paint Decorations EXECUTED BY CENTRAL STOURBRIDGE ODEON PERRY BARR TIVOLI BIRMINGHAM were laid throughout the Entrance to the Odeon Theatre CONTRACTS INCLUDE -sfflr Telephone IV 0569 PATENf FLOORS far SHOPS RESTAURANTS HOTELS OFFICES and PUBLIC BUILDINGS Aleo- TERRAZZO MOSAIC MARBLE TILES and GRANOLITIC FLOORS Head Peel Stmet Work LONDON Wmmm Green LIVERPOOL RMINGHAM MANCHESTER Jta Sarlhern 0670 I CHARLES ROGERS and NANCY CARROLL DOUBLE FEATURE Programme Internal Plumbing Gas-Fitting sm Fire Hydrants etc WALL THE CINEMA NOTES appearing Every Thursday in the CERTIFIED BY THE CITY OF LONDON GUILD 49 Brighton Rd Balsall Heath Phcnti Smith 0386 i.