New-York tribune., 1920-07-04
The Fight Begins


"Then the struggle began. We
got out Of the car, and as w did
so Toplis changed the parcel from
his right hand to the lot and I
shouted, Look out; he's getting his
revolver Inspector Richie and Ser
geant Bertram, who had armed
themselves with revolvers, rushed az
Toplis, who retreated rapidly, fun
bling for his revolver. He fired three
shots and then hated to steady him
self for accurate aim. He was a
second too late, for two revolver
shots rang out and Toplis reeled and
fell dead, shot through the heart.
"We picked up the body and plac-
ing it in the motor we brought It TO
the police station. 1t was dread
full experience all through.
"But note the cunning of the man.
When I first saw h;:,l as a soldier
he had not been shaved for a week
or two, yet when I challenged him
in the civilian clothes he was shaven
and dressed in a smart brown suit,
with q clean collar and a superb
light trilby hat. He was as spick and
span as any person in the town. /
later learned that two young women
saw him doff the khaki and put on
the civilian clothes, and later | dis
covered bucket containing the
water that he had used for washing
AID shaving. He took the bucket
from a farm close by, filled it with
water from horse trough and then
made his way over q big fence and
sheltered himself in a thickly wood
ed part of an old estate"
1t is unfortunate, from the stand
point Of the story, at least, that Top
lis was killed instead of being
brought to trial, for many details
that are missing regarding his life
might have been filled in. IT, po-
lice, in the final scene, tried only to
wing" the man, but they knew they
were dealing with a most desperate
character, and in the few exciting
seconds which the revolver battle oc-
cupied they were much more con-
cerned with preventing Toplis from
killing them than with hitting him
in any particular spot.
Indeed, so close were the COM
batants fighting that, according to
the police testimony, Toplis, when
shot, fell forward into the arms Of
one Of the constables.
OF his past life and crimes some
thing is known through his mother
and sister and through his police
record. BY profession Toplis was
a blacksmith. As a boy he had ra.n
away from his job in a coal rAne.
He was an expert automobile driver
and mechanic, knowledge which en-
abled him to enlist in the motor
transport branch of the British
army, from which he was d deserter
at the time of the murder.
Blamed 1t on the War
Toplis's mother, an invalid, made
pathetic figure ct the inquest. She
was wheeled to the town hall in a
Bath chair and was carried into the
council chamber, where she sat half
concealed behind the coroners raised.
high-backed chair. Out Of consid
GRAFTON ior her condition she was
not asked to testify, but later she
told something of his boyhood.
"My boy was distracted by all he
had gone through in the nar," she
said. Il am sure of it. He had been
wour1ed two or three times in his
service in Mesopotamia and the
Dardanelles, and had had fever four
times
"Why, when he last visited US
here he was shaking so all the time
that he almost tumbled off the chair
he was sitting on"
That last visit took place in last
Christmas week, when Percy Toplis
spent day with his widowed mother
and gave his brothers and sister
small sums of money each in pace
Of the Christmas presents he had
had no time. to purchase.
1t is as a child that Mrs. Toplis
likes best to remember her boy, and
no one Will grudge her The memories
which wipe out the later Years and
revive the days when Percy. one
OF five children, was good-looking,
adventurous yoyrgster, who made
friends with every one, and was es-