DYNAMITE OUTRAGE AT KIMBERLEY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1264, 21 May 1886, Page 4

DYNAMITE OUTRAGE AT KIMBERLEY.

Information has come to hand by the South A frcan mail of the discovery ■ of an extensive conspiracy, in which several prominent citizens of Kimberley are alleged to be concerned, to bill Mr Roper, the police commissioner and chief of the Detective department Mr Roper seems by his vigilance and activity against the artful machina* ti»ns of the illicit diamond buyers to have incurred their special hatred, and for some time past the detectives on the diamond-fields have boon warned of an impending attack on the person of their chief. At first no importance was attached to these warn'* iugs ; but other information of the same character coming from more reliable sources, Mr Roper deemed it ex pedient to be on his guard. A cting on this information, he stationed men in different parts of his house on the night when he understood the attack was to be made, and about 1 o’clock on a n cent Sunday morning a man was seen lurking about the garden in front of- the house. He presently retired, and returned a few minutes later with a companion. The two men closely examined the building, as if to select the spots where the charges of dynamite could I e placed with effect, and having’evidently satisfied themselves on this point they withdrew. Rive minutes latei the num - ber of the conspirators had increased to four, and two of them were possessed of parcels while those who were keeping watch inside presumed to be the explosive power intended for their destruction. It need scarcely be said that they watched every move ment of the conspirators with the keenest anxiety. The parcels were one after another put in position for being exploded* and the finishing touch was to light the fuse attached to the charge which had been deposited under the drawing-room window. Mr Roper himself, who had been an obs server of the carefully planned scheme throughout, could no longer resist the temptation to pounce upon the villains, and he gave orders to his men to do so. Immediately the ruffians discovered that they had been detected, they rushed from the grounds in all directions Several shots were fired at them, but in the darkness it was impossible to say if any of the shots had taken effect. An examination of the house and its vicinity led to the discovery of two large packages of dynamite—one under the bedroom window, and another near the drawing room, and in each of them there were no less than 40 cartridges. A search was then made for the perpetrators of the outrage, and one man, with a shot jr> his leg, was discovered a short distance off hiding under a crevice in the wall. Subsequently two other men, one of whom was seriously wounded with buckshot, were arrested, and it soon became known that they were the paid hirelings of other persons, some of them occupying prominent positions in Kimberley. Later on two of the men, Paulo Eosico and Wassillio Rojeski, were charged before the resident magistrate with being concerned in the plot. Paulo Rosich and Antonio Cassalauo were primarily engaged to do the murderous deed, but some delays occurred, one reason for tliis being that Cassalano wanted another accomplice to assist him. Two or three accomplices were soon obs tained, and each man was promised L3OO as his share in the event of the scheme succeeding. A regular ins spectioa of Mr Roper’s premises was made by one or other of the men every night so as to ascertain all the habits of the inmates ; and finally Thursday, January 7th, was fixed upon as the night on which the murder should take place. What occurred on the night when the outrage was attempted lias bem already described. After Rojeski had made his- confession before the magistrate, the accused Paulo Rosich declared bis ability to prove an alibi. He was remanded for a fortnight, owing lo one of the accused being too ili to appear and tire other (the ringleader) not being in custody,