SWINDLING IN AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 12, 25 March 1867, Page 70

SWINDLING IN AUCKLAND.

The New Zealand Herald of the 12th says:— • '• ■■ “■ ■ -

The absconding of a merchant and a lawyer have caused very considerable excitement. It is believed both have taken considerable sums of money away with them. Both point the same moral—viz., the folly of excessive credit, and of excessive:'faith in the honesty of an individual who promised all but impossibilities—:viz., 15 per cent/“for money at call. "Never was the dogma that a high rate of interest meant poor security better exemplified than in the case, of, or rather :in the cases of, the. clients of Cox, the absconding lawyer. Cupidity and credulity in the clients fostered the hypocrisy of : the f moral • scouiidrel, who for a series of years: has behu ’rbbbing 1 the unsuspecting widow and.the fatherless, the the. friend, and his,own relatives, and who actually ; at the last half-yearly meeting of the''Bank of Auckland, was elected 'onhbf 'its'Auditors. . The .’film, 7 however,. having been removedi'’ from the eyes, of" those who - havd i money Ho 11 lend, we' may reasonably / coinclude that 1 a : healthier system will be' the result. . The fact that : tfie rascaL Cqx vso much money 'frpm persons in moderate .circumstanced iho^fs J that : tbis J> class of people liSVe ambhg thjem;’> which -jifdh;iou'siy :r u§6d’, s Would be* ; of yast benefikitd.Hheiplabe.; ' i ' T.herq is; - hpwever,. this warning needed, yiz,, that we should, not . rush to' the" other .extreme and refuse ; to put 'faiflTin s “finy' 4 So'dy'Because a jfeV have 1 i; pro ved •*' The c fa ! cts" 'to .which* we .have unhappily had t’o 'refer 7 teach us - proper caution, but :they; do npt iiupress iC up.on jus, the .necessity/of believihg'iiobody, and t the.desirability of liidifig pdrHreasurV m secrei places, where-it ’will oiie; / .Manganui,.,; >i . i ... We learn from the Wanganui papers tliat'the 1 ’ nbihinatidnT of 'membefs tcj serve in the'-i Provinciial; CbiinfciX to6k place ati the; CourtrHotisb;‘at twelve, o , ploc ( k.o i n l Fri4ay,,Bth;ins.t. u- . / ... .Mr Hujcljison yras. pro* poseC by Mr John Bryce.,and seconded -3 Mi:'-Waiter" f^raylbr u Editor of the Timesßwds pr6p gor,. Esq.v and second a^y «j*::tr..*jeiTrto'w c-H vVi'H J .isJyli- .Ui-vi/i-ioi.-’ av>

- Mr J ohn Morgan was proposed by ;PattCrspri^ byMr-'Bryce'i > -' ■" •• 7'.. 1 /; *nl 'Jfiottias i M‘William; was Aprob^'Mr^W* - »«- .QQiaae^>%i]^jepb'sph. W^^Ken-7by :; tbe Returning'Officer, who announced the Hatchisoni' .1/" ". 37 - , ‘".-’“Moir'^h' .’ ... . 38 ' ; ;:“;^ay]Sr! ... ... . 31 ! .;;,;McWilliam. * • ... 23 o ?.''! behalf of Mr Walter Taylor and . M.* Thomas M,‘Wniiam! ; A vote of, thanks to the Retu|njng .Officer,, .very impartial. manner in which he had conjprpceedings,';Was ca.rried by ; for .the, polling .next, day.' J , ' The polliug took place, bn Satur- : fay,, StH ’March', at- the Cfourt HouSe', and'a; greater number; of7tfie.electors 1 put : in An appearance, and took • a . the clay than previous occasiun'in, Tftdfigjßtim. Mr; Bryce acteil asi scrutineer ; for. Messrs Hutchison and Morgan, and retained his seat, at the Returning Officer’s table (luring •he daythere was no scrutineer on behalf of the other candidates. Shortly after 4 p.m., .the Returning. Officer came forward and declared the state of the poll as follow's.: . .Hutchison ... ... ... -113 • Morgan ”... ... • ... 101 j■ 5 Taylor ... ... '... ... 90 i /.McWilliam ... ... ... .68 Votes polled - 372 Each of. the ..candidates came for-: Ward and returned, ; thanks , to ; .the electors who had. supported them, Mr Walter TaylPr intimating that it was his Intention to contest the forthcoming for the House of. Rep.re--sentatives. . We may remark that although the town was crowded during the day by men of various shades of political opinion, yet the pulling and everything connected with it passed off with the utinost. good feeling, and we have npt to record a single instance of discord amongst the electors.

ELECTION MATTERS AT WANGANUI. (New Zealand Advertiser.)

A correspondent at Wanganui has .furnished us with the following particulars respecting the approaching election of a member to represent" that dislrict in the General Assembly : —We people of Wanganui are somewhat surprised, not to say amused, with the style in which you and your contemporary view the prospects of the Wanganui election. You do not give sufficient credit to our present high temperature in politics, which mounts to a height such as has not been seen here for many a long day, You both of you confidently predict the return, nay, the walk over, of a nominee of the city of Wellington, to wit, either Mr Pharazyn or Br Evans, while there is actually, no chance at all; for either of them. ;* Although this is well known iu and about Wanganui, yet, from the particular situation oi one or more of the local candidates, little v is spoken of the “position ”in the newspapers, No later gone than the nomination of-candidates for the Provihciai 'Council, it was publicly an nounced. by, the first proposer that he hoped to see his.nominee in time returned for the General^Assembly,.seat the same who was returned'at the Wp 7of the “poll. A requisition, has since then been got up, and, T .believe, extensively signed,: for this gentleman (Mr .Hutchison), to aUow- liimself; £0 be put in nomination for the Assembly. f But eveji.frpai. among. ourselves 7 another candidate is or will be forthcpnir ing,; no. .- other.. than Mr Harrison, formerly/ member. for this. district, to, whom there is almost the. whole of

thp /ypting. electors/.pledged ,7 so that any walk over, br, . even chance of. an out sider winning Wanganui is at -least improbable: : v . Of boprSe; 1 nQth'lpg /is known- definitely as to the actual in-', fentjons/pf the/gentleman', to whom tfiese -requisiriohs are addressed indeed |here 4 is.ia/feelic|g .that Mr Harrison will- mot allow himself to .be nominajted 1 afall, but of. this nothing iscertai^. J ;/if so/aii.d r :sp. yrerp fhe then there would be; an opening, and .content... the -/seat, bint. ‘.Xnreither» case, the/numbbrs. how down in' black and white 1 to'eifjapr ; of : the;< local men 'bespeaks/a close;-and fierc^ v .:'con.fes^^kfffiw/'.we^s^//^ interest of the Wanganui folk/seems

M'TODEROUS " ASSAULT'/AT/HOpTKA ;/''(%piii''tSheWest.Oc^stMaroh.) ' ’

ONE.of these outrages hot uncommon in large and more settled:communities, but from which that Ip'flHokitika has hitherto enjoyed a singula^/mmunity, occurred, in . the / Pfovinciai Hotel! Revell street, yesterday 3 mornings and' for a time threw,; the whole town into a.. state of : intense ;commotion: I The parties, directly/.concerned//were the barmaid at the “above hotel, and, from what we cam gather, it ap-: pears that an ill-feeling .existed be; tween , them >that finally -culminated in a . quarrel nearly, resulting in the death, of the unfortunate woman,! The eppk js/a, colored man, ;a native of the Gape de Verd Islands, and goes by the npffiebf George Vincent-; the barmaid, who also; filled the situation of housekeeper. to the establishment, being a ffnp 'young woman named Anne Kee ian, . of Irish parentage. Between seven And eight o’clock she proceeded to the kitchen for the purpose of ascertaining if breakfast was ready, and, finding . no - preparations making, soundly ratecLthe cook for his neglect. He without more ado closed and locked . both doors, and swore he would murder her if. she . made: any complainand then advanced towards her in so:threatening a manner 3 that being naturally alarmed, the brave girl,, stood upon the defensive, and when. the. villain came within reach knocked him down. He immediately regained his feet, and, seizing a meat tnife, xushed upon his victim and inflicted a ghastly wound upon her right breast, and throwing ber. down, attempted to accomplish his murderous intent. She, however, fought- desperately, meanwhile screaming loudly for assistance, and her cries being heard 4 by a butcher, named Skeen (whose shop adjoined the kitchen), he hastened to ascertain the cause of scch an outcry, and, finding the door locked, burst it open. The would be murderer, knife in hand, immediately turned on the new-comer, and made a desperate stab at. him, but the latter avoided it by shutting the door, which received the blow, the knife being driven half through the panel. Taking advantage of this diversion in her favor, the poor girl regained her -feet, and, opening the door, rushed into the passage, but was immediately followed by the darkey, who again threw her down and stabbed her twice m the back. By this time the house was thoroughly alarmed, and half-a-dozen persons hastened to the passage, whereupon the scoundrel left his victim and made lor the sea-beach, casting his knife from him as he went. He was pursued by a crowd of persons, and, being hardly pressed, plunged into the surf, aud absolutely swam outside the breakers and there remained apparently quite at home in the water. Information.of what had taken place having been conveyed to the camp, several, coustables.. were: despatched to the scene, who, keeping Vincent- iu view, followed him as he swam, and was carried northwards, by the current, t Arriving /abreast: the - Montezuma- (a distance of„hearly a mile) he. showed aigns of. exhaustion, 1 and made for. the shore, but seeing , the: beach covered with people, all eager for his capture, lie hesitated in his approach, and appeared inclined to put to sea again. At this juncture of affairs;- Constable Rice .volunteered to swim .after him, and a/lqngline.. being fortunately at hand, was attacked to the constable's wais.t,. who thereupon dashed into the surf;' and being a ’ strong swimmer; soon ..reached- Vincent. A desperate struggle ensued, Rice clinging :to his man • with; buil-dog tenacity, the. other as .desperately, struggling to-free himself, both men. being./‘several times covered by the suff as /ft rolled in. /Seeing that ,the. constable ’had secured the. man, those on -shore/ commenced hauling in the 1 line, which being-old and rotten, .broke, but.fortunatelyVa little distauce only-from the first inan holding/. it. A ./young fellow -named Morgan, observing: .toe mishap, /made a dash/at the end,: which be >caught just,.as;it was^.disappearingin^^ the,surf/ and being aided by; a scpre haiids, suQjpqeided: in,:.hauling the twp men ashore. -.Vincent was imfiiediately taken// to /the : Camp, ; and- at a iater hou.s :l appeared/7/fieJqi;q.yiie i ' : Resident Magistrate, tbat' Only ;[ tp .be/reihafidfid /uniffi fhe/ypung iWomahucould-appear evidence beep /atiended q/upon tby * ®rf©ermptt,

'.but— we are happy to say— not fatally wounded, and is now/ lyirig at the /Provincial . Hotel; with - evel'y ' chance of recovery. /The knife' up by. a i person' who observed VincenlM throw it down: It. is /a/ Yqr&idable. Weapon) ha ving a./ 'blade / nine inchea in length, and is stained ,with- blood six'inches'ffom tb'e ! point/* The intripid of. .Constable:,Rice is deserving of the highest' praise, as he pla'ced his dwn life id the .most, imminent jeppardyjto,;bring the '.'offender to justice. -