NEW SOUTH WALES.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 77, 22 June 1868, Page 152

NEW SOUTH WALES.

EXECUTION. AT BATHURST. \V fc ' TERRIBLE SCENE. The sentence of death passed upon the two Barne[S and Jd;Evitt, at th'e last Assizes, for murder, was carried into effect within the precincts of the gaol, hut in : a manner that produced a spectacle most horrifying and sickening to witness,—the heads of th'e wretched victims being fairly wrenched from their bodies by the ropes, so as to retain connection merely by the muscles at the back of the neck.

At nine o’clock on the morning of the 27th May, Mr Uhr/deputy-sheriff, demanded- the bodies of the convicts from the gaoler, and the executioner ([Bull) pinioned M*Evitt, whilst Barnes, who was unable to move without his crutches, was allowed to proceed to the foot of the gallows, with his arms at liberty. The 'Rev. Messrs. Sharpe and Lisle were in attendance upon the latter, and the Rev. Father Schastignon accopipanied M‘Evitt. The procession passed down the corridor to the court-yard where the gallows was erected, and then the culprits knelt down in prayer at the prisoner’s mess table. Bames buried his face in his hands and wept" convulsively—not seemingly in fear, but with; contrition and shame, whilst at the other end .of the table' M*Evitt knelt erect, with a stolid expression on his features, muttering responses as the priest prayed. Them was nothing defiant or demonstrative in his manner. His face was devoid of expression, showing no signs of emotion or fear, and the prayers of the clergyman having been brought. to a conclusion be' was: conducted, up P 0 the drop. The crutches of Barnes, who was now quite calm and collected, were then taken from him, and being pinioned, he was assisted up the steps of the gallows by two warders, nnd placed by. the side of his wretched companion, where he stood without motion or speech. The Rev. Father Schastignon stood on the scaffold by the side of M‘Evitt for a little time offering him religious consolation, and then M'Evitfc spoke, but his voice, as at the trial, was so weak, and his utterance so indistinct that it was impossible to catch what he said, except that he was innocent of the charge of murdering Francis Evans. The priest, having left the platform, the executioner passed the caps over the heads of the' culprits, and then followed-the catastrophe, which is almost too sickening and ghastly to describe. In height the floor of the scaffold stands about fourteen feet from the ground, and below the drop theearthiis excavated to a depth of three feet, and As the event proved, it was well this precaution was taken; In' England. we. believe. it is seldom that a drop of more than three or four feet is given, but in this colony it is customary to extend the fall to ten or twelve feet. The reason for this is undoubtedly a merciful one, as death is rendered instantaneous; but in the present instance, owing possibly to some miscalculation as to the length of : the ropes, the fall given to Barnes was quite fourteen feet, whilst M‘Evitt fell nearly two feet lower. The : moment the executioner pulled the bolt, the bodies of both men lurched downwards through the chasm, and came to the end of the quivering rope with a dreadful thud. As the bodies swung round, that of M'Evitt presented a spectacle that evoked an exclamation of horror from the spectators. The man’s head was severed from his body; the rope having rived through his flesh, and-now merely sustained the* body by its hold'on the

muscles at the nape of the neck, cansing a horrid gaping wounds from ' which the vertebrae protruded, whilst blood spurted forth in streams: from the severed Veins) and arteries-. ; The same catastrophe bad happened in the -case of.Barnesi but the boliar bf bis shirt having caught'ih the noose, the terrible occurrence was screened' from 1 view; though blood poufed I from- liis< clothes in streams.' Death was of course inr stahtaneous 'Caise of botlFmen/

but tiie horror' of r the scene is' inde- 1 scrihable,, aiids we ' relinquish; tiie Attempt. Ih little time; - the bocjies. "were lowered into shell sand removed for the purpose of burial.

SELWV3I. . -New Zealand avid Lichfield, :: And lie preferaWhich field?; ■ '> He'll go to. New Zealand, lie’ll on his old see land; Returned; again, Lichfield vrlU be his new Zeal land. . 1 An Invent Widow.—The N.uddea Correspondent of. theGramliarta Prokashika reports that “ a man ia tKe village of Kurttulapoor, in Order -topreserve «his race, married hisbangliter of six months old to a man of twenty-five years of ageV ‘ She is now a widow at a year and a. half.” .

College : Companions.—A somewhat curious incident occarred in, , connection with the visit to Waikato of his Excellency the Governor.'"- Tbe-address 1 of welcome was presented to Sir George Bowen at Ngaruawahia by the Rev. Lonsdale. Pritt, in whom his Excellency , recognished an old acquaintance of Charterhouse, whom he had last; seen palling a boat on the Cam river.

Biple Match.— The return rifle match between private W. Hazard, No. 1 Company Auckland Rifle Volunteers, and Mr W. Sly, purser-of-tho s.s.'Wellington, took place at the Point Chevalier Butts, Auckland, on the 4th inst., and resulted in Mr Sly winning-by one point, the numbers being—Sly, 38 ; Hazard, 37. The ranges were 300,; 400, and 500 yards, 5 shots at each range. At the time a strong wind was blowing, accompanied by heavy squalls of rain. Fresh Discoveries op Gold at Waka marina. —We take the following from the Wellington Independent, 13th June:—A gentleman who has recently returned to Wellington from Picton; informs us thata new “ lead ” has been discovered on the ranges near the Wakamarina, and that some excellent specimens were brought from there into Blenheim lately. One specimen contained a nugget of about two ounces in weight, and one or two smaller nuggets besides. A man who came into town fromthe alleged auriferous locality deposited £l5O worth of gold at one of the banks. As the Wakamarina diggings have scarcely been heard of for a year or two past, this news has created some little excitement in Marlborough, and intending diggers hope to do good things next Bpring in that very impracticable and rainy country.

The Fatal Snake Experiment.— In a leading article commenting upon the postponement of Shires’s trial until the next criminal sessions, the Mount Alexander Mail remarks :—“ Perhaps the most extraordinary feature in connection with the event that has given such a sad notori ety to his name is that he should ever have been committed for trial at all. Of course it iB very necessary for the protection of the subject that if. a man invites another man to kill him, and be is killed accordingly, the slayer should be answerable to law. A 1 though no element of malice should Be discoverable in his act, still there is a foreknowledge of its consequences which is quite sufficient to incriminate the author of it. But this element of foreknowledge was conspicuously absent in the mind of Shires when he allowed himself to be overpersuaded by the unfortunate Mr Drummond to apply the snake to him. -Not only did Shires not know that the snake would kill him, but there is abundant evidence to prove that he believed it would not. The real culprits in the eyes of the public, we strongly BUspeot, are the medical attendants who appear to hare excluded. Shires from the treatment of their, patient; in the very face of the fact that their own treatment was perfectly useless. Professor Halford particularly, who is responsible for having given favorable prominence to Shires’ antidote, will require to exculpate himself more fully than he has yet done, by disabusing the public mind of the feelthat the unfortunate Mr Drummond fell a victim-not to. the.snake virus, but to the stupid dog-in-the-manger attitude of the professional men who attended him towards the only man who had a logioal and experimental basis for bis belief that he could save him.”

English Food in America. —The Amoricans are well aware of the superiority of English meat over their own; .and-on certain occasions this fact is prominently exemplified. It often happens that the stewards of the oceaih steamers sell a few joints of English beef and mutton to the proprietors of: the'dining-rooms. • This, meat has been kept/iced during the voyage, and is in prime condition. There are two, or at most three, hotels at which one may reckon on tasting real Southdown and prime English sirlbin on,tlie day. after .the arriving of the steamer. . The. proprietors arrange ‘ with the stewards for the monopoly of any English produce they may have to spare. They then advertize in the daily papers, “A leg of prime English mutton to-.dayj”. “a round of real English beef j ” “real ;English hare; ” “'stewed rabbit froih England,” and safdrtK; “' On tlieSe Occasions the prices are advanced,. and, :; as..the supplies of the foreign dainties are very limited, and the dinera very , numerous, it is only the fortunate few who are early in the field whose-palates are delighted with the genuine' article. All; the'late* comers must really* eat American.-mutton be'content with fancying theylehjoy.what the proprietor pretends to give them. -.The' hares and- rabbits that aro also, occasionally served-’are' oonsidered ; a:-great treat j. and, as these cannotivery wtll beimitatediin,a country yvhei’e none are to be found, there is 'no d-jipdsitibir -ox doubt as to their origin. Ahy’ob&ei’Vaht person eantellthe difference between the' limbs aiid -bbdy.;ofia>.i , a : bbit Alia those of Acat; even though cooked .in the form of a'stew. l: Sodhatoneipay feel tolerably: 'comfortable; r on- that * (point.-r- ---? Eating* and'*Drinking in; America/! in Macmillan's Magazine for October.

IMPORTANT FROM KENNEDY’S BAY- . ’ : . f , ; (From the'Auckland Free Press, June 15.) We are glad to hear jbetter news from lately* * Tiie iaßsenfee of intelligence within the last few; days, and the return of many diggers from that place to Shortland, gave rise,.to the idea that Kennedy’s Bay. was likely to turn but “ a duffer.”:, W)elearn, however, from Mr T. Macready, who arrived on Saturday last from Kennedy’s Ray, that the diggers laF that place have been very Blackmore and party, , consisting of four altogether, are getting about 1 oz. per man day and have already laid past them over 50ozs,but they would not tell the exact amount. and party have found a nugget .weighing. 18 dwts, Which they sold to Mr Buchanan, manager of the mill)at. Kennedy’s Bay, for £4. Another nugget of an ounce in .weight was found, by a party digging in the creeks,„on Thursday last, and several other nuggets varying from 7 dwts.. to 9 dwts .were shown Mr Macready by, the diggers, . There are only two parties prospecting for reefs —M‘Leod’s and Boyd’s. The latter found a leader in which gold was visible ; but there have been no important discoveries in quartz made known up to the present time, the diggers chiefly confining themselves to the creeks. There are about fifty diggers at Kennedy’s Bay some are making from £4 to £5 per week, •and the .others “ tucker” if not) wages. Mr Macready brought up an ounce of gold obtained from , Blackmore and party’s claim, which was shown to us. The gold is nuggety, and one of the nuggets is about the size of a large pea. Mr Gwynneth, surveyor, also brought up. an ounce and a half of gold from Kennedy’s Bay on Saturday. These are the only parcels brought up to town,; as far as we can learn, but it is expected that Blackmore’s party will send up their gold in a day or two. The gold found at Kennedy’s Bay is superior in quality to any yet found at the Thames, and is of an alluvial character.