AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 85, 17 August 1868, Page 198

AUCKLAND.

DARING ESCAPE'©}? EOURPRISONERS : FROM; MOUOT YJ6SDEN ~ ■; THEIR 'SUBSEQUENT •/' ,Qot. ofThemostdaringattempts atlbseape ft*om tHe . Mount Stojckade tWat has 'ever been perpetrated yesterday afternoon. Eour men, named respectively t and Gamp bell, managed' to} rid themselves of} tlieir fetters,vatid .made! a rush for-liberty' It appears that about a quarter past” three yestferdiiy^aftertibon' 'the }four men were working in the quarry outsidetb'o;Stock : ado, with the usual guard oyer them. In working in the quarries the men are supplied with steel pointed gads with which to bore into:the rock to prepare for blasting. These men must doubtless for a long time have been concocting a plan of escape, and in jthis, instance took, advantage, of the guard’s hack being turned for a few moments to cut through : the links of their irons with the steel points of their gads. Three of them adopted this mode of escape, and the fourth managed to hammer his shackles into an, oval shape, so as to be able to .slip’his feet through them. As soon as the four were at liberty they attempted to rush past’the warder on guard, who threatened to shoot them if ; they persisted in any attempt to escape. ,liogardless of consequences, they rushed on, saying, “Blow away.’. The warder, Scott, fired, as did also Constables Jackson and Gamble, but apparently without effect. A sharp pursuit was immediately instituted, the fugitives making off in the direction of the mountain. Constable Jackson managed to overhaul Kersting on the Mount Eden road leading towards the Three Kings, and took him into- custody about four o’clock. The other three were making the .best of their way off when Mr Born well, the contractor, came up on horseback, and about the same time a soldier of the 18th. Koyal Irish arrived upon the scene. These started at once id hot pursuit, the soldier, whose name is Henry Waite, and who belongs to the E company of the battalion, being supplied with a revolver by one of the constables. They were successful in bailing up the prisoners Goldsmith and Campbell The latter it was found had received a flesh wound in the thigh from one of the bullets of the guard. They were brought in at once and locked up ; by them it was l arnt that Bryant had received a bullet wound in the right hand, and marks of blood were observed for some, distance along his'tracks. Immediately upon the news of the escape reaching town, the Commissioner sent off every available man of the city police to .assist in the pursuit, and also communicated with all the outposts as to the facts of the case. Warning was . also- sent to as many of the outlying settlers as possible to be on their guard against the ruffians who were once m ! ore at large. Bryant, who is still at large, will be yet fresh in the recollection of our readers as the cowardly fellow, who, in company with Kersting, made such a das tardly attack upon Mr Caley in Upper Queen-street. The man has, we believe, been repeatedly flogged during the time that he was a member of the Military Train, and seems to have become quite callous to the lash. Goldsmith, who is undergoing a sentence for robbery, was the one who assisted Bryant and Kersting in their attack upon Warder Dunn, and Campbell has before made his,escape from the Stockade. We trust that these, men will all be made such examples, of as will for ever deter otlier prisoners of their description from any attempt at escape! There is every hope that Bryant may. be captured to day., Had the four men together effected their escape, there is no telling to what lengths they might not have proceeded, and Bryant himself is such a desperado that we very much fear some outrage being committed- by him before .he is captured. The guard - at the stockade is very inadequate for the number and character of the prisoners ; and it seems hardly wise to have allowed these men to have been working outside' the walls of the stockade, and in possession of tools which were, used as means of freeing themselves, and which might moreover have been converted into weapons of; offence or defence. Bryant has we. understand been unable to get'rid of the irdn on one leg, and still carries it with , him. Allpossible measures have been , adopted for the apprehension of Bryant, and. we hope to be able shortly to record his recapture.

(From tlie New Zealand Herald, August 10.) The man Bryant, who effected such a daring escape from the Mount if den Stockade on Wednesday afternoon - last, was cleverly recaptured-., on' Saturday evening by Mr Lundon, of the Harp of .Erin-Hotel. As Mr Lundon’s account of the recapture is-detailed, we give it without further in* troduction.' ‘ . STATEMENT OE MR LENDON; * -V. ’ William' Lundon states: I am proprietor of the Harp of ; Enn Hotel, About o’clock:on .-the morning of Saturday, the Bth inst", a man. called in to my bar; and. asked for a pint of ale. 'Erom his appearance I at once suspected it was Bryant, the escaped coiirict.’. He was dressed.in a blue serge jumper, dark tweed trousers, - a seaman’s glazed, hat; and .wore ‘ a silk handkerchief. Tip. proceeded inithe'direbtion ofQtahuhu. -Between five; and six o’clock in the .evening, -Mr-Naughton, Commissioner.^'of Bolice,’calledat iny. house, I mentionedVtoihim'my suspicions' cdnceriimg; the diately;Concludeditwasßryant..Whilel;wasin the act/ of were Constable JabksouimAWidrder^Gohhor. :cairt, belonging toVMrjjW; J. directiQn'Of.xOtiahuhu, psdxdhiiislWaMUßrv (&ttnOr? CoMtableNegufiofjtherhatte'rvahd'tnrender.hLim

aiid? J He was dre&ed‘ak lie,was jfii a pint of beer.,. I waslat this -fimQ':uiideV'r.ttieirandali;speakinff,l» Mr Baddeley,of/Pehro&*'and Iphi3rain. ,;;1, went into the bar and saw that he was; drinking a pint of beCr, which was supplied, to v I lifted; the hat; off his head; and skid' “ yod'have hben here this ing,” and .he; s'aid,‘“;xesj”; J then said “youlare the man, yon won’t go "away again.” -1 thep seized ? him;.; by-the t right; : hand, which! I; observed was wounded, when he . extricated’ himself, , and made'teurards the door. T jumped over the'Chanter* purtnedHim, and seized'him a few yards from; the aopr;/ ’K/the act of doing so I sung-out’" prisoner , ? ’„which';madewtbe. other men, Baddeley. and Brain,/come .to my ; , assistance. .Having secured him and placed him within : the bar, and haying examined him; X was'satisfied that he was-Bryant. He . stated - that .lie .was a deserter from the Military Prison;.and asked me repeatedly to let him go. In. the "meantime those two men came to iny assistance, having 1 - called■ on them to do so in.the Queen’s name. I then told Brain to ,ride, on, and that-.he would overtake Mr Nanghton, •or some other officer on the road, and in the event of his not doing so, to go on: to the stockade and get some officers to take charge of. him. He was not' long when he returned with constable Jackson, arid Warder ‘ Patterson, who immediately recognised the prisoner, to be Bryant. During the time that. Brain ;was away for the officers, I was assisted to take charge of him by Mr Baddeley, who knew Bryant, and said “ I cannot be mistaken, yon are the’ man who often shod my horses,- when yon were' encamped at Penrose.” Bryant "denied this, and said he was a soldier of the 18th Regiment. Having taken some refreshment, he was searched by the officers, and on his person was found concealed a carpenter’s weighty claw hammer. He was handcuffed and safely convevedto Mount Eden Stockdde. . . r .

We understand that Bryant, was seen a short time previous to his capture by Mrs Lund on, who was in search of a stray cow, in the direction of Mount Smart. He appeared to have plenty of money and paid for . his pint of beer in the morning and also in the evening. When taken he appeared very hungry and ate a' large quantity of bread and drank more beer. He confessed.to having got rid of his leg irons .on > the previous day, but declared that he was quite ignorant, of the recap ture of his companions. The thanks of the whole community are due to Mr London for the prompt and vigorous measures which he adopted on recognising Bryant. We trust that, if, possible, for the future period. of Bryant’s incarceration better measures will be taken for his security.

. THE POLL TAX. The imposition of a Poll Tax of 10s per head, by the Provincial Government of Auckland for the relief of the sick and destitute of that city seems to be exciting a large share of public attention. Indignation meetings were being held all over the country. We take, the" following paragraphs' with' reference to the subjects from the Hew Zealand Herald* of the 11th August:— Pole. Tax Meetings. — Indignation meetings to discuss the matter of the Poll Tax, will be held this af:ernoon, at three o’clock, at Otaliuhu; and to morrow, at the school-room at the Lake, North Shore. A public meeting of the inhabitants of Onehunga will be held at the Institute to-morrow, at seven o’clock p.m-, to take into consideration the Poll Tax question. The Poll Tax—Public Meeting- ai Parnell. —A large and influential- public meeting was held last evening in the Public Hall, (Colonel Nation in the chair,) to take steps, to resist the. imposition of the Poll l ax. The meeting was addressed by the Revs. S. Edger and J. W. Davies, and Messrs George, Eield, Wrigley, Copland, Ellis, Swanson, Hurse, Graham, May, and Staines. . Two resolutions were passed, one denouncing the tax as unconstitutional, unjust, and unequal in its operation ; and the other appointing a com inittee to prepare a petition to the Gover nor, and obtaiu signatures thereto, playing his Excellency to exercise his t ower of disallowance with reference to the Bill in question. The hall was crowded to excess, and the. proceedings were distinguished by more than ordinary unanimity and interest." The Poll Tax Pe secutions. —The prosecutions to recover the amount of the Poll Tax,, which were to have . been conducted this morning in the Police Court, have been, we understand, postponed for a fortnight. , Mr MacCormick has been retained for the Provincial authorities, and Mr Gillies for the defendants. If the. case goes against the defendants, an appeal will be .made to the Supreme Court, and subscription lists are already opened to defray the expenses of such appeal.