SHADOWING THE PREMIER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 133, 3 July 1909, Page 5

SHADOWING THE PREMIER

THREATENED ATTACK OX HIS LIFE. ;' A DESPERATE CHARACTER. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Dunedin, Last Night. A Dunedin resident has thrown some further light on the sensational report that Detective Cassells had been sent Home to protect the Prime Minister from possible personal attack. The in- - Jormant states he is well acquainted with the facts of the case, as he had been the, means of introducing the man in question to the Prime Minister. The man was well educated nm) held a high place in the literary world at Home and was the author of several books. He expressed a desire to- come to New j Zealand and obtained an interview with Sir Joseph Ward in London, asking about the likelihood of finding an ope-i----ing in his profession in the Dominion. He was told he would have to take his chance, Sir J. G. Ward making no specific promise beyond saying he would De pleased to assist the man if he came cut. The man eventually came to Wellington and secured a position on the staff of a New Zealand journal. "But," added the informant, "I am afraid the man was a dipsomaniac, and he was Soon looking for employjnent." He teems to bitterly resent being inveigled, es he called it, to New Zealand, and wrote a. number of threatening letters to the Prime Minister, some being so violent that the matter was put into the handp of the police. The Prime Minister did not prosecute, as he did not want to put him in gaol. The letters contained threats to shoot, and the local informant is quite satisfied that the man will do serious injury if he gets a chance. "He is a desperate character," said the informant in conclusion, "and I should not be a bit surprised to hear he had waylaid Sir Joseph Ward."