THE CLYDE ROBBERY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 133, 25 August 1870, Page 6

THE CLYDE ROBBERY.

Though a good deal has been said respecting the means by which a clue to the detection and arrest of the persons concerned in this robbery has been obtained, and to the manner in which the stolen gold and notes have been recovered, yet little authentic information has really been placed before the public. The possibility of such an event happening had apparently been lost sight of. The treasure was left unguarded, and the l-ob-bers did their work so expertly that, excepting the fact that some person connected with the camp was supposed to be either a principal or an accomplice, no clue was obtained till the 13 th inst., when, after a most searching enquiry, the police learned that a man had been seen on the Gentle Annie track, at an early hour of the morning on which the robbery had been committed. In tracing this man, the police received important assistance from Mr. Cook, the keeper of an accommodation house, and who told them all that he had observed of the man's movements. At the place where he had camped the police found the remains of a fire, in which clothing had been burned, and there remained remnants of moleskin trousers, other articles, and a small portion of a horse's bridle, of which the rest had been burned. The remainder of the bridle was found, by the way in which it had been repaired, to have been mended by a shoemaker, not by a saddler. The police stationed at the Arrow had suspected Rennie, a shoemaker there, and this discovery led to stricter enquiries respecting him being made, and Mr. Cook, the gentleman already referred to, rendered material assistance. From him it was ascertained that he had seen Rennie burn the clothes he was wearing, don a fresh suit, and proceed on foot, he having turned loose the horse which he had ridden, and which appeared to be very tired. Other information was gathered at Queenstown and the Arrow, and the searching party finally arrived at Rennie's place at the Arrow. He was questioned as to where he was, and what he had been doing on the night of the robbery, and as his replies were most unsatisfactory, he was arrested on suspicion of having been concerned in the matter. That part of the bridle which remained unburnt was identified as being part of a bridle which was traced to his possession, as also was the bit which was found under a stone not far from the fire. Rennie, however, positively denied all knowledge of the robbery;but after he had been imprisoned for a few hours, he asked Constable Hunt, of the Arrow, if a reward had been offered, and if so, if he might see the notice. The constable accordingly produced the notice which offered a reward of £500 and free pardon to an accomplice giving the desired information. 1 Having read it, he said, "I see there's a free pardon offered to an accomplice who gives, information?"

" Yes," said the Constable ; " there is." "Well, then, I done it," said Rennie. The Constable, after this important disclosure had been made, followed it up with enquiries relative to what had been done with the gold and notes. He replied that they were planted, and more than that, he could show where they were. Constable Smith, who arrested the prisoner, on being told what he had said, went to him and asked, " Have you confessed in this matter?" and the reply was, " Yes, I have, and I will show you where the gold and notes is concealed." A horse was then given him to ride, and he was kept in charge by Constable Smith, whom he conducted to a plant on the Queenstown road, where he had hid a bundle of notes and a bag of gold. This was at a distance of about 35 miles from Clyde, and the plant was not discovered until after a good deal of searching. This gold was found in a sack, the original bag having been either burned or destroyed, and, on weighing the gold, it was found to be an ounce and a quarter short of its original weight. Going still further, until within a few miles of Clyde, he pointed out the various plants, where the constable found the rest of the gold which was at that time discovered, amounting in all to ten bags of gold and four parcels of notes, which were brought into Clyde at 3 a.m., by the Commissioner of Police and Constable Smith. Many of the townspeople had gone out to meet the police, and were jubilant at the recovery of the treasure. There were still undiscovered a parcel of notes from the Teviot, amounting to £212 ; and another from Cromwell, amounting to £537. There was also missing a small bag of gold of very inferior quality, the scrapings of the plates in the Aurora claim, and which was so full of foreign matter, that it was being forwarded to Dunedin to be assayed, in order to determine its proper value. The gold and notes can be identified. On Tuesday, the 16th inst., Rennie requested Sergeant Moore to inform the Commissioner of Police, then at Clyde, that he wished to see him, and tell him all about the matter. Rennie, before speaking to the Commissioner, was cautioned regarding the statement he might make, and in reply said he had considered the matter, and wished to " make a clean breast of the thing." He detailed the various circumstances of the robbery, and said that Constable M'Lennan, who had been a warder in the Royal Montrose Lunatic Asylum with him, and who afterwards came to Otago with him in the E. P. Bouverie twelvemonths ago last March, was concerned with him in the robbery ; and admitted that they had six months ago concocted a scheme for the robbery of the Teviofc escort, had attempted to do so, and had failed. The latest planned scheme was that of robbing the Clyde lock-up, and of its ultimate failure the public is now well acquainted. On Saturday morning Rennie informed the police at Clyde where another parcel of notes was concealed, and by the latest accounts search was being made for it. It is supposed that Rennie himself had circulated some of the notes he had stolen. M'Lennan has been arrested as an accessory to the offence, and the charge against them will be heard on Tuesday next, Several persons have each claimed a reward of £1000 on account of the information given by them having led to the discovery of the property. No doubt after the case is disposed of, the rewards will be fairly divided among those who have been instrumental in bringing the offenders to justice. The principal credit is due to Mr. Cook, the keeper, of the accommodation house, and Constable Smith, Cromwell; Constable Hunt, Arrow ; and Constable M'Gann, Queenstown. It gives us pleasure to state that the inhabitants of the district generally rendered all possible assistance.—" Daily Times," Aug. 22. The last of the Geelong domestic drama, writes the correspondent of the " Age," has been played out ; the unities were preserved intact, and, as in the tragedy of Hamlet, the gravediggers appeared on the scene in the fifth act. On the day succeeding the inquest the two mothers applied to Sergent Toohey to receive instructions as to the burial of the child. Mrs Gange, the real mother, pleaded poverty as an excuse for not defraying the expenses of the funeral. Mrs Fairbrothers urged that as the child was not hers, she was not responsible in any shape for its interment. This was a knotty point, but the astute sergeant was equal to the occasion, and thus he delivered the law on the point. Taking out of his pocket the last number of the "Police Gazette," he with much gravity, read the Act of Parliament bearing on the case as follows: — "By an act passed in the reign of his late majesty King John, any person or persons knowingly and wilfully keeping any dead body in their house for the period of forty-eight hours after the termination of the coroner's inquest that hath sat upon the same, shall be deemed liable to all the pains and penalties attendant upon a conviction for witchcraft, and shall not be entitled to benefit of clergy." This elaborate judgment of the sergeant had a magical effect. Mrs Fairbrother immediately gave instructions tQ,, Jenkins and Bennett to undertake the funeral, and ao the child was buried with " maimed rites," the only persons present being Mr and Mrs Fairbrothers, and the first and second gra,vedigger,