The Murder at Wagga.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3332, 11 October 1889, Page 2

The Murder at Wagga.

Thomas Riley, who has been committed for trial on a chargo of murdering Christian Epple, has made a full confession of his crime. The following is Riley's statement:— "I, Thomas Riley, charged with the mucder of one Christian Epple, wish to make a full statement and confession as to the naturo and cause of his death. I will relate the particuwhich partakes as follows: I started in the employ of the said man at Bourke to drive cattle to VYodonga, I was told that ho was a good man to travel with, or otherwise I would not have started. Would to God I had not. I found him to be what I was told, but a temptation seized me that I could not resist. I was tempted to murder this man and rob him, and I did the deed sure enough. I came through to the end of the trip; that was, till the cattle were sold, and we came back to spell our horses and prepare for another start back. We arrived here on Thursday evening, and were paid off at the camp. I said I wished to go into tho town,l asked liirn to lend me a horse, as I had left my own on thoLachlan River when I was coming down. But it was not through auy ovil spirit or any ill will between us that tempted me to do the deed. It was in a fit of madness through the transactions, of a person—a femalo. Any further particulars on her behalf I shall not relate. I came into town,and as was stated in Court, with the two persons mentioned previous, and Btayed till Saturday, when I returned to Mr O'Donnell's

hotel, I had been drinking all the timo previous in town, trying to drivo the temptation before mentioned off, mv mind, but the more I tried the more it opened out before me and urged me on till I had to givo way. I intended when I had done the

deed to direct myselt to a certain place, and carry out my intention" which were connected with the person previously mentioned. I will relate now how the aotion was committed. I left Mr o'Donnell's on

Saturday evening and wont to the oamp of Mr Epple, and there was nobody thorn. I went and looked in both the tents, and found nobody there. I had not leen many minutes tlicro wljon I saw some boys coining They camoand told me'that they were left in charge of the camp and said that the boss would not bo back till eight o'clock. They stopped a short timo, and then went back to

■ their own placo to get toa. Tliey said ) that they should return to the camp, i and so tiioy did. In the meantime I i went to the camp aud looked for the t rillo produced in Court, and got it, i ami thon made a soarcli for the cartridges, and I found them also. I put one in the rifle and ,the rest I put ia my pocket, there being about ft dozen in all. I took tho riflo away from • the camp, and in the direction i where Mr Ep'ple should he coming i home. Ilay in wait for him to return buj tho boys coming back interrupted me in my villainous intentions. I then stood beside a tree and wont back to the fire, whore I met tho boyß and we joined in convocation. I brought my bedding out to the firo and slept there, I heard Epplo aud the pthpr two men come home, but I never conversed with either of them, I slept protty uneasy that night on acoount of my troubled state of mind. I never woke till about five o'cloolc from the time I went to sleep, which was very little, When I did wake I got up with the temptation greater than ever still weighing on my mind. I put on ray boots, and went up and got the rifle, where it had been standing, right against a tree, I came back to Mr JTipplo's tent, and never looked to 800jf anybody was looking or, not, but wont to tho door of the tent and rose the door. He looked up when he heard me at the door, and saw me with my riflo in my hands, I shot bin in that position, I thon took his purse and his watch and chain. I was sorry whon I had done it. I then canght a horse to go away to tho hush to conceal myself for a time, but his figure haunted mo tho tho minute I left, and has ever since, I then turned round and said 1 to myself I will give myself up to the ' police, I wont into Wagga with that 1 intention, but I obanged my mind i and said I will let them catch me. 1

I kept the main road not caring where I went or what I did. I kept drinking all along the road, and racing and trying to drive it from my mind, but I never could, and never will. When I saw the police in pursuit I started off, wishing that they would shoot me, and I told them to do sq when I was caught, I don't care how soon death shall be my lot, and I don't ask mercy from the hands of man, but it is the judgment after that that I fear. 1 must say from my very heart that I regret and wish to repent, for the deed I have and I hope that God will pardon me for the samo, I ilg not knovf exactly how much money there was in (he .{Jurse before men-

tioiied, but I remember every placo where I disposed of a portion of it, It: has been traced in every placo biit one, and that is the hotel at Albert Town. There was about £7 or£B which Iliad. I would not bo sure which for I never counted it. I may have lost some of it on the road, for 1 had money in overy pocket I liopo it shall bo got for tho sake of deceased's wife'andfamily. God olono may pity them. I will bring this to a conclusion, as it is recalled to riiy mind. If-1 remember anything further I will state it to-morrow in Court, It is my wish for this to bo read in Court. lam done.—Signed, Thomas Kimr."

Tragic end of an Artists' MJsl Two years ago Elise Kimraier, then eighteeu years old, was a waitress at a restaurant in the students' quarter ill Berlin, She was not pretty, She was freckled, square shouldered, and dumpy. She was so plain that she did not even get tho usual caresses and lovo pats which the German waitresses almost invariably get from every man they servo. She had, however, ono beauty of form—her arms. They were largo, whito, and exquisitely moulded. A young artist noticed them one day as Elise, with her sleeves rolled up, brought him his beer and roast goose. From that day on, Elise was more sought after by young men, than any other waitress in Berlin. As a model Eliso V made double and treble- the money ./J that she had earned as a waitress. M She spent it all upon her person and became immoderately vain, By' means jf a bit of lacing, a free use of cosmetics, and a lot of new gowns, she made herself over into a very attractive young woman. She had lovers by tho dozen. Hardly an evening passed for tho noxt two ■! years but that she drank wino with ; an artist or student in a fine Berlin restaurant, or sat beside him in soma second-class theatre, A few weeks ago Elise had an engagement to sit for the young artist who discovered her. She went to his room, and prepared to reveal tlie beautiful arms he had wished to paint. Ha told her, however, that she need not tako the trouble. He had found a woman with more finely-moulded arms than hers. She threw herself • on tho floor and wept, He tossed her some money to comfort her. She threw it back to him and hurried off home. There she locked herself in her rooms. For two days she refused admittance to everyone ate nothinp. On the. morning of tha third day her landlady was attracted to her bedroom by groans, On the bed lay Ellso in convulsions, She confessed that sho had poisoned herself, but begged the landlady not to summon a doctor, as sho wished ■ to die, A physician who was called ' in considered her incurable. She was sent to the Charitd Hospital, where she died two days later. John Blight's Diction.

Many and many of the beat known passages in Bright's speeches (says Georgo W. .Smalley in the New York Tribune) might bo quoted as splendid examples of purity in diotion. It is not to rhetorioal ornamentation that they owo their effect, but to the absenco of it, No diction is more perfect; none would be more impossible to imitate; it seems the 4H natural expression of the thought of ; tho speaker. It is, of course, not natural j it is tho result of immoiii'X pains. Bright made no secret of lM methods, He almost never spoke off I hand. He prepared carefully and used notes freely. The framework of tho speech was put together like a I mosaic; passages wevo written out and committed tq memory. 'Carl Scburz will recollect hearing Bright himself discus and explain his own method one night at dinner. Others iwero there whoso authority in Biioli I matters has weight. There wero, I think, 110 two opinions. Bright, at auy rate, thought no Bpeech oould bo too fully wrought out in the speaker's mind in advance of delivery. He • dwelt on tho dilhculty of dovetailing the written passages into tho fabric so that none should find tho joints, and ho quoted Brougban} bb a good instance of an orator who failed to conceal tho art with which hig spoeohos were constructed.

Alleged Discovery of a Fossil Monster. The "Akaroa Mail" pnbiiJJ some further particulars respecting the discovery of g supposed f oßa i| o fgj unusually dimensions at V; nof ir Little Akaroa, on Banks ™iiisula, Tho statement first made tho fossil was found by somo men who wore fencing, is a mistake, Mr McHale, a settlor on whose pro* perty it is, found it some five years ago, and has sinco spent some considerable time and labor in unearthing portions of tho 3upposcd akoloton. It is said to extend sonie fifteen chains, or 000 ft in length, and is about 100 ft above tho sea levol. Tho clay has been dut; away in soyen or eight places to show the spinal column, The verkabm aro said to be shaped like the screw of a steamer, and {heir breadth is about 3ft, increasing more or less in size towards the skull, The side of what is supposed to be tho skuU has been uncovered, and an eye hole is apparent. The side is oblong; and is said to bo like that which tho iguanodon is said to jbve possessed, Mr M'Hale haa carried several detached portions of the remains to his house. Some of tho pieces are said tu bo nnmistakcablo and others cannot bo distinguished from petrified clay." Three pieces form what Mr M'Hale was a fin or paddlo of the reptile', These have a covoring of volcanic rock. It having been mentioned that Dr Symes had inspected the supposed ,• fossil, a representative of- the Mail. called upon him and asked him what opinion he had formed iShhe matter. % kymes at tho outset denied that he had stated he was of opinion these > were-the remains of two monsters,■ a large one and a small one. Ha says that until Mr M'Hale will allow somo of the specimens to be properly examined it ianot advisable to oxpresH any opinion about them, It might, bowfiver, bo _ ai'ggestod that they piobably consist of one or more true bones amongst a large amount of rocky concretions, similar to what was found at Governor Bay. Ho tai seen as yet no proof of these spleens haying belonged to any very large animals, and was inclined to think tho majority of the specimens will be found to be merely rooky concretions, and not fossils at all. Dr Symes only saw one specimen which he could on tho spot positively identify as true bono, It was o round bone, about' 9in long, and was embedded in hard rock, .Professor Huttou and MrH. 0. Forhei, curator of ihe Christchurch Museum, both state that so far as they can judge from the statements made concerning the alleged fossijgj^

is nothing moro than rooky concretions which aro sometimes found in peculiar shapes, It is about a month ago sinco Dr Symes visited the scone ol the discovery, and Mr McUulo thon promised to send Botno specimens to . Cliristchurch, It is to bo hoped that . ho will do so, in order that the question as to whether the material is true bone or not may be settled. Some Popular Fallacies. A correspondent of the English Public Opinion" says;—A very common error is to suppose that birds sleep with tho head beneath ■ the wing. No bird over sleeps so; tho head is turned round and laid upon the baqk, whero it is often concealod breathers.—That dogs are kept in health by tho addition of brimstona to their drinking water. Sooing that brimstono is utterly insoluble in water, I fail to perceive what uso it can possibly bo to tho dog. —That cows aro fond of buttercups. Cows, as well as horses, in grazing carefully avoid these plants, which, like tho Ranunculmoe, are harsh, astringent, and somewhat poisonous. —That washing tho faco in morning dew improves tho complexion, Dew is distilled water; but being merely very puro water, it cannot oxorciso any special influence on tho skin, I am unwilling, howover, to dispel this pleasing illusion, and thoreforo say: "By all means, young ladies, wash your faces in morning dew, w Jail beliof of its efficacy. To do this, must rise early and breathe the puro morning air; that will benefit your health, and no doubt your complexion at tho samo time." This is evidently the lesson intended to be inculcated-That a fire is extinguished by tho sun Bhining on it. The effect in this case is apparent, not real. A fairly good fire looks little bettor than a lioap of white arhes under the powerful light of tho sun'B rays.—That bones aro brittle in frosty weather. No doubt moro bones are broken in winter than in summer, but this is duo to tho slippery state of the roads at that season, but to speak of accidents on tho ice, and not any abnormal condition of our bones.—That " thunderbolts" are tangible realities that can be handled and preserved as curiosities. The only] thunderbolt iB the body of lightning, often 110 doubt very destructive, put novor accoinpaned by any solid flash, Tho only solid bodies that ever fall to tho earth from the sky , are aerolties or bodies combing from outer space, and haviug nothing to do with thunderstorms.— That mirrors attract lightning and Bhould be covered or turned to tho wall during a thunderstorm. This is a pure illusion, arising from the iact that mirrors reflect the lightning flash and thus add to tho terror and apparent danger of tho storm,

Translucent Varnish, The now translucent material intended as a substitute for glass baa satisfactorily adopted in some of the publio buildings in London, aud various advantages are claimed for it, among these being such a dogree of pilancy that it may bo bout backward and forward like leather and ho subject to very severo tensile strain with impunity. It is also almost as transparent as glass and of a pleasant amber colour, varying in sliado from * a very light golden huo to pale brown. The basis of the material is a web of fine iron wiro with warp v. and weft threads about one-twelfth of & an inch apart, this being inclosed, liko a fly in amber, in a sheet of translucent varnish, of which tho baso is linseed oil. There is no resin or gum in the varnish, and once having become dry, it is capablo of standing heat and damp without undergoing any .change, neither hardening nor becoming sticky. Briefly, tho manufacture is accomplished by dipping tho sheets edgewise into deep tanks of varnish, and thou allowing the coating which they thus roceivo to dry in a warm atmosphere. It requires somewhat moro than a dozen of these dips to bring the sheets to tho required degree of thiclinesa, and, whon this has been accomplished, tho material is storod for several weeks to thoroughly set.