KNOWLES' CONFESSION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1789, 22 December 1883, Page 4

KNOWLES CONFESSION.

According to the confession made by the man William I. Knowles to Major Barker, of the Salvation Army, he hrs been one of the greatest and moat successful robbers ever known. In addition to having, as he alleges, assaulted and robbed Mr F. M. Bates- and for which he is vow in custody -on the 27th June, 1879, Knowles states that he has committed, b)th prior to and after that date, a series of violent assaults ami robberies in different parts of the colony. His story is as follows ;— ln 1878, at Echuca, he knocVed a man down, and took £5 18s 6d from him. In the same year, in Melbourne, opposite the Town Hall, he attacked a man and robbed him of 3s 6d. On the Shepparton road, en route to Beechworth, and near Mount Camel, he assaulted a swagman, and secured Si Od. He then went to Mr Winter's station iv the North-eastern district, remained quiet for some time. I In LS79, near the Mount Hyia Hotel, Heathcote be obtained £3 from a aw agnian by an assault. At Elmont he met a man, whom ho foiled to the ground, and then took Oa 61 from him. He (Ktiowlea) then returned to town, and for a time worked at his trade, But one UigUt he met ft swagman on the Kew road, coming towards Melbourne. He afcrUflk him ft violent blow from behind br» the bead, and whilst* the man Was insensible Knowles robHu him M #2(J, tfa nrttt visitecr CKpps Land, and on the road from Sale to.yards Bairnsdale he met a man, who he asfaulted and robbed of £43. This man ie leffc.hulf dead, and he dealt him i vc leavy blows one RUictes the back of the lead and the other o.»er thd ryes. After fcommitting this robbery he w ent on to to B.urnsdak 1 , across country, as he was (if raid of bcinj.' seen on the main road. He was unable to spend any.of th« money, tts it was all in notes, and lie fcaicd the numbers were known. The King Pariot Creek, on the Mount Alexander load, was the scene of a robbeiy anil minder in June, IS7«S. At that tuns lie ass.nlod a man witli a stick and took £13 fio n him. He then dialed tins man into tic creek and held him under water until lie supposed that life was extinct, and then left Ins. victim in the ciuek. On the lu'tli, of July, 187S, at Albuiy he mbbed a man of €3 10d. With refi-ienco t > the assault and robbery of Mr Bates, Knowles. says that after he dealt the first blow with a chisel Bates only said " My God. ' In connection with another man he robbed a countryman of £4."i in Leichardt stieet, off Lonsdale street. Knowles iceened £17 of the money, and this crime was committed thirty-two weeks ago. He further states that he bos a private plant of £75 at the Merri Creek, beyond the gasworks, The money is iv a tin on the left-hand side of the, bridge. There is also another plant of £10.3 in notes under the hearth-stone in the kitchen of I'oplar lodye, Wood stieet Fitzioy. The largest note was for £20, mid lie was unable to use any of them a^ payment had been stopped. He saw the money all sife about three yeais ago. Mr Patteison, who was with Mr Bates on the night on which lie was assaulted and robbed, was taken to the Melbourne Gaol yesterday, but he was unable to identify Knowles as the man whom he

gaw following Mr Bates. In consequence of these statements the detectives made enquiries and Detective Walsh stated that the confession made by the prisoner as to the crimes he had committed had been investigated by the police, and there was no conoboiation whatever to be obtained. In the dillerent country districtt where the prisoner alleged he had robbed and assaulted seveial persons, no such crimes had e\ei been redorted. With reference to the murder of the late Mr Bates, the piisouer had been taken out to the locality, and he pointed out a spot where he said he had assaulted and robbed Mr Bates and then thrown the body down the embankment, but it was not within half a mile of the place where Mr Bates' body •\\.\s found. Nine arrests including one woman, have been made in connection withnn agrarian minder which was committed at Diinsey, ten mill •> wcit of C'oik. It nppeais to have aiisen out of a family dispute o\ar land. A man named Murphy died a month ago, len nig liis d.ingh tor in possession of a farm of thutj-livc aeies. It was claimed by her brother, the eldest son, who was alieady in |os session of another thnt\-fi\e lines, which wcic assigned to him on his m;ur i.»ge by his father. The binlhei and sisquauelled over the mattei, but the litter succeeded in asoiting hci lights, She let her poition to Janes Spence for glazing, and lie had been in po&es»ion for neaily a month. On October 4th lie left his home, a mile distant, to look ofter his cattle, wnicli weie grazing on this land. He was suddenly surrounded by a number of men, and was terribly beaten. Some people who saw the attack from a distance went to his assistance, and theassilantb lan ofF. The man was found in an unconscious state, and died in half an hour. His skull was completely battered in. The police have ai rested John Murphy and his wife, together with seven others, on suspicion. Evidence has been olfcieil by some of those in custody.

Statisxhn bliow tlntUitualism is q inin<j pound in Kn«l,>nd. CxrrviN Hak\ e\. laic of the English Navy, has loft London, having been engaged by tlio Chinese f-TOveinment. A numl^r of letired ofhceis .ire following, it being the intention of the ({overnimnt at l'ekin tluit the Chinese itonelad fleet shall be office* ed almost entirely by Ku ropeans.. A Lovhii'h VhNOh wvi.. — The duel in which Count Stephen Batth\any los>t liis life has its oiigin mextiiiordinaiy ciicuinstances. It took place on October. 22, af Teniesvai, in Hungaiy, the Count's adversary being Di Julius I'osenbcig. The following paiticulais aie pi\en by the Deutsche Zeitung :—" "Count Batthy.uiy, one of the leading lights of fashion ' of the Hungaiian capital, was married last week in Wiesbiden to Miss Ilona Schosberger dc Feiny.i. the beautiful daughter of a wealthy b.inkcrin BudaPesth. Fraulcin Schoshcigei became the bride of the > oungCount mofet unwillingly. Last year she had met Dr Julius Rosonberg, a rising solicitor, at Pesth. He fell in love with her, and his feelings woie fully reoipiocated. The patents seemed inclined to favour the glowing intimacy till Count Batthyany made hisappcaranee, proposed to the yonng lady, and was accepted by her parents. Who, howe\ er declined that she would many no one but Dr Koscbenborg, whereupon he r j)aients took her to Marlenbad, where Count Batthyany, a few houis after their arrival, also made his appearnnce. One inornintc Fraulcin Nchosberger went out veiy eally for a walk, and returned home Fran Rosenbeig. Her lover had arranged with her to meet in the neighbouring town of Kger, and theie they were mauied aet-oiding to the Jewish lite The young lady not being of age, and eei tain lcual formalities having be- n neL''ecfc«d, Herr iSohosberger dechued the \wnvuia" null mil v »>^- depaitod at once with his fui.ilv from Maiienbad, and kept his M'heieabouts a secret. Hr Ho-*en-lici'^, hiiwevif, obtain d information aa to where hi-, wife was hidden, ami ;i|i|>catvd el' the pent I—v1 — u Pni'is hotel — to ilvmand \vr. lie was fleeted by n rou)l\'«r, pointed at bis cheyt, and retired. The .Schoi,beig"is left Palis immediately aftei tliib episode, and Dr Kosenbcig nyain tiied to h'nd out whore they weie, but in vain. The nevt information he fcecivcd was the advertisement of 'a fashionable mai riage' in one of the society papers date! from Wiesbaden, Oct. 16, containing the names of Count Stephen ]tottl>) r any and Ilona, daughter of Hen* Sfhohberger do Forwya. Dr Rosen beig {nought an action again&t the father of Ihejmly he calls his wife, and at the Fame "time sent his seconds to Count lla-ffciiyatiy, M'liopb honeymoon lias come r tb on' abrupt end' by thebnlletbf tHo man he had destroyed," ~" '