national library of australia …...report that the splendid zeal of con stable william m. lfyde, of...
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National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page19114955
SHOOTING AT THE
POLICE.
% Sensational Case.
Constable Hyde Shot.
Death of the Victim.
The chapter of burglaries committed in
[Adelaide and the suburbs during the past
few weeks lias aroused special alertness
on the part of members of the police force
in keeping irach of suspicious-looking cha
racters, and it is distressing to have to
report that the splendid zeal of Con
stable William M. lfyde, of the Marryat
ville station, led to an incident on
Saturday night which cost him his life.
Equally disquieting is the fact that
three armed and desperate criminals
who were concerned in Saturday s
sensation are still at large. Iwo
policeman have been stationed at
Marryatville—Constable W. H- Drenck
lian (the officer who had charge
of the jury- box in the Criminal Court for
many years) and Constable Hyde, who,
singularly enough, succeeded at Marrvat
ville ihe late Constable King, murdered
at Glenelg last year. Hyde was on dutyin the streets of Marryatville as usual on
Saturday night, and when in Shipster's
road liis attention was attracted by three
fcuspieious-looking men who were standingunder a pepper tree' in the horse ga'.cs
recess of the Marryatville Hotel, close to
the tramway offices at the terminus of
the Kensington line. They wore great-|
coats when most other people were swel
tering in the exceptional heat. The con
stable was not the only person who was
Attracted by their unseasonable garb andtheir evident desire to avoid scrutiny.
Mrs. J. Purcbes (wife of the landlord of
ilie Marryatville Hotel) and her daughterwent out at 9.30 p.m. to get some coppersat the tramway offices, and also noticedthe men, one of whom said "Good even
ing." Mrs. Porches met Constable Hydewalking along Jfhipstcr's read, and re
marked to him, "They look suspicious,"at the same time pointing to the trio in
the great-coats. "Yes," replied the officer;"I ve got my eye on them. I want to
have a look at their faces." Hyde passedthe men, who then moved off in the direc
tion 01 the Marryatville read, with thepoliceman following lliem judiciously.
j
HOT TIME IN EASTRY STREET.J.'iie actual encounter did not take place
jfor about 20 minutes later, when the]
scene had been changed to lias try street—|
the first long highway that the Burnsidetraincar traverses niter leaving Marryatville. It is believed that Constable llydehad not kept the suspicious-looking charac-
jtors in sight during ttie whole of the mean- !
time, although they had not moved more
than 200 yards away from the snot wherethey wore first seen. With Mr. CharlesCorrcll, who keeps a provision store in thelocality, llyde had shared the use of a
pony and sulky. The animal was kept inMr. M. E. Linn's paddock, abutting on to
JEastry street, which lias plenty of openspaces in it, and during the day the ponyhad become entangled in the wire fence. Theconstable released it, and told Mr. Corrcllthat he would visit the paddock at supperlime and again when he was going offduty, to sec that no further mishap hadbefallen the pouv. It is believed that thethree men whom he had shadowed in Shipper's road had taken refuge in this paddock. and that when Hyde went there to
sec to the pony's welfare he stirred themup, and they showed fight.
'
The attackwas a particularly during one, becausethere were plenty of people withineasy distance of the spot. Whatactually led up to the sensationalencounter
could. be related only byllie principals in it. All that can be saidnow is that the people in the neighbourhood were suddenly startled by the quickdischarge of firearms. A regular skirmishtook place in Eastry street. Before theshooting occurred Constable JJyde hadtaken one of the criminals into custody,perhaps on suspicion of being an undesirable character, and both were 011 theground struggling, with the policeman get- iting the better of the deal. The othertwo bad made off, but when they noticedthat the officer of the law was singlebanded tbey returned to the aid of theircompanion. Four shots were fired fromrevolvers without taking effect, and thenone of the desperadoes poised his firearmrm the fence skirting a paddock, ami deJibeiately "potted" the constable, clinchingLis act with an oath—"Take that, youbastard." The trio then decamped acrossopen country towards the liills.
A GOOD SAMARITAN".Hyde received the shot in his
right check. He was rendered valu«l)le first aid by Mrs, If, Scbuotze, afriend of his from childhood, who haplioncd to be passing, and who was. beforeIter marriage, a district trained nurse.The lady rested the head of the bleedingconstable 011 Iter jap, and had her frockruined by the stains, lee was producedfront Mr. Correll's shop, and the woundwas bathed anil dressed by Mrs. Sehuetzsbefore the removal of the poor fellow tothe Mnrrvalville Police
Station._ where hewas attended by Drs. Horlhwiek, Shepherd. and Hayward. Later the patientwas taken to the Adelaide Hospital, andadmitted by Dr. Hetls. On Sunday be was
operated upon bv Drs. Todd and Magarey,who. however, were unable to extract thebullet. The medical men found that the
base of the skull was fractured, and theyreported <?n Sundav that the patient was
in a very low condition, and that nara'ysis
was setting in 011 one side of the body.jRarlv this morning the report of the Hos
pital authorities was equally gloomy. .
MRS, S'(7IU17TZE\S STORY.
Mrs. 11. Sehuetx.e is the wife of a well
known commercial traveller, and lives in
fitalcnborough street, Upper Kensington.When seen by a representative of The
Ketrister on Sunday morning she re
marked:—"At 10 o'clock on Saturday even
ing 1 was walking home along Eastry(street in company with tny husband'scousin. Miss Schuetze. We saw four men
doubling backwards and forwards across
the road, and then two of them fell to the
(round. We heard four or five revolvershots fired, but it never occurred to us
even then that anything was amiss. Wesimply thought it was some men indulgingin new year's horseplay. Then I saw one
of the men place something on the fence
of the paddock behind Cooper's Breweryand take aim. There was a flash,
accompanied by a report, and theman remarked. Take that, you bastard.*
The seriousness of the business tbendawned upon both of ns. There was a man
standing in the middle of the road witha bicycle, and I called out to him, 'Can't
you go and help?' hut he made no reply,
and did not move. Three men ran across
the paddock, and one remained on theground. I rushed up to him. and foundthat he was my life-long friend, Mr. Hyde.He was
bleeding profusely from the face,
and was unconscious. I bathed his wound,and tried to make him comfortable. Presently he came to and recognised me, because he said, 'What are you doing. Al?f Alice). What has happened?' Later on
the_
ambulance van arrived, and I accom
panied Mr. Ilyde to the police station, andthen to the Hospital. He was quite con
scious all the way in,#
and remarked. 'I
caught one of them, didn't I?' He was
able to throw no more light, however, on
what had happened, and again asked for
the facts several times."
ANOTHER EYEWITNESS.Mr. II. Fordham, a young man living in
Eastry street, a)so saw tlie affray at a dis
tance. lie remarked:—"1 saw ConstableHyde chasing three men, one of whom he
caught. The oilier two continued to run.
but presently they turned back, and Iheard one of thein say, 'He's all right;he's on his own.' Five revolver shots
were fired, an<l the last one hit ConstableIljde just as he was falling to the groundwith his man. Then the whole three made
off across the paddock at the rear ofCooper's brewery. J art sure I eould iden
tify one of them. Before Mr. Hyde was
removed he seemed to recognise everybody around him, but wanted to know
wbat it was all about, and said he was
sleepy and tired. He was not able togive any account of the shooting and whathad led up to it."
FLIGHT OF THE MEN.After they had disabled their pureuer
the three men, as already mentioned, tookto a large paddock at the rear of Cooper'sbrewery. The whole locality ailords excel
lent means of escape. Their progress!
was unchecked until they came to the back|
part of Air. C. J. S. ishuttleworth's proi pcrty in Statenborough street. The atten
!
tion of both Mr. Shuttleworth and his son
,
Leonard had been attracted by the firingin
Lastly street, only a few hundred yards
j
away. Mr. Shuttleworth, sen., remarked:—"Mj" son and I were sitting in the gar
j
den when we heard the shots, and we gotj
up to investigate. I went to the gate at
Ithe back and stood there for a minute or
I two with my son Leonard. Presentlyj
three men hove in sight ruuning hard. I; said, 'Here they are—coming across the.
paddock.' We could see them plainly in themoonlight. Thes' scaled the fenGe into myproperty, and my son ran to the front to
intercept them as they were about to getthrough a boxthorn hedge into the street.
Thereupon one of the men exclaimed, 'I'll
stop you, you bastard,' and fired his revolver at my son. The bullet missed its mark,and lodged in the roof of my house." Mr.Leonard Shuttleworth had a fortunate es
cape, and naturally the shooting silencedfurther opposition on his part. • The run
aways broke through the boxthorn hedge,and reached Stateiiborough street. Up tothis point, their footprints were followedby Mick, the blacktrackcr, who was astir
early on Sunday. The native expressed theopinion that the criminals separated after
emerging from Mr. Sliuttleworth's property, and that two of them went off upStat'enborough street towards the bills,
while the third one escaped through more
private property opposite to Air. Shuttleworth's residence, access to which was
made easy by a pile of planks stackedagainst the fence.
TROPHIES RECOVERED.When daylight arrived the vicinity
'
of the sensational skirmish was searched,and there was plenty of evidence of the
encounter. The spot where the strugglewith the arrested man occurred was
marked by dark bloodstains, and in Mr.It. Jones's paddock adjoining that of Mr. ;Linn, where the pony was quartered, Mr. ;T. Graham, a friend of the constable,
1
picked up a sis-chambered revolver, fully I
loaded, and a felt hat. In the paddockacross which the fugitives raced were I
found two overcoats and a bloodstainedfelt hat. Evidently the latter was worn
J
by the criminal with whom the constablej
had the struggle. In one of the coats there]
was a green uaize mask fitted with tapes,
and another mask was found loose. In one
of the coats Norwood football colours were
discovered. All of these trophies were lodgedat the Margyatville Police Station. OnSunday evening a telephone message was
received at the Detective Office to the ef
fect that Mr. A. McDiarmid had found an
overcoat above Burnside, which lie had delivered to the police. Concerning that
fact Sub-Inspector Priest remarked:—"Itis said that the three men wore overcoats
when first seen. Two of the garments were
found near to the scene of the shooting,
having been evidently discarded hastily.
Hence any person who saw them after theshooting would see them without the over
coats. The discovery of tlietcoat by Mr.MeDiannid is important," because if it be
longed to one of the assailants it is clear
that in the first part of their flight the
men passed through and above Burnside."
EVIL DESIGNS SUSPECTED.It is believed that the primary object
of the three men's visit to Marryatvillewas to "rrack" the tramway offices, wherethey evidently expected to get a good haulafter Saturday's traffic. 'i'lic suspicious
of the police were shared b^ the tramwayofficials, and £83 was taken into the c ty
on Saturday night. not by the person whousually carries the money, but by one of
the proems in the stables, whose posses
sion of I lie cash would not have been so
readily suspected by the men. Plenty of
people saw them about Shipters road, andheard their obscene language, too. One of
them was heard to upbraid another for
having "turned up late."
TTTF. rOXY INCIDENT.
Mr. C. Corrcll stated:—' Constable Jlydc
|
and 1 shared tbe use of a pony and suiky,
and the former was kept in a paddock at
Die back of Mr. M. K. I.inn's promises,
|
abutting on to Eastry street. During the
j
day the pony became entangled in the wirefence, and Mr. Hyde and 1 set it free. Theconstable told me at tcatime that he wouldvisit tbe paddock at supper-time, and againwhen going off duty, for fear that the ani
mal got into further trouble. There is 110
doubt that he went to the pnddtck for
this purpose, when he roused up the men,
who were hiding there, and attempted to
apprehend them, lie was as game as a
pebble, and he would have been quite jus
tified in arresting theni for the languageUiey bad used during tbe night,"
CUREFOLLOWED
Intense Itching Eczema Drove Him
Nearly to Despair—Chief Surgeon
of a London HospitalCalled It
Worst Case He Had Ever Seen—Got Little or No Relief Until
CUTICURA STOPPED HIS
UNBEARABLETORTURE
"About four years ago, in London, I
was troubled by a severe Itching anddry, scurfy
skin
on my ankles and
feet. The same,
in a few days,was the case with
tny arms andscalp. -T couldhardly keep from
scratching, which,I need hardly
|say, made it
worse. Thenlargo red patchesappeared, withinflammationand soreness.
After ten days,thousands of small red pimples formed.On becoming dry, these caused intense
itching. I was advised to go to the
hospital for diseases1 of the skm. I did
so and was an out-patient for a monthor more, the chief surgeon saying: 'I
never saw such a bad case of eczema.'
But I got little or no relief. Then I
tried many so-called remedies, but I be
came so bad that I almost gave up in
despair. On coining to this country I
heard 60 many accounts of cures by Cuti
cura Remedies that I resolved, as a
last resource, to give them a trial. Thiswas after suffering agonies for twelve
months, and right glad am I that I didso, for I was relieved of the almost un
bearable itching after two or three
applications of Cuticura Ointment. I
continued its use, combined with a
liberal use of Cuticura Soap and Cuticura Resolvent Pills and am more than
thankful to 6ay that after using threesets of the Remedies, I was completelycured. I can only add that, should anyone be suffering as I did, I hope thatthey will do as I did, and I am sure ofthe results. Henry Searle, Cross St.,Little Rock, Ark., U. S. A., Oct. 8 and10,1807."
Send to nearest depot for free Cuticura B ook on Treatment of Skin Diseases.
Cuticura Remedies nre Bold throughout the world.
A Single Set often Cures. Depots: LondoD. 27,
Charterhouse 6q.: Parts, 6. Rue de la Pali;Australia, R. Towns & Co., 6ydne»: South Africa.Lennon. Ltd., Cape Town, etc.: U.S.A., Pottei
Drue A Chem. Corp-. Sola Prope., Boston.
SEEN BY OTHERS.Among other people who saw the men
hangingabout^
was i\Ir. Kobert 0. Lawes,the dentist. Two of tbem were in front
of Jlr. Correll's shop, where they were
joined by the third. Bad language fol
lowed. and the remark was made, "You'veturned lip late. Where have you been?"The trio then sallied up Eastry street.
About this time Mrs. 1£. Pitman also saw
them, and Constable Hyde was following.
He caught hold of one. afld a struggle en
sued. She heard cries of "Help!" and the
shooting followed.
SCOURING T11E COUNTRY.
Constable JDrenckban, who is in chargeof the Marryatvillc station, was on dutyin Pishop's place, when he heard the shots
fired. He at once returned to the station,
and almost immediately a messenger ar
rived on a bicycle to say that ConstableHyde had been shot. Mr. Hrentklmn'sfirst act was to telephone for medical assis
tance. and then he proceeded to Eastrystreet, and had his injured mate carried to
the station on a bread board secured fromthe local baker. The patient was groaningand breathing heavily, and when askedhow he felt said. "All right, only my jawaches." Soon afterwards the ambulancevan arrived, and the sufferer was taken to
the Adelnide Hospital. Mr. Drenckhnn im
mediately placed himself in communicationj
with the authorities at the MetropolitanWatohhousc, and at least a score of uniformed men and several plainclothes officers
were dispatched to Marryulville. Many of
them had just come off eight, hours' dutyon fhe streets, but they went out
cheerfully—including Constables S. C. |
Thomas. Hawke, AV. Kennedy, J.
Feehan.C.Kennc.nnd Martin—and scoured
the surrounding country and the quarries
in the hope of npprehending their com
rade's assailants. Thc.v remained out all
night, but bad no luck, and as further
search 111 the immediate locality seemed
hopeless, thev returned to the c'ty at noon
on Sunday. The chances are that the fugi
tives got back to Ibe city before all ave
nues of escape could he closed. The Commissioner of Police (Col. Medley) also
visited Marryatville on Sunday morniug.
A POPULAR POLICEMAN.
Constable Drcncklian, -who wis greatl v
distres.sed over his mate's i'Mutk. said
Mr. l-lvdr» was exceedingly well k'kcd in
the district and was a capable officer. lie
joined the M.irrvatvilje station on April29. 1903. He is 34 years of
age and unmarried, and is a
son of Mrs. W. Hyde, -of Al'endale East,
near to Mount Ganibier, wherehe is well known. He lias a
brother (TTezekinh) in the no!-re
force. "TVU" H-de. as the i"inred nv-n
is popularly called, is an exceptionally
pood athV-'p. and nnb- on Jvif or 'av afternoon. rd lying for the Hosken-i Ciick-f Club,
lie made the top score of n9 runs. List sea
sen he i-lavrd with t'-e Easi Torrens Bteam, and this season had practised remi
ferl v on the Norwood Oval. He joined thepolice force on May 1. 1902,
THE PUBLICAN'S WIFE.Mrs. -T. Purcliop. avifc of (lie local publi
can, said to a reporter:—"It wag half-pastnine nil Sal unlay night when 1 first snav
the three nun slamhng near to the bigrates of our hotel vard. not far from the
tramway offices. Thev had on overenats.
and wore cans. Mr. dauehter and I went
into the tramway offices to set a/ worth
of eoprcrs. and I remarked what a strangething it -was to wear overcoats on such ahoi Tvrht. As we passed two of themhad their faces turned to the avail, as
though they did not want to he seen. Theother one. hoavever, said 'Oood ea-ening.'
Two of them were of rather stout build,
and the tln'rd avas taller and somewhat
slimmer. We saw_ Constable ITyde walkingwesterly along Khipsler's road, but before
be came up to the mcu they moved off and
gpt into the darkness of some peppertrees. There they waited, and allowed thepoliceman to pass them, nothing beingsaid on cither side. I remarked to Mr.Hyde 'They look suspicious,' and he replied
'Yes; I've got my eye on them. I want to
have a look at their faces.' The last we
saw of them was when they werecrossing
the street towards Marryatville road, withMr. Hyde following them up. They must
have been in this locality for quite an hourbefore the shooting occurred."
DESCRIPTION OF THE MEN.The following is the" description of the
men supplied to the police, although, con
sidering the darkness of the night., the information might not be correct in all itsdetails:—
First—25 to 30 years, 5 ft. 8 or 9 in.
high, dark complexion, dark moustache(clipped).
Second—25 "to 30 years; height, about 5
ft. 8 or 9 in.; fair complexion, lightmoustache of medium length.
Third—27 years; about 6 ft. high; ruddycomplexion; strong build; low-cht vest.
DEATH OF CONSTABLE HYDE.I lie shooting affrav at M'arryatville on
Saturday night, in which Constable Hydewas wounded in the head, has had a fatal
termination. The patient never regainedconsciousness.
On Monday afternoon the Adelaide Hospital authorities reported that his condition had grown still ruore serious,
and that in fact lie was jinking, andcould hardly be expected to rally.
The operation which was performed on Sunday was not with theidea of locating or extracting the bullet,
but to relieve the pressure on the brain,where hemorrhage was thought to havetaken place. Partial paralysis of the leftside had supervened, and trephining was
resorted to with the object of relieving thepressure of blood. The wounded man'spulse became steadily weaker, and lie
gradually sank and died at 10.30 on Monday evening.
VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER.
THE INQUEST.The C'ily Coroner (Dr. Ramsay Smith)
opened au inquest on the body of the
late Constable \V. Hyde, the victim of theMarryatville shooting case, at the Adelaide
Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
Constable Hezekiah Hyde gave evidence
of identiiieation. Deceased, his brother,was about 35 years old.
—Shot in the Shoulder.—
Dr. E. Todd, honorary surgeon to theAdelaide Hospital, said he saw deceased at
the institution at about 9 on Sunday morn
ing. He was unconscious, and did not
regain consciousness. He had made a
post-mortem examination, which had re
vealed two marks, a little more than skindeep, at the back of the left shoulder.
These marks were such as might have been
made by bullets grazing the flesh. On theright side, just below the cheekbone, was
an irregular penetrating wound. Therewere also marks which might be powdermarks on the 6kin surrounding the wound.A track could be traced inward from theskin to the base of the skull. A bullet
(produced) was embedded in the bone,which it had raised up in a splinteredfashion against the base of the brain.
Round about this raised part the brainwas injured. Otherwise the organs of the
body were healthy. Death was due to theinjuries described. Witness performed an
operation on Sunday morning to relieve
the symptoms.—Three Suspicious Characters.—
Mrs. Esther Purches, wife of the licenceeof the Marryatville Hotel, gave evidencecorroborative of the inionnation publishedin the press concerning the three men
suewhom she had seen near the hotel on Sat
urday night. Constable llydecame from
the direction of the tram oiiices and passedthese men as they stood in the darkest
cornel- near the premises. Witness said to
him, "There are three suspicious lookingcharacters." He replied that he had his
eyes upon them, and that he wanted to
get a look at their faces. While theywere still speaking the trio crossed theroad in front of them. The constable fol
lowed, and they all passed out of her sightaround Linn's corner. The three men -ap
pearedto be shorter than the constable.
They wore overcoats. One bad' a cap andthe other two hats. It was dark, andwitness did not see their faces, and therefore could not recognise them.
—"Only a Pipe."—
^George Tliornas Wakchain, contractor, ofKnightsbridgc, said at about 10 on Saturday night lie and his daughter were walking homo from Marryatville. When theywere in Eastry street, between Linn'scorner and the bridge, two men ran pastthem. One was a policeman, and he was
chasing the other. A little further on theconstable caught the fugitive, and appearedto fall with him. The policeman held his
man, and passed witness again, struggling• back towards Marryatville with him. Apj
parentlv the officer was feeling for some
thing, because his captive said, "It is onlya pipe." Two other men were at this
time running on the road, and they stopped just as the policeman caught the first
man. The officer had only passed witness
when he saw a flash and a report comingfrom the two men. who had stopped in
the road. Immediately they ran across
and fired point blank in the policeman'sface. There were several shots—four or
five—close at his face. The policeman fell,
ami the three ran across the paddock onpo
I
site. Witness walked over to the police
man p.nd asked if lie was seriously hurt,
and he replied, "I think I am done for."
He called lor help. A young man on a
bicycle rode up, and witness sent him forhelp.
—Shots up (he Road.—
Horace Fordham, of Lastly street,
Marryatville, said at five to 10 011 Saturday night he saw three men walk up
Eastry street. AJJ were wearing dark over
coats. About 10 o'clock he heard a shot,
and ran towards the sound. Another shot
was fired straight down the road. He was
running in the middle of the road, anda third shot was fired from the oppositeside of the road. Two men were struggling
on the opposite side of the road from
where the sound of this third shot came.
Then a man ran iu front of him and
through the paddock. He went to wherea man was lying, and there was a woman
at his side. He he'prd to wine the blood
off the fallen man's face and recognisedConstable llvdo. 11c put his coat under
Constable Ilvde's head, ar.d later, when
others had arrived, helped to move him on
to the footpath, and eventually to the
Marryatville station. One of the men
whom he had iir.-t seen stood just outside
of the fence. He wore an overcoat and
a fell hat, and had a dark moustache. Theman who ran in front of witness did not
have an overcoat on.
—First. Aid.—
Mrs. Alice Schuetze gave evidence that
she wan going home along Eastry street on
Saturday night ulien she heard reports as
of firearms. Two men ran acroBa the road,and she heard one say, 'Take that, you
bastard." A man was in the middle ofthe road with a bicycle. -She called tohim, "Can't you go and help?'? He roddaway. She saw a man lying at the side
of the gutter. She went to him, turnedhis head over, and said, "It is
'
Bill
Hyde." She attended him, and Subsequently went with him to' the hospital.She could not identify any of the men'
whom she saw at the time of the shoot*ing.
#
13y Detective Mitchell—Ju6t before hear*ing the expression mentioned, she heardanother .revolver' shot, and that made her
'
i think it was a fight" and not boys playing|
with a pea rifle, as she had originally.thought.
—One Revolver for Two Men.—Constable W. H. Drenekhan, stationed
at Marryalville, said he was on duty inBishop's place, Kensington, on Saturdaynight, when he heard five_reports from tho
! direction of the Marryalville School, about'a quarter of. n mile away." Two shotswere fired quickly, then there was a slightpause, and three others followed in rapidsuccession. He ran towards tlni spot, andwas informed on the way that ConstableHyde was shot. Telephoned to the Norwood police for medical and police help,rnd hurried to the scene. Deceased waslying on his right side on the path, dressedin unifoim, but not armed with u revolver,
Witness and deceased were the full com
plement at the Marryalville station. Onei Weblcy regulation pattern revolver and .an
j
old cavalry revolver were supplied officially'
for the use of the two, but deceased pos-"
scssed a weapon of his own. The oldcavalry revolver was long-barrelled, andwas not handy for carrying around. Itwas not the sort of weapon for a foot'
ccnstable to have with him. There were
no regulations or instructions saving whena constable ought to he armed, but it was
optional for a constable to take a revolver,
with him whenever ho liked.
-The Verdict.—
The. Coroner returned a verdict of wilful
murder against a certain person or persons
unknown.—Reward of £250.—
On Tuesday afternoon the Governmentdecided to oiler a reward of £250 for in
formation that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the murderer ofConstable Hyde. In addition a free pardon will be extended to any accomplicegiving such information. The official inti
mation is us follows:—
Chief Secretary's Office,
Adelaide. 5th January, 1909.
Murder.— £250 Reward.Whereas on the
_
night of the 2ndJanuary, 1909, William Hyde, a police
constable, was shot at or near -Kensington. and received injuries fromwhich he died on the 4th January.And whereas at nn inquest held at theAdelaide Hospital befoie the CityCoroner, on the 5th January, a verdict
was returned that the said WilliamHyde rvas feloniously and of maliceaforethought murdered by some person
or persons unknown, notice is herebygiven that ft reward of two hundredand fifty pounds will he paid by the
Government for such information as
shall lead to the apprehensiou and con
viction of the guilty person or persons.
In addition to the above reward, Ilis
Excellency the Governor will l»e ad
vised to extend a free pardon to any
accomplice, not being the person who
actually murdered the 6aid William
Hyde, who shall give such required in
formation.
A. A. Kirkpatrick, Chief Secretary.
This is the largest sum that has been
offered as a reward by the Government of
South Australia for the apprehension and
conviction of a murderer. The sum in thecase of Joe Coleman was £100, and this
was duly claimed and paid over to a pri
vate citizen.
CAPTURE OF COLBERT.
Our Eudunda correspondent wrote on
January 1:—"A smart piece of work was
accomplished yesterday by Mounted-Constable' Farmer, stationed at Eudunda. Theresult was the clever capture of J. Colbert,
for whose arrest a warrant had been is
sued. Colbert, in conjunction with Thomas Quinn, is wanted to unswer a chargeof murdering the Chinaman All Wong.M.C. Farmer had been on the alert for tha
la6t few days, and receiving a clue lie fol
lowed it up. He picked up the accused'stracks in the Huuared 01 Apoinga. andbeing on adept at tracking (he havingwhile stationed in the north gained con
siderable experience at the art) followedColbert for some miles. So long as thepursued kept to the road his tracks were
followed at a canter. This enabled an
earlier capture, as time was lost consequentupon Colbert leaving the road and makingacross paddocks at intervals. Colbert's
camp for dinner was found not long va
cated, and M.C. Farmer came upon the
fugitive suddenly, and had him covered lie
fore he had a chance to resist._
Colbertwas maidng due east, it being bis intentionto get out to the back scrub country.Judging from bis movements the district
was well known to him, as he was makingacross to the scrub at Robertstown,the country thereabouts being less thickly,
populated than further south. The arrest
took place in the Hundred of Apoinga,about five miles north-west of Robertstownend 20 miles north of Eudunda. The pri
soner was taken into town this morningby the constable. Local residents recog
nise that they have in M.C. .Formera Callable and zealous officer, and shouldpromotion be a result it would be wellmerited."
TIIE ENTRY OF COTNESE.
PERTH, Januaiy 4.
A joint deputation from the A.N.A. andTrades and labour Council waited upontire .Minister for Defence (Sr. Pearec) to
day ond urged that some measures shouldbe taken to prevent a further influx of
Chinese and other aliens into the State.
Mr. Pearco, in reply, stated that he was
led to believe that there were being sur
reptitiously introduced into the near west
parts oj the State a number of Chinese,who wore brought from Singapore andother parts. They were, it was believed,
being landed at ports'where there was not
sufficient customs supervision. It mighthe found necessary to provide a patrolsteamer. Be promised to bring the mat
ter under the notice of the Federal Go*vernment.
SORE ANO WEAK EYES,
Morris's
Imperial Eve OintmentUnsurpassed Record in Coumohwealth res
CURE OF AU. EYE TROUBLES Po^. a -
aWSmwferSHi