THE ADVENTURES OF CONSTABLE AXAM.

Auckland Star, Issue 1729, 2 September 1875, Page 2

THE ADVENTURES OF CONSTABLE AXAM.

"Warrant Issued for His Appre-

hension for Forgery.

Oor readers may or may not be pleased to learn that they are likely to be blessed with another sight of that exceedingly fine young man ex-Constable Axam, who, at>er resigning his situation in the .Armed Constabulary, sailed hence for Newcastle, in the brig Moa, on Thursday, the 19:h ultimo. It is also probable that he will be Hgain attached to the police, but his connection with that force will not be exactly the same as it was before. When he makes his next appearance it will be in all probability as prisonerof Con Williams, who has proceeded by the Hero to Sydney, with a warrant for his apprehension on several charges of forgery. It may interest our readers, and is not likely to interfere with the course of justice, if we give a few particulars of the little games which Mr Axaoi is charged with have carried on during his shortsojourn amongst us. Everybody recollects his magnificent appearance and swagger. As he walked down Queen-street in the full glory of his new uniform, and radiant beardless face, he forcibly reminded the passer by of that noble young village blacksmith who could look the whole world in the face, for he owed not any man. How he made himself notorious by the liberal application of his baton to the heads of unoffending citi zens; how he was said to have grossly illused his infant child (though this is much exaggerated) : all this is well known. It is to other exploits in his brief career that we have now to refer. The day before yesterday an information was sworn before a.Justice of the Peace that Constable Axam had wilfully and corruptly forged the signatures of several persons in Auckland, notably those of Sergt. O'Connor and Mr. Neil Campbell, tailor of Albert-street. The circumstances of the alleged forgeries are described as follows : When Constable Axam first joined the police force, he went to Mr Lockhart, of Highstreet, and applied for a loan of 25/, He obtained the loan, giving as security his note of hand, endorsed with the names of the two o-entlemen above mentioned. No doubt w.is entertained as to the gcnuihere?s of the signatures. In due course, the bill was retired all but 51. Then, Axam went to Mr Lockhart, and asked for a further 10-m of 101 on his own personal security. This was refused ur der any circumstances, but he was informed that when the balance was paid he could have £11 on same names as before. -He went away and returned in an hour, bringing a promissory note with the required endorsement. The further sum was then advanced to him. This took place on the day he left the fore?, a fact the lender was unacquainted with. Two or three days after this Axam and his wife, who had been living in Albert-street, booked their passage to Newcastle in the brig Moa, and their names were published in the SrAi., on the 18th ult. The brig sailed the next day. Some events which took place while the vessel was lying in the stream will be recurred to presently. Two or three days after the vessel had gone a friend of the payee of the promissory note saw Sergeant O'Connor, and asked him how about Axam . " Oh, we've got rid of him," cheerily replied the good tempered sergeant. "But how did you get on about the P.N.'a?" "What P.N. 's ?" replies the sergeant, this time pricking his ears. " Why that he got you and Campbell to put your names to. ' O'Connor expressed his utter ignorance of the existence of having put his name to any note, and tho result was that a reference to the bill itself elicited from O'Connor and afterwards from Mr Campbell an emphatic declaration tha; both signatures were forgeries. Meanwhile another complaint had been lodg-d by a widow lady who keeps a grocer's shop in Wyndham-street. This lady's statement is a very singular one. She states that soon after Axam took the house in Albert-street his wife made her acquaintance and shortly after introduced her husband, who lost no time in cultivating the friendship to his own advantage. He is said to have informed this lady that he was a man of consequence in disguise : that his father sent him supplies of money, which however had been rather irregular of late, and that his official pay merely kept him in cigars. He conferred upon the widow the honor of his custom, and at various times also borrowed small sums of money, which he always repaid with many expressions of thanks. A.specimen of one of these applications is before us as we write, and runs : —" Dear Mrs. W. Four pound will do me till the Ist. Please give it to Mrs. Axam, and oblige, &c." He also collected sundry debts for the widow and made himself useful in other ways till he succeeded in fully convincing her that he was as he stated, a swell in cog. He explained to Mrs. W the fact of having to leave the force by the following ingenious excuse :—" The fact ia Mrs. W Broham is a shrewed fellow; he Bees that lam a cut above the fellows in the force here, and wants me to look higher." He added that he was going to Taranaki as drillinstructor, and would pay her bill, which now amounted to £5 18s., before he went away. Two days after this she saw the names of Mr. and Mrs. Axam among the passengers of the Moa. Her confiding nature received a severe shock at the sight, but she determined to apply for a speedy summons, if not too late,, at once. This she did, but could not Obtain it owing to the death, just at that time, of the R.M. Getting a friend to go with her, she went on Thursday in a waterman's boat down to the brig, which was then down the harbour. Arrived alongside, the looked-for gentleman, who was leaning over the taffrail, with his usual smile greeted her affably. From tne boat she reproached him with his ingratitude and asked for her money. "Money! here Captain," cried the astonished man, '' come here and see the woman who wants her money twice." He then took from his pocket the bill, with a receipt attached, and a signature purporting to be that of the widow. This he showed to the captain, and then handed it down into the boat; The woman avers that she was thunderstruck, and immediately proclaimed the receipt a forgery. When she did this Mr. Axam is said to have forgotten himself so much as to have used very bad language, and to have insulted tbe lady by asking her if he should make lit up by giving her a kiss, and saying other rude things. Seeing that it was no good, she came away keeping possession of the receipt. We understand that several other charges in addition to the above a,re being investigated against Axam. It is said that two cheques negotiated by him were forgeries. yVe are also informed that he obtained a sewing machine from one of our importers, and sold it for half the money, without paying for it himself. From a pawnbroker in Wyndham-street, he is said to have obtained a gold chain and other articles without payment. From Mr Grace, the firewood merchant, he had also procured goods, which he would have left unpaid had it not been that that gentleman kept a sharper look out th an some others add got his money. Altogether Mr Axam—though, as Artemus Ward says, " As fine a man. as ever was"—seems to have involved himselt in some very dubious transactions. The Moa left on the 19th ultimo, and the Hero on .the Ist instant. When the latter arrives aj Sydney, the brig will only have been fybout sixteen days out. It is a question .?in the face of the late westerly gales whether she.will have reached Newcastle in that'time, so that there is every probability of his being arrested on landing.