TRAGEDY AT MANGAPEHI.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 180, 29 July 1916, Page 6

TRAGEDY AT MANGAPEHI.

NATIVE'S MAD DEED. SHOOTS FARM HAND DEAD. AND WOUNDS ANOTHER SERIOUSLY. NIGHT qUNT IX BUSH. E.AKOTONGAN ARRESTED THIS MORNING. (From Our Own CorrespoDdent.) MANGAPEHI, this day. Another murder, characterised by ferocity and brutality, was added to Auckland's' recent unenviable n'cord of crimes of violence yesterday, when, on a ] lonely bush sheep-station, several miles i from here, a native, who has lately open ; residing in the district, went mad and slaughtered a young Scotch I farm hand named Kenneth Livingstone, and attempted to kill a second man. Charles .Frederick Macfarlane, manager of Mr. John Christopher Rolleston's sheep run.. The man escaped to the bush, but this morning a Rarotongan name Tui Kaimuku was arrested. Mr. Rolleston's sheep-farm is one of the loneliest spots of the Dominion. It is officially known on the map as Rangrtoto Block, and the hormit-like life of the residents on the run may dp gauged by the fact that once Mr. Rolleston perpetrated a joke on the occasion of the -marriage of one of his friends in ■Auckland'by sending—backed by unanimous endorsement —the congratulations of the population of the extensive district of Rangitoto. At that time the population consisted of Mr. Rolleston, a farm band or so, and a few head of live stock. for thfe settleT, who is the son of the late Hon. W. C. Rolleston, of Canterbury, had recently taken on the job of converting a 3-000-aere block of fern and bush country into a sheep run, and tliere he had lived —and still lives, up to the time when he packed his bag to go to the ■war -with the first contingent, relegating the care of h>i& farm to Maefarlane — completely cut off from the world. The nearest outpost of civilisation is Mangapehi, whose distance away varies according to one's judsrment of those ■weird measurements known as Maori miles, from 10 to 17 miles. Mangapehi itself consists of Messrs. Ellis and Burnand's timber sawmill, and the usual adjuncte~of the primitive settlement: and Mansapehi in distress has to eend out S.O.S. calls to Te Xuiti, over 25 miles of telephone.

The nearest life to tbe Rangitoto block t is in tbe native settlement of TiToa, * some ten miles away. J WHARE ON FIRE. Rolleston's farm stands •fairly high, and is surrounded by dense native bush, which graduaßy thins out on the Taupo i side-to open fern -country. Yesterday . Macfarlane and Livingstone were at work on the boundary of the farm j fencing, and had been sleeping in a , whare. About twelve o'clock they j noticed smoke arising from the direc- . tion of the whare, and hurried in i that direction to see what was amiss. ] They entered the burning cabin, and j found that "the place had been ransacked, '] and that a. saddle bag containing papers \ and valuables had been removed. The j two men followed tracks through the ] scrub in search of the thief, and, after ] they had gone some distance, they came i across a native carrying a double- t barreled gun. < A SUDDEN ATTACK. ] "Here he iB," called out Livingstone to ' his companion. Simultaneously, it is j alleged, the man levelled the gun in the direction of Livingstone, and fired pointblank. The contents of the second barrel he loosed at Macfarlane, but just : at that moment the farm manager swung : round, with the result tliat the shot just grazed'-his cheat. Reconecting that he had been using a rifle which he had left \ in the —bin, Macfarlane ran off in the ! direction of tbe whare again to get possession of it. The native gave chase, firing at Macfarlane as he ran. One shot caught the fugitive In the Angers, and another wounded him. in tbe leg, and a third: failed to take effect. Reaching the whare, Macfarlane found that his arm was in such a state that be could not lift the gun, and decided that the only escape was to run for it in tho direction of the puree where he had left other men working. The assailant still but, nearing the place where assistance might be expected, Macfarlane called out, and the assailant, tak-ing-alarm, made off through the bush. 3HOT THROUGH THE HEAD. Macfarlane reached the other men working in the bush, and the party started off in search of Livingstone and the native. Arriving at the spot where Livingstone had fallen, it was found that he had been shot through the head and was dead. The horses belonging to the manager and the shepherd were missing, the native having ridden off on one, and leading the other. Following ont the track, the party found that v.c had apparently experienced trouble with the leading horse, and had shot it. clear-ing-out on the-other.— •_- y Realising that the ch_e was hopeless at that stage and, having some idea of —©-identity of the assailant, the party turned th<_■ attention to Macfarlane, who "was in a "terrible plight. Telephone communication was established with Te Kuiti, and Sergeant Rowell and Dr. Wills boarded the Auckland-Wellington express, which arrives at Te —uiti at about 5 p.m.. and came on to Mangapehi. On examining the wounded man, Dr. Wilfe found his condition such that it wae deemed advisable to immediately remove hint to. the Hamilton Hospital. ARREST OF TUI KATMUKU. Meanwhile Sergeant Rowell organised a search party, which set out the same night on foot. Believing that the native would be found at the Maori settlement at Tiroa they proceeded in that direction. Arriving there early this morning they went to the hut of a Rarotongan named Tui Kaimuku, who gave himself up without any trouble. THE DECEASED MAN. The dead man Livingstone is thirtythree years of age; and wa9 single, having been employed on Rolleston's farm for some little time. H e was a native of &ptland„—id had. no relatives m the Dominion, but has a brother serving with the New ■Zealand, force in France. Macfarlane, the manager of the farm, is a I young man of about the came age, and , few relative in Weffington and at Bal-

clutha. He took over control of the farm when Mr. Rolleston went to the war, coming from Mairoa, near Te Kuiti, to take up his new charge. Later, Livingstone came from Otorohanga. Tui Kaimuku, the mau arrested on a charge of murder, is a hall-caste Rarotongan, who has lived in the district for a considerable time.