Our Dunedin Letter

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 3141, 13 February 1900, Page 3

Our Dunedin Letter

(From Our Own Corrksfondent.) Dunedin, Monday Feb. 12. The eloquence of a lawyer in many cases has its desired effect, that is the release from durance vile of the culprit who finds himself called upon to answer a charge, the penalty for which may have the effect of ridding society of his very -undesirable presence. Mr Hanlon last week, in a very astute fashion, by his clever handling of a case of burglary, added considerably to his reputation as one of the ablest criminal lawyers in Otago. So completely did he baffle the police and the stipendiary magistrate, that without any hesitation the charge preferred against the accused met with quick and summary dismissal. But justice demanded further investigation, and the police, with that viligance for which many of the members are conspicuous, left no stone unturned in their efforts to discover the^ guilty one. A few days ago a young man named Filewood, who has several aliases, was charged with burglary, and after what might be considered a fair trial, was acquitted. As I remarked, Mr Hanlon, counsel for the accused, exerted him-

self with %sqmewhat unusual degree of .'activity! to' procure the release of his client, and ""made polnlea referWee"tidr *the fact that nonf of therftolen goods entitled him, so" paid Mr Hanlon, to r -Th^ .Tng-gifltTftte, as I have stated, fell in with the suggestion, and FUewood wajß, soon at liberty, bu|yjhis wtis of verj^ jshort dur|t»n; | with Ms bopiy : ; attd| tinmMjjg a ahat gverything wls^clear fbr M 1 departure, by the express for the north, he was feoinew^^ rudelj interrupted by the li^aaranie of two detectives, who immediately proceeded to take him to the a gross miscarriage or^ustice was thus «imm^ awtejdf , and whenY Filewood en^era^he^a^rtfiis' time A *Be^ J will no doubt have " come-to-stay." THE PjLBSON ATTDTHB BEOKBE. V " H,a sufficient quantity' of mud is 'tkrown^some o$ it isvbound^to stick." -Kev.-P* B. ; ; iFrj»ser evidently s believes this saying, and has been engaged, through the columns of the 'Times,' in mud slinging,' his target being Mx J. J^Bamsayv chairman of the"E(iucati6n -Bdaidl Rev. Mr Eraser first came prominently .before the public in the famous 4 ' Waireka case, when he was- the subject of much sympathy from -persons actuated by a keen-sense of justice. In fact the gentleman whom he now seeks to belittle in the eyes of the people, fearlessly advocated Mr Fraser's cause, and got himself into very: bad odour with the official who .draws the "fat screw,'* and who, it was said, atone time " bossed the whole show." Now I we find that after all Mr Fraser was not the badly-used man the Waireka case really made him out to be, and Mr Ramsay is a sorely disappointed man. He finds he has been nursing a wolf in sheep's clothing, and consequently has dressed down the exschool teacher in a manner the latter will not soon forget. It hardly seems dignified for a gentleman *' of the cloth" to adopt tactics such as Mr Fraser chooses, and the public will now appreciate the action of the * Times ' in closing the correspondence. THE HOK". T. DICK. Death has of late been busy among our public men, and the grim destroyer has taken away another of our old colonists, in the person of the Hon. T. Dick, who passed away during the week. The hon. gentleman loomed largely in public affairs for many years, and his funeral, which took place on Wednesday, was a thoroughly representative [ one. Among the many who paid their last respects to -the. deceased was tlie Hon. J. GK Ward, representing the Government. ONE BOY BILES AITOTHBB. South Dunedinj that somewhat dull and uninteresting suburb of Dunedin, has of late years gained considerable notoriety for the number of murders which have taken place there during the last few years. Scarcely had the old year died and the new year been ushered in, than a horrible outi rage was perpetrated in a house in one of its principal streets, and an old and helpless woman was hurled into •eternity by a brutal hand. Coming quickly upon this, we are brought to face with another crime, though of a less serious nature than that to which I have referred. Two boys were at play in the street, and fighting, which is so common with the present day school boy, is resorted to, with the result that, on the impulse of the moment, one of the lads stabs the other in the heart and death ensues in a short space of time. The deceased lad is spoken of as a quiet, well-behaved boy, and although only fourteen years of age, was very intelligent. He resided with his father, Mr John Cunningham, a coal merchant, living in Brunswick street. The other lad, John Thos. Milburn, who stands committed for trial for manslaughter, is the son of very respectable parents, who are neighbors of the Cunningham's. When arrested and charged with the criire of murder, the youthful miscreant admitted striking his comrade with the knife, which he took care, however, to plant in his father's: pocket — where it was found by the police. That the unfortunate Jad- did not intend to commit so horrible a crime no one would for a moment deny 5 yet it is sad« to contemplate what will be the boy's feelings in years to come, when he begins to realise that through his rash act he killed one of his school chums.