THE ROGUES OF VICTORIA.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4281, 19 April 1879, Page 3

THE ROGUES OF VICTORIA.

Under the somewhat Hibernian title "A Magsman's Diary," the Melbourne " Argus " of March let publishes the following respecting an accomplished female thief, a member apparently of a Victorian gang:— i \ The presence in our midst of a class of persons known as " magsmen," who exist upon the credulity of those with whom they may happen to come in contact, is well known to most of tho community, but their modus operandi and the extent of their organisation are but little understood. The case of the woman Catherine Smith (who wee arrested on Saturday last), whioh was partially investigated at the City Police Court yesterday, revealed, to a certain extent, the inner life of this class of criminals in a manner that seldom occurs. The prisoner was put forward on three charges—-viz., those of insulting be- j bavioor, being in a public place with intent to commit a felony, and larceny from the parson. Only the first case was gone into, the police applying for a remand. Detective Duncan stated that on Saturday afternoon, in company with Detective* Mahoney and O'Donnell, he was on duty on the South Yarra Wharf, watching the departure of the as. Otway, when, his attention was called to the prisoner. He saw her go on the quarterdeck amongst a number of ladies there, and press closely to them. Knowing the woman* character, he spoke to the ladies, and asked them if they had lost anything, They replied in the negative, but staled tney had felt the woman's hand near their pockets, and declined to make any definite charge, as they wished to leave by the steamer. Duncan then asked the prisoner if she was going by the vessel, and she said she was nat; bu* subsequently, when the captain was communicated with, she expressed her intention of paying her passage. She, however, declined to do so when pressed, and the detectives, on the captain's ord«rs, removed her from the vessel. She then followed the officers about on the wharf, calling out that Duncan had purposely let Weiberg escape, had taken money for doing so, and that the newspapers had stated such to be the case. She was then arrested, and removed to the watch-house. Detective Dunean alao pointed out that a certain section of the community were now in the habit of systematically insulting the police, and he trusted tfee Bench would protect them. Aβ a remand was applied for in the other cases, the Bench declined to adjudicate on the ease before the Court, and granted a remand upon all the counts for seven days. Mr S. Gillott, who appeared fox the prisoner, o&de an application for bail, bat the Bench declined to entertain the proposal. When the prisoner was searched at the watch-house a small leather bag waa

found in her possession containing a sum of £400 in notee and gold, five watches and other jewellery, loaded dice, and a diary written in pencil, detailing the movements of herself and her husband for the past four months. By the entries in this book it would appear that the precious p»ir had, during that period, visited various parts of the country, plying tbeir nefarious avocation, and plundering the habitues of racecourses and cricket groundH by weans of various onesided gambling games,, At the Bowling races, at the recent cricket, match, at Ballarst, Hamilton, St. Arnaud, and various other places, they appear to have done remarkably well, their takings on more than one occasion exceeding £20 & day. The money found in the woman's possession had just been drawn from the Bank, and it is surmised that she intended to leave the colony with her husband, who was a short time baok convict* d Oβ a person having no lawful vitible rneen* of support, but who is at present on bail, ponding the result of his appeal against the oonviction. Of the watches found upon her, some of which wero soldered up in ft mutfard tin, which was cut open by Detoctive Dowling, three have already been found to bo stolen, and in oue instance, in regard to a watch stolen from Sale, the detectives are in a position to prove that her husband was in that part of Gipps Land at the time the robbory was committed. That the prisoner contemplated severing her connection wilh the " mob " to whom she frequently refera in her diary is evinced by the fact that an unfinished letter was found in her possession, oddreeeed to a Melbourne newspaper, and purporting to expose the trickeries practised by tho class with whom she had been so long associated.