THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4158, 19 November 1884, Page 3

THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT.

Wellington, This day,

The release of the Tichborno claimant is accountable for the publication at a rather late period of some fresh evidence relating to that celebrated trial. Somo three or four years ago the Defence Department of this colony removed to Invercargill from the Mount Cjok barracks, Wellington, anumber of shot and cartridgo cases, some which bore the name of the ship Osprey, the dates varying from 1844 to 1856. Very little noticeappears to have been paid to the circumstances at tho time, and it was soon lost sight of. Recently, however, tho department having been removing a number of other ammunition cases from old stores in the barracks in order to deposit them in brick stores which have just boon completed, and in the process the men have como across several additional cases marked " Transport Osprey," dated variously 18-14, 1846, 1854, and 1856, and bearing the names of destination, "For Melbourne," " for Hobart Town,"and "for Sydney." Thesefactstend to prove beyond doubt that between 1814 and 1856 a ship named tho Osprey did trade to Australia, and it will be remembered that during tho progress of the ■. Tichborno trial the claimant stated that on the loss of the Bella ho was picked up off the South American coast by a vessel called the Osprey bound for Melbourne. Enquiries resulted in the discovery that there was no. record of any ship of that name having visited Port Philip, tho only Osprey known there being a schooner which had plied between Melbourne and Geelong., The ammunition cases in question were brought to New Zealand from the sister colonies at the time of the Maori war, and have remained packed in the Mouut.Cook barracks ever since.