REMINISCENCES. AM OLD DETECTIVE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1908, Page 3

REMINISCENCES. AM OLD DETECTIVE.

VICTORIA AND NEW ZEALAND. INCIDENTS IN ME. BROWNE'S LIFE. The late Mr. Charles Townley Browne lu<d a career in connection -with ciimc and its detection in Victoria and New Zealand, which was of a, character (hat made his name respected and honoured among all thoso whoso duty, and perhaps inclination, it is to track the criminal and bring to justice those who have offended against the laws of their country. A littlo while before Mr. Browne passed away, an Evening Post reporter spent a pleasant, hour in his company, and heard from his own lips some interesting details of one or two of the cases in which he was engaged in the days when bushrangers, were a living thing, met with at odd and inconvenient corners, and when the "West Coast" was a goldfield and had no notion of migrating to other pas;ts of the colony in search of employment. A COINING PLANT. The first case to which he referred was one in which a gang was suspected of carrying on coining in North Melbourne. A detective named Black (that was not his leal name) lied the work in hand, and he (Mr. Browne) was set to watch the house. There was a grating under tho footpath, which gave light to the basement, but Ihe basement was full of water and was not used. While he was hatching tho premises two women came up and asked him if he knew where a Mis. lived. He replied that he did not know, but, pointing to tha suspected premises, lit remarked that there lived a lady who knew all me neighbours. The women, on knocking, weio admitted, and after a timo one of them came out arid, seeing him still there, asked him if he would mind going to the publichouse for a shilling's-worth of beer. He did so, only too gladly, and when ho got back sho asked him if he would like a glass of beer. By that means (for, of course, he said ho would like the beer) he gained admission to ths housa, and he was enabled to locate the coining plant in the basement, an dto propare the way for Black and his men when ths raid was made later in the evening. THE CASTERTON CASE. Then he was engaged on the case of the murder of Hunt and his" wife, in the Casterton district, which had occurred some time previously. In' the guiso of a swaggar he sought 'work and got it as a haudy man at a hotel, being after: wards promoted to a job in a racing stable kept by Wain, the man who wa& suspected of the crime. While so employed he posted up an old printed police notice making enquiries about tho disappcaijUico of tho Hunts, and he nut> it in such a position that Wain, with whom ho had become on friendly terms, was bounci to sec it when he came down to the stables nsxt day. That he did s«o it was fairly evident by the fact that when he camo down next morning ho went into the hotel and got drunk, | and Ihsn lay down in ths stables: "After he had slept for a while I woko him up," said Mr. Browne, "and asked him what 113 was saying about .choking people.". He jumped up and grabbed hold of me, and asked ' "What was I saying?" Shortly afterwards Detective Browne took the risk of having Wain arrested in .connection with tho disappearance of the Hunts, and also had himself «rres>(e^l as- a ticket oi Jeave man out> of his district. All the timo the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt could not be found, but the detective kept on talking to Wain about the affair, saynlg how th.3 police were- dragging tho river in various placets, until at last Wain confessed the crime, and told the exact spot when; the remains would be found, just below Hunt's properly. Wain stated that he at first attempted to burn the bodiet, but his heart failed him, and he aad his wife threw them, into Jie river. Mrs. Wain was wearing Mrs. Hunt's watch and chain when the bodies ;wvre discovered. Wain was hanged. That was in 1860. "Later," saiti Mr. Browne, with some pardonable pride, ."l received a testimonial, which I still possess, from the inhabitants 'of Casterton, and a gold watch and chun aa a tribute to what they described as my skill and ability and perseverance in the conduct of the case." CATTLE THIEVES. Later ; o'n Detective Browne distin-\ guished himself in the detection of cattle thieves in the Daylesford district, and in 1866 came to New Zealand. The West Coast goldfields had "broken out" about that time, and he was a detective on the coast as soon as he joined tho force in this colony, and stayed thero till about 1880, being concerned meanwhile with all the important criminal investigation and detection which had to be made in those stirring times. One caso (old West Coasters will remember it), was that of Noble One day word came to Hokitika that a violent assault had been committed upon a female on the tram line near what was known as the Big Paddock. Detective Browne went along the tram line, aa /far as the Halfway House, which was kept by a Gciman. Lxpecting to get information on the subject he rapped at the door and gave his name. "To my great surprise," he related, "they did noL open the door," and when he told the occupants "who ho was, a person inside replied, "we don't know, we are not going to open the door," However, eventually the German opened the door, and from what he said it appeared that an aßsault had been committed on a woman, and it was fcuspec./ed that the perpetrator was a colour ad man named Noble, who was engaged in cutting supplejacks. Residents in, the locality were terrified, and would not open their doors, even when they wore assured that the person knocking was no less a friend than Detective Browne. The detective, however, went out that way early the next niorning, and saw tho coloureU man who was suspected oi the crime. By degrees he got into conversation with the negro, and gradually worked him into Revcll-street, Hokitika. There tho man was identified by a tram driver, who had witnessed a part of the oiience, and the negro was sentenced to a term of imprisonment — eighteen months. But there; was a sequel. It so happened that while Mr. Browne was having a hnu^e built he discovered that Noble, who was engaged on the work, was left-handed, and ueed a left-handed squaring axe.* Just after the negro had served his term of imprisonment there was a big sensation in Hokitika. Mrs. Molhunbio found, on returning home, that one of her little girls was missing, and in one of the rooms there was blood and signr. of \iolence. The body of the girl was discovered soon afterwards — the poor child had been foully murdered. A'car the iCßiie of the tragedy was found i\ left-handed squaring axe. The inference to Dclcc\ttu» Browne, wns ob\ious. It was tho negio'n — Noble's. Detective lirowno hid seen hin loafing in the iic ; itity, and ill once went to look for him. Finding him in a lew minutes ncur-af> hand, lie asked Noble for a loan of his tomahawk. The negro said he did not luwv where it wap, but after a time ho Eaid i he had lent it to the servant girl to

chop wood. "Never mind," said Mr. Browne, "I am going in." He went in, and returned with the blood-stained axe, vhich Noble claimed as his own. Questioned as to the blood stains, he aaid he must have cut his hand, but the detectives reply was to arrest him for the murder of the young Mollumbie. Noble was hanged. The above instances are, of course, only stray examples of tho experiences of the Uto detective. Probably they are not the best that he had to tell, because the active years of Jais life were filled with episodeb which would make interesting volumes. , But the point about them is that he had the faculty of observation and perseverance. He was not a Gaboriau, and Conan Doyle had not in those days invented his deductive method of the detection of crime. Bu^t he did yeoman service in the early daye, and his memory will long be_ honoured by those who lived during his day, and who saw the results of his labours on behalf of the community, and who can appreciate the excellent character of the work which he performed.