AHURIRI.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 609, 8 September 1858, Page 3

AHURIRI.

Capture of the Notorious John Wood.— On Wednesday evening last, a party of three, viz., Lance Corporal James Connor, Private John Willis (both of the detachment of the 65th stationed here), and a man named John Smith, — arrived in Town from the Mahia, having in custody the now notorious John Wood. Wood, as cur readers all know, escaped from Wellington ga.ol, where he was under committal for robberies

at the Hutt. This he effected, according to his own admission, by means of a saw and crowbar secretly introduced into his cell, On gaining his liberty", he immediately started for the interior, where he was recognised on more than one occasion, hut his cunning was such that, before anything could be done to secure him, he had in every case made himself scarce. For some time he was in the employment of Mr. Nairn, at Pcurere, by whom he was at length recognised, and who then promptly adopted means for having him taken into custody. This step however, Wood seems to have intuitively divined, for he decamped immediately afterwards. He appears, thence^ to have made his way to Napier—sleeping, according to his own account, two nights on the Spit, without any attempt at concealment, —and from Napier" towards the northward. From the time of his escape till that of his arrival here, he states that he had swam no fewer than twenty-three rivers or creeks. His capture seems to have been, in a great measure, the result of accident. It appears that a private of the 65th deserted, and that Connor and Willis were despatched by Col. Wyatt in quest of him. ) With that view they proceeded towards Mohaka j and the Wairoa, accompanied by Smith, avlio had | lately come overland from Wellington, and who, i we suspect, had the £100 reward in his mind's | eoe. On their way they came upon traces of a stranger, and. at Wairoa and Waikakopu, obtained information that enabled them to follow | his track. On reaching the Mahia, which they did last Thursday week, they discovered, standing before the fire in one of the whalers' huts, not the deserting soldier of whom they were in pursuit, but a man who was at once recognised by Smith as the escapee from H. M. gaol; whereupon the " darbies" were quickly slipped upon him, an:! the road to* Napier retraced. It was not. however, for some time that Wood would admit his identity. The capturing party, it would appear, arrived in the rery nick of time The runaway had previously taken a pas*a<*e for Auckland in the Ziliah, which had called^ off the Mahia for oil ; he had put his 'svrac' on board, containing, by the way, two revolvers, and had brought the boat ashore with the view of gettins another hand to give him a shove off. Meanwhile, however, a breeze sprung up and the schooner put to sea. Wood, thus disappointed, was just about leaving for Poverty Bay when his travels were unexpectedly terminated by the arrival of the corporal and his party fortunately he was then unarmed, otherwise, bein<* *> desperate man. the worst consequences munit have ensued. Wood is an "old hand," ins real name being John Sinclair. He appears to be a villain of the deepest dye. He absconded from Jlobart Town on the 4th March, 165b, to evade a charue of being an accomplice m tne murder of Mr. Dunne, of the Franklin hirer. His description appears in the 'Tasniaman Government Gazette' of April 10, accompanied by an offer for his apprehension of -£100 on the part of the Government, and an equal sum by the relatives of the deceased. His original sentence was transportation for life, and part of his term w-is served in Norfolk Island, where, as well as in Van Diemcn's Land, he was repeated.y charged with serious offences, having on one occasion, we are informed, narrowly escaped the halter Corporal Connor and party certainly deserve, in addition to the reward or rewards to which they may be entitled, and which they have well earned, the thanks of the whole community for having relieved it of tne presence of such a scoundrel. Wood, alias bmcUv.r.is now confined in the lock-up, JSapicr, penuing an opportunity of forvaniinj? «»n *" Wellington. Would lie" were weli u\v:ty.— Haio/ie. s hay .Ueruld, August U.