THE ILLICIT STILL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 9150, 9 July 1890, Page 6

THE ILLICIT STILL.

FURTHER SENSATIONAL DISCLOSURES. [Per Press Association.] INVERCARGILL, July 8. Sensational disclosures, re the distillery conspiracy, were made at the Police Court to-day. Two men named Waters and Elliot, alias Stewart, have been in town for some days. Waters gave out that he was an exciseman. His movements attracted the attention of the police, who have found out a deep laid plan for entrapping business people on charges of defrauding the Customs. Seeing the report in the papers of the Dunedin case. Detective Maddern concluded that these men were connected with the business. Inspector Hickson telegraphed for a description of the man who Donnelly asserted had entrapped him. The description tallied with Elliot, and the police here then discovered that an attempt had been made to repeat the Dunedin tactics. A house had been rented, a boiler and still-head procured, but the arrangements had not been quite completed when the schemers found the police on their tracks. Elliot left by the express on Saturday morning, and Waters in the afternoon, both getting on at side stations. The former was arrested at Gore, and the latter at Dunedin. Elliot was brought up charged with having had in his possession certain materials for distilling purposes, and also with being connected with the Dunedin case. He pleaded • guilty to both charges. In reply to the Bench he gave an extraordinary explanation of his connection with Waters. Ho said he was engaged by a man who advertised in the Dunedin Star, and gave him to understand he was employed by the Customs to detect breaches of the law. He was bound to secrecy, and instructed to do simply as he was told. In Dunedin, Waters ordered him to get a house with a boiler in it, nob to give any name, but to pay a week’s rent in advance. This he did, and fitted up the house with a distilling apparatus." He told him that a merchant had a lot of things on which the duty was unpaid, and he wanted to catch him. Under Waters’ instructions he brought a man to the house who now turned out to be Donnelly. Be the Invercargill case, they were informed that a local merchant (Mr Hawson) had goods in his store on which duty had not been paid. To trap him they fitted up a house as described, and intended to connect him with illicit distillation, and then search his store for the alleged contraband goods. Mr Rawson, Resident Magistrate, said if the prisoner was a mere dupe he would probably be , discharged, , but if he was a party to a terrible conspiracy he would get a long term. After further explanations, Elliot withdrew his plea of guilty in both cases, and was remanded to Dunedin till Thursday on the second charge, and till Monday at Invercargill on the first. He left by express to-day in charge of Detective Maddern.