THE FATE OF GASPARINI

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9152, 6 September 1888, Page 5

THE FATE OF GASPARINI

, HIS ESCAPE OR DEATH. • INTERVIEW WITH DETECTIVE WALKER. The circumstances of the affair of .the New Caledonian convict Gasparini are so familiar that it is hardly necessary to refer ' to them. His escape or death, when on the \ voyage from Wellington to Sydney, have been subjects which have been fully discussed, but no real tangible account of the occurrence has yet appeared, Detective Walker, who had charge of Gasparini, was a passenger from Sydney by the Manapouri yesterday. He was interviewed last night by a Herald reporter, and although at first rather disinclined to make anything like a formal statement, he, seeing that there was nothing to hide, frankly answered the questions pub to him. We may say that Detective Walker is, of course, sorry that he has lost his prisoner, but he is thoroughly convinced that he is drowned. "The Wakatipu," said the detective, "left Wellington on the llbh August, and I left on board of her in charge of Gasparini, a French convict extradited to New Caledonia. The French Consul at Wellington offered to provide an assistant for me, bub I felt I did not need one. The voyage was a very fair one up to the 15th of August, and Gasparini behaved very well. He, of course, felt very solitary, for lie could not speak English. Indeed his life was a very solitary one, for there was only myself and the purser, Mr. Twohey, who spoke French, to converse with him. He was not confined. He had a berth in the steerage department, and the run of the deck. I went to see him in bed every night. On the night of the loth Gasparini went to bed at eleven o'clock. Mr. Malcolm (the second mate) and I spoke to him then, and Mr. Malcolm and I then went on deck, and remained together till a quarter to twelve. At twelve o'clock I went below and saw Gasparini undressed and in bed. 1 was at that time informed that we were to be at Sydney Heads next day at twelve o'clock, and that we were then 130 miles from Sydney Heads. The night was squally and rough, the worst, in fact, that we had through the voyage, so much so that Captain Wheeler told me after that if the man had gone overboard he would not have lowered a boat, although he might have stopped the steamer. I went to bed after seeing Gasparini at twelve o'clock, knowing that at eight o'clock the following morning we would be within 40 miles of Sydney Heads. At eight o'clock I went to see Gasparini, but did not find him, and on making inquiries I was informed that he had not been seen since two o'clock. At this time he was seen by Joshua Palmer, a cattle-dealer of Tokomairiro, Otago, who slept next him. He saw Gasparini get up and dress himself and go on deck, and after this he was not seen. At this time we were 113 miles from Sydney Heads. I did not miss the prisoner until eight o'clock, and I aft once informed Captain Wheeler, who told me I could have any officer of the ship, or any help he could give to search the vessel, and Captain Wheeler said that if there was a stowaway on board he would be found in half-an-hour. He recommended the ship's carpenter to me, as he knew every inch of the ship, and said that if Gasparini was on board he would find him. Some of the officers were placed on watch on deck, and the carpenter and I searched the lower decks. We searched from the forecastle to the stem, and from the stem back again to the forecastle, and this search—or, rather, double search— was completed before we reached Sydney Heads at noon, but no trace of the prisoner could be found. The carpenter (Joseph Wilson) told me then that lie was satisfied that the man was not on board but 1 was not thoroughly satisfied in my own mind, and a watch was kept on deck by myself; and the officers assisted after our arrival in Sydney, by the water police, who made a thorough search of the ship, the deck being watched in the meantime by myself and Detective Clough, of Sydney. In order that there might be no chance that Gasparini could escape a Sydney detective and myself watched night and day while the ship was in Sydney harbour till she left at 0.30 am. on the 19th instant. I accompanied her to Newcastle, and on arriving there the vessel was again searched most rigorously by seven of the water police, and a watch was kept until every bit of cargo was put, out, and until the ship was filled with coals. The universal theory on board the steamer was that Gasparini went overboard when he left his berth at two o'clock in the morning, as that was the last seen of him." " What do you think yourself ?" " I am of the same opinion. I can come to no other. The. most thorough search has been made. He could not have reached the shore, and ho must have been drowned. Besides a French detective in Sydney assured mo that had Gasparini landed he would have known of it within four hours, and lie was convinced ho had gone overboard." " What were Gasparini's habits during the voyage ? How did he look forward to his future prospects?" " Well, he was, of course, somewhat solitary. He had few with, whom he could converse, only the purser and myself. In the course of conversation with me he told me that the French Governor's laws in New Caledonia were very severe, that sometimes men who escaped and were recaptured had their arms broken with clubs, and that in many cases they were guillotined. He had seen four guillotined at one time for attempting to escape, and others were shot. He seemed to converse more freely with Mr. Twohey than with me, and Mr. Twohey noticed that he seemed to get into very low spirits and grew worse as we neared Sydney." " But surely he was aware of the effort to get him out on habeas corpus at Sydney. That was a chance, and ho would have had plenty of time to commit suicide on the voyage to New Caledonia." " No. There would be no chance after reaching Sydney, and he knew it. Once on board the French shin lie would be confined in an iron house. They are never allowed on deck." "You have, I think, as large an experience in removing and escorting priso- | ners as any man I know of; will you give ; me a few items of your experience ?" " Well, I took a batch of eight of the worst prisoners from Auckland to the South. They included Plummer, Bryant, Goldsmith, Johnson, Elcock, Cyrus Haley, a Maori whose mime I do not recollect, and two others. These were the most desperate men in Auckland gaol, and had to be removed for safe keeping in 1873. I took Sheehan arrested for murder by me here —to Ireland, where he was hanged for murder, and I have removed a large number of other prisoners along the coast of New Zealand." "What is the rule? How do you deal with prisoners at sea ?" "As a rule prisoners, when on board ship at sea and out of sight of land, have the liberty of the ship. • They are not confined." "About Casparini : Did you observe anything in his conduct to lead you to suspect he would commit suicide ? " " No. He was reticent and almost sullen, but that was because he had no one to converse with, at least I thought so. There was nothing in his manner to lead me to think he contemplated suicide." "Has he committed suicide, or has he escaped ? " " Yes, he undoubtedly went overboard. There is not the slightest possibility that he could have escaped." THF FRENCH CONSUL AND MR. FISHER. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN* CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Wednesday. The French Consul, Vicomte Jouffray d'Abbans, is engaged in ruffling official feathers here in regard to the disappearance of Gasparini. The position which he has assumed is said to be untenable, but ho sticks to it. It was his prisoner that escaped, and the responsibility, whatever it may amount to, rests entirely with him. I referred yesterday to the circumstance that the French Consul had lodged a protest with the Governor, complaining of the Italian Consul's interference on behalf of Gasparini, and calling attention to what he considered the incompatibility of position of a Minister of the Crown holding the office of consul of a foreign nation. I also mentioned that up to the time of despatching my message the Italian Consul (Hon. Mr. Fisher) had received no official information from any source of the lodging of the pro- I

test, and he, therefore, was unable to say anything either in regard to its presentation to the Governor or its contents. I saw the Hon. Mr. Fisher again to-day, and he informs me that he knows nothing officially of the protest, and he still treats of it in light and caustic language. In regard to the statement that he interfered on behalf of Gasparini, he says he did not in any way interfere. No necessity for his interference arose, and he says his knowledge of the duties of the Consular office was sufficient to prevent his interference between the French Government and their prisoner. As to the suggestion proffered to His Excellency by the French Consul (that he considered the holding of Ministerial office was incompatible with the holding of the Consular office), the Hon. Mr. Fisher treats the suggestion to His Excellency as an unwarrantable piece of presumption on the part of the French Consul. The " incompatible" point was considered by the Cabinet prior to Mr. Fisher's acceptance of the Consular office, when it was determined that, should any case arise while Mr. Fisher held his Ministerial office, in which it might be necessary to exercise the exequatur of the Italian Consul, a deputy-co snl should be temporarily appointed. No such case has as yet arisen. Mr. Fisher thinks the French Consul is mainly in search of a little diplomatic sensation, in order to magnify the importance of his office, and upon this point he is a little satirical. He says : —" It is the passion of the French people in general, and of Parisian notabilities in particular, to have themselves and their doings brought into prominence, so that all may behold them, and wonderingly and admiringly ponder over them. This characteristic of the French is said to be due to eating roasted peacocks.'" Mr. Fisher, as he puts it himself, never begins a quarrel. In that respect he is a law unto himself, but "being in," &c. (vide advice of Polonius), he suggests, with a smile, that if the French Consul will only continue the hunt, he may possibly "catch a tartar." From the moment the representative of the French Government in New Zealand took delivery of their prisoner, the New Zealand Government was divested of all responsibility, no matter who might be in immediate charge.