THE CASE OF ASSISTANTPAYMASTER CRADDOCK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10414, 12 April 1897, Page 5

THE CASE OF ASSISTANTPAYMASTER CRADDOCK.

AN INTERRUPTED HONEYMOON. The Melbourne Age of April 2 gives the following account of tho arrest of AssistantPaymaster Craddock :—

The allegation against Craddock, as described in the telegrams received from Sydney by Superintendent Brown, of the Criminal Investigation Department, is that on the morning of Thursday week he visited the head office of the Bank of Australasia in Sydney, and oashedaohei|ue for £2000 on the ship's account. Uβ received the money in sovereigns, and when he returned to the ship's anchorage in Farm Cove about 11 a.m. he lodged the sovereigns in the strong room. Later in tlio day ho came on deck with a Urge Gladstone bug in Ilia hand and went ashore. This was about 8 p.m., and when the muster was called next morning it was found that the paymaster had not returned to the ship the previous night. An investigation of the ship's treasury was made, mid not only the 2000 sovereigns drawn on Thar were found to have disappeared, but £400 additional was also missing. On Monday lait the naval authorities communicated with the Sydney deteotives and obtained two warrants tor the arrest of the absconder—the first charging him with desertion, and tlio second with stealing £2400, the property of the Imperial Navy. Descriptions of the missing man were circulated throughout the colonies, and photographs were forwarded to oioli of the police departments, with the intimation that a reward of £50 would be paid on his arrest On these reaching Melbourne thoy were placed by Superintendent Brown in the hands of Detectives Diltou ami Wilson, and on Wcduesdiiy those ollicors. obtained a provisional warrant for tho arrest of the accused. Fortified with this, they commenced a round of inquiries at rim various hotels, coffee palaces, and boarding-houses in the city and suburbs. Twelve hours of investigation revealed nothing to the detectives. At a late hour on Wednesday night they visited the Grand Hotel, ami wore encouraged by the dictum nl the hall porter that the photograph was" something like " a Mr. Joseph I'ercivnl Carter, who arrived on his honeymoon from Sydney on Saturday last. It was impossible for the detectives to interview Mr, " Carter," tor he was then at the Bijou Theatre with his wife, so they decided In wait under the electric light at the corner of Hoiirko and Spring-streets, and catch a glimpse of the gentleman when he returned, at the conclusion of "The Second Mrs. Tauqueray." This they did, and they were so satisfied of his identity with the missing man that they determined upon arresting him on the following morning. Accordingly, at 8 o'clock yesterday, before " Mr. Carter was out of bed, the detectives arrived at the Grand Hotel, and lay in wait in the corridor until he had left his room. Directly he reached the corridor Detective Dalton stepped up and announced himself, adding. "We know your name is Craddock, and that you come from Sydney." The other, without a trace of emotion, retorted smiling, " You're on the wrong track this time. My name isn't Or»ddock; it's Harper, It's quite true that I come from Sydney, though; I was married there Inst week, aim my wife is with me now." The deteotives produced the photograph of the missing man, which "Carter" regarded intently for a few minutes before admitting that it " does resemble me a little." He then turned and asked abruptly, " Well, what are you going to do about it!" " We're going to arrest you for a start," observed Dalton laconically. "Are you really?" asked the other, and being assured that he would certainly be placed under arrest, he mournfully admitted that he was the Katoomba paymaster. A dramatic scene followed when the detectives accompanied Craddock to his bedroom. There the wife was found sitting in a dressing gown, and when the oilicers entered with her husband she rose and demanded the meaning of the intrusion. The prisoner walkcdslowlyover to hie wife, and putting his arm around her neck said, " I have just been arrested fordesertion. My name is not Carter; lam a naval officer.," The wife wase deeply affected at tlio man's words, and almost fainted. The detectives have ascertained that she belongs to a most respectable family in Sydney, and that for the past six months Craddock has been visiting her under the name of Carter, stating that he was an electrical engineer. The couple were married at St. John's Church, Darlinghurat, on Friday morning last, and started for Melbourne the following day, News of the arrest was despatched to Superintendent Brown, and he soon arrived at the Grand Hotel and instituted a search of the luggage. In a Gladstone big an amount of £291 in gold was found, and the multitudinous trunks and portmanteaus belonging to the Craddocks were packed with a large amount of apparel, evidently a recent purchase. Both Craddock and his wife were taken to the detective office., and there the man informed Superintendent Brown of the ! place in Sydney when £2000 of the missing money could be found.