A DETECTIVE'S CAREER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13782, 22 June 1908, Page 6

A DETECTIVE'S CAREER.

INTERESTING REMINISCENCES SOME CELEBRATED CASES. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHKISTCHURCH, Sunday. Chief-Detective Chrvstai., of the Christchurch police force, who is about, to be , retired, after 30 years' service, has nar- ! rated to a representative of the Times some of his reminiscences. 'I he detective will retire as from September 30, although his ! leave of absence will commence in July. He came out to New Zealand in 1879, and joined the detective force at Wellington, where lie was stationed for nine years. The case with which lie was most prominently connected was the Hind-Duncan arson case, in which he was the principal factor in bringing the criminals to book. The city was thrown into the utmost • alarm by the systematic firing of several buildings, all of which were robbed. Beggs' sawmill, among other places, v.as burned, and damage, done to the extent of £11,000, while the cashbox was emptied by the incendiaries. A whole block of houses in Upper Willis-street was burned, as well as a "block in old Customs-house-street. Before the next night Detective Chrystal had both the culprits under lock and key. and the sequel was that Reuben Hind received a sentence of 21 years' imprisonment, and Duncan, his accomplice, got seven years. In connection with this case the Underwriters' Association presented Detective Chrystal with a sum of £50, in recognition of his efforts. It was while stationed at Wellington that Detective Chrystal unravelled a case that had caused a profound sensation for a few days. A servant girl in the house of Captain Rhodes stated one day wnen her mistress returned from a morning walk that a big black man had entered the house and had smashed open the jewelcase and attempted to decamp with the contents in a small satchel. She stated, further, that as lie was about to leave the house she struck him on the side of the head with a poker, inflicting a painful wound. He had dropped the satchel and left by a back door, leaving blood stains along the passage. For this act of heroism she was presented by her master and mistress with a watch and chain; but meanwhile Detective Chrystal had his suspicions aroused, and established the fact, which was followed up by a confession, that the girl nad concocted the story and had gone to the length of killing a fowl to. prove Hie blood stains. From Wellington Detective Chrystal was transferred to Auckland, where he remained for seven years. It was while there that he had his most important case, and for it he received the thanks and commendation of the public and press. Itwas the notorious Waikumete murder case, in which he tracked the murderer Scott, who was subsequently hanged for his crime, the trial lasting thirteen days, and the evidence being entirely circumstantial. Scott , had poisoned a settler named Thompson. At the time when he was about to leave the district on transfer the grand jury expressed its high appreciation of Mr. Chrystal's service, particularly in the case of the Waikumete murder. i Napier was the next scene of Detective Chrystal's activities, but lie had been there only fifteen months when Commissioner Tunbridgc appointed him chief detective at Christchurch. That was in the year 1398, and the detective has been in this city continuously ever since.