PREFERRED DEATH
TO STANDING IN THE DOCK.
Military Man's Mania.
Averts Result of Awful Accusations by Suicide. — His Pathetic Letters.
Death before the degradation of stand-" ing m the dock charged with a most awful offence was what Henry William Saunders preferred at Rata recently. Saunders died iron:, poison ' self-administ-ered and m tragic circumstances. Saunders, who ranged as Major, seems to have been pretty well known, because of the interest he displayed m school cadets, and was at all times an ardent admirer ■of sport. Who Saunders really was, no one seems to definitely know, but it is claimed for, him that he was the owner of a title ;and a member of an aristocratic family. When Saunders' s suicide became known the Hunterviiie paper thus spoae of him : — "The deceased was a man evidently with a past. His conversation indicated refinement and education. He was a lover of books by th^ best . authors, and his opinions regarding the border lines between the working class and aristocracy was most pronounced, and m defence of the blue blood of old . England he was most emphatic and bitter. How a man of such tastes could domicile himself m a broKen-down. old whare with a decaying wooden chimney to . scatter ashes broadcast over his belongings has long been matter for conjecture. His over-bearing aristocratic demeanor did not add to his list of friends. For a considerable time past whisperings of: wrongful deeds perpetrated by him were afloat, which culminated m his arrest, on Thursday on a serious charge and m his finally taking his own life rather than face the grave charge. The unfortunate man was Drill Inspector for the school •■district, and was a warm advocate of compulsory training." . Whoever Saunders was, there can be no existing doubt that he, was a sexual pervert. For sixteen years he had lived alone m the whare mentioned., He was a member of the Itangitikei Rugby subUnion, hon. secretary of the Rata school committee, and, as stated,, a prominent personage m the school . cadet corps. However, the man was a danger and a menace to the boys with whom he came into contact, and, for some considerable time, he had been under the close surveillance of other members of , the Rata school committee. • -t
Some idea of the sort of man: Saunders was, can be gathered from the evidence of Mr Patrick O'Grady, a railway surface man and chairman of the Ra-ta school committee. For a long tare he had reason to suspect Saunders, and with some fellow employes determined to watch. As a result of what one John
any rate I love your son and did my best for him. It is my greatest griel leaving him. I had hoped to carry him through his next examination and helped him m his further studies. Be good to him, old friend. He is a good boy. Good-bye." "Rata, 8.1.10.— t solemnly declare that the p.n. for £15 giv.cn to and the one for £46 lying at the Bank of - — , p.urpoiting to be signed by . Kata, New Zealand, are both forgeries, executed solely by my hand, and, further, that the said — — had no hand m or knowledge of them.. — (Signed), Henry W. Saunders." Another letter was addressed 1 toF 1 . J. McDonald, Esquire, referriDß to school committee matters, and asked the re--1 cipient to think of deceased as kindly as he could. . . A verdict— -of suicide by taking some unknown poison was recorded by the Coroner.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19100219.2.38
Bibliographic details
NZ Truth, Issue 243, 19 February 1910, Page 6
Word Count
580PREFERRED DEATH NZ Truth, Issue 243, 19 February 1910, Page 6
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