Diary of a Gaol-Breaker

NZ Truth, Issue 976, 9 August 1924, Page 1

Diary of a Gaol-Breaker

Jonathan Roberts, Moralist SEVERELY SENTENCED, SHOT AT, HE DEEMS HIS ESCAPE JUSTIFIED . \ ' ■ t H Public Sympathy Makes him a U.S.A. Freeman Instead of a Ned Kelly Fascinating Side-light on the Mind of a Man "Defrauded out Of a fart of his Life"

. . .■■;: v ' (From "Truth's" Christchurch Rep.) ■'•■• '• ' 'Trut^'Jihas reason to believe that the once. young and athletic Jonathan Roberts, who m the 'eighties proved himself to be the most remarkable "escapologist" m New Zealand prison history, has made good m the United States and is spending his later years— he is over sixty— in domestic happiness , on his own farm m Virginia. Below are published a letter and a diary from his pen; and the latter may. be regarded as a most valuable document by criminologists and \ social reformers. ! , ;.' :.-- :t .~- ....;,. .■■-. "■.,..■. '..:.:..>.' \- .'■'•.'■ . . ■ ■ . .■ ■• ■ '"■' '■•.- '. One point of/ importance is that Jonathan Roberts as an escapee committed no froah crime. . Why?; Pjd his pursuers keep him "on the njioye" too, much? Well, hardly; because even escapees who are kept "on the move" generally find time to break m somewhere. Besides, Jonathan was not. kept Vbfi the mpye." He kept quite quiet in^^ the' bush whll^hispursuersran amok for months. Theh, /after "fi visit |to" CKristchurch (m the course '-of which, ho says, he met the Chief Detective, m the streets), he oalmly left New Zealand as a first-class' passenger. - Far from aapribmg his non-criminal record' (after^^h pursuers, Jonathan Roberts m Hi? diary attributes it to 'his. helperW,^^'who were ;man)<.-rf He says, that .the kindness; ■ he - re- ' . cejv^i^^jlthe .^ K6llyV I'Tliis rflim^rk of/RobeHs is wort I:V ' J V Touching, too, is his angle of view of the excossiyg_se the increasing of it by ■'one;! year bedaiu^ escape. A Judge, inflicted the five yearav a Magistrate the one yean 'An^ disapproved the five' years; f^ been" defrauded out of partjiof his life,^, acjds^ to vit'byr.;g;iy ing him morel" That is how the thing appeared to Roborts,; stihgihg.hjrn jjito oaol^bVeiakJng^;' ; ' v ''•-''■ '■■■' ■' ' •'' ; : " ; ' : i /- .■ /' •,"'■':■.. '■.''.-..'■ Ahifi' npt.the least interesting thing m this dia/y of. Jonathan Roberts is how the manner of his recapture , afttir his first escape influencecl him on the subject of firearms. ' "try being shot at and see whai you think of it." ' V \ : . :; ; , ' ; .'- ■■■ -: . -'.■ „ ,'-.-' '■■:;"" . .;.- s ' v A maudlin -sympathy with crime is of no use. But everyone should try to understand the criminaro point of view, and the : V mental effect of provocative factors.

Sentenced to .five years' .penal servitude at Timaru m 1884 for the comparatively trivial offence of stealing a horse, Jonathan: Roberts; .a, young athlete and .ex-bank clerk, t determined that the punishment meted out to him was altogether disproportionate . to. the offence. Hey therefore determined that no gaol m New Zealand would hold him, and how he fulfilled his promise, and, at the samo time, earned the sympathy arid assistance of the public 1 , Js told m the following story, which was inspired by some of his Original letters, which have, just come : into "Truth's 1 * hands. .; . SWAM FROM RIPA ISLAND IN 1888. There is something m the hqrimn soul which arouses Sincere admiration for any act of derring-do. The' hero of the battlefield, the fistic arena, or the sports, field is: generally regarded with reverence by the public, and even wrong-doing of a. daring nature is frequently applauded. It was, m fact, the unadulterated pluck and daredevilry of Jonathan Roberts which won for him the sympathy , of the general public throughout New Zealand when, fn 1888, at Christchurch, he escaped from gaol twice in' a month; and, on the second occasion, after dodging the whole police force of Canterbury for nearly a year, finally boarded a ship at LytteUbn, sailed for England as a first-class passenger, and was not heard of' again..' ' There have been many cases of gaolbreaking in' New Zealand, but it is doubtful whether .jvny of them have aroused so much interest as that of Roberts. When ''Murray the Maori" escaped from gaol there was caused a ilutter of excitement throughout the country, ' arid the sirme sensation, although magnified, was created by Pawelka'a notorious getaway. TheimpreHslon made by Roberta's escape, however, was much l more lasting than cither of those narked,' as it was considered on all sides that Roberta's contempt for prison' walls was due wholly and solely to his determination that he would not serve a, sentence which he and a large ■section! of the community considered to be bnielly harsh.' BANK CLERK AND ATHLETE. Roberts, who -was/ born m 1861, and was, therefore, '. 27 years of age when he became notorious, was a well-known and successful athlete.' He received a . good education and moved m Influential circles. For some time he was employed In the Bank of -New Zealand and held a responsible position m the -' Akaroa branch of that institution. As might be expected; he wrote an exceptionally good hand," and was an expert judge of culigraphy, As a matter of fact, it was tnrough this, that, ho foui d his first trouble, m that he forsed a cheque which a bank actually turned, and, on being convicted of that ofi'enco, he ; recelvtjd Jiwo years' im- . priwonment.; T.rie offence, which concerns this Btory,\howeyeiy took place Bomb time , later, knd was of quite a different churactfir. 1\ Oh thut occasion. horßO-stealing'Wasj the charge which Jonathan Ropojftsivaa culled upon to answer. Roberta had . put' up at Hood's Hotel, Peel Forest, and had stolen a horse from the Bfablc, riding Into Washdyke at night and stabling it there; Subsequently he disposea of it by auction. [ The prisoner, on being 'found guilty j; by the Jury, asked hIH Honor (Mr.. Juntice Ward) to take into consideration the fact that he had

be6n already four months m gaol awaiting 'trial. His 'Honor said he would do so, and imposed a sentence of five years! penal servitude. FIRST ESCAPE— SHOT AT. , Roberts was m gaol at TJmaru awaiting the. Governor's warrant for his transference to Lyttelton, as also was a well-known character, "Paddy Shaney." He was under lock and key on the Saturday morning as usual, and the warder went to open the cell, door arid, let him out top exercise m the corridor. ,He forgot, however, to close they door opening on to the grounds. This was wide ■'. open, • and the moment . the warder opened the coll door, Roberts darted put, passed the clothes closet, and, collaring a suit of pepper-and-salt, clothes, rushed 'out m full view of the warder, Mr. Swan, who, of course, chased him m the di^ rection of ; Saltwater Creek. Seeing, However, that Roberts, 1 who was a noted tuniier and athlete, and m perfect condition, was gaining ground rapidly, Mr. Swan returned to .the gaol and informed the police by telephone of the occurrence. > ;' Almost at that . moment Colonel Hume,, the Inspector of Prisons, who was In Timaru, arrived to make an inspection of the gaol and Mr. Swan had to follow up his Balutatiori to his chief with tidings of , the escape. ., The whole affair created great .excitement as well as amusement m Timaru, and for some weeks the majority of the police m the Canterbury. and South Canterbury districts* were engaged m hunting for the fugitive. '. A month "after ;his escape Roberts was recognised while working at Kilmchy, not a very great distance from Timaru, and Detective O'Connor 'and Constables Simpson and Warring set out to effect his capture. Roberts rriade off as soon as he saw Constable Simpson, but the latter ' fired three '"revolver shots* one of which narrowly missed the head of the fugitive, Then Roberts gave In and was handcuffed and taken to Christchurch. PUNISHED, BUT BREAKS AGAIN On Tuesday, June. 6,v 1888, Roberts was brought before the R.M., Mr; R. Beetham, and Mr. H. J. Hall, J.P., and was charged wijh escaping from legal custody at Timaru on April 28. He admitted the offence. Mr. Beetharii, m sentencing him to twelve months' Imprisonment, m addition to the term he was serving at the "time of his escape, said that although the prisoner had evidently considerod that he had some grievance m being put m gaol, he had, nevertheless, been guilty of^a very serious breach of discipline. It was m Roberts's favor, however, that, after his escape, he had conducted himself -decently and had attempted to earn his living, honestly. It was hoped that he would not do so absurd a thing iia to attempt to escape again, but. would endeavor to earn the remission of seritenco to which every well-conducted prisoner was entitled. On Thursday, June 7, Roberts was sent for the first time to the labor gang at Ripa Island, just across .the harbor from Lyttelton, and his qufck wit took m during that day the weakness of the situation. Doubtless, too, he had no want •of an intelligence department among the men he hud to work with,; it being usual with this class to regard as something of a hero

any prisoner who had made a plucky and daring escape/ On the following day, Roberts startled not only the city, but the whole of New Zealand as well, by again succeeding m making his escape. , ' .• What really enabled, him to get away was the very lax f watch kept by those m charge of the island; Ripa Island is on the west side of the : entrance to Purau.Bay and is separated from the mainland by sixty or seventy yards of strait. Oh all sides; except: the waterfront to thi^ strait.',' escape from the island by a prisoner Ayould be difficult indeed, the rocky ribs of Ripa rising up almost sheer. ". Yet it appears that this "scoot hole" into the strait had no sentry on guard,' neither was there a sentry on any pa.rt of the cliffs which overlooked both the harbor and the strait. ' ' ' '--".■ PREPARED HOLE IN MESS SHED. As. a, matter of fact, : there was only, one sentry, guarding the whole of the island on the* day of Rdberts's escape, and the position 'taken up by this officer was at the front door of the mess shed m: which prisoners, warders and Permanent Artillerymen took , their meals. The prisoners wer.e filed into this shed by warders, who counted them as they entered and then followed thehv iri ; and partook of their own meals, m the same .shed- as their charges, who were under their eyes during, the whole meal time. 1 / Oh the^PJrlday of the escape, Roberts was filed m with the other prisoners at . dinner time, but he immediately made for the back wall of the galvanised iron shed; to a point where one sheet of iron had previously been "faked" for his beneflf. ' . .' . ' , He lost no " time in' squeezing , through the., opening, right under - the warders' noses, and, making use •of his splendid .running powers, . reached the unguarded t strait." No better swimmer than Jonathan Roberts had breasted the water, and m a very few minutes he would be able to reach the mainland. A GOOD MEAL AND A GOOD JOKE. Meanwhile, the prisoners- in the shed, well aware of what had happened, were gleefully enjoying their prison rations arid literally "laughing m their sleeves" at the manner m which their guardians, sitting at the same table, had been tricked.' "Warders and'artillerymen lilsd were enjoying their .meal, blissfully unconscious that' a man who had been placed m their charge the day before, after a month's stolen liberty, was; well ,'away again. The sentry at the' door of the shed paced out his measured beat and neither heard nor saw the escape. The prisoners inside the shed ate with knowledge, whilst the warders ate m Ignorance, and both ate well. But the dinner had to come' to an end, and an artilleryman, leaving .the mess room and strolling around the shed, noticed the misplaced sheet of iron. He gave the alarm. . , ; The men were musterod and count* ed, and found to be one short of the j number who had filed into the «hed. , Who jhad got away? Jonathan , Roberts again! , Before the cha»e commenced, Roberts had gained a full hour's start. The i police, however, scoured the whole i vicinity of the mainland near Rlpa, i and, meeting with no success, beat the

peninsula to Akaroa, where . it was thought the escapee might seek sanctuary. But the days lengthened into weeks and the weeks into months, and" still the hunted man was at large. His pursuers became something of a laughing stock, and they were given little or no assistance by the public, whose sympathies were so much with the fugitive that the police,- m the course of their search, frequently came upon parcels of food which Roberts's wellwishers had placed m positions where it might chance to be found by him; PUBLIC SYMPATHY — FALSE ' •■■: | CLUES. The police were also sent on many false clues, which had all the appearance of being deliberately planned hoaxes. The more unsuccessful the police efforts, m fact, the more pleased were the public. Roberts's. delinquencies and his; sentences were freely and openly discussed and commented upon, and the then existing criminal code was denounced as being an antiquated and ferocious barbarism, whilst its administration was pronounced 'to be often, eccentric, and inconsistent. ■ TJie original reward offered by the Government for the capture of Jonathan Roberts was £25, but as time went on and he was still at large, the reward was gradually increased to £200, with £100 added by the Detective Department. But three hundred pounds, which m those days was about the equivalent of £600 to-day, did not have the effect of putting Roberts behind the bars again. He was one of the few New Zealand gaol-breakers who have definitely, escaped' capture, and, although many stories have been told about what probably bejcame of him after he slid through the opening m the back wall of the mess shed on Ripa Island, it is not until now that the full facts of the matter have been placed before the public. .