UIP JOHN'S WINK BRINGS THE JOHNS UP?

NZ Truth, Issue 1050, 7 January 1926, Page 7

UIP JOHN'S WINK BRINGS THE JOHNS UP?

Monocled Masquerader's Shopping Flirtation Ends Luxurious Career of Bogus New Zealand Vice-Regal Staff Officer

WHERE IMAGINATION AND A SUITCASE WILL TAKE YOU

IT isn't considered good form for a captain of the Welsh Guarcts attached to the GrovernorGeneral's staff to wink at shopgirls. It was just a little slip like this that led to the downfall of Herbert William Wellington Upjohn.

HE "Niagara" ploughed her waythrough the Taaman Sea, bound from Sydney to Auckland. There was one man aboard her whose opinion of the men who "go down to the sea m ships" was unprintable, to say the least of it.

Sweating, swearing— in a, strictly nice way," of course-^-and horribly sick from the conglomeration of smells arising m the' galley m which he toiled, Herbert William Wellington Upjohn gave reign ■ to his resentment, but mainly to" his imagination. The part he found most unbearable was the washing arid drying of dishes. There never seemed to be an end to them or to the variety of smells surrounding him. Thus started the whole trouble. Having set his imagination working overtime he simply . couldn't stop it, and as each plate was polished and the next taken up Mr. Upjohn lived more and more m the land of nightmare. ' The Galley Slave. There were dreams, good, u&a, and indifferent, but : mainly interspersed with' a nightmare of an interminable procession of plates dirty and otherwise making face's at him from the corner of his bunk. • He wasn't just an ordinary galley hand, was Herbert. William, etc. The other members of the crew knew this immediately they heard his cultured voice and saw his gentlemanly gestures — even by the gentlemanly way he handled the plates, particularly the dirty ones. His "Bai Jove!" and "I say, old top," together wjth the, tuft of hair peeping coyly from beneath mm ij|)m|i |iMm|m milllIllll(l1lllllll his nose; -the . scru- ...mmmiiun. i »

picipus care He took with his finger nails and the general. air of distinction about him despite his ship's uniform, all more or less convinced them that he was not all he seemed. He wasn't either, as later events proved. - Now Herbert, etc., Upjohn it appears, had very good reasops — his. own, and he really wanted to come to New Zealand — for leaving Australia.

He also had excellent reasons for signing onj' as an assistant m the galley of the "Niagara" which was bound for Vancouver. But it will readily be seen that when the boat reached Auckland Mr. Upjohn had strong reasons for signing himself off the pay-roll of the ship. He did. No— -Bai, Jove! Thus it was that soon after she had berthed he faded out of the picture, of which the galley door had been a poor frame for such a distinguished-looking person. There are many matter-of-fact people m the world who, while they place a certain value on clothes, are not fastidious about them. Not so H. W. W. Upjohn. No. Bai Jbvel ■ Clothes are as essential to him— the right sort, of course, suits cut to the latest dictates of fashion, the newest and smartest m shirts and neckwear— as the tools of trade are to a tradesman. Naturally his thoughts turned, as true as a homing pigeon, to clothes befitting William; etc., etc., Upjohn. At this stage his imagination — a very vivid -one. indeed, it would seem— started to work double time. Carrying himself with jaunty assurance — he hadn't anything more weighty m hand or m his pockets — Mr. Upjohn went m search of a residential. He found one at the "Burwopds," and, to use his own -expression, it was "a comparatively cheap guest-house at the rate of £2 10s per week." 1 ' Captain Up j ohn. Then, being a journalist by profession — not a galley slave — he sought a job. The editor of the Auckland "Star," fully appreciative of the honor that was being conferred upon him when informed that "a Captain W<? n!tl erton Upjohn" wished to see him, rec<. ved his caller. They got on splendidly together! "Captain" Upjohn, after a little tete-a-tete with the editor and the advertising manager, was engaged to write special articles. His imagination was now working like a flawless piece of mechanism unrestricted by. the affluvia that had so disturbed it on board the "Niagara." It is necessary here for certain reasons merely to record what followed m a conversation with the advertising manager, m the , words of the policeman giving evidence. "He told the advertising manager . something," and then left the "Star" office with a reference m his pocket which, it is alleged, later enabled him to obtain ©redit for clothing -to the value of £15. - A Perfect Gentleman. At last! The transformation was complete as "Captain" Upjohn donned the correctly cut fawn-colored overcoat over a; suit of equally faultless fit and a necktie and shirt to match. Ho felt a perfect bally gentleman, old top! ■ .."■•-■•■. : ■.■". -..■'•■■■_ Already an imagination that had conferred upon, its owner the rank

(From "Truth's" Special Wellington Representative.)

To look at his suitcase, plastered with luggage labels, you would imagine "Captain" Upjohn to be a much-travelled, man. Yet the extent of his voyaging on the high seas was a passage from Sydney to Auckland as a galley hand.

of "Captain" was at work again and this time it ranged as far afield as the London "Daily Mail." He informed everybody he met with becoming modesty that he was really !a member of the staff of that paper. "Bai Jove." Ke saw a typewriter that he rather fancied and considered that it would be useful m his work since there was a matter of thirty pounds to be earned m writing special articles. | It was obtained on approval and ordered to be sent to the "Star" office. Somebody there, with an utter lack of respect for the charming "Captain," refused to take delivery. Then it was, to employ the statement made later by the debonair gentleman himself, that, "unfortunately pressure ; was brought, to bear on me for immediate payment - Xmy account and the inquiries cause the 'Star'

newspaper to dispense with my services. "I was forced to pawn the typewriter for £3, which enabled me to come to Wellington." There were many people who regretted "Captain" Wellington Upjohn's sudden departure from Auckland. He left as unobtrusively ag he. had come, but it appears that he carried out of the northern city something that he hadn't carried into it. This was a small suitcase. It had not, prior to coming m to his possession— nor has it yet — travelled as far as the picture of it on this page would indicate that it had. Wellington to Wellington. Before the train reached Hamilton, "Captain" H. .W. W; Upjohn's imaginar tion, having recovered somewhat from

the jolt it had received at Auckland, was at work again. "Captain" Upjohn arrived at Wellington. He carried his trusty suitcase with him. It had, though, like its. owner, gone through a period of metamorphosis and had emerged as gaudy, with shipping labels as a butterfly from its chrysalis. There was not an inch upon it except the handles and bottom that did not contain its label of destination. Vancouvei*. Papeete, Sydney, Hobart, San Francisco, Honolulu, Raratonga. and many other parts of the world were plastered on it m careful confusion. The swing doors of the Royal Oak Hotel opened to receive him. He wore his eye-glass! That glassy stare, taken with the suitcase, did it. What! What!— £lß/18/:, As naturally as the average man would take a bath, "Captain" Upjohn's imagination turned to clothes the first time he went. strolling along the Wellington streets. ....

Before he made any effort to replenish his wardrobe, though, Upjohn paid a visit to the Remington Rdneo Agency on December 4. For the time being work was the paramount thing m his mind, or, at any rate, it appeared to be. He introduced himself: "Captain" H. W. W. Upjohn, of the London "Times." What! What! An £18/18/- portable typewriter followed the gallant gentleman to the Royal Oak Hotel. He had agreed to pay by cheque next month. The following day — December s— -the "Captain's" imagination and his eye- 1 glass took him to J. T. Lewis, tailor, m Featherston' Street. He looked over the cloths and stated that he would return to be measured. December 7 came round, and with it the impressive-looking client. References? Well, really — bai jove— -certainly he had.

The cutter was referred, to His . Ex. the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson. He, "Captain" Upjohn, had come but to New Zealand under appointment to His Ex. • Upjohn's order was accepted, and nothing mor.e was said that would offend a member of His Ex's staff, except to ask before he left the premises what his address would be whetf he left the Royal Oak. "Government Hous.e" would be the "Captain's" next residence, and a suit valued at £15 15s was cut out. With the characteristic touch of a man m his position, Captain Upjohn also bestowed his patronage on J. A. Doherty, tailor. He confided to, the cutter of the. establishment, Mr. James Allen, that he knew "Bob" Curtis, -of Lord Jellicoe's staff, and that he (Upjohn) was attached, to the present Governor-General's staff, and was staying at the Royal Oak Hotel. It was most unfortunate, but his luggage had been over-carried by the Niagara! The "Captain" selected a suit at £13 13s, and topped it off by ordering a pair of plus fours at £4 45.. Then, pulling m a meditative fashion at the eyebrow that had grown on his upper lip, he departed, jauntily twirling his eye-glass. A Few Purchases. But not before he had mentioned — m- reply to the cutter's query — that his next address would be Government House. There were many things he yet required to complete his wardrobe, and he was not a man to do things by halves. To Mr. Edmund John Archibald, secretary of Messrs. Kirkcaldie and Stains, he was introduced by the assistant salesman of the mercery department as Captain Upjohn. The "Captain" 1 mentioned glibly that he was attached to Government House staff, that he . had lately arrived m New Zealand by the Niagara and was staying at the Royal Oak. Most of his luggage had been over- carried, etc., etc. He wished -to make isome purchases. • At this stage the "Captain" murmured something about references. "Oh, that is all" right; your position on the Government House staff is sufficient for us, Captain Uninhn." renlied the secretary. That Fatal Wink. The sum total of the purchases amounted to £38 2s 6d. Amongst the goods were slippers, a watch, hairbrushes, ties, and', a 'pair of shoes the "Captain" wore out of the shop. .Being rather particular about certain things, he ordered his initials to be placed on the travelling wardrobetrunk he ordered. The "Captain's" imagination had bolted! Now it was while passing out of

the big shop on Lambton Quay that "Captain" Herbert William Wellington Upjohn made a bad blunder m good taste for a member of the staff of the GovernorGeneral. As he swaggered through the shop he winked singly and severally at the sirens behind the counter. The liberties taken by one •of the Governor's staff with the girls m his employ started the secretary's imagination working. It worked practically all night over the problem. In the morning, having arrived at the conclusion that winking at girls, m Kirkcaldie and Stains, at any rate, by a member of His Ex's staff is simply not done, Mr. Archibald voiced his doubts about the "Captain's" bad form to the police. Upjohn Entertains. The information was received wi:h a cry of genuine pleasure by them. They had, it appeared, for some days been bursting to make his acquaintance, because several people m Auckland entertained grave fears that something had, happened to him. He had not been heard of after his departure from there. The interview between "Captain" Upjohn and Detectives Walsh arid Murch at the Royal Oak was very formal. < It resulted m a visit to police headquarters, and there Mr. Upjohn's imaginat' 0 " petered out. He made a statement which necessitated his being kept m custody.. It was a very subdued-looking "Captain" who stood m the dock at the Magistrate's Court a few days later to answer to charges of obtaining goods to the value of £38, 2s. 6d from Kirkcaldie and Stains with intent to defraud ~ by falsely representing that he was on the staff of the GovernorGeneral, and wij;h three similar charges m respect of Messrs. J. H. Doherty tailor (£l7 17s); T- Lewis, tailor (£29 8s) ; and the Remington Typewriter Agency (£18, 18s).. A Ohriatchurch Lad. Anything Upjohn had to say was said per medium of Detective Walsh . ..,, from the witnessSSSSSSSmSSSSSSSSSSSS box. He read put a

went splendidly [ m Australia with young Upjohn until he left Melbourne at Easter, 1925, to go to Sydney to join the staff of the "Sunday Times." Unfortunately, owing to a misunderstanding with the managing editor, Mr. Hugh D. M'clntosh, he -yvag not engaged. The reason why. he wasn't is another j story which "Truth" is unable to touch on just at present. Juvenile of Navvy? "With the advent of the Press Conference," said Upjohn m his statement, "I was engaged by Sir Percival Phillips, representing the London 'Daily Mail' and Associated Press, to assist m the preparation of numerous articles with reference to the actions of the conferences m Australia." ■ This job done, Upjohn found that he was unable to obtain journalistic work m Sydney, so he went on the stage* joining the staff of J. C. Williamson, Ltd. "I played juvenile lead to Miss Pauline Frederick, the actress, when she toured Australia," he continued. ' The part Mr. Upjohn actually played, it is stated^ was that of a navvy. After the expiration of his contract the money he had earned gradually disappeared, leaving him almost destitute. , ; He then determined to return to New Zealand and secured a passage on the "Niagara" as a galley hand. Great Expectations. Upjohn claimed that he was due to receive £30 for contributions to the "Post," "Dominion" and "Times" newspapers, Wellington, though he had not completed many of them. He also expected to receive £85 shortly for contributions to overseas journals. He considered, therefore, that he was m a good financial position to meet his payments. He denied having told any of the j firms that he was on the staff of j Government House. ; ' "The reason ! gave my future address as Government House was that I expected to be a guest of the Governor, Sir Charles Fergusson, to whom I was to be given a letter of introduction. "1 can definitely state that I was not on the staff at Government House," he concluded. Mr. Page, S.M., extended to him an invitation to accept the hospitality of the Governor, as His Majesty's representative, until a Judge and jury could give his case the attention it required While he will not be on exactly the terms of intimacy that he had hoped for, still he will be a guest and well cared for. ' ■ He appeared again before the public for a brief instant a few days ago' to explain certain similar happening's m Auckland m connection with his efforts to rise from a galley slave to commissioned rank m one of His Majesty's crack regiments.

lengthy statement made by the exgalley sjave. It appeared that Upjohn was born twenty years ago m Melbourne, Victoria arid ha,d lived the first sixteen years of his life m Christchurch, New Zealand. He was' edu- • cated at St. Bede's College and Canterbury College. During the latter part of his residence he had been employed on the Christchurch "Press"," but relinquished his position m favor of an Australian appointment on the Melbourne "Herald." Ever/t hing

AFTER Riley's release m Queensland the kindly solicitor who had defended him found him a job as a miner at Mt. Morgan. There he struck further trouble, and his subsequent actions showed little gratitude for the confidence reposed m him by his benefactors. ; It is stated on reliable authority that he went back to England, and it is on record that a man answering his description, and believed to be him, suffered the fate of a murderer that he strangely and rightfully evaded m Rockhampton. A short recapitulation of the circumstances surrounding the murder will be of interest to the present generation, and for that matter to old-timers, for some of. the incidents relating to Riley's rei lease are not known beyond a favored few. The death-bed confession in' ; England, by second mate Radford, that he 'murdered first mate Sparks, was followed by action by the solicitor that defended Riley. • • > . : ATTORNEY-GENERAL SNORES. The solicitor for Riley wrote to the then Queensland Attorney-General asking that he be given his pardon. • Despite the admission of the guilty man, the then Attorney- General replied m stereotyped fashion that the fiiatter had been brought before the Judge, who said that the latter could see no reason for altering his; judgment. That Attorney- General ' must hay© paid scant attention to the identity of some of the judiciary of the period, for .the solicitor wrote back informing him that the » Judge who tried the case had been dead four years. The Attorney-General did not relish being told m such^.a delicate' way that he was hot giving the best attention to his duties, and he replied m a very' leise manner to the solicitor. ; According to the prosecution's story, at the time Riley was observed to put his hand m the direction of his belthe was wearing a knife sheath at the time — but nobody , saw him extract anything, " but several did see Sparks fall down immediately afterwards, and the lower portion of his body presented a most gruesome slight. He lived but a few hours. . . Strange to relate, the knife that caused, the wound was never found, and although the police arrived soon after the murder, all they found on Riley was an empty knife sheath, but m his bunk was unearthed a very blunt knife, which i-he stated was the only knife that he possessed. v Some time previously he had disposed of the original sheath, belonging

to the knife to an apprentice, who had deserted , the vessel soon after 1 : it had' arrived 'in Rockhamptbri. ' '_''. " Medical testimony in x Cdur.t ; averred that the knife found could 1 -not have inflicted such a' clean-cut wound, and it was obvious that the knife did not belong to the sheath that Riley was wearing, as it was too small. A most remarkable thing is that, according to the Crown's cas H e, Riley admitted the offence m terms of" "If you want to know who cut the mate, I did." And on the vessel just after the murder, "I hope the son of a bitch dies before to-night; he has been earning it the last five months." :" Here is where the second mate, named Radford, comes into the; picture. As a matter of fact, he (afterwards confessor 1 of the-mur-der) was the principal ■ witness against Riley at the trial. He straightout denied that he committed the deed, but confessed to having had altercations with Sparks on the way out from England. SHOOTING TALK: Radford .was subjected to a rigorous cross-examination, and admitted haying said when the vessel was coming up the Fitzroy River, "If I had a revolver X would have shot a man like that." . . .' This comment caused a sensation m Court, which was increased when Rad- : ford, m answer" to' a further question, [explained that when he said "a man like that," he- wag referring tq the murdered man Sparks, .but he was not certain. ..'■'. . ■ - . : At. the first question Radford denied that he had a knife when he went on deck oh the nigh,t of the murder, but being < pressed the^ . second time, admitted that he dyd , have a; knife with him. The jury brought- m a, verdict of guilty of murder, and 'm a statement to the Judge, Riley -asked to be supplied with the sheath/, andy told ' the Court how his knife would hot' fit 1 it: With -the same indifference that he received the jury's verdict, Riley accepted the Judge's pronouncement of the death sentence, which, fortunately, was not carried out. What was the true meaning at the back of the following remarks of Riley before he was led out of^Cdurt? He said: "A remark was passed m front of me m the forecastle, about which I am not going to say anything here. I. am an innpcent man, and I daresay J will be able to point out the man who did the deed." And so passed out of Mount Morgan and Rockhampton history John Riley, roarner of the wo -id, a plaything ;of fate, and one to whom Nemesis hung tightly at 'the ' - second grip. . ; -