THE RELEASE OF SULLIVAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1160, 21 February 1874, Page 15

THE RELEASE OF SULLIVAN.

TO THE EDITOR. Sni- C.tn it possibly be true ? I was perfectly horrified to see yesleiday a telegram from Auckland, stating that the Government had forwarded Sullivan, the murderer, as a passenger by the Mikado, with the intention of lauding him m California ; and that, but for the fortunate protost of tho A.iieric.ui Consul, and the objections of tho passengeis, ho would h.ive been taken there. On the 13th June, ISOG, this Sullivan, in company with throe othcis, shot five nion, and amongst this number an unfortunate brother of mine, under chcumstances too dtcadful to particularise. It will be remembered that Sullivan confessed the crime — that they were all tried at Nelson, found guilty, and condemned to death ; but for some reason the Government spared the life of the worst of the gang, and changed the sentence to imprisonment for life. Now 1 find that sifter seven years' imprisonment he is liberated, the reason given being th.it he was an annoyance at the Dunedin Gaol, and on these representations the authorities resolved to set him at liberty, on the condition that he left the country. What a, pi emium to villany. But this is not even the worst of the matter. What a crime it is> for the Government of Now Zealand to covertly send to America, and let loose upon society, one of the very vvoist men that evor walked the earth. Jjehevo me this matter is not done with. — I am, &c, Thomas W. Kempthoune. Dunedin, February 10th.

The Tuapeka Times of the 11th inst. hays : — "The weather during the latter end of last week was scorching by day and sultry by night. The thermometer on Saturday rose to 120 degrees in tho sun and SS in the shade, The cll'cct of this intense heat has beon very enervating. Everything anim;ttc, excepting grasshoppers, appeared to sullcr from lassitude. The grasshoppers have developed wings, and fill the atmosphere in every direction, to the no small discomfort of many people. This week has brought a change of weather. On Monday morning a severe thunderstorm came over by Mount Stewart and Round Hill, skirting Lawrence and travelling towards Waipnri. We met two gentlemen who were caught in the storm — tho one on the Round Hill ami the other on the Waipori Ranges — and they described the scene as something terrific, making their h orses pi ay up at a frightful rate. In Lawrence the rainfall was slight, but we have never before heard such peals of thunder, or witnessed such vivid flashes of lightning. We have not heard of any damage resulting from tho storm in Lawrence or its neighbourhood, but we hear that three of tho iron telegraph posts in Murray's Flat were struck by lightning and split in two. Yesterday the atmosphere, which has been so sultry, was considerably rareHcd, and a good deal of rain fell in the early part of the day, Early this morajng the qql4 was Siberian,"