OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 24

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

(From Our Owh Correspondent.) Melbourne, Jane 19. THE BERTRAND-KINDER MURDER. The Btory of this remarkable murder, which occurred at North Shore, Sydney, in 1865, has just been revived by the discharge from gaol of Henry Louis Bertrand after an incarceration of 28 years. Bertrand was a dentist in Sydney and became enamoured of the wife of a man named Kinder, whom he shot so that he might carry on his amour with Mrs Kinder. The murder was so skilfully managed that for some time it was thought that Kinder had committed suicide. Twelve months e'»psed before the police brought Bertrand to trial, and then the jury could not agree as to his guilt. At the second trial Sir Alfred Stephen, the Chief Justice, adopted the unusual course of reading the whole of his notes of the evidence to the jury, and the man was convicted and sentence of death was recorded. An appeal to the Privy Council failed to upset the verdict, but in consequence of the way in which the evidence was submitted, it was suggested that some leniency might be extended to the prisoner, the result being that the death sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life. That was 28 years ago, and Bertrand has been continuously in gaol ever since, although a life sentence is supposed to end at the expiration of 20 years. Several applications have been made for his release, but they were all refused. The present Minister for Justice for some time declined to grant Bertrand his freedom, believing that he had concealed a diary of a most objectionable character concerning ladies who consulted him when he was practising as a dentist. An inquiry, however, showed that no such diary exists, and with that point settled this last bar to his release was removed. It is understood that Berbrand will proceed to Victoria, where several of his relatives live. Mrs Kinder is dead, but B?rtrand's wife and children are alive. During bis incarceration Bertrand painted several pictures, including one of the Crucifixion and another of the wreck of the D unbar. The orime for which Bertrand was sentenced to death was one, of the most sensational recorded in Australia. Old residents of Sydney still dwell on the sensation > which Bertrand created when he was pounced on by the authorities for the murder of Kinder. He was then the most fashionable and probably one of the moßt dexterous and skilful dentists in Sydney, and his income was large. Mrs Kinder was the wife of a leading bank official in Sydney. He determined to kill Kinder, and in his correspondence with Mrs Kinder told her that human hie should be no bar to him in the accomplishment of his desires. He eventually resolved to shoot Kinder, and bought several sheep's heads, on which he practised with the object, it is believed, oE ascertaining exactly the angle at which] he could fire so as to lead to the belief that a person shot should have committed suicide. On the day of the murder the two men had been drinking together, and returned to Kinder's bouse, where by-and-bye a pistol shot was heard. Kinder was seen to fall, and a revolver dropped from his grasp. He was conveyed to his bed, and medical aid. being called in, it was discovered that the bullet had inflicted severe injuries to his brain. Bertiand'B explanation of the affair was that Kinder having discovered his wife's intimacy with a man named Jackson, a former lover, had committed suicide. From what was known of the history of the woman this explanation seemed so plausible that it was accepted, save by an incredulous police officer, who sought to take Kinder's depositions. The man, however, was too seriously injured to make a statement, and died without revealing the truth. At the inquest the verdict was that Kinder had committed suicide. The scandal might have died out had it not been for Bertrand's and Mrs Kinder's extreme boldness. Interest in the case was revived by an action which Bertrand brought against Jackson, who had threatened to deliver Bertrand over to the authorities if he did not purchase his silence. Bertrand, however, brought Jackson's letter under the notice of the police, and. co convincing was his testimony that Jackson was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. People continued, however, to gossip about the caEe, and for threatening the life of a Mrs Robertson, who was oiie of the gossipers, Bertrand was sentenced to 14- days' imprisonment. Next the police decided to arraign him on the charge of murdering Kinder. So intimately did his wife and Mrs Kinder seem to be connected with the crime, that they, too, were charged, but the Attorney-general decided not to proceed against them in the higher court,

The evidence submitted at the trial of Bertrand was inconclusive as to how the murder was committed, but the general theory was that on the day when the shooting took place Bertrand had got Kinder into a perfectly stupefied condition by means of drink, and that then he placed a pistol in Kinder's hand and fired it, or that he put the weapon in his victim's hand, bent his arm to the proper angle, and then pulled the trigger. A LOVE TRAGEDY. A serious outcome of a love affair occurred at Annandale, in New South Wales, on Friday night, when Esther Levi cut the throat of her former lover, Lawrence Curley. The two were engaged to be married some months ago, and it is alleged that final arrangements were made fot- the marriage. At the last moment, however, Curley discarded Miss Levi in favour of another. The girl grieved deeply at being thus forsaken, and when a little later her mother committed suicide, she became a prey to resentful melancholy. On several occasions she endeavoured to meet Curley, but it was not until Friday night that she encountered him alone. She then appealed to him to behave honourably to her, but he replied jestingly, and declined to give up his new sweetheart to marry her. The woman suddenly drew a table knife, which was concealed in her dress, and slashed it across his throat, almost severing the'windpipe. With a shriek she then fled. Her scream brought a number of people to the spot, and medical aid was procured for Curley. He is, however, in a precarious condition. Levi was subsequently arrested, when she declared that she was sorry she had not finished Curley, as he deserved ib.

The yearly loss of value in gold coins by wear and tear whilst in circulatiou has been found to amount to £400 in every £1,000,000 sterling. It iB intended to substitute a system of special stamps instead of the present method of franking mail matter by authorised persons. A similar system has been in force some time in the Government Insurance department. The Gazette notifies that the provisions of "The Mining Act 1891" relating to mining j districts and wardens' courts, with certain exceptions, are brought into operation so far as regards the museum endowment in the Silver Peaks district. I - Making gas for illuminating purposes out of wood is the latest invention of an American, who claims that the simple machinery required can be attached to an ordinary cooking stove, from which sufficient gas can be obtained to serve a household. At a meeting of the Linwood Borough Council a scheme for settling the unemployed on State farms was submitted by a subcommittee and adopted. It was resolved to forward copies of the scheme to the various local bodies in New New Zealand, to the Government, and to members of Parliament. The Gazette contains new regulations for the inspection of schools and standard examinations ; also applications made to have 62 rivers and creeks in Westland and Nelson' proclaimed watercourses for the deposit of tailings. The Tapanui Courier reports that at the congregational meeting of the Presbyterian Church it was resolved to ask the presbytery to moderate in a call to the Rev. Mr Begg.