AN OLD TIME GOLD ROBBERY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 55

AN OLD TIME GOLD ROBBERY.

A COCK AND BULL STOIIY

It haviug bpen reported tLsAfc a. big } containing lOO.jk ol" gold had b<?on found | by a. party of miners near tb.o Roar- ! ing Meg C«ek, and that tho gold was supposed to have been part yf that which was missing t>fter th°. robbery of the e«cos:t, which '. took plf.ee at Clyde in 1870, one o£ <rar representatives on Friday night waited upon Sergeant j Dwyer, who is Kb present af-ationed ct Clyde, ) ■with the view of ascertaining if there was any j truth ia the report. The sergeant came into town with shreft urisoneis, tiarmg left> Clyde/ three days ago. Up to the lime that he left home hi had heard nothing whatever about any | gold haviug been found,;' nor yet had ho heard i so since. When asked about; the matter he said j ha thought the whole thing was a ls cock and ; bull story," and expressed the opinion rhat if miners had found a bag of gold, as had been j reported, they would not be likely to let it bs i known. i

The improbability of the story will further be seen when ifc n stated that all the gold, with the exception of £60 worth, wan recovered within a few days of the robbery taking place. It may ba of interest to some of our readers if the facts in connection with the robbery are revived. Between 12 o'clock on the 31st of July, 1870, and 4- o'clock on the following morning, the lockup at Clyde was broken into, and 20990z of gold, together with £6110 in notes, were stolen. The numbers of the stolen notes were published, and the Government offered a reward of £500 to any one who would give such information as would lead to the conviction of the offenders and the recovery of the stolen property. * A free pardon was also offered to any accomplice who would give the necessary information. The Bank of New South Wales and the Bank of New Zealand each offered rewards of £500, half payable on conviction and half on Ihe'recovery of the stolen property, or in proportion to the value of the property recovered. So exj>ertly did the robbers do their work that, excepting the fact that some person connected with the gaol was supposed to be either a principal or an accomplice, no clue was obtained till about a fortnight afterwards. The police stationed at Arrow suspected Rennie, a shoemaker there, and having received information from Mr Cook, the keeper of an accommodation house, as to Rennie's,, movements, they arrested the shoemaker on suspicion of having been concerned in the matter. Rennie at first denied all knowledge of the robbery, but eventually said that Constable M'Lennan, of Clyde, w?.b concerned with him in the affair. The whole of the treasure, with the exception of £51 in notes and about £60 worth of gold, was recovered. The- gold which, was not recovered was ot.very inferior quality, the scrapings of the plates on a claim known as the Aurora claim, and was so full of foreign matter that it was being forwarded to Dunedin to bo assayed in order to determine its proper value. On the case coming on for trial Rennie, on being placed in the dock, pleaded guilty to two indictments charging him with larceny, and was then allowed to give evidence againat M'Lennan, his alleged partner in the crime. Mr G. E. Barton defended M'Lennan, 'and made an able speech in his behalf, and the judge's summing up was also strongly in favour of the prisoner. The jury, after an hour's consultatioD, acquitted M'Lennau, and Rennie was afterwards sentenced to six years' penal servitude (three years on each indictment), that being the heaviest penalty which the law allowed the court to inflicts

It will, therefore, be seen that if a bag of lOOoz of gold has been found it certainly was no part of the proceedß of the Clyde robbery, llennie showed where he had planted the gold, but asserted that the missing notes bad been lost, and had probably gone down tho river. ' The police, however, discovered the missing property except, as already stated, £51 in notes and 30oz of gold of uncertain value.

Two young men, members of the First Westland Rifles, fined £2 10s each for failing to attend drills, elected to " take it out," and gaily marched to gaol for a 10 days' incarceration.

A number of gilded sixpences, to imitate half-sovereigns, have been put into circulation on the tram cars and 'buses in Auckland. One man has been arrested and remanded. A bottle of liquid gold was f»und on bim, on which were the words " To be well Eh&ken before used." The gold being heavier gee* to the bottom. Particulars of what must be looked upon as a providential escape came to the Wellington Police Office on the 220 d from Constable Grey, of Bketahuna. It appears that some time on the slight of, April 15 a house at Hukunui, owned and occupied by Mr Alexander M'Leau, was destroyed by a tree 6ft in diameter falling upon it. Mrs IMCLean was absent in Pahiatua, Mr M'Lean was spending the evening with some friends a uhort distance off, and owing to the storm did not return ho cue that night. There were some boarders, but fortunately they did not sleep on the premise*. The house r,n<l contents were valued at £70, and tho tiee crushed the building and destroyed the contents. __„______«__„,