THE TE AWAITE TRAGEDY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 33

THE TE AWAITE TRAGEDY.

(From Oub Own Cobkeseonbent.)

WELLINGTON, December-13.

Owing to the non-publication of the news that Ellis would arrive by the Napier mail train last night, there was no eager crowd' of sightseers when the train- drew up at; Wellington with his captors. The aocuaed man was brought down in a carriage with drawn curtains, and was not removed until he reached the Te Aro Station: Here a small knot of people crowded to the carriage, but the police quickly came out with their man, and were rapidly driven away to the gaol. The Post says that a fleeting glimpse of Ellis, who was handcuffed, showed a very small man, thin and pinchedlooking, wearing a ragged moustache, but without a beard, anxious-faced, with deep lines of care. The police had in then* charge certain bundles of clothing and the captured man's rifle. Mr Wilford, solicitor, had a long interview with the prisoner last night. In consequence of this he will apply to the Justice Department for a survey and locality plans of the district in which Collinson was shot. He wjR also apply for a postponement" of • the hearing of the charge against the prisoner until January 20. Asked about the ; movements of the prisoner during the past nine months, Mr Wilford would commit himself to nothing further than to suggest that the prisoner might not be Ellis.WELLINGTON, December 16.

John M'Kenzie, charged under that name only, appeared at court this morning on a, charge of murdering Collinson at Te Awaits. Mr Wilford, for the prisoner, asked to have tho hearing fixed for January 20. He had applied to the police for a, plan of thci locality, and in the meantime both the Crown Prosecutor and himself would have time to visit the scene. The police offered no objection, and the prisoner will b© remanded' from time to time till the data mentioned.

People who know Ellis, and who have seen him since his arrest, state (says the New Zealand Tmes) that he does not look, as if he had suffered any severe hardship during the past nine months. The distance from Te Awaito to where Ellis was arrested is about 100 miles,' but by the route Ellis probably took since he was last seen in the Wairarapa district the distance would be more than 200 miles. Ellis is an expert bushman — a man who could get food with no very great difficulty, and a man who could camp in sheltered places in the bush without much discomfort. He was quite cool when arrested — there was no sign of nervousness, — and he admitted that he was. Ellis.

Five monkeys belonging to Fitzgerald's circus escaped at Ijyttelton, and one of them bit a little girl named Maiden rather severely in the leg. After a long chas» four of the animals were recaptured.