AN ISLAND TRAGEDY

Otago Witness, Issue 2914, 19 January 1910, Page 19

AN ISLAND TRAGEDY

MASSACRE OF THE BINSKIN FAMILY. PUNITIVE EXPEDITON. /- BRISBANE, January 4. Mr Woodford, the Commissioner for the * Solomon Islands, recently proceeded to Bagga to inquire iut® the massacre of the ; Binskin family by Site's gang, as reported last October, j A force of 200 native police, under I white officers, landed and scoured the ’ island without success. Much difficulty was experienced in securing the co-opera-tion of the local coastal natives. The Commissioner then announced his i intention to remote all neutnu natives ! to some other island unless they co- : operated with him. Several natives who : were believed to be in communication with Si to were detained, and finally the others decided to help the Government. The island was thoroughly searched for ihree weeks, resulting in the capture ot ! Tor.o-ava, the actual murderer of Mrs Binskin 0 and a younger child, and the cause ; of the death of three others. Tonga re's family, in addition to lb were taken prisoners. _ Several ot | ipo g,;to party were killed while resisting . capture. . , ! gito is reported to have been captured ' in a neighbouring island. The Sydney Morning Herald, of October 50. contained the following: “Still another massacre has been perpe- ’ trated by the Solomon Island fohowers of the notorious outlaw Si to, the victims bonier lbs wife, children, -and servein s DMr Joseph Binskin, an old and resected : island planter, whost station is situated at Bagga Bagga Island, lying in the Wes- : tern Solomons. News of the outrage was ■ brought to Svdney by Mr Snowball, of Melbourne, who arrived here by the nftr- } then express, having disembarked .rom the i island steamer Makambo at Bisbane. lire mail from the Solomons tfwso Drought a letter from the Rev. R. C. Nicholson, a. Methodist missionary stationed at Bdwa, on the westen side of Vella Lavella, addressed to the Rev. Benjamin Banks, general secretary of the Methodist Missions of this city, and containing full details ot the outrage. ; “ Mr Joseph Biniskin was called away on business from his plantation, and during - hi® tabsonce Sito, the all-powei’iul native obief, who has a deep-rooted objection to Europeans, accompanied by his band of desperadoes, swooped down on the station end brutally butchered Mrs Biniskin, the two children of Mr Binskin, two labour boys, and a. female servant. The Rev. Mr Nicholson, in his account of the massacre, says:—‘About mid-day on September 23 two canoes, each containing three men, paddled off from the mainland to Bagga. They were loaded with copra, and were ostensibly on a- trading expedition, but, as it aftrwards turned out, tbs occupants were actuated by murderous motives, for as soon, as opportunity offered they attacked and hacked to death everybody on the station- A native boy, aged about 10 years, was a short distance away at the time. On hearing the screams, and discovering - what was happening, he swam across to a spot where Mr Binskin’s Labour boys were working, to tel! them all he knew. At 3 o’clock that afternoon word was sent to Planter Martin, of Ronard Island, near by. He reached the scene of the massacre about an hour afterwards. At 8 o’clock the next morning Planter Husen called to tell Mr Martin he had 'received the following communication during the night:—“Joe’s wife and two children massacred, also two labour boys and one woman. Please ask Mr Nicholson to come quickly; also by son*. You communicate Government. —Gizot” ’ “ Within an hour of the receipt of this news the Rev. R. (J. Nicholson started with 10 boys in a canoe for Bagga, arriving there at about 1 p.m. They were met on arrival by Mr Martin and 40 armed labour | boys- Before they identified the mission ' party as friends they fired twice, and as : the missionary and his attendants drew up ’ to the landing a score of bows and arrows were levelled at their heads. Besides the Mala it® boys, there were congregated at the place 20 natives from the mainland . at Valla. Lavella. “ On the way to the bungialow the bodies of five of the six victims were pointed out to the mission party. The unfortunate people had been murdered within 100 ■ yads of the dwelling, and the bodies were j lying on the ground in every direction, | just as they had been; struck down on the • previous day. The sight was a most shock- , mg and revolting - one. j Describing the scene. Mr Nicholson says: | —“ The two dear, gdi.den-haired, blae-eved children of Mr Binskin aged about 9 and 5 years respectively, were lying, without any covering, on the verandah just j at the top of Etc front steps, and the other I some 50 yards away in front of the house.

and both with terrible wounds. X have often hoard it remarked that there are no half-measures with the Solomon Islanders, and this has now been borne out by my own sad experiences. I gazed on no single stab or cut, but brutal mangling in _ a ghastly form. I cannot go into details; the facts are too gruesome. ‘■Mrs Burkins was murdered in the water, and her body, which was never recovered, was washed away by the tide. ■ The plantation is situated on the foreshores of tljo island, and the unfortunate woman waa evidently endeavouring to make her escape when she was followed and killed. Mr Binskin was devotedly attached to hie wife, who was a native woman, and to his two lit:tie children. “The task-of burying the five bodies was a hard and trying one, for many reasons, Mr Nicholson remarks in his letter. “ Divine service was held over the open grave, during which I addressed a few impressive words to the Telia La vena natives.’ , , “On the night of the maeeacre, amt before Mr Binskir returned, the borne was watched by Mr Martin, a neighbouring planter. The Rev. Mi' Nicholson, who relieved him, says:—“My first business on landing- was to prepare a meal tor Mr Martin. He had neither sleep nor food for over 24 hours, and owing - to an illness from which he was just recovering he was about knocked up. Throughout the whole night he had eat with a Winchester across hi* knee, hourly expecting a return of the murderers for more plunder. The nerve strain would have been great for a man in health, and for one in sickness it must have been painfully intense. Never before have I seen such a sudden and complete change ir facial expression as when that man recognised me, and knew Iris long watch was over.” THE POLICY OF SITO. EXTERMINATION OF WHITES. Sito is the terror of all white trader* and planters in the western Solomons. His policy is to maintain the purity of the race, and he and his follower’s have resolved at ail hazards to exterminate, not only all the Europeans, but their offspring, and all native women who ally themselves to white men. Speaking of Sito, Mr Nicholson eays: “ Sito, the outlaw chief of Veila Lavolla, with a band of natives as desperate as himself, was entirely responsible' for this wholesale slaughter of human life. Site has again, adopted an aggressive policy, and friendly natives fell us no white life is safe on the island. The natives of Biloa. ■are in <a most excited state, because a message has reached them that the white missionary is the next on Site’s list.” “ Since, arrival at Vella Lavella I have received at least a dozen warnings from Sito, and have hitherto taken no notice of them,” says Mir Nicholson, “ but since this last affair I have thought it only right to take some precauctions. The only other white resident on the mainland, a. trader, for Lover Brothers, has left his station in charge, of the Government police, and tha Acting-Deputy Commissioner at Gizo has offered me protection in the form of half a,-dozen police, but I have thought it wiser net to accept it. “It is a source of satisfaction to know that the Biloa natives are quite concerned for my wellbeing, and are making all sorts of suggestions. They tell mo they are making arrangements to station themselves, in the bush surrounding the mission house, and they will remain in tempora.rv shelters which they intend to erect tin. Siito- is caught. It may be well to add that these natives do not ’possess a very deep regard for the truth. Still, there are many evidences of goodwill on their part, and for this I am truly thankful. I would) at the same time remind you that there need be no anxiety as to my safety. Sito will very likely rffake his escape to one of the large islands.”