AFTER 15 YEARS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18974, 26 March 1936, Page 5

AFTER 15 YEARS

LONG MAN-HUNT ENDS AMAZING STORY OF CHASE MELBOURNE, March 8. Papuan native and white police recently completed one of the most strange and dogged man-hunts in native history by arresting a Papuan native criminal after a chase that never relaxed, day or night, for 15 years. The story of this relentless pursuit and its humane sequel was told to-day by the Lieutenant-Governor of Papua, Sir Hubert .Murray, who is in Melbourne. Ho did so to illustrate Ins point that certainty of arrest for wrongdoing was one of the first essentials in bringing primitive peoples under control. , . . . "The native was not a real criminal, but was guilty of .a. crime of violence, which is one, that we have to suppress rigidly," Sir Hubert said. ""So our police went out to get him. "He 'was elusive, and kept out of reach of our patrols for 15 years, but the police never let up for a day. Sometimes they would lose sight of him for a day or two, but they would pick up his trail again, and continue the hunt. TRIED TO BARGAIN "He got sick of it after a few years, and attempted to bargain with our men. He would send messages in to their camps asking the leader of the police patrol to meet him unarmed at night at various places, such a* a mountain top. "Our boys would fall in with the suggestion, and observing the offered truce, their leader would go unarmed to the rendezvous to meet the quarry. "He would turn up unarmed, too, and would suggest that he would give himself up if they would promise not to punish him heavily. "Of course we could not strike a bargain like, that, so the hunted boy and the police lender would part and take up the bunt, again a few hours later. "It, took him a long time to realise that be could never escape us, and after 15 years of that sort of hunted lite be gave himself up unconditionally. "We kept him in gaol a few weeks waiting trial, then when he was brought before mo he admitted he had done wrong and was sorry for it. "Seeing that lie had had a wretched life for 15 years and had been very heavily punished in that wn\\ I rend him a lecture and let him go."