Jottings from Ashburton.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5191, 23 December 1884, Page 4

Jottings from Ashburton.

♦ » ASHBURTON SENSATIONS. THE LEAP FROM A TRAIN. THE BURGLARY CASE.* [FBOM OVa OWN CORRESPONDENT.! Dec. 22. Since my last letter -yve have had a few sensations in the " hub." One of these was the bolt from the train of tho boy Wright, the Burnhatn escapee. I happened to be on the train when he took his flying leap, and saw" hiui do it. I have heard many "people say. the leap was a plucky one. It certainly would have been very plucky indeed had the child, for he was little more, been in the least alive to the extreme danger of it ; but lam much afraid he was not, and that, therefore, the line, " Foolsrush in where angels fear to tread," pretty well describes the situation. Most schools have their little traditions of feats performed by present or past scholars, and the performers of those feats are almost heroes in the eyes of the boys, who strive to emulate the doings of the great ones, and make those feats tho frequent subjects of talk. Doubtless the boys at Burnham keep green in their memory the exploits of the two Towser boys, whesome time ao-o made their escape from the train on their way back to Burnham after recapture. Tho lads were in charge of a constable, as "Wright and Shears were, arid one of them rushed to the platform and -wriggled off like an eel, unhurt. While tho constable, staggered at the unheard of daring of tho child, and fearing his death, looked anxiously after him back along the line, the other Towser followed his brother's example, and went wriggling off at the other side of tlie platform. Neither were hurt, and they made use of tlieir liberty to attempt revenge on the constable. Knowing that the return train would bring him back to Ashburton, they piled stones and other impediments en the rails, and lay in ambush among the tussocks to see the smash. Fortunately the pile was too palpable, and the driver saw it, and drew up in time. The boys were caught again ; but so troublesome had they become, and so persistent were they in escaping from Burnham, that the police looked upon them aa a nuisance. Sergeant Felton, however, talked to the lads like a father, and, promising — what they asked — that they wouM never again receive corporal punishment at Burnhani, nor have their food reduced, they pledged their " word of honour " that, so long as this promise was kept, they would be exemplary in their behaviour. This seems absurd on the face of it, and looks as if I were romancing a bit ; but lam telling the truth. And the sequel is equally true — not a word of complaint has ever reached the police hero about those two boys' behaviour ; and the last I heard of them was that those two persistent bolters were entrusted with the carriage of the Burnham school mail. Still, I have no doubt their train jump is a tradition with the other boys, and because they escaped unhirt the others fancy the trick is any easy one. Tho hole in Wright's head — caused, no doubt, by the original of the Canterbury Plains coat o f arms, a boulder rampant, or, perhaps, by one of the many loose rails lying: along tho line — would go a long way to take the gilding off the glory of such an attempt. It has never been my lot to visit Burnham school, so that 1 can give no personal experience of what the discipline is like. BmVthe frequent bolts, the determination to bolt again after capture, tho hatred the lads seem to have of the institution, and the good behaviour of the Towsers, now that thoy are not thrashed, all seem to point to a defect somewhere, and if an inquiry will find out such defect, and, if it exists, remedy it, then, by all means, let us have it ; but, meanwhile, I am not aware that any chargo is being made against this institution more than what has been made against all institutions of a similar nature. Another sensation was the one that awaited its when we came down town on the morning of Dec. 10. The premises of Orr and Co. had been broken into overnight by a well-known resident in the town, who, however, had been caught in the act, and most pluckily arrested by Constable Latimer — a recent importation from Timaru. The delinquent, I have said, was well known. He was a locksmith, a well-sinker, nightman — anything ; but, perhaps, he was most skilled in the not altogether unknown art of beer drinking. He could "go" beer at all times, and never knew when "he had enough. The police thought they know, and took out a prohibition order against him; but, as everybody .knows, this "order" affair La a sublime farce, and has no more effect in stopping a man's grog than putting salt ou a bird's tail will catch, it. I have known prohibits here obtain their liquor in bulk from Christchurch; I have heard of cases of wellknown prohibits who failed to seduce barmen, who knew them, into giving them liquor, keep watch at hotels when a change took place in the bar tender, and stealing in, swallow a wet, buy a supply, and be oil in 'a twinkling. But, however the thing is done, the prohibits always seem to be able to get plenty of liquor. Dudley, the burglar, was one of these, and ho has been heard to say that 50 prohibition orders would not stop his grog. Judging by his drunkenness, it was evident that one didn't. Neither did his drinking habits appear to very greatly impair his bod ; ly strength, for he could do a good day's work with the best of them at -the pipe driving monkey ; and poor Constable Latimer, himself no willow wand, I can assure you, found his hands full when he tackled running in the Dudley. He found it necessary to play something quicker than " Dead March " time on the burglar's head with the iron handcuffs before the fellow caved in. I want to say something about this arrest. It was plucky, and the constable won kudos for his morning's work. So delighted were many of the residents with his gallant exploit, that a public testimonial was spoken of, and everybody thought it wa3 going to come off. The man had arrested a burglar skilled in the locksmith's art, a fellow who could make and use skeleton keys so well that not a door in East street was safe from him if he wished to attempt the integrity of its lock. Thi3 arrest had been made under circumstances which showed genuine courage and John Bullish loyalty to duty, and the R.M. on the Bench said many kind things of Constable Latimer in consequence, at the same time not forgetting his fellow constables. Then the testimonial idea was tried to be worked out. Of course ib was expected that the owners of property, guarded only by locks and bar3 — trifles, as has been seen, to such a locksmith as Dudley — would " ante up." How are the mighty fallen ! Ashburton used to be the place in Canterbury for complimentary dinners, testimonials, and the like ; and no matter how little a man had done for the place — or against it— "the departing one always carried away some souvenir of his Ashburton residence, if it was only a skinful of "shouts." Now, however, "Ichabod" ia written on Ashburton's forehead, and only ,£5 can be raised, and that among five of the leading merchants of the place, to express public opinion of Constable Latimer's plucky conduct. One man declined to subscribe because the constable only did his duty. It is a terrible word that " duty." Constable Latimer could have done his duty in such a way that Henry Dudley might have been employed in the morning to change the locks, and would have gone back to his forge to make fresh skeletons. But C instable Latimer did what few men would have- done under the same conditions, and yet when he displayed unusually good qualities, and removed from our midst an especially dangerous, daring and desperate character, and did so singlehanded, people talk of duty when they are required to recognise his heroism.

Tlie larg>'-'-st <"ottf>n grower in Arkansas cu-tivato.-:- '^t-.veA.v. -"00 and WOO acres.