No.VIII.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8949, 7 June 1907, Page 4

No. VIII.

A SECOND CHARLES PEACE. [Au Rights Reserved.] I remember a case in which several Tears had elapsed, between my first being instructed and the final scene at the Old Bailey after I had captured the criminal. The Recorder (Six Charles Hall) used tlhese words) "Justice may bo slow, but it has a long arm." Never was this saying better illustrated than in the case of James Adams — a man of many aliases and many crimes — wih© expiated his misdeeds (if expiation is possible in such a case) by hanging at Newgate, in May, JLBBS. This man ' 6 life was on© long crime. Too little is known of his private life to render his career picturesque, and, beyond the extraordinary gexies •of crimes he committed, little fascination, attaches to his hiertory. An *n instance of. delayed justice finally asserting itself, Adaohs' story is a notable one. The chronological order of my narrative is not (needless to say) taken from tlte particulars supplied to me from time to time in my search for the criniiTiaL On the contrary, we were baffled J>y the multiplicity of the man's disguises, and deceived by the gigantic activity of this one man. We were under the impression that many of his crimes were tne- work of isolated individuals bearing no relation to each other, particularly as his activities were widespread, embracing all points of the compass THE TERROR OF TORQUAY. I>r de Villiers was. perhaps, the efoveretft criminal who ever lived in keeping me at bay when I was actually

on his track and in his neigh bourhood. But the man of whom I am now writing kept us all in the dark as to his very existence While our energies were divided looking for various peisons, of varying descriptions, in differ-^ ent parts of the kingdom, James Adams was continuing hie depredatioms. Only afterwards, when the main was in our safe_ custody, and the broken .dues were joined together again, and one witness after anotflier faced this prisoner, only then did we fully realise tho importance of our capture. James Adams was born in 1832. His father was a bricklayer. James had the usual training of a country labourer's son, in fairly good circumstances of his class. He became a strong, healthy man, with little or no education, but with a quick eye and agile limbs, able to run, jump and climb, qualities which were of immense service in the profession which he chose at an early age. Naturally enough, his first crime was poaching, and after becoming an excellent ishot, he seems to have left behind him the country life, and • to have studied burglary as a fine art in the towns surrounding Ms native village. For several years he became the terror of Torquay arid all the countryside. Burglary after burglary was traced to has handiwork; but he eluded the police, appearing again before the excitement of his last exploit had subsided, and only to again disappear as soon as he had made a good "coup." At the age of thirty-six he was captured for the first time, after one of the most sensational burglaries on record. Tne little village of Kingkerswell, near Torquay, contained the mansion of Me J. Wale, churchwarden. THE FIGHT ON THE LAWN. Ono Sunday afternoon, in November, 1870, Mr Wale and all his family were in church. The servants were resting, the place seemed deserted. A visitor, Mr W. H. Lock, was quite unexpectedly in the orchard beyond the garden. Looking up at the house, he saw, in the dull November light, two men, stealth-

ily climbing into the house by the window. Without waiting to confirm his (suspicions, Mr Loc£ hurried into the church, and Mr Wale and his friends left hastily, and decided to attack, and if possible, capture the burglare. The latter, on seeing the house surrounded, descended tothe kitchen, and armed themselves with some butcher's knives, which the}* found there. Then followed a terrible struggle on the lawn between the burglars, armed with knives, and the gentlemen, armed with pokers. Mr Wale and two of his friends grappled with the bunslaiv. who, however, succeeded in stabbing them in several places, and escaped, leaving Mr Wale for dead. Through the orchard and coppice they fled, and found themselves in a wood. By this time it was quite dark, and in endeavouring to find their way they actually got back into the midst of their now reinforced enemies on the lawn, and after a terrible but ineffectual struggle they were secured pri&OTieci'S. Mr Wale not having" euocuinbed to his injuries at the time of the trial, the two prisoners were lucky enon<rh to receive the mild sentence of eight years' imprisonment each. Apparently their behaviour in prison was'not good enough to earn mv.en of a. remission. Released in 1878, the two "pals" recommenced immediately their old work. In May. 1378. a. number of burglaries had been traced to them, and the police and detectives were on the lookout for their recapture. One evening, in the same month, two police-constables met the men at Tudgeley, di-essed as Finnish sailors. The constables' suspicions were simultaneously aroused, and they questioned the men closely, but received answers that satisfied one constable, but roused the other's suspicion. As soon as the men moved on, the two constables appear to have compared notes, and again overtook the men, when Adams thereupon turned and fired on them from a six-chambered revolver. Both constables were fatally wounded, Adams' companion Ellis, as

on other occasions, leaving the more violent acts to his utterly unscrupulous partner. The constables' depositions were taken, and their descripI tions of Adams and Ellis were circulatI od far and wide. ' Meanwhile they esi caped, and their crimes were next heard of in a far-distant neighbourhood. A SINGLE-HANDED CAPTURE. During the next few ? months Cheltenham was the scene of their operations. Burglary, with or without violence, became an almost nightly occurrence. The | Cheltenham police, with help from ! other localities, became more and more i effectually organised, until, just before ! the /town got too hot to hold theni, Adams put the finishing stroke to his work by murdering a householder who was defending his own property against a burglar whose only known description was a black cashmere cap. Tho shot which he fired into the body of his victim had also its share in the final identification. Ellin's capture wss almost tho singlehanded work of Detective Police-Ser-geant Rolfe. Far away from the scenes of the crimes, in Mile End, London. Ro'lfe recognised Ellis, and arrested him after a most desperate resistance. Ellis was very violent in the ,dock, and was sentenced to penal servitude for life, in the very year of his release from gaol. ( / After his friend's disappearance, Adams never went out unarmed. He continued burgling, and assumed in lus time the disguises of postman, clergyman, milkman, and a hundred others. He escaped after one burglary by stealing a ) - ailwa3 r porter's uniform and walking the lino. At another time he was actually visiting a vicar, in the guise of a clerical friend, when hardly any other place would have been eafo for him. For seven years Adams evaded c.ipture, not merely hiding from justice, but constantly adding ncuv crimes to his already enormous list. Meanwhile, hig description, and nil the clues we pos-

' seesetl, were circulated throughout the country.

HIS COAT PROVED A RICH CLUE. ! On the evening of January 26, 1885, Inspector Thomas Simmons, with > a police-sergeant, wa6 riding on the high road between Rom ford and Rainham. Seeing two suspicious-looking men he watched them, and finally stopped and questioned them. One of the men deliberately fired at him with a revolver, and the' two men escaped. ! Simmons, although mortally wounded (he died four days later), gallantly followed and nearly succeeded- in capi turing his assailant, who lo6t his coat in the struggle, but got away owing to the weakness of the wounded Inspector, faint from loss of blood. The : other man was captured, but could, i or would., throw no light on the lden- | tity of his companion. His coat, howI ever, proved a rich clde. It contained 1 cartridges and a pair of eyeglasses. : The maker's name on the eyeglasses, I the calibre of the cartridges., and cer- ' tain other clues pointed to Aciarns as tho assassin." Inspector Simmons was able to give a description in detail before he died, anrl we were soon warning every police officer, pawnbroker, railway • booking clerk, and every other party likely to help us. For fivo weeks nothing was heard, but we judged, from information as to his probable finances, that he could not last much longer. Rewards amounting to £250 were offered. On Tuesday, March 10, Adams walked into a pawnbroker's shop at Seymour Street, London, to pawn the very revolver with which he murdered Inspector Simmons. Mr Baxter, the pawnbroker, kept j Adams talking while he sent for the police. On the arrival of three constable 1 ?, Adams made a dash for the door, and escaped into the street, only to be captured there. At Platt Pclice Station he pretended to calmly submit. Before being searched, he suddenly made for the fire, and i threw a dozen cartridges into it. In ! the explosions and fir© which followed, jhe made a last- effort- to escape. But his desnerate character was known by now. Ho was violent to the end. He had to be hanrknffed to two warders at his trial, and six other warders hnd ! to ho in attendance when, on April 27, ! 18S5. ho was sentenced to death by Mr i Justice Hawkins. Unrepentant, blaspheming, breathing vengeance on his captors, Charles Peace's rivnl was as worthy of the , gallows as the greatest criminal of any age. (The Ekp.)