AN EXTRAORDINARY OUTRAGE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10816, 5 December 1902, Page 6

AN EXTRAORDINARY OUTRAGE.

A B6y Riccivei 300 La^»e..

" case' of Alterfe * 'Fetertf "Nineteen years)/ who has been arrested by the Melbourne police on a charge- pt inflicting giievous bodiLy harm on Charljps Alexander Sibbald, aged ten years, appears tp be without parallel in thesfe pqlonieK, The most experienced officers of the .inetropoli- ■ tan police (says the Age) hava never beard anything like it, and are puzzled to account for tfie instinct that impelled th© perpetrator to commit * such a savage offence or "what satisfaction "he derived *rom Jnfl'icting barbaroHs annJ lirantou jeruelty on' % defencUlesi^clillfl. "- " oliarlic Sibbald, th*e viptim pf.thc outrage, wfji in all probability carry to his grave the marks of the unmerciful,.thrashing he received-, his;t^eah^'Jlaving been *b£&£sl*l and exepriato34^;in^a inofjtitig.jna!^j ne"r:, 'Hie s^or^he tells?i^tniifi(Anfi weeks afeo helmet In gawkner Park a,' jrSliig man sitting 'on' a seat, vfjhp S^oke taAini and asked Sim $» git down, lliis h.{s«d. . The youing^n^n' -told- hjni; that h« i "junior detectji^'^a^tagbeA'.to the Criminal Invc«-tigdtiqn-rJ^aTtjnent, an4^siii^ was engaged ito/taan'y dangerous enterprises. He told tfie" jbey a, few of^Jlie hazardous incidents wh'jeh f . formed Vijart of his .everyday : Ufts7 and promised %o r tell .Tiim mpre. Tfey^nVt that^aud thT".junior m^m?^oiti% the bot' u*b wlh>Xillui? < ¥a'lia£bf horror relafing^iWevents' in his'inatvcllous career "of daring "adventure till the credulous boy regarded hini ,as a star-3pangle4 hero, compare^, wilfe^hom ''Old Sleuth" or "Sherlock Holmes were as nought. One day, while 'the two, brothers Sibbald: *\fc*rc' walkfng ' through' the park on* HiiSir way to schbol, ttfe .^junior detective"." met them. Sending the jounger brother away, he told Gfaarlie.Hhat he was going " to Mentone" to "investigate . a pase" 'of deep" and deadly ■Importance) which he needed the assistance of a boy. Charlie might be- hit. assistant, and lie would get the Bum;of 4s for his r work.* To be' made th* Subject of such ghiry wrfs ' something beyond" the boy's "wildest expectations, 'and lw wras excited at the prospect of assistfng' a real "junior detective" to unravel some- deep, dark mystery. J3orrq«ring a shillirig from' the* lady lur lived with, and telling her that he 'would not be 'out late.ift set off- in a state. o£ exhilaration Off what, it' is .very., evident, ho boyißhly regarded as a thrilling adventure. „On arriving at the Mentone railway station he was met by the mysterious, "junior de.tec.tiye^ .whose ;naJne.. he- did not ."know. He was conducted into a side'street, out of that to a ti-tree scrub.. The ,bqy was then taken 'through another dense thicket to a small cottage used by workmen ou an estate., There 'was no one in it, but the room they entered was partly furnished.* ' The -young man said: ''Waft here for me; I will be back soon; ,but you mjght go away while) 1 am gone^ so take off your clothes, and I'll know you can't get away." "No, sir, I'}l not go away," replied .theJ boy ; "I'll stay tUI ..you come back;' there's no need foz r me"io lake my'/ clothes off." TJke young^man, .however, insisted that he .should un'dress^and, forcing him to do so, w,eht a^ay, He .returned shortly afterwards-, with, about a dozen sticks^ — straight, fibrous, ti-tree switches, 3ft "to 4ft long, wit*t the rpiigh ends of broken twigs adhering to them. Turning sharply' tp the boy, ''he said: "You hayp f told me lies. . What' do 'you mean?" '.'JSTo, I have" fold you no lies, sir," replied the trembling boy. U "Wliat are they? What have' I saia*that" is untrue?" -'You haVe^" ' insisted the fellow, "and I'-am going to pnnfsh you. Stoop down -till you touch your toes with your 'fingers'."- "Fleadirigiy She litttfe fgftow 'begged <? that he shoifldfi't Be beaten, but his

oppressor .was remorseless, and forced T him into position." To use the feby's own words, "He" then began' to baat me, 'and made me count the strokes — one — to — three up", "to . 300. ' I cried, and asked him to'.sto'n, but he would not, and no ' one " heard my screams'.' I could not get aw"ay;"';the dp6r wis shut, and he held rafei 'After He had given me 300 1 . strokes he WBut frwuyr^utting me in, and retnrn<!d with a glass -full of whisky. ■ He told 1 me to drinV »t!.'\l was- afraid that he would be^t rAs again, and I^lrank it. He. then -.Went away. I grew very- giddy apd sick; and vpmjte^ a lot. • l r don't recollect any-more* for I must have fallen asleep on the couch. -In the morning the- young man came lack and was very angry because I had been sick. 'He got a shovelful of !sand and sprdad it on -the .floor, and then thrashed ,me again. He made me write "and sign »a paper Baying that he .had given njo .300 strokes, and that I deserved the thrashing.", When the police visited "Ale,ntone a coupft? of days later they found the.re p^jnty- of evidence to uphold *tjie. jyruth of the bojfs 1 stqry. The ti-t(ree sticks, were scattered about. The sand was' stcewn about dm the floor as the* boy 1 described, and s6m6 papers which further corroborated the particulars ' of the boy's 1 story. The first paper found Was the one which the, boy was .forced to write 'hiniselC It was written- in pencil ia a> round" schoolboy luind, and set forth that he had received 20 strokes on the r *hands, .on each; on the breech^paryally stripped, v and 100 on the- bare skin." To this . extraordinary schedule' of barbarity was appended the following: — "I Reserve tKi's punishment.—( Signed) Charles SibbaldT' •T didn't deserve it, sir," 1 cried the little fellow when the detective read out the note : "!■ didn't do anything to him, arid I. didn't tell any lies. 5*5 * ; . . '

Tito fol}ow.inß pryi p^ f or Aramoho €.C. on Victoria Park 10-marrow: — Richardson, Wiivcteor, ,Gnrr, Holland, Sac, naywood (3y, Tfcylor, Light, Bttiratt/Mirlier, and T. Vincent. ..• "„ ■ : A Wellington telegram _say»- that;" in consequence of an' urgent telegram, the Premier, left -at 3 o'clock thin- morning by the Tutanekai for Christchurch, wheVe his daughter, "Mrs Bean,-, is to 'undergo a serious operation. •' Tfae*(wough«>stree,lj are .being rolled^toqay with' the steam road-roller, which' will ho doubt dispose of the cobble-stq.nes that are causing a good deal of annoyance at -prescatU,... ,^_ „.., _^ _......._.„,..,. . 1,,. _ v ,_ . Madame Melba .will give one concert at Hobart en route to this colony, a gnaranteej*! -^itW* }* a ?}fig een KJXSP **k Mr .Miragrave. « Xhcfe'arteied Ncw^ZodaTia iates are:— Dunediii, Agricultural Hall/I^bru»ary 18; Christchurch, February 60; Wellington, February' 23; arid Auckland, March 2. The diva sails for San Francisco on Mar^i *nr,:AjiDflfcr /)f 5.£10005 .£lOOO f«r one concert -tit Hobartr r -eh -r*u^ for Dunedin, has been accepted. t A. r vf iry successful land ballot fQr a largo area of land in vario.is parts of Hjc Taranaki land district, mostly the north, took placp recently. The tctal area und*r ofrer was about 75,000 acres. In the present' lot there were 585 applications by 267 persons for 51 sections balloted for, comprising 32,420 acres. Some of- -the sections are Situate in the Ohura Block, Tiear the" Wangahui River, and these were keenly sought for, there being as many as 77 applications for one section. Twenty improved farm sections in the Ohura, balloted for on "the 28th_ Of November, were also - secured by persons from different parts of the lolohy. Captain, the. Hon. Hedworth •. unbton, C.Vi.-vC.B;, isio- commanded- tho-jNaval Brigade in* Sontll bal hJSk promoted to -be llear-Admiral for hia serr vices.in tho field. Lord Charles tfcresford has also^been promoted itd Vice-Admiral.