A GUNPOWDER PLOT AT MOM VIDEO.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2589, 26 October 1867, Page 7

A GUNPOWDER PLOT AT MOM VIDEO.

I The following narrative of a plot which h created a profound sensation in the lliv Plate, is drawn up from official sources : — On the 30th of June, a German, nani Wilhelin Hanstoffer, called upon M. Honoi the director of the foreign club in Mon Video, and informed him that he had ha aaked by a countryman, aamed Paul Ne 1 mayor, to assist him in driving a mine connection with on engineering experimen and offered 200 dollars (about £40) for oi night's work, adding that he would like earn the money, but was afraid, from t! mystery and caution of Newmayer in pledj ing him to secrecy, and yet not fully con i municating the object of the work, that ther j was something wrong about the matter. Th work was to be executed in a house in cours of demolition for rebuilding situated at th back of the Gorernment House, commonl called the Fort. By M. Honore's advic (his communication was repeated to the pc litical chief, Colonel Bustaniente, who irn mediately took measures to ascertain wha was going on. In consequence of the infoi mation he received, the chief ordered a suffi cicnt force to be placed in the neighborhooi of the fojr, and having Newmnyer pointei out to him in the theatre, he remained then till the latter left, which he 'did at the tin* he was to meet Hanstoffer. Newmayc went direct to the place of appointment followed by Colonel JBustamente, disguisec with an old poncho and a straw lint. On thi chief giving a signal preconcerted with th< police, Newmayer made an attempt at flight but wa3 immediately surrounded, captured and taken to the cabildo, The police then entered the houre indicated by Har. stofi'er, where, in a small cellar, newly con^ structed, they found two barrels of gunpowder, three sacks, and a Bumford's electric multiplier in working order, capable according to Mr Oldham.of the telegraph office, of igniting gunpowder at a distance of six miles. These articles were taken to the head police office, and guards were placed in the house for the night. Newmayer refused to give any information, alleging that he had bought the house, and had the right to use it for any experiments he liked. Next morning, the Government ordered an inspection of the house and cellar by the Director General of Public Works, assisted by an eminent builder. These gentlemen reported that there existed sufficient proof of an intention to di'ive a mine in one direction, and that a hole had been broken through the wall of the cellar in another, probably for the same purpose. The " mine" had by this time become the topic of every conversation, and some English naval officers, who had heard an exaggerated version of the story, had their curiosity excited, and Mr Havers, who for the last two years had been director of the Scientific Inspection of Public Works, offered to ascertain if there were any foundation for the alarming rumors iv circulation. From a report subsequently drawn up by this gentleman, it appears that he examined the cellar, and being made acquainted with the circumstances already narrated, came to the conclusion that there must be another operator, and that. such person must still be concealed iv the druns. Iteturning through the fort, Mr Havers communicated his opinion to the Minister for War, who asked him to repeat his reasons for his belief to the provisional governor, General Flores. The result was, that General Flores requested Mr Havers to require from Colonel Bustament£ the necessary assistance, and to make a strict investigation. Guards were placed at the mouth of the main sewer, the streets were cleared, and all parks" of the cellar were carefully examined. The object found prored that the operators were not ordinary laborers, and the hole in the tvcJl yi'as found to lead into the apparent drums of ■ u««, Ko,, se . Conceiving that the conspirators wore eitherTu -tuio J.~»i lv _ m ._tl le in;>in sewer, Mr Havers ordered a counter mine to bo sunk at the calculated junction of the two, and, going down himself, ascertained (hat no one was in that section of the main sewer, so far as it could be seen with a dark lanthorn. He theu entered the house drain, which could only be done by creeping, on accouut of its small dimensions, and here he found a man who retreated through the hole in the wall into the cellar, followed by Mr Havers, the cellar being guarded, the man was at once captured, having been already 16 hour* in the draim. Further investigagations followed, after which the openings were closed up, guards set, and the search suspended. The prisoner, who was in his shirt sleeves and evidently much exhausted, gave the of name LouisNewmayer.'butrefused to make any statement until he learned that Paul Newmayer (no relation) was in custody when he commenced a confession. Paul Newmayer also lost all his effrontery on learning that his co-laborer was in custody, and denounced as his principal employer Captain Don Eduardo Bertran, an officer who accompanied General Flores during the revolution, indicating as accomplices several friends of Bertran, ana declaring, by way of extenuation, that they only intended to destroy General Flores himself. An immediate search was made for Bertran, but he had already fled. His house, and his office at which he managed the commissariat business of the Brazilian Hospital were searched, but nothing was found which threw any light on the conspiracy. A timber merchant in Monte Video stated that he met him on the morning of the Ist in the suburbs, and that he asked the deponent not to divulge having seen him. It was soon ascertained, by means of the submarine telegraph, that Ber« tran had gone to Buenos Ayres, and thence, under an assumed name, to Hossaria en route for Santa Fe. It also transpired that, although the house had been bought in Newmayer's name, Bertran was surety for the payment of the purchase money. Independent, therefore, of the confessions of the prisoners, the strongest suspicion rests on Bertran. General Suarez, Comtnandantea Muncini and Bergara, and Senora Torres and Marquez were arrested in the course of the evening of the Ist, and placed in separate confinement. On the 2nd Mr Havers resumed his investigation. The pavement was taken up, the main sewer opened, footsteps discovered iv it, ascertained to bo those of Louis Newmayer, and at 150 ft from the cellar an opening found towards the windows of the saloon in which the Councils of State are held. From this hole a mine had been driven to within 6 feet of the wall of the saloon, and in it were found the tools used by the operator. It appears from the report made by Mr Havers to the Government, that in six or seven hours, with 1 the assistance of the other person expected to joiu in tho work, the mine could have been extended under the floor, and charged •' for the explosion. It was also proved that the cellar was constituted expressly for the \ purpose of concealing these operations, and ' that the works carried on in the house were .' merely a blind to cover the proceedings of 1 the conspirators. From inquiries made at

the foreign consulates, it appears 1.110, .. — prisoner, Paul Newmayer, was formerlj"a sub-lieutenant in the Wurtemburg army, was cashiered, and handed over to the civil tribunals, convicted of forgery, and sentenced to five years penal servitude. He offered his services to both sides during the revolution in various projocts for mining, and for making Orsini bombs and detonating com pounds for destroying human life. Louis Newmayer is said to have been, mate of a slaver. j^othing having transpired to show that the other persons arrested had any hand in the iniquitous project, they have been set at liberty. The extradition of Bertran i was demanded of the Argentine Government j and immediately conceded ; but nothing fur , ther had been heard of him, and he is supposed to have fled into Chili.