I.—lb.

30

[T. H. JOHNSTON.

137. Do you remember reading the remainder? —What 1 read was not exactly like that. There was nothing about wandering away. 138. The sergeant returned and saw you put it back on the table, and asked you if you had read it?— Yes. I told him what was on it, that I had read it, and that it was all false. 139. He told you you had no right to read it?— Yes. I said I had a perfect right when he left it there, and that I wish I had torn it up. 140. You pleaded with him? —I asked him half a dozen times to give me a trial. 141. You meant a trial in Court? —I said, " If you have anything against me give me a trial, but don't send me there." 142. Were you present when he rang up the two Justices? —Yes. Before he rang up the Justices he asked my family's names. First I declined to give them, and then I thought if I declined he might put it down to madness. I gave all the names. After that he asked me if I had any money on me, and I said "Yes." I told him of my belongings. He asked me if I would like to take them with me or send them home. I said 1 would like to give them to my wife myself, and he said, "You may not see her." He asked me to sign an order to give them over, and I signed three papers on top of one another. The matter was rushed. I could not then read what was on the papers. One was supposed to be for my money from the mine, the other was supposed to be for the money from the inquest on Evans, and the third one was for handing over the money I had on me. I think I had about £2 Bs. 143. You heard the sergeant ring up? —Yes, he rang up the Justices at three minutes to 5. I noticed the time by the clock on the mantelpiece. 144. Did you hear what he said over the telephone?— Yes. lie rang up the J.P. asking if he could call round, but the man must have said he could not get round. 1 asked him if he would send for Mr. Toy. I said, "He will stop your little game." He rang up for Toy and also for Moore, and told them he would like to see them there before half past 5. it was only to sign a paper before the train went away, and that it would do providing they were there before or at 5.15. Moore arrived at 5 o'clock and Toy arrived at twelve minutes past 5. I did not speak to Moore, and I waited for Toy till he had glanced through the paper. I could see he was reading the paper, and when he had finished I said, " Toy, it is all false. If you have got anything against me give me a trial, but do not send me there." Sergeant Wohlmann turned round in his chair and said to Toy, "Sign it, Toy; everything is in order —the doctors have been here and have already seen his wife." I then pleaded again with Toy. I said. "Give me a trial if you have anything against me, after all you have said to me before to-day." We had had many conversations. He spoke to me on many occasions about getting me into jobs, and that is why I asked for Toy to be sent for. Toy's words to me were to this effect: " Johnston, you will thank us for what we are doing." I said, " I know where I am going, to the Avondale Asylum. Don't send me there—l will never thank any one for sending me there, and do not send me there, but give me a trial." He signed it, and I shed a few more tears then. 145. You felt broken up?— Yes, the game was up. They brought me in a bit of lunch, and then hurried me away to the train. 146. You saw your wife?— Yes, on the way to the station we passed the wife. I said to Detective Sweeney in the cab, "There is the wife." He was sitting opposite to me in the cab, and when I saw the wife through the window of the cab I jumped up, and he put his hand on me immediately, so I sat down. I said, "Pull up the cab," and he said "No"; and I said, " More trouble for the poor girl." 147. Was there any room in the cab for your wife? —Yes, any amount of room. 148. How far were you off the station? —We were about 200 yards from the station. He said he would get Paddy the cabman to go back, and I said to him that the less the wife walks the better, because she is in delicate health. We arrived at the station, and my wife -appeared shortly after. We went into the carriage, and when the wife appeared I was watching, and I told her to come into the carriage. We started talking, but I was not the man to turn round then and tell my wife where I was going, so I did my best to cheer her up. 149. Mr. Payne.] How long were you at the station before the train started after that?— A full ten minutes. We,left the police-station just a minute or two before the half-hour. 150. What time did the train start?— Five or ten minutes past 6. We were there a good while, because the carriage was empty when we first went into it. 151. Mr. Robertson.] The police-station is some distance from the railway-station?— Yes. 152. How long would it take to drive there? —About a quarter of an hour, because they drive slowly. 153. What distance would the wife be living away from the station? —The wife would have farther to walk than she would have from the police-station. 154. How long after you passed her in the cab? —A few hundred yards. Mrs. Johnston brought down my pyjamas, collar, and shirt, and one or two other things. I told her I would not need them where I was going, and she said, " Nonsense, you are going to a sanatorium." She said, " You must look nice, but if you are not dressed well and look after yourself as well as others you will be snubbed, and you know as well as I do dress is everything in this world." I said, "If it pleases you I will take them, but I do not require them." She said she would send my suit down. She said, " I did not know till 5 o'clock that you were going—at 4 o'clock or about that two doctors came and told me that you had had dinner up town and that you were going to a sanatorium for a month's complete rest." 155. Mr. Payne.] Had you any meal at all? —No. not since the morning. I said to her, "How long were they there?" and she said, "Only a few minutes." She said, "A constable came up about 5 o'clock and told me that you would like to see me on the train, and to meet you there." She said, " 1 thought it was very funny going on. Harry, because you have not done anything like that before." She said, "Where did they tell you you was going? " and I said.