National Library of Australia …...report that the splendid zeal of Con stable William M. lfyde, of...

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page19114955

SHOOTING AT THE

POLICE.

% Sensational Case.

Constable Hyde Shot.

Death of the Victim.

The chapter of burglaries committed in

[Adelaide and the suburbs during the past

few weeks lias aroused special alertness

on the part of members of the police force

in keeping irach of suspicious-looking cha

racters, and it is distressing to have to

report that the splendid zeal of Con

stable William M. lfyde, of the Marryat

ville station, led to an incident on

Saturday night which cost him his life.

Equally disquieting is the fact that

three armed and desperate criminals

who were concerned in Saturday s

sensation are still at large. Iwo

policeman have been stationed at

Marryatville—Constable W. H- Drenck

lian (the officer who had charge

of the jury- box in the Criminal Court for

many years) and Constable Hyde, who,

singularly enough, succeeded at Marrvat

ville ihe late Constable King, murdered

at Glenelg last year. Hyde was on dutyin the streets of Marryatville as usual on

Saturday night, and when in Shipster's

road liis attention was attracted by three

fcuspieious-looking men who were standingunder a pepper tree' in the horse ga'.cs

recess of the Marryatville Hotel, close to

the tramway offices at the terminus of

the Kensington line. They wore great-|

coats when most other people were swel

tering in the exceptional heat. The con

stable was not the only person who was

Attracted by their unseasonable garb andtheir evident desire to avoid scrutiny.

Mrs. J. Purcbes (wife of the landlord of

ilie Marryatville Hotel) and her daughterwent out at 9.30 p.m. to get some coppersat the tramway offices, and also noticedthe men, one of whom said "Good even

ing." Mrs. Porches met Constable Hydewalking along Jfhipstcr's read, and re

marked to him, "They look suspicious,"at the same time pointing to the trio in

the great-coats. "Yes," replied the officer;"I ve got my eye on them. I want to

have a look at their faces." Hyde passedthe men, who then moved off in the direc

tion 01 the Marryatville read, with thepoliceman following lliem judiciously.

j

HOT TIME IN EASTRY STREET.J.'iie actual encounter did not take place

jfor about 20 minutes later, when the]

scene had been changed to lias try street—|

the first long highway that the Burnsidetraincar traverses niter leaving Marryatville. It is believed that Constable llydehad not kept the suspicious-looking charac-

jtors in sight during ttie whole of the mean- !

time, although they had not moved more

than 200 yards away from the snot wherethey wore first seen. With Mr. CharlesCorrcll, who keeps a provision store in thelocality, llyde had shared the use of a

pony and sulky. The animal was kept inMr. M. E. Linn's paddock, abutting on to

JEastry street, which lias plenty of openspaces in it, and during the day the ponyhad become entangled in the wire fence. Theconstable released it, and told Mr. Corrcllthat he would visit the paddock at supperlime and again when he was going offduty, to sec that no further mishap hadbefallen the pouv. It is believed that thethree men whom he had shadowed in Shipper's road had taken refuge in this paddock. and that when Hyde went there to

sec to the pony's welfare he stirred themup, and they showed fight.

'

The attackwas a particularly during one, becausethere were plenty of people withineasy distance of the spot. Whatactually led up to the sensationalencounter

could. be related only byllie principals in it. All that can be saidnow is that the people in the neighbourhood were suddenly startled by the quickdischarge of firearms. A regular skirmishtook place in Eastry street. Before theshooting occurred Constable JJyde hadtaken one of the criminals into custody,perhaps on suspicion of being an undesirable character, and both were 011 theground struggling, with the policeman get- iting the better of the deal. The othertwo bad made off, but when they noticedthat the officer of the law was singlebanded tbey returned to the aid of theircompanion. Four shots were fired fromrevolvers without taking effect, and thenone of the desperadoes poised his firearmrm the fence skirting a paddock, ami deJibeiately "potted" the constable, clinchingLis act with an oath—"Take that, youbastard." The trio then decamped acrossopen country towards the liills.

A GOOD SAMARITAN".Hyde received the shot in his

right check. He was rendered valu«l)le first aid by Mrs, If, Scbuotze, afriend of his from childhood, who haplioncd to be passing, and who was. beforeIter marriage, a district trained nurse.The lady rested the head of the bleedingconstable 011 Iter jap, and had her frockruined by the stains, lee was producedfront Mr. Correll's shop, and the woundwas bathed anil dressed by Mrs. Sehuetzsbefore the removal of the poor fellow tothe Mnrrvalville Police

Station._ where hewas attended by Drs. Horlhwiek, Shepherd. and Hayward. Later the patientwas taken to the Adelaide Hospital, andadmitted by Dr. Hetls. On Sunday be was

operated upon bv Drs. Todd and Magarey,who. however, were unable to extract thebullet. The medical men found that the

base of the skull was fractured, and theyreported <?n Sundav that the patient was

in a very low condition, and that nara'ysis

was setting in 011 one side of the body.jRarlv this morning the report of the Hos

pital authorities was equally gloomy. .

MRS, S'(7IU17TZE\S STORY.

Mrs. 11. Sehuetx.e is the wife of a well

known commercial traveller, and lives in

fitalcnborough street, Upper Kensington.When seen by a representative of The

Ketrister on Sunday morning she re

marked:—"At 10 o'clock on Saturday even

ing 1 was walking home along Eastry(street in company with tny husband'scousin. Miss Schuetze. We saw four men

doubling backwards and forwards across

the road, and then two of them fell to the

(round. We heard four or five revolvershots fired, but it never occurred to us

even then that anything was amiss. Wesimply thought it was some men indulgingin new year's horseplay. Then I saw one

of the men place something on the fence

of the paddock behind Cooper's Breweryand take aim. There was a flash,

accompanied by a report, and theman remarked. Take that, you bastard.*

The seriousness of the business tbendawned upon both of ns. There was a man

standing in the middle of the road witha bicycle, and I called out to him, 'Can't

you go and help?' hut he made no reply,

and did not move. Three men ran across

the paddock, and one remained on theground. I rushed up to him. and foundthat he was my life-long friend, Mr. Hyde.He was

bleeding profusely from the face,

and was unconscious. I bathed his wound,and tried to make him comfortable. Presently he came to and recognised me, because he said, 'What are you doing. Al?f Alice). What has happened?' Later on

the_

ambulance van arrived, and I accom

panied Mr. Ilyde to the police station, andthen to the Hospital. He was quite con

scious all the way in,#

and remarked. 'I

caught one of them, didn't I?' He was

able to throw no more light, however, on

what had happened, and again asked for

the facts several times."

ANOTHER EYEWITNESS.Mr. II. Fordham, a young man living in

Eastry street, a)so saw tlie affray at a dis

tance. lie remarked:—"1 saw ConstableHyde chasing three men, one of whom he

caught. The oilier two continued to run.

but presently they turned back, and Iheard one of thein say, 'He's all right;he's on his own.' Five revolver shots

were fired, an<l the last one hit ConstableIljde just as he was falling to the groundwith his man. Then the whole three made

off across the paddock at the rear ofCooper's brewery. J art sure I eould iden

tify one of them. Before Mr. Hyde was

removed he seemed to recognise everybody around him, but wanted to know

wbat it was all about, and said he was

sleepy and tired. He was not able togive any account of the shooting and whathad led up to it."

FLIGHT OF THE MEN.After they had disabled their pureuer

the three men, as already mentioned, tookto a large paddock at the rear of Cooper'sbrewery. The whole locality ailords excel

lent means of escape. Their progress!

was unchecked until they came to the back|

part of Air. C. J. S. ishuttleworth's proi pcrty in Statenborough street. The atten

!

tion of both Mr. Shuttleworth and his son

,

Leonard had been attracted by the firingin

Lastly street, only a few hundred yards

j

away. Mr. Shuttleworth, sen., remarked:—"Mj" son and I were sitting in the gar

j

den when we heard the shots, and we gotj

up to investigate. I went to the gate at

Ithe back and stood there for a minute or

I two with my son Leonard. Presentlyj

three men hove in sight ruuning hard. I; said, 'Here they are—coming across the.

paddock.' We could see them plainly in themoonlight. Thes' scaled the fenGe into myproperty, and my son ran to the front to

intercept them as they were about to getthrough a boxthorn hedge into the street.

Thereupon one of the men exclaimed, 'I'll

stop you, you bastard,' and fired his revolver at my son. The bullet missed its mark,and lodged in the roof of my house." Mr.Leonard Shuttleworth had a fortunate es

cape, and naturally the shooting silencedfurther opposition on his part. • The run

aways broke through the boxthorn hedge,and reached Stateiiborough street. Up tothis point, their footprints were followedby Mick, the blacktrackcr, who was astir

early on Sunday. The native expressed theopinion that the criminals separated after

emerging from Mr. Sliuttleworth's property, and that two of them went off upStat'enborough street towards the bills,

while the third one escaped through more

private property opposite to Air. Shuttleworth's residence, access to which was

made easy by a pile of planks stackedagainst the fence.

TROPHIES RECOVERED.When daylight arrived the vicinity

'

of the sensational skirmish was searched,and there was plenty of evidence of the

encounter. The spot where the strugglewith the arrested man occurred was

marked by dark bloodstains, and in Mr.It. Jones's paddock adjoining that of Mr. ;Linn, where the pony was quartered, Mr. ;T. Graham, a friend of the constable,

1

picked up a sis-chambered revolver, fully I

loaded, and a felt hat. In the paddockacross which the fugitives raced were I

found two overcoats and a bloodstainedfelt hat. Evidently the latter was worn

J

by the criminal with whom the constablej

had the struggle. In one of the coats there]

was a green uaize mask fitted with tapes,

and another mask was found loose. In one

of the coats Norwood football colours were

discovered. All of these trophies were lodgedat the Margyatville Police Station. OnSunday evening a telephone message was

received at the Detective Office to the ef

fect that Mr. A. McDiarmid had found an

overcoat above Burnside, which lie had delivered to the police. Concerning that

fact Sub-Inspector Priest remarked:—"Itis said that the three men wore overcoats

when first seen. Two of the garments were

found near to the scene of the shooting,

having been evidently discarded hastily.

Hence any person who saw them after theshooting would see them without the over

coats. The discovery of tlietcoat by Mr.MeDiannid is important," because if it be

longed to one of the assailants it is clear

that in the first part of their flight the

men passed through and above Burnside."

EVIL DESIGNS SUSPECTED.It is believed that the primary object

of the three men's visit to Marryatvillewas to "rrack" the tramway offices, wherethey evidently expected to get a good haulafter Saturday's traffic. 'i'lic suspicious

of the police were shared b^ the tramwayofficials, and £83 was taken into the c ty

on Saturday night. not by the person whousually carries the money, but by one of

the proems in the stables, whose posses

sion of I lie cash would not have been so

readily suspected by the men. Plenty of

people saw them about Shipters road, andheard their obscene language, too. One of

them was heard to upbraid another for

having "turned up late."

TTTF. rOXY INCIDENT.

Mr. C. Corrcll stated:—' Constable Jlydc

|

and 1 shared tbe use of a pony and suiky,

and the former was kept in a paddock at

Die back of Mr. M. K. I.inn's promises,

|

abutting on to Eastry street. During the

j

day the pony became entangled in the wirefence, and Mr. Hyde and 1 set it free. Theconstable told me at tcatime that he wouldvisit tbe paddock at supper-time, and againwhen going off duty, for fear that the ani

mal got into further trouble. There is 110

doubt that he went to the pnddtck for

this purpose, when he roused up the men,

who were hiding there, and attempted to

apprehend them, lie was as game as a

pebble, and he would have been quite jus

tified in arresting theni for the languageUiey bad used during tbe night,"

CUREFOLLOWED

Intense Itching Eczema Drove Him

Nearly to Despair—Chief Surgeon

of a London HospitalCalled It

Worst Case He Had Ever Seen—Got Little or No Relief Until

CUTICURA STOPPED HIS

UNBEARABLETORTURE

"About four years ago, in London, I

was troubled by a severe Itching anddry, scurfy

skin

on my ankles and

feet. The same,

in a few days,was the case with

tny arms andscalp. -T couldhardly keep from

scratching, which,I need hardly

|say, made it

worse. Thenlargo red patchesappeared, withinflammationand soreness.

After ten days,thousands of small red pimples formed.On becoming dry, these caused intense

itching. I was advised to go to the

hospital for diseases1 of the skm. I did

so and was an out-patient for a monthor more, the chief surgeon saying: 'I

never saw such a bad case of eczema.'

But I got little or no relief. Then I

tried many so-called remedies, but I be

came so bad that I almost gave up in

despair. On coining to this country I

heard 60 many accounts of cures by Cuti

cura Remedies that I resolved, as a

last resource, to give them a trial. Thiswas after suffering agonies for twelve

months, and right glad am I that I didso, for I was relieved of the almost un

bearable itching after two or three

applications of Cuticura Ointment. I

continued its use, combined with a

liberal use of Cuticura Soap and Cuticura Resolvent Pills and am more than

thankful to 6ay that after using threesets of the Remedies, I was completelycured. I can only add that, should anyone be suffering as I did, I hope thatthey will do as I did, and I am sure ofthe results. Henry Searle, Cross St.,Little Rock, Ark., U. S. A., Oct. 8 and10,1807."

Send to nearest depot for free Cuticura B ook on Treatment of Skin Diseases.

Cuticura Remedies nre Bold throughout the world.

A Single Set often Cures. Depots: LondoD. 27,

Charterhouse 6q.: Parts, 6. Rue de la Pali;Australia, R. Towns & Co., 6ydne»: South Africa.Lennon. Ltd., Cape Town, etc.: U.S.A., Pottei

Drue A Chem. Corp-. Sola Prope., Boston.

SEEN BY OTHERS.Among other people who saw the men

hangingabout^

was i\Ir. Kobert 0. Lawes,the dentist. Two of tbem were in front

of Jlr. Correll's shop, where they were

joined by the third. Bad language fol

lowed. and the remark was made, "You'veturned lip late. Where have you been?"The trio then sallied up Eastry street.

About this time Mrs. 1£. Pitman also saw

them, and Constable Hyde was following.

He caught hold of one. afld a struggle en

sued. She heard cries of "Help!" and the

shooting followed.

SCOURING T11E COUNTRY.

Constable JDrenckban, who is in chargeof the Marryatvillc station, was on dutyin Pishop's place, when he heard the shots

fired. He at once returned to the station,

and almost immediately a messenger ar

rived on a bicycle to say that ConstableHyde had been shot. Mr. Hrentklmn'sfirst act was to telephone for medical assis

tance. and then he proceeded to Eastrystreet, and had his injured mate carried to

the station on a bread board secured fromthe local baker. The patient was groaningand breathing heavily, and when askedhow he felt said. "All right, only my jawaches." Soon afterwards the ambulancevan arrived, and the sufferer was taken to

the Adelnide Hospital. Mr. Drenckhnn im

mediately placed himself in communicationj

with the authorities at the MetropolitanWatohhousc, and at least a score of uniformed men and several plainclothes officers

were dispatched to Marryulville. Many of

them had just come off eight, hours' dutyon fhe streets, but they went out

cheerfully—including Constables S. C. |

Thomas. Hawke, AV. Kennedy, J.

Feehan.C.Kennc.nnd Martin—and scoured

the surrounding country and the quarries

in the hope of npprehending their com

rade's assailants. Thc.v remained out all

night, but bad no luck, and as further

search 111 the immediate locality seemed

hopeless, thev returned to the c'ty at noon

on Sunday. The chances are that the fugi

tives got back to Ibe city before all ave

nues of escape could he closed. The Commissioner of Police (Col. Medley) also

visited Marryatville on Sunday morniug.

A POPULAR POLICEMAN.

Constable Drcncklian, -who wis greatl v

distres.sed over his mate's i'Mutk. said

Mr. l-lvdr» was exceedingly well k'kcd in

the district and was a capable officer. lie

joined the M.irrvatvilje station on April29. 1903. He is 34 years of

age and unmarried, and is a

son of Mrs. W. Hyde, -of Al'endale East,

near to Mount Ganibier, wherehe is well known. He lias a

brother (TTezekinh) in the no!-re

force. "TVU" H-de. as the i"inred nv-n

is popularly called, is an exceptionally

pood athV-'p. and nnb- on Jvif or 'av afternoon. rd lying for the Hosken-i Ciick-f Club,

lie made the top score of n9 runs. List sea

sen he i-lavrd with t'-e Easi Torrens Bteam, and this season had practised remi

ferl v on the Norwood Oval. He joined thepolice force on May 1. 1902,

THE PUBLICAN'S WIFE.Mrs. -T. Purcliop. avifc of (lie local publi

can, said to a reporter:—"It wag half-pastnine nil Sal unlay night when 1 first snav

the three nun slamhng near to the bigrates of our hotel vard. not far from the

tramway offices. Thev had on overenats.

and wore cans. Mr. dauehter and I went

into the tramway offices to set a/ worth

of eoprcrs. and I remarked what a strangething it -was to wear overcoats on such ahoi Tvrht. As we passed two of themhad their faces turned to the avail, as

though they did not want to he seen. Theother one. hoavever, said 'Oood ea-ening.'

Two of them were of rather stout build,

and the tln'rd avas taller and somewhat

slimmer. We saw_ Constable ITyde walkingwesterly along Khipsler's road, but before

be came up to the mcu they moved off and

gpt into the darkness of some peppertrees. There they waited, and allowed thepoliceman to pass them, nothing beingsaid on cither side. I remarked to Mr.Hyde 'They look suspicious,' and he replied

'Yes; I've got my eye on them. I want to

have a look at their faces.' The last we

saw of them was when they werecrossing

the street towards Marryatville road, withMr. Hyde following them up. They must

have been in this locality for quite an hourbefore the shooting occurred."

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEN.The following is the" description of the

men supplied to the police, although, con

sidering the darkness of the night., the information might not be correct in all itsdetails:—

First—25 to 30 years, 5 ft. 8 or 9 in.

high, dark complexion, dark moustache(clipped).

Second—25 "to 30 years; height, about 5

ft. 8 or 9 in.; fair complexion, lightmoustache of medium length.

Third—27 years; about 6 ft. high; ruddycomplexion; strong build; low-cht vest.

DEATH OF CONSTABLE HYDE.I lie shooting affrav at M'arryatville on

Saturday night, in which Constable Hydewas wounded in the head, has had a fatal

termination. The patient never regainedconsciousness.

On Monday afternoon the Adelaide Hospital authorities reported that his condition had grown still ruore serious,

and that in fact lie was jinking, andcould hardly be expected to rally.

The operation which was performed on Sunday was not with theidea of locating or extracting the bullet,

but to relieve the pressure on the brain,where hemorrhage was thought to havetaken place. Partial paralysis of the leftside had supervened, and trephining was

resorted to with the object of relieving thepressure of blood. The wounded man'spulse became steadily weaker, and lie

gradually sank and died at 10.30 on Monday evening.

VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER.

THE INQUEST.The C'ily Coroner (Dr. Ramsay Smith)

opened au inquest on the body of the

late Constable \V. Hyde, the victim of theMarryatville shooting case, at the Adelaide

Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Constable Hezekiah Hyde gave evidence

of identiiieation. Deceased, his brother,was about 35 years old.

—Shot in the Shoulder.—

Dr. E. Todd, honorary surgeon to theAdelaide Hospital, said he saw deceased at

the institution at about 9 on Sunday morn

ing. He was unconscious, and did not

regain consciousness. He had made a

post-mortem examination, which had re

vealed two marks, a little more than skindeep, at the back of the left shoulder.

These marks were such as might have been

made by bullets grazing the flesh. On theright side, just below the cheekbone, was

an irregular penetrating wound. Therewere also marks which might be powdermarks on the 6kin surrounding the wound.A track could be traced inward from theskin to the base of the skull. A bullet

(produced) was embedded in the bone,which it had raised up in a splinteredfashion against the base of the brain.

Round about this raised part the brainwas injured. Otherwise the organs of the

body were healthy. Death was due to theinjuries described. Witness performed an

operation on Sunday morning to relieve

the symptoms.—Three Suspicious Characters.—

Mrs. Esther Purches, wife of the licenceeof the Marryatville Hotel, gave evidencecorroborative of the inionnation publishedin the press concerning the three men

suewhom she had seen near the hotel on Sat

urday night. Constable llydecame from

the direction of the tram oiiices and passedthese men as they stood in the darkest

cornel- near the premises. Witness said to

him, "There are three suspicious lookingcharacters." He replied that he had his

eyes upon them, and that he wanted to

get a look at their faces. While theywere still speaking the trio crossed theroad in front of them. The constable fol

lowed, and they all passed out of her sightaround Linn's corner. The three men -ap

pearedto be shorter than the constable.

They wore overcoats. One bad' a cap andthe other two hats. It was dark, andwitness did not see their faces, and therefore could not recognise them.

—"Only a Pipe."—

^George Tliornas Wakchain, contractor, ofKnightsbridgc, said at about 10 on Saturday night lie and his daughter were walking homo from Marryatville. When theywere in Eastry street, between Linn'scorner and the bridge, two men ran pastthem. One was a policeman, and he was

chasing the other. A little further on theconstable caught the fugitive, and appearedto fall with him. The policeman held his

man, and passed witness again, struggling• back towards Marryatville with him. Apj

parentlv the officer was feeling for some

thing, because his captive said, "It is onlya pipe." Two other men were at this

time running on the road, and they stopped just as the policeman caught the first

man. The officer had only passed witness

when he saw a flash and a report comingfrom the two men. who had stopped in

the road. Immediately they ran across

and fired point blank in the policeman'sface. There were several shots—four or

five—close at his face. The policeman fell,

ami the three ran across the paddock onpo

I

site. Witness walked over to the police

man p.nd asked if lie was seriously hurt,

and he replied, "I think I am done for."

He called lor help. A young man on a

bicycle rode up, and witness sent him forhelp.

—Shots up (he Road.—

Horace Fordham, of Lastly street,

Marryatville, said at five to 10 011 Saturday night he saw three men walk up

Eastry street. AJJ were wearing dark over

coats. About 10 o'clock he heard a shot,

and ran towards the sound. Another shot

was fired straight down the road. He was

running in the middle of the road, anda third shot was fired from the oppositeside of the road. Two men were struggling

on the opposite side of the road from

where the sound of this third shot came.

Then a man ran iu front of him and

through the paddock. He went to wherea man was lying, and there was a woman

at his side. He he'prd to wine the blood

off the fallen man's face and recognisedConstable llvdo. 11c put his coat under

Constable Ilvde's head, ar.d later, when

others had arrived, helped to move him on

to the footpath, and eventually to the

Marryatville station. One of the men

whom he had iir.-t seen stood just outside

of the fence. He wore an overcoat and

a fell hat, and had a dark moustache. Theman who ran in front of witness did not

have an overcoat on.

—First. Aid.—

Mrs. Alice Schuetze gave evidence that

she wan going home along Eastry street on

Saturday night ulien she heard reports as

of firearms. Two men ran acroBa the road,and she heard one say, 'Take that, you

bastard." A man was in the middle ofthe road with a bicycle. -She called tohim, "Can't you go and help?'? He roddaway. She saw a man lying at the side

of the gutter. She went to him, turnedhis head over, and said, "It is

'

Bill

Hyde." She attended him, and Subsequently went with him to' the hospital.She could not identify any of the men'

whom she saw at the time of the shoot*ing.

#

13y Detective Mitchell—Ju6t before hear*ing the expression mentioned, she heardanother .revolver' shot, and that made her

'

i think it was a fight" and not boys playing|

with a pea rifle, as she had originally.thought.

—One Revolver for Two Men.—Constable W. H. Drenekhan, stationed

at Marryalville, said he was on duty inBishop's place, Kensington, on Saturdaynight, when he heard five_reports from tho

! direction of the Marryalville School, about'a quarter of. n mile away." Two shotswere fired quickly, then there was a slightpause, and three others followed in rapidsuccession. He ran towards tlni spot, andwas informed on the way that ConstableHyde was shot. Telephoned to the Norwood police for medical and police help,rnd hurried to the scene. Deceased waslying on his right side on the path, dressedin unifoim, but not armed with u revolver,

Witness and deceased were the full com

plement at the Marryalville station. Onei Weblcy regulation pattern revolver and .an

j

old cavalry revolver were supplied officially'

for the use of the two, but deceased pos-"

scssed a weapon of his own. The oldcavalry revolver was long-barrelled, andwas not handy for carrying around. Itwas not the sort of weapon for a foot'

ccnstable to have with him. There were

no regulations or instructions saving whena constable ought to he armed, but it was

optional for a constable to take a revolver,

with him whenever ho liked.

-The Verdict.—

The. Coroner returned a verdict of wilful

murder against a certain person or persons

unknown.—Reward of £250.—

On Tuesday afternoon the Governmentdecided to oiler a reward of £250 for in

formation that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the murderer ofConstable Hyde. In addition a free pardon will be extended to any accomplicegiving such information. The official inti

mation is us follows:—

Chief Secretary's Office,

Adelaide. 5th January, 1909.

Murder.— £250 Reward.Whereas on the

_

night of the 2ndJanuary, 1909, William Hyde, a police

constable, was shot at or near -Kensington. and received injuries fromwhich he died on the 4th January.And whereas at nn inquest held at theAdelaide Hospital befoie the CityCoroner, on the 5th January, a verdict

was returned that the said WilliamHyde rvas feloniously and of maliceaforethought murdered by some person

or persons unknown, notice is herebygiven that ft reward of two hundredand fifty pounds will he paid by the

Government for such information as

shall lead to the apprehensiou and con

viction of the guilty person or persons.

In addition to the above reward, Ilis

Excellency the Governor will l»e ad

vised to extend a free pardon to any

accomplice, not being the person who

actually murdered the 6aid William

Hyde, who shall give such required in

formation.

A. A. Kirkpatrick, Chief Secretary.

This is the largest sum that has been

offered as a reward by the Government of

South Australia for the apprehension and

conviction of a murderer. The sum in thecase of Joe Coleman was £100, and this

was duly claimed and paid over to a pri

vate citizen.

CAPTURE OF COLBERT.

Our Eudunda correspondent wrote on

January 1:—"A smart piece of work was

accomplished yesterday by Mounted-Constable' Farmer, stationed at Eudunda. Theresult was the clever capture of J. Colbert,

for whose arrest a warrant had been is

sued. Colbert, in conjunction with Thomas Quinn, is wanted to unswer a chargeof murdering the Chinaman All Wong.M.C. Farmer had been on the alert for tha

la6t few days, and receiving a clue lie fol

lowed it up. He picked up the accused'stracks in the Huuared 01 Apoinga. andbeing on adept at tracking (he havingwhile stationed in the north gained con

siderable experience at the art) followedColbert for some miles. So long as thepursued kept to the road his tracks were

followed at a canter. This enabled an

earlier capture, as time was lost consequentupon Colbert leaving the road and makingacross paddocks at intervals. Colbert's

camp for dinner was found not long va

cated, and M.C. Farmer came upon the

fugitive suddenly, and had him covered lie

fore he had a chance to resist._

Colbertwas maidng due east, it being bis intentionto get out to the back scrub country.Judging from bis movements the district

was well known to him, as he was makingacross to the scrub at Robertstown,the country thereabouts being less thickly,

populated than further south. The arrest

took place in the Hundred of Apoinga,about five miles north-west of Robertstownend 20 miles north of Eudunda. The pri

soner was taken into town this morningby the constable. Local residents recog

nise that they have in M.C. .Formera Callable and zealous officer, and shouldpromotion be a result it would be wellmerited."

TIIE ENTRY OF COTNESE.

PERTH, Januaiy 4.

A joint deputation from the A.N.A. andTrades and labour Council waited upontire .Minister for Defence (Sr. Pearec) to

day ond urged that some measures shouldbe taken to prevent a further influx of

Chinese and other aliens into the State.

Mr. Pearco, in reply, stated that he was

led to believe that there were being sur

reptitiously introduced into the near west

parts oj the State a number of Chinese,who wore brought from Singapore andother parts. They were, it was believed,

being landed at ports'where there was not

sufficient customs supervision. It mighthe found necessary to provide a patrolsteamer. Be promised to bring the mat

ter under the notice of the Federal Go*vernment.

SORE ANO WEAK EYES,

Morris's

Imperial Eve OintmentUnsurpassed Record in Coumohwealth res

CURE OF AU. EYE TROUBLES Po^. a -

aWSmwferSHi