Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-12-11

hood
A New Chapter In the T!Chborne Romance.
Prom the Honolulu Advertiser.
Stranger things have happened than that
a solution of the mystery which hangs about
the death of Sir Roger 1ichborne should be
| discovered in these Islands \ correspondent
of the ldrertit1r, writing from llilo. under
| date of the 22d ultimo. thinks he has dis
covered in that district the man who saw
Sir Roger die, and who buried him on Sid
ney Island, in the South Pacific Ocean. This
| island lies southeast from the island Of R0-
| tumah, 2e0 to 800 miles. and Is occasionally
visited by vessels in quest Of tirIc de MIR.
/ George Clarid.e Is the name Of the man who
/ claims to have seen the last Of Tichb0rne.
/ He i Il person Of limited education, being
| able 10 read but little and cannot write he
| Is an Englishmar. and. 80 far as our CORES
| pondent is aware, bears good name. Re
Gently, in looking at the engrayins- Of the
| Tichb0rne family in some numbers Of the Il
lustrateI News, he pointed at that Of Sir
| Roger and exclaimed. That is the man
whom buried on sidney Island ,' The iol-
| lowing i his statement Like many Others
of his class in the Pacific. L. had driltcG
about from one island to another. and in
1854, a. near a. be can remember. be LETT a
ship at Rotumah. After he had been on
that island some time. schooner named
the Annie. engaged in tie t.rs. a mar fish
cry. called there. On going on board, Ga
ridge found that she was iu~t ont from home,
and that of the river Platte she had picked
a boat containing two men in a iaaished
condition. and they were then on board the
schooner. The master of the schooner, who
wa, Frenchman. told Cariige THAI one Of
the rescued men was an English gentleman,
very sick, and that ne spoke French a. well
a. himself Claridse engaged TO g in the
schooner q take care Of the sick gentleman
and to help get cargo. lie thinks this
was the early part Of lsjj, bat does not re-
member distinctly The vessel, he believes,
was American, but he remembers no par
ticular, about her. nor the names OF any Of
the crew. Five days after leaving Eotumah.
thew reached Sidney Island. where they
found no inhabitants. and plenty Of ti-te
de Her. Cllridge with some natives ol bo-
tumah went ashore 20 pursue the fishery.
and the sick gentleman at his own request
was also put on shore. with everything the
vessel afforded to add u Bis comfort. The
schooner sailed away. intending To return in
a short time. but C.aridse has neard no tlI-
ings of her from that day To this, and con-
lectures that she was lost. lie WIS two
years on the island before it was again visit
ed bv vessel. For some time after landing
on the island, the sick gentleman said but
little to anv one, but as he otwor-e he call
81 Claridee to him, and told him that he
was uear his end, and requested him to pro-
cure a quill from one of the wild birds that
freon. ,nted the island. u make a zen Of lie
had scrap of payer in which had been
wrapp al a piece Of cheese from the schooner,
and on this with blood from IA bird, he wrote
something. This paper he gave to CIaridSe
and told him to keep it sacred, and the first
shin that came to have il copied To Keep
the ori.:inal himself, hut by all means Ia
make it public whenever he got TO a civiliz-
ed land. He then informed Clarii.e that
his name was ROGER Tichborne. This hap
pened the tenth or twelfth day alter landing
on the island. After this the sick man was
frequently deliriouS, until be died about the
eighteenth dav after the landing. In HI
/ lucid mon ent- he stated that he sailed from
Rio in ship deeply loaded, that She went
down in SauaIl, and that himself and sever
others rot into boat which drlited about
until all persisted except himself and one
| other. who were forty days in the boat be-
fore being picked up. lie said that II hC
could ret to Hong kOng he should hne
plenty of friends and money. In his deilrr
um he fre 4uently spoke Of his father. viii
whom he appeared to have quarrcl.ed. an'
| he often fancied himself talking 70 h : moth
| or. whom he addressed in French. Clarids'
kent the paper as directed, and showed It q
| the captain of the ship, who eventually toos
| him from the island, but it met with no at
tention. After getting to Wellington Island
A New Bedford boy named MandeLI copied
part of the writing (some OF 1t being II
| French). but Claridge does not know wha
disposition he made of it. Claridge KEEP
the original until eight years ago, when
was lost with other papers by the Gpsettln:
of A boat. Such Is the plain, and. it appear
In Ms. probable story of the man who be
lieyes that he buried Sir Roger Iichborne
MANY of our readers have doubtless pecom'
familiar with the remarkable trial IN th'
court of common pleas at estmlnster II
1871. entitled TichbOrne =. Lushlnston
and the no less remarkable second trlal o
the claimant and his conviction for per
Jury in 1873. Sir Roger, 1t will be re
membered. left Europe in March, 1915, 10
Yalparliso. Arriving there in the course q
time he travelled across the continent {
Rio de .Janeiro, whence he took passage 10
New York in the month Of April, 1874
That ship. called the Bella, Is believed t
have foundered at sea, the owners and un
derwritcrs having treated her ns lost, but n
tidinss were ever heard as TO the fate oi he
crew except that one coat identified as be
longing to the Bella was met with at sea
with no one on oard. The claimant. j
will be remembered, stated in his aiidavi
that the Bella sprung leak and was abar
doned on the fourth day ont from Rio, an
that himself and eight Of the crew, after b'
ing three days and nights in the boat, weT
picked up by vessel called the Osprey, an
landed at Melbourne in July. lo54