Free press., 1906-11-17

Sir joseph george w ara, n -. M. G''
the newly appointed premier of New
Zealand in succession to the late Premier
Seddon, has had a remarkable career
Although only forty-nine years old,
he has held nearly every important
post under the New Zealand Govern
ment. Starting from clerkship
in the postal service in 1860, he has
held successively the post of Minister OF
Railways, Colonial Secretary, Postmaster
General and Minister of Industries and
Commerce He has also been three times
mayor of Wellington. In 1868 he went
into business as a grain exporter, and
is now head of one of the largest grain
concerns in his country and man OF
wealth.
Aside from his public career. Sir Jo-
seph in his younger days saw good
deal of life in the New Zealand bush,
and in the-cour of an interview during
his recent visit to New York he related
an exciting experience he had when on
one occasion he was caught at night IN
a rainstorm at a wild spot in the bush
known as Funeral Gorge, situated near
the base of the Southern Alps, in South
New Zealand.
'I managed to reach a little cabin,
where an unkempt bushman offered me
a shakedown. There was nothing to do
but to stay, and my new found friend
quickly got ready meal of mutton and
tea.
"As we talked he carefully examined
my clothes, my shoes, the ring on my
fnger--in fact, everything except my
face, which he studiously avoided. His
jaw was heavy and hung at an unpleas-
ant angle, and irregular habits had set
their unmistakable seal upon his brow.
Yet, under the rough veneer which bush
life invariably produces there were traces
of education and refinement. But the
more I looked at him the more certainly
the conviction grew upon me that l had
seen him before, and under discredlt-
able circumstances, though for the life
of me I could not recall the occasion.
"Well, tea was over, and, with the
storm shrielIing furiously outside, we sat
down to entertain each other. First he
invited me to throw for sixpences, but
the dice were so palpably loaded that l
felt the offer to be an insult to my in
telligence. He then proposed euchre, to
which I acceded (for the low points, so
that l could not be too readily robbed)
glancing at the cards to see that the
backs were not too obtrusively marked
and that there were not more than six
aces to the pack. 1 also furtively ex-
amined his coatsleeves for a secret card
box or a holdout. He pressed me to
sit where | should have looking glass
behind me; I declined that, but maneuv-
cred unsuccessfully for some time to get
him to take that particular seat himself,
We had each now asserted ourselves as
keen men of the world who understood
each other.
"'Take your drinkrmate; it'll keep the
cold OUT said my host
"He had seen suspicion in my eyes,
and now I read it plainly in his. l
drank his villainous liquor mechanically
it might have been furniture polish, but
I inclined to charitab1eness and put it
down as only pain-killer.
"We began to play euchre-the ma
tional game of New Zealand, as it might
almost be called He won steadily,
though I could see nothing definitely un-
fair in his play. l noticed, however, he
held the right and the left bowers suspi-
ciously often, and occasionally 'bridged'
the pack when handing it to me to cut.
But my bush life had given me some
experience of sharping, and l took out
the bridge by gently squeezing the pack
between my fingers. This increased his
respect for me immensely.
Handing me the pack the next time
his loose cuff fell back from his wrist;
noticed tattoo mark on his forearm, and
in an instant 1t revealed to me the his
tory of lifetime.
Like a flash | remembered where ]
had last seen hint was in the pris-
oners' dock in Wellington! He was a
professional desperate named Jack
Keen, who had played the title role in
a score of sensational criminal cases in
the New Zealand courts. And there
was in the power of the man who would
think no more of cutting my throat than
of eating his breakfast. His gang had
carried on robbery under arms as an
organized industry for many years.
Their household included forger, two
murderers, an excellent cook badly
wanted for bigamy, and a gentleman,
who, between reprieves and escapes from
jail, had received SO many sentences that
had he served his full time he would
have been one hundred and fifty years
in prison.
My hosts photograph and the ex-
| traordinary tattoo mark had been repro
| duced in all our newspapers. He had
been captured, / remembered, sentenced
and then escaped-with the assistance OF
| that public which is ever ready to sup
ply with food and hiding place the
criminal who has been preying upon il
for years.
81 had now no doubt that my life
might be In serious danger. He had
seen the jeweled ring upon my finger;
and in single glance had sized Up the
excellent hunter had been riding IN