Chapter X: Some Notable Constables

"Once a constable, no more a man."

--ANON.

"Return good for evil" may be a very good maxim to follow, but it was out of the question when a man came into contact with some of the constables who were located in the Settlement in olden days.

One of these, J---- ----, had been a captain in the Native Cavalry in India, and he was a fine horseman. But he was very severe on the men, and if a man did the least thing, swearing anything did not trouble him. He occupied the position of barrack-master till the men were robbed of their rations, and then he got six months in irons. During this six months the men had a chance of paying back old debts, and they treated him like a dog. This was only his deserts, however, for he would lie in ambush with traps set on purpose to catch a man, then get him flogged. One of the men tried to cut his nose off, but only got two years in irons for it, besides 100 lashes, and all the time he was being flogged he was singing out: "What do I see but G-- Almighty looking at me!"

This constable quarrelled with one of the publicans, and brought a stool opposite the hotel, where, on Sundays, he used to sit with some other constables and watch that men got no drink. I and some others arranged to get into the hotel yard, and I came out the front with a bottle of water under my coat. Then, as soon as he saw me, up he got off his stool and gave chase. I went once round the block, and then, coming to a crowd, let him catch up to me. He grabbed the bottle, and found it was only water; then he started to perform. "By G--!" he said, "I'll bring you to court to-morrow, I will, you d----d scoundrel," gasping for breath all the time, after the run I had given him.

Another Sunday a man came out of an hotel, and this constable went up to him and said: "You've been drinking, haven't you?"

"No," he answered.

"Let me smell your breath," he continued.

The constable went to smell his breath, and the man spat in his face, exclaiming, "There, you can smell that, and taste it too!"

He came on a group of cripples once, gambling in the Old Stockade, and proceeded to lock them up. This was a great sight. There were wooden legs, crutches, sticks and fists flying in all directions. At last, however, he got help, and they were taken away and locked up, brought to court the next day and punished for their fun. Some got six months in irons, others received fifty lashes; but little did they care so long as he got knocked about, for everybody disliked him.

As well as being constable, he was bailiff in connection with the Small Debts Court, and if he got a chance, people were put to as much trouble as possible. A woman whom he had treated harshly in this way one day went up and threw a dipper of hot water on him, for which offence she was imprisoned a week, but he did not have the satisfaction of selling any of her furniture, as friends came to the rescue and paid the debt.

At the first general election in 1843, a large cask of ale was deposited on the main street of the Settlement, and anyone who wished could go and have a few drinks. The pilot's crew got on the spree and attacked the cripples, and it took this constable all his time to look after them. Two boys also started to fight, and he proceeded to lock them up, but the crowd took their part and prevented him. Some got fifty lashes, and others twelve months in irons, while three men were fined for not assisting the police. As usual, the crutch and stick were freely used. The pilot afterwards brought his men to court, and some of them got a week in the cells for abuse. Most of the men, however, would rather have had "50" than go to the cells, which were infested with vermin.

This constable once got information that there was a private still some miles up the river from the Settlement, and he lost no time in going to the Police Magistrate for a search warrant. The granting of this warrant, however, was delayed till a message was sent to the owner of the still, who was a great friend of the magistrate, to put him on his guard. And when the constable arrived on the scene, the still was removed, and he could only find warm bricks. The manager of the still met the constable with "Good evening; it has been a warm day."

He said "Good evening," and proceeded to read the warrant; then went and opened the trap-door to look for the still.

"What are you looking for?" asked the manager, "can I do anything for you?"

"Yes; get me some tea, please!" he replied.

"Very good," said the manager, "you had better stop here to-night; you must be tired after such a long ride in the heat. When did you leave the Settlement?"

"Not soon enough to catch you," came the reply.

"Catch me?" asked the manager. "Why, you surprise me. What have I done?"

"You're very green," answered the constable; "but I'll have you yet."

The constable searched all the next day, but found no trace of the still, so the long journey was for nothing. The fact was, this still belonged to the aristocracy, who could do almost as they pleased, but it was nearly a case when the "broad arrow" was put on a vessel in Sydney harbour on her arrival from the Settlement with some casks of grog aboard, and also the time that a great quantity of grog was let loose in Port Macquarie harbour one morning about breakfast-time. This was hushed up somehow, for there was not another word said about it.

After this useless search, the constable offered a reward of £20 to any man who would go and stop for a while at the places where this sly grog was sold, but he couldn't get anybody to go, so he never caught them.

Many a wool-grower lost his sheep through the sly grog-sellers. The liquor was made at ---- ----, by ---- ----, and publicly sold on the New England road, without a license. But as it came from ----, there was no notice taken of it by those whose business it was to remedy such evils.

On a Sunday, about this time, a ship arrived at the Settlement with a number of Government girls on board, who were all as drunk as they could be, and this constable, as usual, was down to see them land. The first thing they did, when landed, was to catch hold of him by the two shoulders and legs, and throw him into the sea. They treated Lankey, the flogger, in a similar manner, and if it had not been for the interference of the onlookers, they would probably have drowned both of them, for they were looked upon as the greatest ruffians of girls that had yet landed in the Settlement. After considerable trouble all were safely landed in the lock-up, and if there was fun on Sunday, there was still more on Monday, when they were brought before the Bench. Here they swore like troopers, and called the magistrates everything they could think of; but this did no good, for they got 12 months more added to their sentence. One of them, when leaving the court, hit a bystander across the mouth with her shoe, and for this she received still another 12 months. Imprisonment, however, only made them worse and shortly afterwards they were sent back to Sydney. The captain of the ship which brought these women was fined £20 for allowing them to have drink, and he also lost his certificate.

This constable had one good point, and it was that he would neither take tip nor drink from anyone, and if he told a man he would have him, that man had to look out or he was run in. Eventually his services as constable were dispensed with, and he afterwards opened an hotel. The case was altered now, for the men on whom he had been so severe used to go and 'stick up' drinks, and never pay for them. Any of the men who could get into his books only grinned at him, and told him to go to a warmer climate when asked for payment. "You cannot put us in the lock-up as you could once, you old brute; it is our turn now. Neither can you stop us and smell our breath, for we have smelt yours," they used to tell him. "Let us have a couple more drinks, and then we will pay you for the whole lot," and so on.

Tom ---- got five gallons of beer out of him, and tendered him a "joey" in payment for it. He found out after Tom had gone, and went after him. Tom only laughed and told him to go up to Mr. So and So, and he would get the cash, but he never got it.

Everybody took a delight in swindling him; they did not forget the times when he dragged them before the court and had them flogged, just to show the P.M. what a strict man he was.

One night he was having a snooze in his easy chair on the verandah of the hotel, when a man who knew him well, from a flogging point of view, got some pepper and put it under his nose, and the noise he made sneezing was nearly as good as a brass band.

At last he became insolvent, and everything he had was sold under the hammer; then he went to Sydney, much to the satisfaction of all. There he would rent a house, and in a short time make a "moonlight flit" and let the landlord in for the rent. This game did not last long, though, for he met one who knew as much as he did, and he put the bailiff in and sold him off.

Constable, No. 2, was a different man to this, for he would take tips and drink with a man, put him in the lock-up, let him out again, and then tell another constable so that he could arrest the same man and get a few shillings. He was a flash, stuck-up fellow, and thought more of himself than anyone else did--but he would drink with all sorts of men, no matter who they were. He was plucky, though, for once when six men took to the bush, he and some armed soldiers went after them. These six men were located in a house, and the constable ran up to the window, pointed a pistol through, and told them to surrender up their firearms and come out one by one, which they did. A soldier shot one of the runaways in the arm, which was a cowardly thing to do when the men had given up their firearms, and had no other means of defence. They were only possessed of a few shillings, which they scattered about the ground. These offenders did little or no harm, and were only a set of cowards after all to let one man take them. This was all the better, however, as if they had stuck out there must have been blood spilt, for this constable declared that if there had been any pluck in them, they could have shot him and the soldiers into the bargain. These men were sent to Sydney a few days after being arrested, and finally to Norfolk Island. One of them got hurt while at Norfolk Island, returned to Port Macquarie, and died.

This was not the only plucky capture that the constable made, for he and another took three armed bushrangers on the road leading to the Manning River. One of these men was from Lake Innes, and was doing a term of 12 months for knocking a man down in company with three others. After getting out of the iron gang he was sent to a road party, from which he took to the bush, and when arrested was sent to Norfolk Island for life.

When this constable went to Sydney with a few prisoners on one occasion, he got into the company of some soldiers and officers, and to them he passed as a captain. They invited him to dine with them in his uniform, but he had no other uniform than the convict dress, and this invitation took the "wind out of his sails." When the officers found out how nicely they had trapped him, they tried to ascertain his whereabouts, but he had returned to Port Macquarie where he posed as what he really was. The officers afterwards found out where he was, and wrote to the Police Magistrate regarding the incident. The P.M. then accosted him, and he said: "I made as much of myself in Sydney as I could, and no one could blame me for it."

Some time afterwards this constable became sick and died, and thus ended his career.