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twenty head impounded, seven of which belonged to the Clune
family, who would not pay Common fees. I
(Sturt Recorder, January 29, 1897:2).
On March 27, 1895 the Milparinka Progress Committee met at the Royal
Standard Hotel, with Mr. William Baker in the chair, Thomas Chambers as
Honorary Secretary, and Messrs Kelly, Clune, Pool, and Ernest Chambers
in attendance (Sturt Recorder, April 5, 1895:2). These were the licensees
of three hotels, two storekeepers, and the newspaper proprietor. At the
time the Royal Standard Hotel was the accepted location for meetings of
various committees.
Nine months after the March 1895 Progress Committee meeting the Sturt
Recorder reported a "Daring Burglary in Milparinka" involving the theft of a
safe containing 'seven hundred pounds worth of property' from Cornelius
Clune's room in the Royal Standard Hotel. Mr. Clune had elected to sleep
in the open on the night in question. The report continued:
No-one in the house was disturbed by any unusual noise...and the loss of
the safe was not discovered until about seven-thirty on Saturday morning...
A search was at once made and it was found that the safe had been
removed through the window, and placed on a barrow taken from a near
neighbour and wheeled away on the west side of the town until the party
reached a point near the Royal Hotel, where a halt was made and tools
were taken from the rear of the hotel wherewith to break open the safe.
The booty was then taken further away near the bank of the creek on the
Tibooburra Road. The safe was there opened... For the present the whole
affair is enveloped in mystery. Mr. Clune has offered a reward of fifty
pounds for the recovery of the documents which are of no value to
anybody but himself... (Sturt Recorder, January 3, 1896:2)
At the site where the safe was opened 'about five ounces of gold and two
sovereigns were found on the ground' and a month later '...AII valuable
papers such as deeds, Mr. Clune's will, and the Bank deposit slip receipts,
were discovered in an outhouse at the rear of the (Royal Standard Hotel)
premises, and placed in the hands of the police...The most curious feature
of the matter is that there were thirteen sovereigns found with the papers.'
(Sturt Recorder, February 7, 1896:2)
. ""
Erskine Graham Knight and Sylvester O'Connor were subsequently
charged with stealing the safe (Sturt Recorder, March 6, 1896:2), but after
six of the witnesses had been examined,
'His Honour stopped the Court and asked the jury to return a verdict of not
guilty as there was no evidence against the prisoners...His Honour said the
house where the gold was found was an isolated one built on blocks high
off the ground and anyone could chuck the tin of gold there. And two