Grisly Incident of the Early Days

THESE old photographs—kindly loaned us by the New Britain Historical Society—depict a rather horrible incident of “the German time” in New Guinea, which ended in 1914. . . , , It is believed that the native seen blindfolded and chained to a post in the upper picture had committed a murder- very common in those days—and had been caught by the police. The officer, and the native police, are looking on while preparations are made for the execution.

In the lower picture, the slow moving camera of those days has caught the scene at the moment the execution squad hired, and the wretched prisoner col lapsed.

From 187 5, when Euro peans first settled in, until about 1900, this (the eastern) end of New Britain was the most danger ous in the Pacific Islands, and there were many in cidents such as this before the primitive natives learned that murder was not permitted by the whites.