338
(24)
"Mr Caldwell has sold this house," without mentioning to whom. The man looked at me and walked away, without making any answer, and then we also walked away. There are two houses to the westward of this; and there are several others to the eastward. I do not know whether the house above alluded to was a brothel, but it had a ticket with large black figures 48 on a white ground. I spoke to no other person in that street. The last witness is not the man with whom I had this conversation.
Cross-examined, Mr May did not tell me the object of his visit to Taipingshan, nor why he asked the question.
Re-examined, The man with whom we spoke at brothel 48, was inside when we went, and came out to us when we called. I did not see him until I called out "to whom does this house belong," he then came out and stood at the door. Nothing was said about a range of houses with a brick front, and nothing about the fire. Two days ago Mr May told me to try and find the man I had spoken to. On the first occasion that I went for him, an old woman told me that he had come up to the Government Offices, and on the second occasion a girl told me that he had gone to Canton.
WONG ASHUN,-Called and examined.
I am Shroff and Assistant Collector of Police and Lighting Rates. I know Mrs Caldwell, and have known her since she resided in the Central Police Station, four or five years ago. I do not know her surname. I do not know if Mrs Caldwell has any Chinese sisters by adoption. [Some Chinese characters were shown to witness,]-This is the name Shaplok. I have known her about ten years. She has been married ever since I knew her. Her husband keeps an opium and cheroot's shop. I do not know if Shaplok ever kept a brothel. I do not know whether she is sworn-sister, god-sister, or sister-in-law, by blood or usage to Mrs Caldwell. I do not know whether she is any relation, or connected in any way with Mrs Caldwell.
CHARLES MAY,-Recalled,
I have more evidence to give the Commission in this particular branch of the inquiry, but decline to do so. I consider that the Commission have asked questions of witnesses touching my private reputation, in no way pertinent to the inquiry, and not likely to tend to the slightest public good. I consider, further, that as the Commission has withheld witnesses from stating subjects as matters of repute, much which might have been elicited cannot by any possibility come otherwise before them. I will cite for instance the last witness Wong Ashun, who, when asked a question touching Shaplok and her relationship with Mrs Caldwell, said, "I do not know; some people say so."
DANIEL RICHARD CALDWELL,--Called and examined.
With reference to charge 2 that I have a scandalous connection with brothel 48, I deny it altogether; it is an unfounded charge. Brothel 48 stands on lot 241 B, one of the lots sold by Siemssen & Co. through me to Lum Ateen, in June, 1857. I sold 8 lots to Lum Ateen; they had been previously valued [put in valuation 0,] by Mr Lapraik at $2,480. Lum Ateen gave $2,500. My instructions to Mr Stace as to the amount of purchase-money being $2,150 for the five lots, was a simple error of mine in making the calculations, when giving him the instructions; it should have been $2,050. At the time I sold the lots by private contract to Lum Ateen, and by auction to Mr Woods, there were no brothels in either of the houses on those lots; there had been before but not at the time I purchased them in 1854. Lum Ateen at the time he purchased the ten houses from me for the $2,200, wished to set off that amount against his claim on my estate---which was refused. At that time the leases of all those lots were in the hands of Chinese creditors, who had mortgages on them. I explained to Lum Ateen that until the dividends on my estate were paid, I could not give him up the leases. An arrangement was therefore made between us, that the completion of the transfer should be delayed for six months, the rent to be received by me in the meantime, and that I should pay him in lieu thereof $50 a-month, which arrangement was carried out and the bill of sale signed by me and delivered to him, on the expiration of the six months—the 15th December, 1857. I gave them into his hands on that day. A day or two afterwards I went to Mr Stace, and gave him instructions regarding the transfer, and gave him all the leases I had. There was no lease for lot 240; it was sold by the bailiff of the Supreme Court. From this time it never entered my head to speak to Mr Stace on the subject. He told me on two occasions it would be necessary to get the bills of sale. The first time I forgot it, and did nothing. The second time I wrote to Lum Ateen at Macao before I heard of these charges, and told him to come over with them, so that the transfer might be completed. There was no private arrangement of any kind between Lum Ateen and myself, that I should retain any direct or indirect interest in this property. I gave up the whole of my property for the benefit of my creditors. The dividend was 471/2 per cent, and I submit that it is not probable that had I retained any part of my estate, my Chinese creditors to whom I owed $12,000, or even Europeans, would voluntarily have accepted so small a dividend.
Adjourned till to-morrow,
NINTH DAY,
Saturday, 12th June, 1858, at 12 o'clock Noon.
Present,-All the Members.
'NG MUN SOW,-Called and examined.
I am Interpreter at the Police Court. I have known a female in this colony called Shaplok, about three or four years. She has no other name to my knowledge. I do not think she is married- she now lives in Queen's Road West. I last saw her about two months ago. She was about two years ago a keeper of a brothel in Hillier Street.
(25)
I cannot tell when she ceased keeping a brothel, nor do I know whether she keeps one now. I have known Mrs Caldwell since about five or six years ago. I know that Shaplok is an adopted sister of Mrs Caldwell, and the following are my reasons for knowing. Before Mrs Caldwell's conversion she frequently came to my house to visit my wife. Shaplok also had a son who had been a pupil of Legge's mission house. I have never been told by Mrs Caldwell that she was the adopted daughter of Shaplok's mother. Mangtai told me so. Caldwell only told me that Shaplok was her sister. The term used by her for sister might mean a sister by blood or by usage. Mangtai is a brother of Shaplok; according to his own explanation he is an adopted son of Shaplok's mother. There is a custom amongst Chinese girls whereby they become sworn sisters of each other. There are sworn brothers also. The general object is to bind themselves together for mutual support and assistance. The children of sworn sisters have no relationship amongst each other. I was present at the Central Station about ten days ago when Aping the silversmith was brought in to Mr May's private room by Lyons. Mr May asked him what he had got to say; Aping asked me "What for." I then directed his attention to Mr May. Lyons said to him, "did you not tell me that you knew something about Mr Caldwell?" -he said that he did not know anything except from hearsay; he did not say what he had heard. I was once charged with perjury about a month or two before I joined the Chief Magistrate's Office five years ago, before Mr Mitchell the Assistant Magistrate. The Magistrate did not, to the best of my belief, say that he had no doubt of my guilt, but that from the conflicting evidence he was compelled to discharge me. I will not say so positively.
I do not believe he said that if ever I came to give evidence before him he would not believe a word I said; what I understood him to say was that he would never allow me to interpret for him.
ALEXANDRE GRAND-PRE-Recalled.
On having my attention drawn to the letter of 24 December last from the Acting Colonial Secretary to the Superintendent of Police, I perceive that I am attached to the Registrar General's department second in rank and subordinate to the Registrar General, and that I and my staff are expected to co-operate generally in the service of the department, when not employed in the discharge of our peculiar duties; but I desire to explain to the Commission, that I have never been upon any occasion called upon by the Registrar General to assist or take part in the peculiar duties of his Office, nor have I ever done so. My time has been fully occupied in the discharge of my own duties.
D. R. CALDWELL,-Called and examined as to charges 2, 5, 14, 15, 16 and 17.
I had not then, and I have not now, any direct or indirect interest in lots 206, 263, 264, or the lot in the Western Market purchased by Lum Ateen through me from Mr Woods. It was a bona fide sale and purchase between Mr Woods and Lum Ateen. I remember having a conversation with Lyons, as to the party-walls on lot 206, when I told him that the man to whom they belonged had requested me to speak to the Surveyor General, and that he wished to pull down the corner wall and rebuilt it. I never told him, nor was there anything in my manner which could have led him to suppose that I was the owner of, or in any way interested in, the house. I spoke to the Surveyor General,
About the latter end of February last, my old Comprador Sze-kai came to me, and said that he wanted to pay the ground rent for Lum Ateen's lots, as he had requested him to do so. He asked how much it was, and requested me to give him a note, so that he might take the money up to the Treasury. This reminded me that I had not paid the ground rent for Chun Atsoo's lots. I said, "the ground rent is about $50, and as I shall go up to-day to pay the