THE TRUE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG of BUSHRANGERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 292, 8 December 1900, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE TRUE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG of BUSHRANGERS.

(By C. H. CHORILEY.)

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE PRISONERS AT GLENROWAN. It was about one o'clock on Sunday afternoon when a telegram Avith the news of Sherritt's murder reached Mr Hare at Benalia. Since the outlaws had broken out once more they needed no longer to tie encouraged by the black trackers' absence, and Mr Hare therefore wired to Captain Standish to send them up immediately by. special train to Beechworth. Mr O'Connor and his men had then retired from their temporary Victorian service and were to leave in a few days for Queensland. A request by wire from Captain Standish to the Queensland Commissioner for permission to send them again on duty was refused, but Mr Ramsay, the Victorian Chief Secretary, intervened, and pointing out the urgency of the case, obtained authority, from the Queensland Government for Mr O'Connor to act Avith the Victorian police. Mr Ramsay therefore wired to Mr Hare that he would send the men up next morning, and MiHare, with pardonable irritation, replied that if they did not start that night they need not come at all. Thereupon matters were expedited a little and a special train, with Mr O'Connor, some lady relatives, his black trackers and several pressmen, was despatched from Melbourne for Benalla. en route for Beechworth, about half an hour after midnight. During the day Mr Hare was kept" more or less in forced idleness, waiting for the trackers and the men. He greatly regretted that poorSherritt, who had been married only six months or more, had fallen a victim to his zeal in assisting the police. There was a certain retributiA*e justice in his suffering vengeance from the men he had betrayed, but to Mr Hare he had always been a faithful and active assistant, and with all his faults he seems to have Avon regard from many people who knew him, Avhlle his wife and his old mother were overwhelmed by grief at his death. Meanwhile Dan Kelly and Joe Byrne, allowing their decoy, Anton Wicks, to slip away to his home, had left Sherritt's hut some time after midnight on Saturday and ridden hard across country to the township of . Glenrowan, distant about forty miles from the scene of the murder. At Glenrowan, which lies on the main Sydney line, nearly midway between Wangaratta to the north and Benalla to the south, Ned Kelly and Steve Hart had alf-ady established themselves in undisputed possession. The township was a small one, consisting of little more than hotels and the schoolhouse, store and blacksmith's shop which compose the nucleus of so many Australian bush hamlets, but near the railway statj-an there were in addition the residences of the stationmaster and one or two other railAvay employees. The methods of the gang were, in the main, of the same character as those pursued at Euroa ajid Jerilclerie; but in this case there was no bank to be robbed, and they suited their conduct to the particular end in view. This was the destruction of the railway line at a point some distance in the Wangaratta side of Glenrowan. where a sharp curve would hide the torn-up rails from the view of the engine-driver of a train coming from Melbourne until the locomotive was upon them. Just there the. line ran up a steep embankment, and an accident would have disastrous consequences, which the Kellys intended to aggravate by pouring in a hot fire upon. the. struggling survivors. It was a-cold-blooded and well-laid scheme, showing in its conception an accurate forecast of the probable movements of the police. The day being Sunday no ordinary- trains would be passing along the line for many hours, and Ned Kelly felt sure that on the news of Sherritt's murder being wired to Melbourne a police special would be immediately sent up He even seems to have calculated on Mr Hare asking for the return of the black trackers, for they were the men on whom he specially Avanted to wreak his vengeance for the hunted life his gang had led so long. Very early on Sunday morning Hart and Kelly called at the house of the Glenrowan stationmaster. for the purpose of getting him or others to tear up the rails. Mr Stannistreet, the stationmaster, professed that he knew nothing of such things; therefore. ' leaving Hart to keep guard over Mr Stannistreet, his family, and other prisoners whom they had collected, Ned Kelly obtained the services of some plate-layers whom he forced to do the work. One of them, a man named Reai'don, begged to be let off the task, but Ned Kelly, saying that he soon expected a train with police and those —-- - blacks, threatened to tickle him up with -a revolver if he did not do it, and do it quickly. Kelly wanted four rails lengths of the line broken, but Reardon assured him that one length was as good as twenty, foi* he had some faint hopethat if only one rail were taken up tne engine might leap it and go safely on. When the line was broken Kelly drove the railway men to join the other prisoners at the railway Station, later on transferring them all to Mrs Jones' hotel, ahis hotel, which stood among trees about two hundred yards from the railway platform, and facing it, was a weatherboard building, with a verandah in front into which opened the bar. .and for the rest consisted of several small rooms with a passage running through from the front to the back. Before the-prisoners arrived it seems that several'of the Kelly sympathisers were in the place, which for some time previously had been with them a populai house of call. During Sunday the prisoners, whose number was added to from time to time until it totalled sixty-two, made themselves as comfortable as they could and many of them spent _merT\ time. No one appears to have noticed at what hour Dan Kelly, and Byrne arrived from Beechworth, and nothing was said of Sherritt's murder, but the four outlaws were in the hotel together througnout the day. Mrs Jones, the proprietress of the establishment, seemed to ratnei relish having such a full house, and was in every way anxious to please Her outlawed visitors. Though it was Sunuay the bar was not kept closed, and a good deal of liquor was consumed, but the outlaws, on the whole, were temperate. Hart in the morning dninlctoo much, but tne effects wore off, and later on in the clay he kept sober, while- when Da.nli.eiiy poured himself out a stiff nobbier ot brandy, someone heard a warning, "Steady, old man!" from -Joe Byrtie. Among the prisoners confined in tne hotel was a Mr Curnow, the local State schoolmaster, who was hailed up by rsed Kelly at eleven o'clock in the morning When taking his wife and family for a drive. He seems to have made a favourable impression on the outlaws who

treated him politely, Dan Kelly going so -ar as to seek him where he was standing in the yard at ahout one o'clock in the day with an invitation to come and dance. Curnow said he was afraid he could not do much without dancing boots and asked Kelly to go with him to his house to get them, suggesting, also, that he should be allowed to leave his family at home. He knew that he would haA*e to pass by the police station, where he hoped the constable, Bracken, might be warned of the Kellys' presence in time to ride away with the news. Ned Kelly was inclined to consent but Dan objected to his leaving the place, so Mr Curnow was obliged to dance in his ordinary boots. He had heard of the Kelly plan of wrecking the police train, and with the object of getting free and possibly averting disaster he worljed hard to further ingratiate himself with the outlaws. Happening to learn that one of his fellow-prisoners had a revolver in his possession, he called Ned Kelty aside and informed him of the fact. Ned Kelly thanked him, and was gulled into the belief that Curnow was devoted to his interests—a belief which was strengthened when at nine o'clock in the evening the outlaws were about to go to the police station to capture Bracken, the constable already referred to. , Curnow had heard Ned Kelly talking of the matter to Mrs Jones, and he suggested that it would be wise to take his (Curnow's) brother-in-law, Dave Mortimer to tho barracks to call Bracken out, since the constable would know his voice and come unsuspectingly Into the outlaw's power. Ned Kelly approA-ed of this idea, and on the strength of the help he had given Curnow asked leave to depart from the hotel and go to his home with his wife and sister, who were then at the house of the stationmasfer, Mr Stannistreet, which had been used as a place of detention for some of the women. Curnow assured Kelly that there was no need to distrust him as he was with the outlaws heart and soul, to which Kelly replied, "Yes, I know that, and I can see it."

The schoolmaster was then alloAved to bring his women-folk to the hotel, -where they waited for some time, wondering whether they would be allowed to go. Ned Kelly and Byrne were discussing matters in a room which they reserved to themselves. Some of the prisoners were gathered round a fire of logs which they had lit in the hotel yard while others were playing cards in the hotel, all seemingly content Avith their position and anxious to amuse themselves as the outlaws had instructed them to do. Towards ten o'clock in the evening Ned Kelly directed Curnow to put his horse into his buggy and drive round to the front of the hotel, telling him to take with him a little boy, the son of the Glenrowan' postmaster, as well as the two ladies. After waiting some time, Curnow was joined by Kelly and Byrne on horseback, wearing overcoats, with bundles strapped in front of them, carrying rifles in their hands and presenting a peculiarly bulky appearance which Curnow was at a loss to account for. They were escorting Dave Mortimer on horseback, and two of the prisoners who resided with the postmaster on foot, all these being intended as hostages or decoys to assist in the capture of Bracken. Knocking and calling failed to bring him out of the barracks, and after searching the place Kelly took Alec. Reynolds, the postmaster's little boy, out of Curnow's buggy, going with him and Mr Reynolds, another of the prisoners, into the postmaster's yard. Outside the yard the Curnows had a long and anxious wait under the eye of Joe Byrne, and it was nearly an hour later when Kelly came out again with Bracken and the others, leading Bracken's horse. Pie ordered the constable to mount and led the horse with a halter remarking that he could not trust Bracken with the bridle, to which Bracken replied that had he not been ill In bed all day Kelly would not have captured him so" easily. Kelly then told Curnow he might drive home, directing him to go to bed, and warning him significantly not to dream too loud. The outlaws and their prisoners rode away to the hotel-, where L dance was in progress and everything appeared to be going merrily. During the dance Bracken, who had observed where the key of the door was placed on the mantelpiece, seized an opporutnlt, when no one was looking of picking it up and slipping it into his hoot. With a view to making his escape. The night had nearly gone when Dan Kelly told the prisoners they might go home, and they were all making lor the door when Mrs Jones interfered saying that before they departed Ned Kelis wished to give them a lecture, lhe prisoners waited respectfully, and Ned, after a word or two of advice and moralising to some of the civilians turned to Bracken and began to address him on the wickedness and laziness ot a constable's life--, object on which he had talked seriously to Mclntyro on the day of the police murders nearly two - years before. • ~ Suddenly a whistle was heard in the distance and expectant horrified silence tell upon the crowd. Ned Kelly broke" off I*l IS discourse. Byrne came In from the hack room, saying, "The train is coming. >,-- Kelly went out to join the others, Bracken seized the opportunity to escape*, locking the door behind him when he -went out, and those left in the hole heard from the back room the rattle ol iron for the Kellys were dressing themselves in the armour made from stolen ploughshares, preparing to do battle with any of the police who might escape from the wreck of the train.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE ASSAULT UPON THE HOTEL.

In getting home after his dismissal by Ned Kelly, Mr Curnow determined to execute a plan he had been nursing in his mind all day to save the train, if only he could gain his liberty in time. If possible he would make a dash for Benalla with his buggy to warn the police before they started and if too late endeavour to signal them upon the line. Mrs Curnow was almost hysterical Avith fear, declaring they Avere watched by the outlaws and that interference with their schemes would mean death to all the household. Her husband persuaded her to accompany him with his sister and the baby to. her mother's house, and, to explain their absence to the outlaws, should his home be searched, he left a note, saying that, they had all gone to Mrs Mortimer's to put his wife who was ill under her mother's care. Scarcely, however, had they reached Mrs Mortimer's house than Mrs Curnow's fears broke out again, and her husband dared not leave her, lest in her distracted state she should rouse suspicion in the outlaws and come to harm, and he therefore took her home again. Still he could not stand idle and see the train go to destruction. His sister, who thought as he did, took Mrs CurnoW to her room, assuring her that her husband was likewise going presently to'bed, and he made all haste to harness up his horse for a race to Benalla. Suddenly he heard the train approaching. It Was at some distance still. Sound travelled far on the clear frosty night, and there was need for desperate haste. Leaving his buggy, Mr Curnow snatched up a candle, a red scarf and matches which he had in readiness, and, rushing- away tc the railway line, ran as fast as he could between the rails in the direction of the approaching train. Early in the day he had noticed his sister

wearing a, red scarf. It had fia.shcd across j Ids mind that, with a light behind It, the scarf might he used as a dajiger signal, ! and now the test of its usefulness had come. Trembling with anxiety lest, the outlaws should shoot him down and frustrate his scheme, or that the engine driver would not heed his faint red light, he lit the candle and held his shawl in front of it. There was a long warning whistle, the engine which was bearing down upon him slowed and came lo a stop a' few yards from where he stood. The danger, to the others at least, was over, and he had the exultation of knowing that his resource and courage had saved the occupants of the special from almost certain death. The train had started that night from Melbourne with Mr O'Connor, his wife and sister (who meant to remain in Beechworth), pressmen and black trackers. Due at Benalla at 12.30, it had been delayed half an hour by smashing through a railway gate and injuring the brakes—a delay which probably was the salvation of its occupants, for half an hour earlier it would have steamed - past Glenrowan unwarned. At Ben-1 alia Mr Hare was in waiting, with a body of constables and horses ready trucked, while another engine was under steam, Mr Hare intending to proceed to Beechworth and await the black trackers j there if tlie Mell-our,-.. .pr-' ~ sloniu im much longer delayed. This engine it was decided to uso as a pilot, and by way of further precaution against surprise Mr Hare proposed to place a man in front of the locomotive, strapped on as a security against falling, with instructions to keep a keen look-out. This plan, however, was abandoned, and with all its occupants in the highest spirits tho train steamed out of Benalla, the pilot engine 150 yards in front carrying one or two of Mr Hare's men armed and watchful. When Mr Curnow's red light brought the pilot to a standstill the warning whistles checked tho train behind, and as soon as it stopped Mr Hare, with his gun in readiness, jumped down from his carriage* and met the guard of the pilot engine approaching- him. The signaller, he told Mr Hare, had gone, and the only news he gave was that the Kellys had pulled UP the line beyond Glenrowan. The guard had said he would go on to Glenrowan station, draw up there, and await the special which was following. Begging him for God's sake not to do so, as he would certainly be shot, Curnow had then hurried away at top speed, saying he must go to his wife. Very much in the dark as to tho Kelly's movements, but believing them to be in the neighbourhood of the torn up rails, Mr Hare put more armed men upon the engines and ordered a slow advance to the station. As the trains drew up to the platform there was no sound anywhere; no one stirriing, and not a sign of life, beyond a light in the window of the stationmaster's house, about a hundred yards distant from the station. With another gentleman, Mr Hare hastened to the house, where they knocked at the window, and it was opened by Mrs Stannistreet, the stationmaster's wife, who was crying, and in great distress. Only a few minutes before, her husband had been taken by the outlaws to the hotel. ■With some others they had kept him confined in his own house all day, so that they might force him, with a revolver at his head, to make any signal which the train might require assuring safety before running express past Glenrowan, but all chance of that happening was over, and he also had been removed to the hotel prison house. Mr Hare, however, could learn nothing from the distracted Mrs Stannistreet but that her husband had been taken away by the Kellys not ten minutes before—as Mr Hare thought into the Warby Ranges. Accordingly, he returned to the station and gave orders to detrain the horses with a view to pursuit. This work was in progress Avhen a man appeared on the platform and besought Mr Hare to go quickly to the hotel. It was Bracken, who had just escaped, and he told of the presence of the outlaws, saying unless they were attacked immediately they would be gone. Mr Hare did not hesitate for a moment. With hasty instructions to let the horses go, calling on his men to follow him, he ran towards the hotel, crossing a fence and ditches on his way. The building was in darkness, the only light coming from the moon which was low behind the house, when suddenly there were flashes of flame from four dimly-seen figures on tho verandah and bullets whistled among the police. All escaped unhit except Mr Hare, who led the party, and who was struck by a bullet in the left Wrist. The police returned the fire. Mr Hare using a gun with his uninjured hand, and as the sound of the first volley died away, a voice from the verandah was hea.d calling, "Fire away, you . You can do us no harm." For a minute or two a sharp fusillade continued, fifty or sixty rifle or revolver shots being fired on either side, when the men on the verandah retreated into 'or around the hotel, and with a lull in the firing the police heard piteous screams of pain and terror issuing from the house. Up to that lime there had been no suspicion that non-combatant men, women and children were behind the walls through which the Martini bullets were crashing, and on the sound of their voices reaching him Mr I-lare gave the order to cease tire. After that, telling his men to surround the house, le retired to the station, faint from his wound which was bleeding profusely, and which the pressmen at the train bound i.U) for him. _jirom.lv dissuaded by ■ tie ladies,' who had pluckily kept their places in the railway carriage, with bullets whistling past them, Mr Hare made an effort to go hack to the scene of action, : but the pain and loss of blood overcame him, and he had to retire once more and remain upon the platform until the train was ready to convey him with the ladies 'nick to Benalla. There, before having his wound dressed, Mr Hare despatched ii number of telegrams, dictating them to the stationmaster, and made arrangements for reinforcements of police being sent forward to Glenrowan. Within the hotel the unfortunate prisoners were in a pitiable state. Had the train been five minutes later they Avould have been spared the horrors of the fight in which they suffered, for, to do the outlaws justice, it does not seem that they counted upon or wished for safety from the presence of non-combat-ants among them. Had they done so they would have been sadly undeceived; but, as a matter of fact, but for Mrs Jones' unfortunate appeal for a lecture from Ned Kelly, all the prisoners would have been free before the attack began. Dan Kelly had just given them permission to depart when Ned began the address for which they Avaited. Then came the sound of the approaching train, and all chance of escape Avas gone, for, with the door locked, the outlaws Avent to don their armour, and, later, the people dared not venture out in the darkness in the face of a. storm of bullets. The police wore excited and little inclined, even were they able, to distinguish friend from foe, as some of the prisoners found to their cost, and indeed the only constable in the force for whom most of them had reason to feel anything but bitterness vyas Constable Bracken, who before he departed gave a warning to lie close upon the floor if firing came. Altogether, Bracken's is the only name in the Victorian police force which derived any added j lustre from the events of the day. He.! seems to havo acted throughout with pluck and judgment, and not long after telling Mr Hare of the Kelly's presence he, galloped away to Wangaratta to bring back further aid. When Mr Hare had left the field the police were under no real command, for while Sub-Inspector O'Connor considered that he held it, most of the men, not recognising a Queensland officer, if they looked to anybody for direction looked to Senior-Constable Kelly, and very much at their own sweet will, throughout the remaining hours.of darkness, they continued energetically to pour lead Into the hotel.

(To be concluded.)