SECRETS OF TERRIBLE HOLLOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

SECRETS OF TERRIBLE HOLLOW.

"Bandit" Severely Thrashed

REPOSITORY OF GRISLY MEMENTOES,

BUSHRANGERS RESORT TO TORTURE—SETTLER ROASTED AT THE STAKE—VAIN BARBARISM TO EXTORT MONEY—DRAMATIC HOLD-UP AT DEAD MAN'S BEND—A CONSPIRACY WITH AN ANTI-CLIMAX. :

(By E. CRONIX ASD A. KUSSELI*—AII Rights Reserved.)

.Readers of Rolf Boldrewood's alassic of bushranging, " Robbery Under Arms," ;will recall how tlie story revolves about a remarkable valley hidden amid the fustBesses of the hills, which was known as Terrible Hollow. There was only one jaacans of approach to Terrible Hollow, consisting of a track which wound oil' the face of what was practically a precipice, in such a manner as to escape the notice of any except those who were in the (secret of its whereabouts. Here it was that Captain Starlitc and the Marstons, and Warrigal, Starlite's queer aborigine henchman, used to go into hiding when they had carried out one of their bushranging exploits. It was to Terrible Hollow that the wounded aborigine returned, following the tragic death of Starlite and Jim Marston at the hands of the pursuing police party, when Starlite and the Marston brothers were attempting to escape over the Queensland border, with the intention of taking ship to America. Old Dad Marston hc.d remained at the Hollow, and when Warrigal returned the old man accused him of treachery, and the two fought, both being killed in the encounter. Not so long ago, the Australian Press contained reference to Terrible Hollow. It was said, variously, to be here and there. But there is small doubt that its true location is to be found in the beautiful valley of Burragorang, New South Wales. On all sides of this valley are rugged, precipitous slopes, and the valley floor vras in the old days only to be attained by means of a single practicable entrance, ■winding downwards. It is not known how thi3 entrance was first discovered, but it is believed that it was found by a party of bushrangers. They supposed to be attempting to find a way over the Blue Mountains, in order to reach a settlement of whites, rumoured to be in existence somewhere in that region. But the truth of this can never now be known accurately. At any rate, here it was that a bushranger named Will Underwood, "with his men, took shelter when seeking a rest, or •when hard pushed by the police. Underwood's gang consisted of himself, Webber, Warmsley, and Johnny Donolioe. The gang operated on the main roads round about Penrith, Liverpool, Windsor, and Campbelltown. They bailed up people and vehicles, robbed the farmers on Liberty Plains and elsewhere, on their way from Parramatta to Sydney. Their reign of terror extended over two years, when Underwood was shot. This was in 1832. Previously, Johnny Donohoe had been shot by a trooper named Maggleton, near Raby. "Webber was shot a month later, and 'Warmsley was captured. Incidentally, the trial of Warmsley created a sensation, inasmuch as, in return for a promise of reprieve from death, he gave the names ot hitherto highly respected persons as having been implicated in the matter ot receiving stolen property on behalf ot the bushrangers. , ... Not long after Underwoods death, it is paid that another member of the gang turned traitor, and guided a party ot the military into Terrible Hollow. A battle ensued between the bushrangers and the troops, in which a number of the gang were captured and the rest dispersed.

Seme Terrible Tales Were Told

Some terrible tales were told of the men •who made use of Terrible Hollowr. It had other names among the old convicts, such as "The Camp," " The Pound, lhe Shelter," and so, on. When the police finally gained entrance to Terrible Hoi low and searched it, they found evidence that it had been inhabited for many yeais. There were bark huts scattered about, aud cattle and sheep were found to be running ■wild. There were various relics, such as broken handcuffs and shackles, and human skeletons and bones, which suggested that many an evil crime had taken place there. Terrible Hollow is some 54 miles from Sydnev, and has long since been peaceably settled. But it wae a. long time before men could be induced to sett e there, even though the Government built a road into tha vallev. This was owing to the dreadful reputation which Terrible Hollow had gained. There are no authentic records, apparently, as to how the place came by its name originally. But there are of legends about it, and the legend most generally believed in the old days was somewhat to this effect: -Win A bushrangmg gang—probably Will Underwood's gang—came one day to hear that a certain settler was thought to ha\ e in his possession a very large sum cit monev. The- bushrangers determined to rob the settler, and, accordingly, they bailed up his homestead, imprisoned his servants, and ransacked, the place. However they were disappointed. IS o money was to be found. The settler declared that there never had been a large sum mony, but this was disbelieved.. The bushrangers held a consultation to decide what would be their next step Some of them wanted to shoot the pettier ricrht away, and be done it. x>ut a majority, still believing the story about the hoarded money preferred to first n little torture, in the hope ot extracunt the settler's secret. They placed him upon horseback, and carried him off to the hidden valley, where they . camped. Uarrival after questioning him again, but unavailingly, they tied him to a tree and piled bushwood all about him at some little distance away, and set fire to it. The unfortunate man slowly roasted to death. Whatever the truth of tins horrible legend, it is certainly a fact that charred remains of human bones were discovered in Terrible Hollow when the police made their search.

Comedy of Bushranging, It is rather a relief to turn from this tragic atmosphere to one which contains in it a rich clement of humour. Ihis concerns one of the minor characters oi the great bushranging era. who had the picturesque name of Red Bill Silver, and the setting for his activities was that of the Alexander goldfields, towards the end of the roaring forties. One of the mail coaches to Alexander fields in . those dajs was driven by one, Joe Jacobs. Joe was what the bush calls a "character," and one of his pet aversions was actors. So, one day, when a very lordly gentleman in an Astrakhan coat, who had Thespian plastered all over him. mounted the box seat beside him. Joe looked at him veiy hard. , The actor, however, was not to bo deterred by the driver's black looks, and lie persisted in chatting right through the journey, much to Joe's disgust, A skittlealley keeper named Fransen, who was also on the box seat and who knew of Joe's hatred of actors, amused' himself by encouraging the talker. It was some time before the. name of this loquacious gentleman transpired. It proved to be Derwent Allendayne, and the tone of voice in which the actor gave, this information implied that it was quite superfluous, since he was, or ought to be, famous from one end of Australia to the other.

Allendayne, at the moment, remembered that when in Melbourne on the previous clay, a man had been pointed out to him as bein'3 a mail inspector, and it was said that this mail inspector would, in all probability, shortly be a passenger to the Alexander- Goldfields. And he mentioned this to the driver in a further effort to impress liin}, claiming the mail inspector as a persona] friend. Joe Jacobs took no notice for a little while. Then, suddenly, to the great surprise of Skittlealley Fransen, he adopted a most cordial

lone towards the actor. And this was more remarkable in that the driver had always aired his couteinpt of mail inspectors in general.

In the course of the conversation which followed, the actor stated that he was | visiting the diggings in the hope of adventure, and in order to recuperate himself following his amazingly successful appearance in Sydney. He mentioned, in passing, that the loan of a few shillings from Joe Jacobs would not be amiss. To the astonishment of Mr. l'ransen, who by this time thought he was dreaming, the driver handed over the money. By the time the goldfields were reached Joe and the actor were apparently bosom friends. Plotting Complicated Scheme. Joe Jacobs was not without purpose. He was plotting a complicated scheme, in which the actor would be thoroughly discredited, while he, himself, would win tremendous credit in the eyes of the mail inspector.. And before lie left on the return trip to Melbourne he had various ! low-toned confidences with Derwent ! Allendayne, over their glasses ox beer! at Flash Jack's shanty. No one could ; make out what the conversation was i about, but one man, with sharper ears | than the rest, claimed that he overheard ' three words: "Dead Man's Bend." Dead ! Man's Bend was some three miles out alo'i" the road, and from all accounts it \ had been named thus in cheerful remem- j brance of a skeleton which had been dis- ' covered there manv years before in circumstances suggesting tragedy. On the next day the coach, as usual, j returned to Melbourne; and on the day following left Melbourne again for Alex- | ander. The actor's information was 1 correct, for the mail inspector was among

the passengers. He sat next to Joe on the box, and Joe turned the conversation upon Red Bill Silver, who was then rather much in the public eye. "A real bad-'un, he is!" exclaimed Joe, "The way he treats some of them poor devils makes your blood freeze. He's never bailed me up, though. He won't, if he's wise. He'll find nie a tougher customer than he reckons." The mail inspector had his doubts about Joe's bravery, but he tactfully held his tongue. He prayed inwardly that 110 action would arise to test the driver's courage; this was a reasonable position in view of the exaggerated reputation for wickedness which Joe had bestowed upon Red Bill Silver. The inspector's prayer was answered. At any rate the coach reached the goldfields without interference. Once his horses had iieen seen to and his mail delivered, Joe Jacobs found his pal, Derwent Allendayne, the actor, and once more over drinks they plotted their dark happenings.

Hold-up Rumour Causes Fear. When next day the coach left for return to Melbourne at two in the afternoon, the only passenger aboard was the mail inspector. During the day a rumour got about that Red Bill Silver intended to bail up the coach, and the inspector would have postponed his trip, but urgent business would not permit him to do this. The other intending passengers had postponed their trips, and so Joe. the driver, and the mail inspector, set out alone upon the journey. It was observed prior to the coach's departure that Joe and the actor had taken a most affectionate farewell, in the course of which a pound note had been seen to pass from Joe's hand into that of the actor. The actor was, even in this short time, so well known as a fraud that Flash Jaclr, the shanty-keeper, was constrained to remaj'k: "Now, I j wonder what hold that actor bloke has on old Joe. It beats me."

Joe was not very heartening company for the mail inspector. He seemed to be able to talk of nothing- but what a terrible fellow Red Bill Silver was, and the rumour that the coach was that day to be bailed up. When they reached the outskirts of the township, he even pulled up beside a big tree and pointed to the notice announcing £100 reward for the capture of this scoundrel. "A thoroughly bad one." he said, shaking his head lugubriously. "He's a real terror for tying blokes to trees and leaving them alone. One froze to death last winter, and a couple of others, when they were found, were raving mad. If you or mo was to be tied up in this hot weather, what with the flies and ants and the heat, we'd be a corpse inside a week. Why,! only last week some diggers coming alongthis track heard a bloke screaming in the bush. By the time they got to him the ants had eaten most of him except his voice. A terrible death! But about the worst thing Red Bill ever done was to nail a woman to a tree and leave her there."

Very little of what Joe told the mail inspector bore any relation to truth. Joe had not the least apprehension of meeting Red Bill Silver, who was indeed nothing out of the ordinary, as bushrangers go. The inspector, however, did not know this, and he began to wish that Joe would talk of something more cheerful. And so. in due course, the coach climbed up the rise to Dead Man's Bend. "It was just here," Joe said in a sepulchral voice, "that Red Bill stuck up the coach a while back. I never liked going round here. You have to walk the horses, and somehow the name of the place makes you creepy. They say it was just here that Red Bill Silver. . . ."

At this precise moment, from behind a tree, stepped a red-bearded ferociouslooking man, with, a revolver in his hand, in curt tones he ordered the driver to throw up his hands. This Joe did, though inwardly at ease, and very much -in admiration of the remarkable make-up as a bushranger of his fellow conspirator— Derwent Allendayne, the out-of-work actor. The inspector also threw his hands into the air. As he did so the driver, according to arrangement, dropped his hands, an*], seizing the whip, struck the bushranger smartly on the wrist holding the revolver. The weapon fell to the ground. Joe immediately leaped from his seat and sprang at the bogus Red Bill, in a way that left no doubt as to ins valour. His arrangement with the actor was that he should be allowed to escape into the bush unarmed. But now Joe's animus against all actors came into play, and instead of allowing the actor to run comfortably to cover, Joe pursued him, lashiug him right and left, so that the husky outlaw of the ranges bellowed miserably as he vanished into the cover of the undergrowth. Joe returned panting to the coach, and climbed nonchalantly back to his seat, as though the incident was of almost hourly occurrence. The inspector sat, pale and petrified, but as the coach moved forward again he found his tongue and was full of admiration of Joe's valour. "I'll see that you are rewarded well for this Jacobs. You're a brave man, and your devotion to duty shall not go unrecognised." So far the story is in substance actually a true one. It is just such a story, with just such an ending as we should expect from a conspiracy of the kind. But there now comes one of those anti-climaxes which are so dear to the heart of O. Henry. When Joe returned to the goldfielde on the following day, the first person he met was the actor, Denveßt Allendayne. This gentleman bore no marks whatever or any encounter; but he did seem very dejected and sheepish. Drawing the driver upon one side he began to mumble his apologies. "I'm very sorry, Joe, old friend. But the truth is that the pound you gave me and the hot weather proved too much for me. I spent it at Flash Jack's, and became, I must confess, exceedingly drunk. So drunk indeed that I forgot all about my arrangement with you, and went to sleep in the parlour." Thereupon it burst on Joe Jacobs that the man he had so valiantly put to rout had actually been the genuine Red Bill Silver,

the man for whose capture—which would have been perfectly simple—he would have received a reward of £100. Thus do the Fates mock! To add insult to injury, a few days later Joe received a reward from the Government for his bravery, following the eulogistic report of the mail inspector. It amounted to £2 10/—awarded to Mr. Joseph Jacobs for services rendered.

When Detective-Sergeant Rawlins, of Gemini's Cross, Bucks, was called to an accident outside the police station, he found that his only child. Jean Edna Mary, aged five, was the victim. Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner expressed sympathy with Mr. and Mrs. Rawlins, who, he said, had had very bad luck throughout their married life.