MORGAN THE BUSHRANGER

Evening Star, Issue 19637, 17 August 1927, Page 5

MORGAN THE BUSHRANGER

STORY OF HIS DEATH, There are many Australian pioneers, now eighty and ninety years of age, who can unfold wonderful reminiscences of days which Australia will never seo again, of days when deatli was laced i daily in dozens of ways as a. mere part ,of everyday routine. Many of ...ese / reminiscences find their way into j print, and others arc treasured possessions of family circles The ranks of tho old pioneers are being rapidly thinned hy death, and some of these links with the days “ when the world wa.s wide ” are becoming valuable commentaries on the hardships of I seventy and eighty years ago. Ter a Melbourne paper recently, one | of these grand old pioneers, Mrs S'. Marshall, told some of her tales of days gone hy. Particularly interesting was Dor account of a meeting sho and her husband had with r- notorious bushranger named Morgan. Mr and Mrs Marshall were then employed on Pcechelba .Station, near the junction of the Murray and Ovens Rivers, in Northern Victoria. The news had been circulated time Morgan had been seen in the district, and one evening one of tiic part-owners of tho station, a Scot, named 'leiford, was accosted hy the bushranger as he was returning from a distant part of trio station with several station hands. Morgan, producing a revolver, introduced himself to the parly, and commanded them to take him to their house. Tho son of another part-owner of the station, M.'Pherson, opened the door, and to the visitor’s introduction, “My name’s Morgan,” answered coollv: “Oh, walk 'in, .Mr Morgan.” All hands on the station were, commanded to go to M’Pherson’s house, where they remained all night. No one was permitted to go in hod. sat on a table with a revolver in his hand all night, carrying on conversation and permitting only servants to leave tho room to prepare supper. One of the servants escaped and brought tho police, hut they could not attack Morgan because of the danger to his prisoners, When morning came, Morgan said: 1! I am going to cross the Pioneer Range, and 1 want a fresh horse.” M'Phcrson replied; “If yon will come with mo. I will show you whore the horse is.” Covering tho men of the company with his • revolver, Morgan followed them to tho stables, and,’ a? he turned to inspect the horse brought out for him, a waiting constable shot him fatally in the hack. Recalling thw happening, Mrs Marshall said: “It was a cowardly thing to do, hut I suppose it was necessary, for the man was an outlaw who would have fought fiercely if given the opportunity. Poor MTherson was so startled by the shooting that he dropped to die ground and was ill for a long time afterwards They took Morgan’s body to the sheenshed, and covered it with skins. H« had beautiful black curly hair, anc nearly everyone snipped off a lock a; a memento of tho occasion, leaving him quite bald.”

“How far is it to the station, my asked the stjanger. “It’s about twenty minutes’ walk,” replied Hue boy, "if JO* run.”