THE VICTORIAN BUSHRANGERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5574, 3 January 1879, Page 3

THE VICTORIAN BUSHRANGERS.

The Melbourne Telegraph of Deo. 1.2 has the following:— Mr Scott, the manager of the Euroa' branch of the National Bank, arrived in town fay train from Euroa yesterday, and was present at a special meeting of the directort of the Bank yesterday afternoon. At'the request of the directors Mr Seott gave a detailed account t of the oireunistanbes connected with the robbery from the Bank on Tuesday.; Afteri sticking up the Faithful: Greek Station, it appears' that the Kelly gang gathered about 22 persqns together to prevent the alarm being sjiread, and after placing one of the gang, a ruffian named Byrne, in charge, withloadedfirearmsin bis possession, the other three men, namely, Edward '<md; Daniel Kelly, and Stephen Hart, startedffor the bank at Euroa witu a hawker’s osrfi and'a spring cart, wliioh the gang had previously! obtained. The hawker's boy was taken with them in His father’s cart, which was driven by Dan Kelly, while the elder Kelly- drove the spring out, accompanied by Hart on horseback. Hart entered Euroa first, and having had his .dinner at the North-Eastern Hotel without, apparently, being known. Ije joined the brothera Kelly 4n the afteriiqjpn, and the three thea went abonae to the bank.; Ned Kelly drove to the front door of the bank, Dan Kelly drove , into/ihe backyard, while Hart rode to the front of- :the pub-lie-house* and fattened Us horse tnere. Mr Seott and' his famite , about to leave the bouse for a short ' time, when Edward Kelly knocked at the front door ;of-tbe Bank ( which adjoins Mr Scott’s M-: vate residence),, and -.tho dqpr was shortly! afterwards ‘ oponed_ by Mr Bradley, the accountant/ Kelly jpresSnted a cheque,' bearing the signature,of I)fr Macaulay,the 1 overseer of the Faithful Creek Station. Mri Bradley t told him that lt wa*' past banking hours (being then past fbur o’clock) and Kelly then asked tp tee Mr Scott. Mr Bradley snowed Kelly into the* office, where Mr Scot,t was engaged writing, and Kelly then announced who be was, ana ordered Mr Scott tp “ hail up" and throw his hands up. The same intimation was given j to Mr Bradley, and the two clbrkzi ,; Kelly Had! Jufe before been joined by Hart, who entered by the, back door, and they both covered Mr Soott and any resistance. Mr Bradloy was also ordered nothing would,be glyen them, altliough they could not, perhaps, bo prevented from taking all they could get houl of. Kelly at onco ; instituted, a search, and »>\oooeded in. getting £3OO ia notes, sold, and silver, after which he iutimated ms intention of Marching* the! rest of .the promises.,, Mr Scott:/threatened, to strike Kofly if he did so,as |t might giye A Ct fright to the ladies, and Mr Bbott jAe . allovrod to go to the ddor of the* room Where the family were, and caution them not to bo alarmed, at tho same time telling them >,who ,tlie rititora wore, Thq,.ladws .took advioo, unc( did- upt hetrey: any "sorious alarm, although: they felt any-, thing but cbiUfbrtabld." Kelly qbd. Hurt, having had ’some ’spirits and water I ,' then separated; Nod Kelly' goiiig into tho private) residence, while Hurt remained guard over; tho prisoners in tho office, while Dan Kelly stood near tho door. Nod Kelly, after being refused any more money, said that ho felt

surelhcre was more' to be gob, and haring obtained the key* of l]io strong room, ho incceedcd Id getting Slok. of gold, besides the following reserve cagh i— £OBO in £lO notes, £31)0 in £5 notes, £4lB in £1 notes, £IOO in mixed notes, £3ll in gold, and £3 8s Cd in sil rer } total, £1343 8s 6d. The numbers of the notes are not known. The hawker’s boy continued running backwards and forwards during the whole of these proceedings, and seemed to take a tolerably octive interest in what was going on. Kelly bundled the whole of the booty into, a sack, but ho did not touch any of the bills or securities that were in the bank. Mr Scott was then called upon to bring out his horse, and harness it to his private buggy, but be declined, and Kelly tala he would do it himself. He did so, and after a short delay a start was made With the clerks, a female servant, and Dan Kelly in the hawker’s cart; Mrs Scott and seven children, and Mr* Scott’s mother, in the buggy; and Mr Scott, Ned Kelly, and a female servant in the spring curt, where the sack of money was, and Hart on horseback in the rear. Before leaving tlw bank, Mr Scott endeavoured to delay the departure by inducing the Kellys to have something to drink, but in this he was only partially successful. Ned Kelly accepted a gloss of whisky, but before drinking it he insisted upon Mr Scott taking some, in order to prevent any attempt at poisoning. The whole party had been cautioned against giving ahy alarm under a threat of being instantly shot down, hut strange enough, although it was only 6 o'clock, this motleylooking party of fifteen persons didnotappear to attract any attention while passing out of the township. This was all the more strange as the bank is only a few yards from the railway station, and is only separated from the other houses in the vicinity by a small vacant allotment. The three bushrangers were armed to the teeth, 4 Kelly having taken the precaution to secure the only two revolvers there were on the premises, besides five boxes of cartridges, containing 125 rounds. The party wore driven straight towards the Faithful Creek station, the only incident on the road being the temporary breakdown of Kelly’s cart, in consequence of the horse falling. Faithful Creek station having been reached the wholo party were placed in the hut along with the other twenty-two persons, thus making 37 persons altogether in the custody of thelmshrangera. Byrne then took Scott’s watch from him, and the preparations for departure having been completed, Ned'Kelly informed the whole party that their movements were closely watched, and that if any of them attempted to leave the ’ hnt within three hours of the departure of the gang, they would bo shot down. It was then half-past 8 o’clock, and Mr Scott endeavoured to get permission to leave at 11, but Kelly insisted that they should olay till half-past 11. Ned Kelly then mounted a fine fresh horse, and took the money with him, and was immediately followed by the other three bushrangers. The party remained in the hut till about 11 o’clock, when Mr Scott and others started for Euroa, which was reached about 12 o’clock, when the matter was reported immediately to the police. Mr Scott is of opinion that the gang were fully prepared to take life if the necessity had arisen, out otherwise they were averse to shedding bloOd. Edward Kelly assured Mr Scott that had he acted upon his threat to strike Kelly, he would have been shot down ot once, and that would probably have led to others being shot. Kelly also asserted that ho had eight men Outside the bank ready to lend assistance if- necessary, but whether this was trne or not Mr Scott, had not an opportunity of knowing. On the road between the bank and the station Mr Scott had a long conversation with Kelly, during which the latter said that he had shot Lorugan, and also displayed a splendid gold watch, which Mr Scott bcueres to be the one taken from Sergeant Kennedy. He said that ha knew all the movements of the troopers, many pf whom he had opportunities of seeing when they little knew it, and that he had no fear of their taking him. Mr Scott describes Ned Kelly as a fine tall man, Of lather prepossessing appearance, with reddish beard and hair; out Dan Kelly he describes as being exactly the reverse, and quite as villainous-looking as he appears to be in his portraits.