DREADFUL MURDERS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 23, 28 January 1867, Page 2

DREADFUL MURDERS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

The Sydney Morning Herald of January 15 informs us of a wholesale slaughter of constables at Jinden, that reminds one of the Maungatapu tragedy. The victims of this cold-blooded assassination are four men lately sent by Government as detectives to try and arrest and also put down the extended bushranging operations of Clarke, his brother, and their gang. Their names were John Carroll, the officer in charge, Patrick Kennagh, E. S. M'Donald, and John Phegan. They started as a surveying party, always keeping their horses saddled and revolvers ready for use. They were provided with Tranter's revolvers. It appears that their disguise was seen through, for one night their tent was attacked and riddled by balls. They rushed out, put out the camp fires, took up a position behind trees, and fired away in the dark at the cowardly party who attacked them, for about two hours, without effect. The bushrangers then ran away. Finding they were suspected, the constables made rapid journeys from place to place, always dodging the bushrangers, and making preparations to seize them if possible. But the whole country was a den of thieves, and the movements of the party were constantly reported. Carroll caused several arrests to be made, and one supposed accomplice was committed for trial at Braidwood. On the night of the sth instant, Carroll and party started on their last expedition. On the 10th the bodies of the party were found dead a short distance from each other. In a scrubby country, half a mile from Smith's place, the first two bodies were found. On each side of the road were two large trees, behind which the murderers took aim. Two other bodies were found a little further on. M'Donald had been wounded in the thigh, and when his body was found, his leg was actually twisted round his body. He had several shots through his body. Phegan seemed as if he had had a struggle with his assassins before death put a stop to his suffering ; he had also several shots through his body. The other two unfortunate men seem to have had quicker deaths. Carroll was shot through his temple, and Kennagh through the throat. Carroll was found lying on his back ; and the murderous villains had, before leaving him, pinned a £l-note across his chest, after having rifled his pockets. They carried with them, when leaving Braidwood, five of Tranter's best revolvers, two five-barrel revolving rifles, and a large quantity of ammunition, three of which have been found. Carroll had also a large sum of money in notes, as he had to pay very high for his information. It is surmised that when in ambush at Smith's,

Volunteers were informed by a spy of the bushrangers that Clarke's party was then at Guinness's, and when on their road thither they were murderously attacked and dropped, one by one, without having a chance of returning fire. Although the firing was heard;, nobody went to see what was the matter, nor even where they were expected that night. Mr. Carroll was about thirty-eight years old, and leaves a wife and five children. Mr. Kennagh was about twenty-six years old, has been five years warder, at Darlinghurst, and leaves a wife, with two children. Mr. Phegan was about thirty years of age, a widower, and leaves a little girl, aged ten years, behind him. Mr. M'Donald was a bachelor, about fifty, and leaves behind him a rather large sum of money deposited in a bank, the receipt of which was found on his body. The men acted with bravery, and what further proves their courage and their resolution is that they stuck to their task after they had thus found that they were marked men, and were liable to be shot down at any moment without warning. On the face of the account suspicion arises that the party had been betrayed, and information — which it would be premature at present to publish — has been conveyed to Government, tending to confirm this suspicion. It is. almost clear that Carroll's party was drawn into ambush, and taken at a disadvantage. The ostentatious neglect of the money shows that revenge and not plunder was the object of the murderers. So far as is known, no human eyes but those of the guilty men looked down upon the bloody scene, and except from their confessions the true facts may be never known. A special force, composed of picked men, and under the command of a select officer, is to be despatched without delay to scour the district, and in co-ope-ration with the regular police of the district and with the residents roused to special activity, it is to be hoped that the career of this lawless gang may be brought to a speedy end. A Gazette Extraordinary, offers a reward of £5,000 for the capture of the murderers of Carroll and his party near Jingera, and calls upon persons resident in the district to render all the assistance in their power towards the restoration of the authority of the law. £1,000 reward is also offered for the capture of any one of the murderers. So deliberate a murder, and such a wholesale slaughter of constables, has not occurred for a long time, if ever, in the history of the colony. It is impossible for the Government or the community to be content with the ordinary procedure. In the presence of a crime revealing such deliberate and deadly hostility to law, and disregard of human life, special means are justified and demanded. After the night attack on the party in the tent, disguise, of course, was at an end. Carroll then set himself to work to root out the harbourers. Some of Clarke's acquaintances, including two of his sisters, were brought up before the magistrates, and committed for trial. When in Court in connexion with these trials, Carroll complained that the police rather hindered him than helped him. In a report to the Government he repeats this charge, and even implicates some Magistrates in winking at the condnct of the bushrangers from a regard for their own property. Accusations of this sort must, of course, be specific before the Government can act upon them ; and it is possible that Carroll, baffled in his first attempt, may have laid more blame on others than they deserved. At any rate, we must hold the charge in suspense till we get something that can be called evidence. So far as the police are concerned, it is clear that Carroll operated among the harbourers to an extent that had not been previously practised. Yet we are bound to confess that hitherto all the special expeditions sent out against the bushrangers have failed, and that whatever may have been the shortcomings of the police in capturing bushrangers, no other set of men have done what they have left undone. The special force has yet to be organised that will do more than the regular force has done. Whether it is not possible to devise such a force is a question well worthy of study.