CAPTAIN MOONLIGHTS GANG.

New Zealand Herald, Issue XVI, 3 December 1879, Page 6

CAPTAIN MOONLIGHTS GANG.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

At the preliminary trial at the Police Court, Gundagai, Moonlight inule the following speech in defence of himself and mates: — "This is a ciso of importance to me, but much more tj the prisoners that are with me. 1 do not stand here to defend these prisoners, I only wish to speak the truth. I am aware lh»t vague, uuceitain, and false rumours are afloat, aud it is a matter of great importaucc to me that the public furore should not be directed toward me or towards the prisoners in tho dock with me. The way to prevent that feeling from arising aDd from iufluenc'u.; our fate is to allow the public to know Ihe truth, as the public mind will be influenced, and as the influence brought to bear on the public mind must, to a certain <xtent, affect iny fate, I stand before you here to have it known what the truth of this matter is. Years ago I was convicted of a charge of highway jobbery, and paid the penalty of that within the walls of Peotridge ; and then I became again a free man. I tried afterwards to earn an honest livelihood, and gave leoturis on the penal system, but drew upon myself tho persecution of that system ind of the police. I was charged with bicaking into a fortification defended by armed men for the purpose of releasing prisoners, but that charge was proved to bo false ; and myself and my fiiend, who now lies in your cemetery here, were discharged. Afterwards, when the Liucelield ttank was robbed, it was said that we were the .obbers, .-.lthough not an iota of evidence was against us ; and even after the robbers were discovered, we had to clear ourse-lves. I attempted then to find work, aud c.uild not tiud ic ; theu I tried to leave the colonies but could not, and was persecuted with the surveillance of the police. The bread l.eiug taken from my mouth, aud every prospect of honest livelihood gone, I came up the country, and tried again to seek for work. As long as our money lasted we bought bread, and when our money was gone we sold our clothes and bought bread with what we obtained for them. We tried to get work but could not, and we fasted day after day. We have been without food for 4S hours. Wo went to Wantabadgtry aud walked up to tho station. We were told tho overseers and owners were out, but a servant came and said that if we came in the morning wo could ses about work. Tho night was dark, and rain was commencing, and we were told wo c:Hlld not see the superintendent then, but he afterward< came out and told us to go about our business, and we were insulted. We were refus=d admittance into a hut, and that night we slept on the hills, with nothing to eat and nothing to drink but the water that was falling around us. All our clothes were wet, aud we hungry. Next day there was uo work to be had, and we had nothing to do. Afterwards—and I admit it was foolish —we went aud stuck up Wautabadgery. The police came down, and they fired on us and we fired on them. I will not say who fired first, but during the lime I saw that the act th»t had been done would produce bloodshed, and I courted death, hoping that a Btray shut might end my life, and that the prisoners, my friend*, might give themselves up to the Crowo. After the fight we left Wautabadgery station, aud took tho police horses with us. Some of the police of this colony have behaved as bravo ineu, but one or two have not. At Wantabadgtry they had to ruu to a certain extent, but I blame the man who first ran, and I could and will afterward point out those who deserve credit, and those who deserve everlasting disgrace. The man who deserves to be handed down to infamy, who is a coward in the fieid aud a hero iu the witness-box ; who cannot use his carbine, aud who swears a lie with his hand on the Book." At this stage the magistrate interfered, saying he would not allow the prisoner to talk of any witue-s iu this manner. Moonlight continued, said : " I am only saying that a man under such circumstances deserves disgrace, anil the works ol Paley and Butler would not say it in calmer language that those who bear false witness against their neighbour shall be handed down to infamy at the fight at Wantabadgery. I courted death. 1 was not so important as my friends were—on-3 as good a frieud as ever lived, with as soft a heart and as kind a man. He prevented bloodshed by taking that duck-shot gun from me when I could have fired from it. If a victim has to suffer I should like to do so aud hold these lads in.aocent. I alone commanded, and these boys did as I bid them. But though not guilty of the blood of anybody I am ready to suffer for their sake, aud anewer for breaking the laws of the country. I wish tho country to know this, and when I fill a dishonoured grave with my friends who sleep in your cemetery, I wish that their names shall not be handed down with ignominy. No fate will draw a tear from my eye, for 1 fear no fate. I had kiud friends and they are gone, and I wish to follow them ; but before t go let those who stand before me go out free. Send me to those who have suffered, but give me justice. Let the public know the cause of what has been done, and then you can consign mi to any fate, for there is no fate I fear to meet, and you can send me to the grave, where I wish to be. If, your Worship, 1 have said anything to you that is insulting, 1 beg your pardon. You have to act legally, but I expect all legal rights, and have as much claim to them as any citizen in the land. I thank all for the courtesy that has been shown me, and I ask that the Press may stand forth and state the truth, that we had been driven to despair. The poor men of this colony are going about seeking for work, and cannot get it. In the ease of the Chinaman who was robbed, I took that watch because the Chinamen have come into this colony and taken the bread from the mouths of poor men who want work. This is all I have to say, and I thank your Worships for hearing it. What I have said I will make known. The facts of this case shall appear from north to south; from Tasmania to .New Guinea the truth will rirqg. I will speak the truth faithfully; and I now tell you, as a man who has not long to live, that the responsibEity of this should rest on me, and that these men are guiltless. I have said, all, your Worship." Moonlight then sat down, having spoken with fluency and force, and exhibited signs of considerable emotion when referring to the dead bushranger. The following particulars are given respecting the late Constable Bowen, who met his death at the hands of the gang : —

"It was not the first time by several that Constable Bowen had been under fire. When stationed at Bendemere, a small township in the Kew England district, between Tamworth and Armidale, he had an eccounter with a bushranger, and shot him. The affajr took place on the 14th July, 1877, and may be briefly related. A man namod Crawley, well armed, called at Avery's hotel, and demanded something to eat and drink, and money. He went into Mr*. Avery's bedroom, rifled her chest o£ drawers, and commenced firing off his revolver, and terrifying everyone in the hotel. Mrs. Avery sent for Constable Bowen, the only policemen in the township to arrest the ruffian. . As Bowen approached the hotel door Crawley presented his revolver, when he was called upon to surrender. For reply he fired, but the ball missed the constable. Bowen returned the shot, and also i misled. Crawley then fired a second time '

with the same result, when Bowen again missed. As Crawley was aiming for the third time, Bowen pulled his trigger, and the bushranger dropped dcid with a ball in she chest. An inquest was held, when the jury returned a vtrdict of justifiable homicide, and constable Bowen was recommended for promotion. For some reason best known to Chief Commissioner Fosberry the suggestion of the jury was not given effect to, and Bowen still remained a constable. At Tenterfield he also distinguished himself in capturing a runaway prisoner, so that he was in every sense of the word a man who had pluckily, faithfully, and unflinchingly performed his duty. "The wife of the deceased man waited upon Scott to express her forgivenes-", in the hope that he might die easier when he was hanged. Scott, however, do:s not seem to have appreciated this act of generosity, for he went on arranging for his defence in a manner that showed be had no intention of expiating his crime if ho couid avoid it. He a'iked for copies of the depositions, and stated that he would conduct his owu case n-hen put upon his trial. "The bodies of the dead bushrangers were photographed. There seems to be no doubt that the gang were on their way to Gundagai, with the object, as Moonlight said, of sticking-up the bank, and had they reached Eurongetry or Clarendon, soma four miles from McGlede'B, it is believed they would have been able to defy almost any number of police sent against them, for there is a brick hotel there which would have affirded every facility for boating off a party attempting to apprehend a gang of determined men. A very singular incident is nirrated in conuectiou with the affair at Mr. Gledo's. A Mr. Garde, agent for the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, was with Dr. McKillop in the vicinity when the affray took place, and afterwards the doctor attended to the wounded. Su! sequently, Trooper O'Leary, of Yass, wished to effect a policy on his life, and in one of the rooms of the house the necessary medical examination was made and tho proposal accepted. It trauspired afterwards that while this was being done the bushranger Rogau was concealed beneath tho bed in the room with two loaded rifles aud a revolver.