AN AUSTRALIAN PIONEER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3830, 9 August 1927, Page 63

AN AUSTRALIAN PIONEER.

REMINISCENCE OF BUSHRANGER

('j'bom Oup. Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, July

There are many Australian pioneers, now 80 and 90 years of age, who can unfold wonderful reminiscences of days which Australia will never see again, of days when death was faced daily in dozens of” ways as a mere part of everyday routine. Many of these reminiscences find their way into print, and others are treasured possessions of family circles. The ranks of the old pioneers are being rapidly thinned by death, and some of these links with the days “when the world was wide” are becoming valuable commentaries on the hardships of 70 and 80 years ago. To a Melbourne newspaper recently, one of these grand old pioneers, Mrs S. Marshall, told some of her tales of days gone by. Particularly interesting was her account of a meeting which she and her husband had with a notorious bushranger named Morgan. Mr and Mrs Marshall were then employed on Peechelba Station, near the junction of the Murray and Ovens Rivers, in northern Victoria. The i news had been circulated that Morgan ; had been seen in the district, and one I evening one of the part owners of the station, a Scot named Telford, was accosted by the bushranger as he was returning from a distant part of the station with several station hands t Morgan, producing a revolver, introduced ] himself to the party, and commanded I them to take him to their house. The son of another part-owner of the station. M’Pherson, opened the door, and to the visitor’s introduction, “Mv name’s Morgan,” answered coolly, “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 to bed. Morgan sat on a table with a revolver in Ins hand all night, carrying on conversation and permitting onlv servants to leave the room to prepare supper. One of the servants escaped and brought the police, but they would not attack Morgan because of the danger to his prisoners. When morning came, Morgan said : T am going to cross the Pioneer Range, and I want a fresh horse.” M’Pherson replied : “If you will come with me I will show you where the horse is.” Covering the men of the company with his revolver, Morgan followed them to the stables, and as he turned to inspect the horse brought out for him, a waiting constable shot him fatally in the back. Re-

calling this happening, Mrs Marshall said: “It was a cowardiv thing to do, but suppose it was necessary, for the man was an outlaw who would have fought fiercely if given an opportunity. Poor M’Pherson was so startled by the shooting that he dropped to the ground and was ill for a long time afterwards. They took Morgan’s bodv to the sheep shed and covered it with skins. He had beautiful black curly hair, and nearly everyone snipped off a lock as a memento of the occasion, leaving him quite bald.”