The Bushranger Ned Kelly in Gisborne.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 956, 21 November 1879, Page 2

The Bushranger Ned Kelly in Gisborne.

A very remarkable occurrence happened m Gisborne al the close of last week, which, at the instance of the local authorities, and a telegram received f ronj the Premier .at Wellington, we suppressed, m order that the ends of justice might not be defeated. It will be remembered that when the Waxwork Exhibition opened m the Masonic Hall, there , was the figure of Ned Kelly, the celebrated bushranger. The figure had been modelled m wax from a photograph m possession of the Commissioner of Police m Melbourne, and the model bore a very accurate likeness to the photograph m question. On last Friday evening, a gentleman waited upon the Sergeant of Police, who was then, at his quarters, and communicated the startling fact that he could lay him on to the arrest of Ned Kelly, but he would not do this until he had received a written memorandum that he should, when the desperate bushranger was captured, receive one-half of the £5000 reward. Sergeant Kidd said he was not authorised to make any such agreement, but he would at once telegraph to the Minister of Justice at Wellington for instructions. This he did without delay. Here, again, was another difficulty. The Minister of Justice did not feel himself at liberty to say how the Victorian Government might feel disposed to deal with the matter. However, he at once cabled a message to Mr. Berry, the Premier of Victoria, and received an immediate reply that £2500 would be paid to the person who should cause the arrest of Kelly, and £2500 to those who should capture him. Whereupon Sergeant Kidd communicated with the gentleman who had brought him the information, and it was agreed that the informer should point out Ned Kelly, and the latter should arrest him, no others being allowed to be m the secret. In short, the two were to share the £5000 between them. The gentleman then stated that he had discovered Ned Kelly through his likeness at the Waxworks' Exhibition. He was going by the name of Jim Johnson, and was acting as stableman, or rather was a day or two previous, at a public-house m Ormond. Both pursuers, having armed themselves with revolvers and each with a bowie knife, started for Ormond. On reaching the hotel and enquiring for a man of the name of Johnson, the two pursuers were informed that he had left the previous day for Mr. Mulloolly's, Tologa Bay. Nothing more was said; the pursurers turned back, and engaging fresh horses, lost no time on a long and harassing journey. They were greatly delayed by the bad state of the roads and rising creeks? After a protracted and exhausting journey, during which they were without any refreshment for fifteen hours, they reached Mulloolly's place only to learn that " Jim " had left there and engaged himself as a shepherd on Black's station. c Thither the pursuers proceeded, and on a stool m a whare was Jim Johnson, alias Ned Kelly. He had his sleeves tucked up; he was unarmed and was drinking tea out of a tin pannikan. Sergeant Kidd immediately presented his loaded revolver and aaid, "Kelly, you've been run to earth. Surrender at once, and save the price of six bullets through your oarcase." The man seemed soared at first, and then looking Mr. Kidd hard m the face broke out into a laugh. ":Why, Sergeant," he said "what damned game is this you are up to? What's your little trouble now, and who is it that's wanting 1" And then it was that Sergeant Kidd recollected the man who he had seen as a station hand at sundry places, and at different times during the last five years. A more inoffensive, harmless man (if an occasional "burst" after payday be allowed for) never existed. It was clear that this Jim Johnson was not the Ned Kelly, and it soon came out by those who had seen the likeness of the real Ned that there was as much difference m the appearance of the two as a nutmeg is to a nectarine. Greatly j discomforted, the two pursuers returned to town and interviewed Mr O'Brien, the proprietor of the waxworks, as to the wax representation he had labelled Ned Kelly, the celebrated bushranger. For there was no doubt whatever but that the wax figure was m appearance the exact spit of Jim Johnson. Mr O'Brien then explained with much regret that m the hurry of setting out the figures for the opening show he had put the Rev. Mr Spurgeon's ticket to Ned Kelly and Ned Kelly's ticket to the Rev. Mr Spurgeon. Two or three other errors he had committed m his haste; for instance he had dressed up Constance Kent, the eminent orphan murderess, as Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, and while he had put the Royal robes of George the 111. on Wilks Booth, the wretched assassin of President Lincoln, he had put Booth's clothes on Lord Darnley. Mr O'Brien admitted that having unfortunately broken m transit, the figure of Chang, the Chinese giant, height 7 feet 9 inches, 28 stone weight, he had cut it down and converted it into the cele- j brated Swiss dwarf, height 27 inches, and weighing 26 pounds 3 ounces. The figure was a little out of proportion, Mr O'Bried said,- as his head which had been uninjured did not correspond with bis abdominal and lower extremities.

We may state that Sergeant Kidd has considerably recovered since the occurrences here related, and was seen m the Gladstone-road yesterday afternoon, looking as hearty and well as ever he did.