AUSTRALIAN OUTLAWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7667, 28 March 1903, Page 1

AUSTRALIAN OUTLAWS.

BUSHRANGERS OF A BYEGONE day. [All Rights Reserved.] CHAPTER XVII. Zsoit to Moi.^au, perhaps, no individual bus-rau^er e«rue%l greater notoriety than did Frederick Ward, otherwise calieti "Xliunaerooli." He was an old "Cockatoo " biid, and one oi the few prisoners v.-.:o esi.-ap.-ii from l.hti: gruesome island. Xii-e e^c; j 4V was -effected on fcept. 11, iB6O, and Yr«:a h;td foi. a conii>anion in his fiigiit a fciluH' convict named Brut-en. Having evade. i ilio ;.entrks ani got 'across thewaiwr cii'.'.ciiiig- Ciio isknd-fioai ii;-e m-.unlaiid, the two men J;ta-.:-jd luv tin: irluwkcsbury, and, d;sp:to the iifijits u: tilt police to recapturs tlicin, jiiaiia^ed to g^u clean away. \v':ir-.l «;..s »■ it:ii.ve of Windsor, and at ti!-o t.me o; his iiight was about twenty-.s-c.-»<?ri y-. ars of age. He- was in point of .-,!;« iiiii ability a good- sample oi the '• Hrtwk-jf-bury native,"' a ' s-.pkndid liorsemsn, ;.nd fearless an^ daring to a dt^rye. To >ti;i:ul tto t..e polic-p in theis efforts to rc-.;rrjst t:ie bo'.tsr, tl:e Ijovernrnent offered a re.varl of x'.2b ; bu; very shortly aJter his '.sciiix' he, disappeared from the district, and all effoits to trac-e him vreie for a time :rn ! i jsp. When r.fxt he was heaiid- of he was making n. name for 'himself as a bushranger in ih-» New .bnJarid district. Like ilcrg.-ui, he ]■ u'l i ! rred gi-nerol!y to work singlehand d; Inn on« ttt-r.-jn kn-.rw all his secrct-s, Kynipiitt.isjd in ali his troubles, sheltered iiiin, wal-cli-ecl for. him, and .proved a fnithful friend. That person was a woman, and it is questionable ii ever bushranger hail a "mot--';' more serviceable 01 more d-fcvot-^d-. '"Thunderbolt" had a longj :im-!i,. and during Jive or six years his j naino w;'s kepi prominently before the public, Avhile -lils pc-rsou was cagftrly sought tift-t-r 'by the police of the distract chiefly in.'esttd'by him. IJ-e wasatorror to -the mailmrn of the 2C(<:t.i, and, sometimes alone, MmKJihnes in company ">\ith others, "stuckti[>" t-:.-e drivers., riil-d the mailbags, robbed ilii pa'-^neei^.. and then leisurely <decampvd. His-pKiamour did noti accompany him in his raid?', br.t was generally near at hand in some fc^wre camp, to M'hich " Thunderholt " vc ould- i«sort wh-en -hard pressed by the poli.:o or in want: of provisions. She wfs a<.» mtelligoat, -pleasant-looking rfalfcaste, able- t) Mad and write" fairly well, and m«r« rtfined in hev speech than many o: her Kiiropran sist-er^, having been carefullv irain.?'"! in Ikt younger days. _ At ons timo she was in the habit ol riding about ih r .man's attire, collecting horses or infownation. p'rocurin? supplies, or -doing anv other odd jobbs which it would be uh; safo for her comrade to engage in. It was ■ t)T her means and through her indefatigable exertions that. "Thunderbolt.", was ■ abled, for ,ko lons-.a. time t;o evade capture^ *-«TnJ:" : '^\tifßifels : - v irhe fliiT^sted- fr"<r i r';"'rm ■ a c!:nrgo oi' vagrancy,, nothing could 'l>6. proved ap:ain^t "her. and she was released, .•.ff-iin to serve th^ .n^ast-sr whoso critical fo'i times she had elected to follow. Ou mo:<- than on" oc-a-vion, when hard pressed for fonil in some lon-ely retreat in the 'bush, n.nd vAien a visit to' any settler's bouse or waysid* store would have furnished a clr.o as to tho hiding-place, sl'.e- has been known to hnmstrintj a young calf (rising a j 'sharp shear-blade fustened to the cn-1 of a long stick for the purpose), cut up the car--oase. and cany the meat to the "camp." During a portion o-f the time she had several children with her, br.t towards the latter part of 1865 she went "down' the! country" and left all but- one, the youncjozU with some of "Thunderbolt's" friends. She proved faithful to her hunted paramour to the last, and, a.s will be seen further 0-ri-, " Thundr-rbolt '" proved faithful to her, inasmuch <:s at Lrr-oat personal risk he found for her a comfortable resting-place in which she could breathe her last. • . On four riiiY.rent occasions he stopped j and robb-v! tho YTa-rialda. mail, and on each ■ succeed^'. i'i niMlsiiv; a f.'ood haul. In Feb-j ruarv, 1567, tlio innil was 'being driven to j Tamworth by Abraham J?owden, who had ; with him a passencor named Derringtou. J They had just passed Manilla when the command to '" bail-up" was heard, and having obeyed the mandate tbje* two men were j ordered to pass into the bush a mile from the- road, where "Thunderbolt" had a second horse tied up. Here- Bowden was commanded to hand out the mail -bags and to take- up his position with Derrington about thirty yards distant while the bushranger rifled the bags, talcing from the letters al! the notes, cheques and orders which they contained. He then took the mailman's saddles, which he said he would return, and eased Derrington of some cheques and silver, but handed back the latter ; after which he rode off., leading the second horse. As soon at he h*"' disappeared Bowden rode back to Manilla for' a saddle, ' and ■while there observed two horses on the upper side of the river, which he believed to be "Thunderbolt's." Having resumed his journey towards "Tamworth be met Constables Norris, Shaw and Doherty, who were returning to their stations from the sessions at 15araba. To these', he told his story,, and then pushed on to Tamworth to acquaint the police there. After robbing the mail, the bushranger crossed the „ Namoi to Mr Hill's public-house, and while he was there M'Kinnon, the superintendent . of Manilla Station, rode up. "Th'underbblt"'savr him coming and at once went out, and mounting his horse sat in the saddle awaiting his approach. Thinking that tfoe stranger- was some traveller ■ M'Kinnon paid no attention to him, and having finished his business at Hill's crossed the river to Veness' public-house, where he saw several persons- in' excited conversation, and learned from tham that the mail had been robbed. Before the narration concluded, there was, an interruption. Hearing Mrs Veness utt* a scream, M'Kinnon -turned his head and saw the supposed traveller whom he had met at Hill's, standing behind him and presenting a re/volver at« his head. "Thunderbolt" ordered him to dismount and take his place, with the other people, whom he also commanded to "bailup." ' ' After overhauling the superintendent and making an exchange of saddles, he entered into conversation with his prisoners and partook of some grog, for which h& paid. After an hour had elapsed, M'Kinnon begged to be allowed to proceed j on his journey to Tamworth, saying he was on his way to the doctor's, and having obtained permission, was fixing the saddle on his horse pre.para.tory to making a," start, when all were startled by hearing thi bushranger j ejaculate "What's that?" and, looking mg down the road, they saw Constable Norris approaching. "Thunderbolt" at once* mounted his horse and rode leisurely round the corner and along a fence towards the river, leaving the pack horse at the hotel. As Norris rode up the people at the hotel cried: out to him, "Bushranger! 'after him!" and the constable at once let the pack-horse le was leading ao* ! pullfedL

the revolver out of its pouch, and followed. But the chase wan* short and ineffectual., for. X orris was soon back at the hotel, ar.d "Thunderbolt" was seen., on the opposite bank of the river. As Xorris returned to tiie hotel, Constable Shaw drove up in a : buggy, and alter a consultation the two policemen got into the buggy and drove 1 1 5; ■wards the river. As they ascended the opposite bank they caught sight of the ! • Uushranger. who had evidently been waitmg for them, for when they came within hailing distance he called upon them to I sia:id. Shaw replied with a shob from his ■ revolver, but his aim was defective, and j '• Thunderbolt " put spurs to his horse and j disappeared. The two policemen then drove- up to Hill's house, and while Shaw j proceeded to take the horse out of the ! imcgy Norris ran back to Veness's for the j horse he, hud left, to find that the bushranger had crossed the river and • ridden tiown the road, picking up as he went the j pack-horse which the constable had been ! .leading. Sergeant Doherty at this juncture appeared on the scene, and NorrLs having | joined them, the two started in pursuit of- the bushranger, who, they were in- ; i formed, was more than half drunk and might be easily captured if they were : smart. Before they had proceeded very j lar they caught sight of. " Thunderbolt," j and getting within range they 'fired, but without effect; and finding that the, chase was getting too warm, the bushranger aban- ! doned Norris's pack-horse and soon out- ! paced his pursue-rs, who returned to the j hotel to report another failure. Attention j j was then directed tu the pack-horse which i "Thunderbolt" had left at the hotel, and j.m the saddle-bags were found the cheques j and orders that had been taken from the | I maiilwgs, amounting in all- to £427; but! | the more easily negotiable bank-notes that' | hud been taken were not there, the bush- | ranger having doubtless considered his own j pockets the safest place for them. I Shortly after this "Thunderbolt" made his appearance on the road with a, boy as i his robber companion, and the queerlyassorted pair committed many depredations on the road, her Majesty's mails still forming the chief attraction. The boy's name was Mason, and it was not. long before lie established a reputation for reckless daring j equal to. that of his chief. In many in-! stances they abstained from robbing the | passengers or the driver,- and contented | themselves with rilling the' bags and "sort- | ing" the letters, in which work they became quite proficient. Together they held the road, defying all the efforts of the ' police to capture them, for they took care | to be always provided with the fleetest horses, well-known racers having to leave their owners.' stables anjl r do duty as hacks for them. How they managed to evade the police for such a length of time is a mystery, .for credit must be given to the " latter for putting forth every effort to take them. All attempts to discover their camps or hiding places while occupied were fruitless, although the baffled officials would now: and then succeed iu following a trail leading • to «a deserted retreat, the " birds " having flown to some other locality before their arrival. But while so frequently levying 1 blackmail upon Uiie post in its transit from one place to another, "Thunderbolt", and his boymate were not particular as to the victims. The money they stole from the mail-bags, was not spent in the purchase of stores, alf iUougk ,SQnvid£;.itld3iay^lia<ve;.gone iiito ttteV pockets of active sympathisers and assist- i ants, who, themselves not bold enough to "take tho bush," kept the bushranger posted in the movements of the police. If stores were wanted they were generally obtained in sufficient quantities by a sudden descent upon sonic roa-dside pub-rstore (in. those days the publican generally served in the double capacity of grog-seller audi grocer), irom the stock in which a good choice* of needful articles could be made. " Thunderbolt " and his boy would presentl themselves at the each leading a pack-horse — not the heavy animal usually led by the traveller, and whose chronic pace was a s'.ow jog-trot, but a*well-breE, iicet-footed beast, equal to the task of a break-tlie-recoi'd pace if necessity arose — which they would load with flour, tea\ | sugar, poited lish, and anything else that; j the unfortunate storekeeper might have in j stock, not forgetting a bottle or two of ' ' s-nirits. When fully loaded they would ride I off as suddenly as 'they appeared. If there did not happen to be a general store near i when provisions ran short, a visit would) ! be paid to the house of a well-to-do settler, and if nothing more than provisions were taken the latter would count himself remarkably fortunate. ! 'Shortly after "Thunderbolt" had com- | niitted -a- series wf depredations, ending with i the robbery of the Tamworth-Singleton mail, the Government awoke to the necessity 'of offering further inducements to the j police and others to effect his capture, and j the following no'tice was published in. the '"Gazette" and newspapers : — . i Colonial' Secreta/ry's Office. £200 REWARD FOR THE APPREHENSION OF FREDERICK WARD (OTHERWISE KNQWN ! AS "THUNDERBOLT") AND £50 EACH FOR ACCOMPLICES. Whereas, the above-named convict, who j effected his escape from the Penal Establish- j ment, Cockatoo island, on thu 11th Sep- ! tember, 1865., is siiii at large, and is further charged with the commission of divers other serious crime* : And whereas, by notice | dated the 4th December, 1365, a reward lof £100 was offered by th-o Government ! for the capture of this offender: Notice is I hereby given that- nn increased reward of £200 "Will be paid by the Government for tht"apprehension of the above-named offender, or, if effected upon information received, then one-half the reward to the perron givimg'sudh information, and the other moiety i to the person or persons effecting the cap- ! ture ; and, further, that the Governmentwill pay a reward of £50, to be divided, for the apprehension of any accomplice qt the said Frederick Ward, arrested in his company, or associated with him in the commission of crime. • The above reward to be in lieu of all other rewards payable, by the Government under previous notice for. the apprehension or cdnvictiott of this offender. \. ' HENRY PARKES. But still tie depredations continued. Aa • month followed monch, and as report after report was published of highway robberies by one. man, whose immunity from arrest caused men to marvel, only those who were compelled to do so travelled through the infested district; and these resorted to every imaginable device for.secretimr the money and valuables they were compelled to carry with them, in the hope that they would be able to pass scathless. A serious block to business was caused by this state- of things, ani tbe residents or the northern district fretted under, it. Biisiness people were afraid to forward money through the post : when they were compelled to do &o they sent it in the form of cheques. But even -these were not allowed to pass by "Thunderbolt," who invariably took tWfem away with him, and either concealed them in the bush or. destroyed them, uttering many complaints '■ about the " infernal" custom which "had spr-ung up of paying for eve'rythin'tri'irith. "paper," winch -in a bushranger's (b.ands was riot negotiable. . >\ 'I L _- JFor. some time ■ after Mason joined ihim v

the two Wurked together, and occasionally • th«i older ruffian would stand aside and allow the younger to do the .whole- work, himself,- keeping a watchful eye upon tne intercepted- travellers, who were naturally indignant t'hat they should have to submit to be robbed by a boy scarcely out of his teens. " Thunderbolt " was one of thosemen of the ioad who eoiild.'boast with truth that he was always courteous, if not .kind, to females^ Who might happen to ! be in the company of those " stuck up " ; and he trained his bushranger apprentice to act courteously also. On one occasion, when. he ha-d stopped the mail coach between Munurundi and Wallabadab, there were two females among the passengers, and he ostentatiously instructed Mason to confine his attention solely to the mail bags, andi not to molest the passengers in any way for fear of ''hurting the ladies' feelings." Tha lad was armed with a gun, and seem«4 inclined to " show off " a little in front of the women, grumbling not a little that hi» " boss " should allow the men to escape for the sake of the women, especially as the principal letters contained the objectionable " paper " instead of money. A "little later some excitement was created! by the news spreading that the police had encountered " Thunderbolt " on two occasions and had captured him — nearly/ The first part of th« report -was correct. Seniorconstables Dalton and Cantrill had been vigorously scouring the bush and liad come across tracks which they 'believed to be those of the bushranger, and which they concluded were leading to his camp in the mountains. They followed these tracks to a point which they knew w.ould not admit of any turning, and then dismounted. Leaving their horses, they proceeded cautiously into the bush on foot in the direction ot the spot wher-ethey concluded the camp would :be. It was njght when they began this "march, and ..they could not make much headway, but as day dawned on the following morning they saw that, for once, they 'had hit upon a- trail ; at a distance of about sixty yards they saw the bushranger, who was in the act of fitting on his "boots preparatory to catching his horse, which was grazing near. He had one boot on and the other and a. bridle in his hand, but a slight noise caused Jiim to look up, and. catching sight of the police, he dropped the boot and bridle and. dashed off into the scrubby range close 'at hand, the police fallowing as fast as th^y coulo and firing as they ran. But neither theu firing nor their running /proved effective. "Thunderbolt" had an advantage over hil pursuers in knowing tbe course, and, aftei j a race of about a mile, he succeeded in ' getting away at a, spot where the scrub was more than usu«l%jdense. Returning to the camp the pojice'fiecured ai boot and two horses, one of which was supposed to belong to the boy Ipsijn, and returned wita them in triumph- toCthe station. At a late* hour of the dfty ano.tlier party of policy cam* across "Tnrmdfebplt" on^the wme range. They had been escorting the mail, from Warialda to Tannworth, and had. turned off the road on the return journey^hen they san* two horsemen talking to a "woman on. the, range. At first tlrey thought the men belonged to the police, as one of the horses looked like a "force" animal, but on nearer approach they saw that it was "Thunderbolt" and Mason, and that they were talking, to the mistress of the former. The police made a rush, and so did the bushrangers, each of whom-held^a spare horse, which was dropped as soon as the flight commenced. Shortly after starting " Thunderbolt and the boy separated, each taking 'but the police continued to chase the larger game,, being more anxious to catch tho master than the apprentice. They fired several times, but the bullets did not hit the mark at which they were aimed, and the bushrangers again escaped, although the pursuers reported that they had seen blood on the track, as? though either a* man or a horse had been wounded. "Thunderbolt" -was still minus one boot, the foot having a black cloth 1 wrapped round it. When the police returned to- pick up the two spare horses the woman whom they had at first seen had disappeared. The separation between the master and his boy, proved fatal to the latter. He made no effort to rejoin " Thunderbolt," believing that he had fallen into the hands of his pursuers, and at once started off for another part of the country. The encounter in which he and his master were separated! took place on the Borah Ranges, and for some time the police concentrated their forces in thia locality, imagining that " Thunderbolt " and the boy .would endeavour to rejoin each other near- the spot at which they had been driven apait. Mason 1 was riding a good horse when he disap- ' peared, but the hard riding took all the i "go " out of it, and before he had reached ' (Dangar's station, about thirty miles from j Millie,, it -had completely knocked up. Leaving the horse, Mason put away his arms [and the saddle and bridle, -and performed the rest. of the journey on foot. Here word was conveyed to the police, and JSeniorConstable Connery and other memoers of the force started in pursuit from Narrabri, and captured Mason without any resistance I on the hitter's ipart. The j p oungster admitted that he wa^> "Thunderbolt's" boy, and that he had with him committed several robberies. He had on his person when arrested cheques amounting to about £100, which had been taken from the Merriwa mail. During his trip to Tamworth he became very communicative to the police, giving them an account of his life. Among other things he told them that- he. was apprenticed out of the. Orphan School to a Mr Shaw, in the employ of Mes3i3 Gil* Christ, Watt and Co., of Sydney, at the agfr of twelve years ; that he remained with him for some time and then proceeded "up country,"- where he engaged with different persons ; that - he -was doing a job of fencing when he icll iu with : " Thunderbolt," who represented himself as' a.- squatter, and engaged him to assist ia taking a mob of horses overland j that he 'soon ascertained " Thunderbolt's " real character, and did not hesitate to join him in the free but dangerous life that he was leading. Mason was, at the time of bis arrest, only about sixteen years of age, of slight build, fair complexion, and not by any means a ionrnria-ble-looking oharac"ver. In due course the youthful bandit was brought be:oro thi Court and commit ted for trial, was tried and sentenced to a comparatively shore term of imprisonment, which term he served, only to be released and imprisoned' again, a proceeding which, was repeated several times, sentences of ten, fourteen and twenty years following each 'other. , After the capture' of his boy mate, "Thunderbolt" continued his single-handed depredations, his extraordinary power of keeping out of. $he 'hands of the police still being the constant theme of conversation. Occasionally, however, the hunters and the hunted would come near each other, but) the report made by the former , after the event presented a monotonous sameness. ■(To be continued on Wednesday.)