THE ESCAPE OF KELLY & DEASEY.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2630, 1 February 1868, Page 7

THE ESCAPE OF KELLY & DEASEY.

The New York Sun of the 28th ult. makes the following announcement :— Capt Timothy Deasey, who was arrested in Manchester, and rescued by the Fenians of that place, arrived in this city on Sunday. He will be tendered a public reception on. Tuesday. Captain Deasey gives a humorous account of his escape from Liverpool. Having packed up his trunks with the assistance of Colonel Kelly, and disguised himself so as to defy detection, he proceeded on board the steamship City of Paris, in company with the Colonel, the latter dressed as a porter, and carried the traps on his back in the most approved fashion of the fraternity. As soon as they reached the deck of the vessel, and passed the long line of detectives without attracting attention, Captain* Deasey gave Colonel Kelly a shilling for his trouble, but the assumed porter refused to accept such a small amount for so much work, whereupon the regular porters were called upon to act as referees, and decided that the ill-used confrere was entitled to eighteenpence at least. Kelly was so demonstrative that the police threatened to arrest him if he did not accept the shilling and go away, which he thought it better to do, after exchanging a knowing look with his quondam employer. At Queenstown the Captain put on a careless exterior and passed around among the detectives, discoursing freely about the emigrants, and making inquiries generally respecting the objects of the wretched Fenians in keeping up such a hopeless crusade against her Britannic Majesty. In the course of conversation, a* a matter of course, the daring rescue of Kelly and Deasey was alluded to and condemned. One of the detectives remarked that he'd be d— d if they would get away from him if lie had them once in his clutches

In connection with the escape, a very interesting letter has been transmitted to the Irish People by the man who planned the rescue. He says that Colonel Kelly and Captain Deasey were returning from a private meeting when they were suddenly pounced upon by four policemen, and dragged off, before they could draw their revolvers and show fight. When their arrest was made known to the officials of the Fenian brotherhood a vigilance committee was appointed to prevent their identification by Corydon. Men were posted at the railway station, the jail, and all the places where the informer was likely to pass through, but by some chance, owing to the want of identity, he was permitted to enter the jail. The arrangements for the removal of the prisoners to jail were duly chronicled at the Fenian head quarters, and eleven trusty men, well armed with revolvers, were detailed to frustrate them. The moment the van left the Court House, a cab shot out of the adjoining street containing the Commander-in-chief* of ;the party. It drove along in front at a rapid pace until a point was gained where the object could bo carried out with facility. Not one of the men who did the work was captured. As soon as Kelly and Deasey arrived at a given place they parted company and took temporary refuge in the house of an old Irishwoman. Kelly disguised himself in a few minutes, Btarted out by another door and mixed with the crowd. An omnibus passed along just nt the moment, and ho got into it in presence of half a dozen policemen, who were in the act of arresting two men on the top of the vehicle, believing them to have been connected with the rescue. Further on he encountered another batch of policemen, and waited to learn full particulars of the affair from them. Later in the evening of the same day Kelly and Deasey returned again to Manchester, and took up their quarters at the house of a tried friend. Another correspondent from the same city, also a Fenian, pays that Colonel Kelly has concluded to remain in Liverpool, where he has seenred a remunerative position as inspector of British shipping and commerce until such time as Irishmen in America form a consolidated body for the overthrow of the British oligarchy.