"LITTLE BIT O'RED."

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1124, 11 May 1911, Page 6

"LITTLE BIT O'RED."

KELLY RELIC HERE. AND HOW IT BEAT THE GANG. TOL1) HY CAI'T.WN HKNNAH. "Do you .-co that bit o' red?" said Captain llennah, ollker-iii-charge nl the Government Huildingi, to a Dominion representative, in the quaint .interior of his museum-like den in the "largest wooden building, etc. I'lml helped to beat the Kelly gang. It's only a, bit of a woman's scarf—tin , material is what; they call llama—but if played iis litllc part in a big affair, I can toll you!"

Captain lloimah had indicated a bit of scarlet stuff, encased between. two pieces of cardboard in a glass case, packed with curios from all parts of Ihe world. It i> a i|iiiiinl and valuable collection of odds and.ends, which the genial official has made a hobby of collecting during the last quarter of a. century, vet there are few articles in- that neatly-packed museum which is more valued by him than the little "bit o' red."

"After the Kellys mucdered Constable* Lonigan and Scanlan and Sergeant Kennedy at Stringy Hark Creek, rolsbud tlie liauK at Jjiifoa, stuck up .lerilderie on tiio Sew Smith Wales sine of the Murray, and made the attack on the Younghusbind homestead, I hey lay very quiet Jar a while—a good long: wjule, as-a matter of fact, if 1 remember rightly. Then (Imranls the end of their career) they evidently scented that Aaron Sherritt, a 'friend' of one of their number, had liwn giving information to the Government, ns to their whereabouts. Sa one Sunday evening, Ned nnd Dan'Kelly, Stove Hart, and liyrne rode down, to Shcrritt's hut. One ot them knocked at the door, and as soon as Hherritt appeared, shot him. "Strange to say," continued the Captain, "there were four p;ilice in Ihe hut at. the time, lying in wait for the gang, but they hid under the bunks—at any rats, they made no attempt to face Ihe music— it ivas just a littlo too sudden. Knowing very well that word would be at once sent to Melbourne, (he Kellys, instead nt (.•iking to the back country where they had been in ifiding, did a double south, doubtless to effect a surprise, 'lhey went on to Glenrowan, took charge of the railway station Ihere. and made everyone in' Ihe neighbourhood a prisoner in Mrs. Jones's hotel. "Among the residents word lorn Utriiow and his wife. Tom was scjioollnaslcr at Cdenrownn. and lived ma cottage about a mile away from the station, near the railway line. He was (he secretary of the Ballarat City I'ire Brigade, of'which I was in charge, and was a great friend -of mine—hence the tale.

"On the clay that the Kellys captured Die place Tom was taking his wife for a drive, but to get across the line he had to pass through the railway parts. There ho was bailed up by Ned, and the tw-o were made prisoners. Curnow begged to bo allowed to take his wife home as she was in poor health, but at first Ned would not hear of it.' Curnow appealed to him 'again in the afternoon, and ibis time Ned reluctantly consented, but told him, if he ventured out of the house, he would be shot. He also .sent one of the gang to see them safely indoors. ■ "Mrs. Curnow was pretty well knocked out by the rough experience, and was only too ready to lie down, but before she did to she exacted a promise from her husband that he would not leave the house.

"Curnow had heard (when herded in Mr?. Jones's hotel) that the gang had forced some platelayers to lift a rail at the corner of a steep embankment, jiut to the north of the station, and -ill the time ho was thinking hard liowv he could prevent (he disaster that would surely occur when the police train went whizzing through the station to destruction on the far side. The rumble of the train in the distance sharpened his faculties. He got hoid of a buggy lump, and a red scan belcnging to hi* 'wife, and crept out of the house quietly in the dusk of the evening, knowing fliat, at any moment, a bullet misht be sent his way. He stumbled in Ihe dark up the embankment on which the (rack was- laid, and his head had just reached the level of the line when something rose, dark and shadowy, from the middle of tho (rack. Thinking his end had come, he scrambled up to tho lop lo find—just a harmless old goat! "As Ihe train drew nearer. Curnow took lii'i stand in the centre of the track, put one cud of tho thin red scirf beliveen his teeth, gripped thn other with his left hand, and held tho lamp wil.h his right hand behind it to make a danger t-ignal. The driver saw the, red gleam, pulled up his engine, and Cuninw told the news of the big 'hold-up , and the danger ahead. All preparations were made, the train steamed info Glenrowan station, slopped, and the gang were surrounded."

"What followed U common history. As 'oon as the Kellvs found that the riuo had failed, they'.-ought shelter in Mrs. .fone.-'s Hotel, barricaded the doors and windows, and a battle ensued between besieged and besiegers, which lasted all next day, during which lime even artillery was summoned from Melbourne. In the afternoon the hotel was fired; and in its ruins were found Ihe iTimins of Steve Hart. Dan Kelly, and liyrne. Ned Kelly, with an acumen that disdng'uislied him in many of his acts, had got out in the dark of the previous morning. T.' believe he could have got clear away to the ranges that (Monday) night, but, with the others dead, I expect he was so thoroughly disheartened that he could not leave tho spat. Anyhow, he was overwhelmed by a police party, led by Sergeant Sfelle at dawn on the morning when the attack on the hotel was beginnine. The police banged away al him, but made no impression on his armour (sheet steel, made from a. plough into a bodyguard, with big flaps) until it occurred to one of Ihe nolice to fire low. He hit Ned in the leg and brought him down. He was rushed, made prisoner, and ultimately paid for his crime nn the. gallows." "That little bit o' red there,' , said Captain Hennah, "was sent to me at my own request by Mr. Cnrnow ten years ago. Yes, he is still alive, still teaching, I believe, in Ball.iral— one of tho most modest of men,»yet what a hero! Does Australia know' a better, ] wonder?

"Oh, yes. the Government—all Victoria —recognised the act. The Government gave him ,£2000; he was given a permit to carry firearms fas his life was threatened by sympathisers with tho tho Commissioner of Police presented him with a valuable timepiece: and the Royal Humane Society awarded him a medal and certificate. "So you see that bit of red stuff has a history, eh?"