THE NIGHT SEARCH AT STRINGY BARK CREEK.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1128, 16 May 1911, Page 6

THE NIGHT SEARCH AT STRINGY BARK CREEK.

. — r-r—*-. rr- . FIRST KELLY AFFAIR. A POLICE HERO-FORGOTTEN, [Br Gun-yak.] . Referring to tho artiole—"A Little Bit o' Ked"—which appeared in lira Dominion- on Thursday, ajid which recounted, tho act of tho schoolmaster at, Glenrowan (Victoria) on the last night of tho Kelly gang's existence as a gang. .a. contributor .expresses the opinion, that there were only two acts', in tho 'Jong hunt after the outlaws which can fairly he classed as heroism. One, as stated, was Cuntow's—on tho last night. By a curious coincidence, the other happened on the first night of tho gang's career. It was the midnight . search for tho bodies of Constables Lonergan and Scanlon and Sergeant Kennedy. Tho hero of it (states our contributor) was strangely forgotten when tho time camo to distribute credits and rewards. Tho story of tho act is given. Night. Night in the AVonibat ranges— the night of October 27, 1878. Overhead the rain is descending in sheets, tho creeks that thread the scrub are funning bank-high, and,.from timo to time, tho thunder rolls among the dun clouds that Tim tho storm. In, tho gloom a little string of horsemen are pushing forward through tho drenching bushes. What they anticipate finding at the end of their quest is too dreadful almost to think of, but on they go.. At any moment, the (lushes of riiies (as they know very well) may light the thickets. The sub-inspector (Air. Pen-tress), who leads, litis just risen from a sick-bed, and can hardly keep the saddle, and the strain on the nerves of all is great-in-deed. Weapons for tlieir own defence? Well, they have 'two only—a pair of borrowed rifles of doubtful value. All told, "the party numbers eight—three, officers of the.law, four civilians,' and a dqctor. , "

At half-past nine they arc thirteen miles out from tho town of Mansfield, uud come to Monk's sawmill. Mr. Pewtress goes forward through, the slip-rails, and' awakens Mr. Monk. The pair 'stand among the logs in the gusty, mill through ■which the wind.is 'whistling,, and,'• briefly and rapidly, the sub-inspector tells thu grisly s:tory. Out; there—he waves his band in the direction of the dripping forest ahead—ont there, at Stringy Bark Creek, are the bodies, and. niaybe, the lair, of the gang. None of his party know exactly where tho , creek is. Can he -have a guide?

. Mr. Monk appreciates tho seriousness nf. .tho grim ordeal before them, and tentatively suggests waiting at the mill till dawn. Then they can go forward in tho growing light, and reconnoitre as they go; "No," says the inspector-hero with great decision, "no waiting I Scanlon and Lbnergan are dead for sure,' but Kennedy may be alive, and, by George, I'm going to save him if there's a thousand Kelly's in the bush. Give mo some Topes, and a guide." ... So Mi. Monk joins Hie intrepid band, and two of his men, and ropes aro fished out from among the lumber, though, to bo sure, no one except Mr. Pewtress knows why. The rain has now. redoubled and tho night is pitchy dark. They ride on in melancholy silenco in single file through the forest, with no sound but the heavy onset of the rain on' the leaves, an' occasional mournful cry of a mopoke, or,the crashing of a wallaby through the undergrowth. None but bushmen, and game at.'that, could have steered a course through such .Vhighf, but, sometime after midnight, they hear the roar of'the' stream, nnd Mr. Monk, reining up, whispers, to Mr. Pewtress—"There it is—down there!"

;'A'hd now the.strain begins to tellve'ry hard on all. No.one. wants to face it, so the sub-inspector goes forward alone, while the others dismount and wait. By aiid byo another constable follows his chief, with one of the rifles loaded and cocked. A quarter of a mile along the bank he bunips into Mr. Pewtress'-in tho dark, and both jump back with exclamations: Tli'eM : ;'they go' on, beating fl : the c ' Erass with their hands, and stopping every ■now and then rto listen. There'is nothing but' the rain and the gloom of the tragic bush-wrapped glade. '.About 1 o'clock the hands of the subiuspector and his comrade light on something soft and unfamiliar. They discuss it,.in whispers,- wondering what it is. The question is: With the gang perhaps close to them, should they light a match ? Eventually they decido to do 60, and discover the ashes of tho polico . tent, evidently burnt by the murderers. .

Then, grown a little bolder, they striko match after match, and presently espy thp'.body of LoneTgan lying'face upward, wifhthe pockets turned inside out. Scanlon'is discovered ten minutes later,'"and tile- search for -Sergeant' Kennedy goes on —in yain.

Tho doctor, ..who has been called up. meanwhile examines the terrible find,' and pronounces.life to be extinct, so nothin" remains but to convey them back to Mansfield for inquest and burial. What report to give to Mrs. Kennedy they are at their wit's ends to know. But tho horses arc brought up, and the purpose of the ropes obtained from Monk's mill now becomes apparent. So great had been the nervc-rackin" strain on the men, however, that this has possibly communicated itself to the horses, for the ono chosen to carry tho Wad begins to snort and rear. The weight does not trouble him, but, looking back to right and left, ho can see what is. on his back and refuses to move till the resourceful sub-inspector , blindfolds him, and leads him forward. ; ;Dospairing of. poor Kcnnedy-and he indeed was dead-theso courageous men battled their.way back to Monk's mill through scrub and frees and gloom, and, next day, the; melancholy cavalcade is in Mansfield.

reeling with illness, tho heroic sub-inspector enters the' little police office to find his wicker basket piled brimful of telegrams from his superiors, from the head police at Melbourne, from tho Government, from newspaper men, while a host of reporters from other centres are impatient to see him. Ho., takes the pressmen first, explains to them what has happened, or at least as much of it as he considers to be judicious, and then turns to the. telegrams. They are mostly querulous inquiries from a nervous head office, others contain all manner of Quixotic and totally impracticable suggestions for tha apprehension of the gang, - while others again hint vaguely but ominously as to dereliction of duty. Battered, worn out, and wet as ho is, he goes over to arrange that the terrible news shall bo broken gently to Mrs. Kennedy, and, then returning, he 'its down resolutely to deal with the mountain of telegrams. . That is the story.

As has been said, it was October. 1878, when the grioi night, search at StringBark Creek was carried out. and it was nn tho night of June 2". 1880. that Mr. Curnow stopped tho notice train near filenrowan with his. famous ''little bit n' red." and the last act began. Betweeu these two acts there were no other hcro■isms. As har>p»n= in other snheres of life, the efficient "ffice-rs in the hunt suffered W th« inefficient all th» time, and even Mr. Nicholson, whnse "svstem" it was which at, l»nsrh fnrcd the Kellys nut into the open, and brought them to (Jlonrni'-nn tn. their doom, ent little nut nf it all hnt 'n snre heart. As for SnbJnmivtnr .7Wfr<>?.«. one searches the re-cnr-U in r.iin fnr mvthimr like reen<r. pit:-* of him. Otw, mopped up tho rewards, and the credit.

NO-LICENSR MEETING.

A meeting of Brnnklvn residents was h"M 'ost niTht at the local Baptist C'nnrh for tho purpose of forming a NoI.i"on«n Committee for that district. There wp also present representatives nf the Central Executive. Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.. was voted to the chair. .An outline of present and future organisation having been given, addresses were delivered by the chairman and the Rev. A. Dewdncy: It was then unanimously resolved to form n, branch of the NoTiieouso League, and about 50 people signified their intention of becoming members. The election of officers was proceeded with, Dr. Couzens being elected chairman, Mr. A- Checsman secretary, and Mr. T. firaham treasurer. An executive of twelve was also elor.tecL