THE N.S.W. BUSHRANGERS

Dunstan Times, Issue 920, 5 December 1879, Page 3

THE N.S.W. BUSHRANGERS

The following are latest details ; The four piisoncrs and the two men shot deail were taken on to Gniidag.ai, where an inquest was held and a verdict of ‘‘justifiable homicide ” retunie 1. At the inquest held on the body of Constable Bowen, a verdict of “ wilful murder ” was returned against the prisoners The following will afford some idea of the encounter, which was carried on with all the bravery and skill of an engagement. The country facing the house is elevated, and the police in coming over the brow of the hill deployed in front of the house. The encounter then commenced, and the bushrangers’ horses having been frightened away, the police advanced from tree to tree. The hoy Wurnoeke hold the slip panel corner in a plucky way for a considerable time. Ife stmt Constable Barry’s horse dead, and sent several bullets unpleasantly close to Barry himself. In changing his position he was eventually shot through the side by Barry. In falling he cried out. “Oh, Go I, I am shot, and lam only 15 ” Ills age is put down in the police records as It), hut his appearance was that of a mere hoy. On the police making for the house, whither the gang had retreated, Constable Bowen was shot th ough the neck. Sirgennt Carrol then moved cautiously muni the gable of the house and rushed the kitchen, and the encounter th n terminate I. The windows of the kitchen and the front wall are riddled, while many bn He'S are s inking in the inside wall. The member of the gang, Logan, who managed to evade the pol ce when Moonlight surrendered, was discovered by Mrs M'Gicde next morning under her parents bed. He had at first concealed himself between the matrtessca, and during the night went underneath altogether. Finding a hen’s nest with six eggs underneath, he feasted upon them, sucking every egg dry. On his discovery, information was giving to the police, mid lie was duly arrested. Moonlight is a thorough scoundrel, and lias led his unfortunate coninauioiis into this crime. Great Sympathy is felt for Constable Bowen, who his the son of a vicar in Pembrokeshire.

lii thy charge against the bushrangers before the magistrate it was prove 1 that the snpedintondent of Wnntabadgory Station tin-lie tinv‘B ran a great risk of his life, Monnlijit off-rod him a long knife ami revolver, and challenged him to He afterwards seized him by the throat a . I thr- atcne I to kill him; au-1 subsequently sol- e o-l a tree and not a rone to ha ig hini. Ihe screams of the women only made him relent. He displayed nnrovernanle pissi on, kilMn a brio I mare because she would not stand still after he had called upon her to ilo so tlir e times, In Coart lie oloso'y examined the witnesses Iris efforts being directed cnir-ely to save his companions and tike all blame to himself. Mo mlight bebmgs to a highly respected family in Auckland district. It is asserte I that lie is insane, and repr- sensations to that effect liav - he n sent to the Government of Xew South Wales. A companion of the bushranger Moonlight. now in Pcntri Ige, states that the object of \l 0 'll light’s lectures after his discharge from gaol was to raise funds to organise a gang to go steerage by the mail steamer, overpower the crew, and then compel them to land the robbers at some point on the Australian coast with the •-johl.