THE SHOOTING OF THUNDERBOLT.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 695, 2 July 1870, Page 4

THE SHOOTING OF THUNDERBOLT.

The special correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald gives the following account of the above : — ; Fred. Ward, alias Thunderbolt, is dead. The circumstance which led to the result T"will, as far as'lcati^ briefly relate. Oh Wednesday, 25th May, about two o'clock, as Mr Blanche^ arid ':his. wife were returning home from Uralla, and within about 200 .yards from his .own house, a man, riding one horse and leading another, rode up to him, and called oat " Bail up," . stating that 'he was a' ; robber, and would have no humbugging. On some silver being tendered, he refused to have it,, stating that he knew the mistress had money on her, as hew.asi.laid on to them. He also reminded Blanche that a few evenings b3fore he (Blanche) had refused to accept a L 5 order as ; payment for a quart' of rum. Subsequently he told Blanche that he might gb'-'oh to his House. On reaching there some other men came up from Carlisle Gully* ,way, and Ward (as we shall call Him) stuck them up also, and sin old man named,. Williamson. A little" after, a dealer named Giovanni Cappisote came towards Uralla in,. a spring cart. Ward bailed hintai?, taking from him I#3, 13s 6d, a watch, some jewellery, and other articles. After a< little tfelay, the dealer was permitted to proceed on towards Kentucky, Ward to Blanche's inn, when he called upon the old man Williamson to shout, .and also shouted Himself, and sang arid danced. During this time He asked Blanche if he remembered! an! 6n f counter' the 'police had wiih Thunderbolt about seven years ago, arid on His answering in the affirmative stated that he was the man, that he had been wounded in the leg,, and that the affair took place at the Rocks, about 800 yards from tjie house... Ward, it appears, also toolcohe bfthte 1 Hordes' from a young man he had stuck up, and was trying its speed wheu'i senior constable Mulhall appeared in sight galloping down the hUI from Uralla. I. way staj^.thafyafter the hawker. (Cappisote) was permitted to proceed on his journey, he went about a mile and| a half" to a selector *riamed Dorrington, arid there taking his horse out of the cart, l^e put the- i saddle"'foh^auil>'By taking a wide detour from the road through the bush, managed Blanche/^unobserved, arid gallopped to Ufalla. Senior constable Mulhall and constable Walker, iinmbdiately on* receiving information, started in pursuit. But Mulhall's horse beiiig the -fastest', He gained! abbut Half a mile on Walker. MulHall returned the sho^t, and, according to His own statement, his horse bolted at the discharge. By this time. .Walker. jwas ;r galloping dowfn the hill, wHeri MulHall met hib and said to him, "There they are" — I have' exchange'^ shots with them. (|o on, and shoot the wretch." Walker keptright on, when the oldest of the two efi'3eavoured*''to''"c*tSt into" the road ; but tie young man blocked him. The two then j.&ajlqped dojra the li^e|of^fenoe rokcTto the'Wshl- In sraisingi. hist pis\dl, Walker happened to discharge it accidentally,''and tHe athot.wentdjito^he ground. Ward thereupon turned and fired, biat missed his man.fi { W.a r d „tHen, apparently spoke something to the young man, who i turned/away and iefJ" . Ward 5 :a.'one, with Walker following him. Ward tj^en I'becfeniedr to , Walker, '.and^crie'd "diU, " Come on," to wJiicHr-Wjalker answered, ;'f AU!right.'%';^oy,a fittfe, mo.re than half an Hour they raced through timber,- over : gull*7; aadjcjieek, r.d|y/; ground 4 and boggy, up Hill and down, Ward doubling like: a 'hare} a~pci<.->Wg]^;erf/.'pursuing^-it was! a chase for life. Ward seemed to awaken; :tP(tHe facfe-tha^jggwf the>vejiger was 0n his path— and, bold rider though he was, ;-Hie -. hwh^ fat last* f «m.aj;chedj,t In f one place they galloped over a piece of ground "whdre r,earth!,;and>grass were standing like stumps, from one or two feet -high,;wish a.;-boggyj wajterHqle about 4ft deep into which Ward floundered, arid -Walker; lollqwedj/tJirOjUghQU^ the pdce must have been terrific, as the tracks nex.t.njor-ning'te.stified. !..At .length Ward turned up a bit of' a Hill, and when pn ;the;V' Highest ->par : t? _.tujrne ; 4i as. ( ;'if to face Walker, but if so he altered his mind, (or was, pulled up by a water-hole directly in front of him and , abjqv^t. ,3,59 yards j long. ■„ At ..once Ward dismounted and took to the water, switn.mingioger, Walke, 1 ?. seeing thjs/.rode upjto Ward's horse and shot it dead, and thjen .gdloppedi abputitwojhujudred yards down the creek to tlie end of the water-ho'fe ; • here;. Walker, crossed thejiCre^Jc, and tKen saw Ward, who Had swam across, divest 1 himself ,'of his^qoafr and> run, up the cre*ek about one Hundred' and fifty yards !to „wJiere there was a narrow channel about fifteen to eighteen feet wide, across this ;Ward,,.dasH§d, and Had got, out on the others Jiid,e , V^ii Walker arrived at , the edge, anct' 'tliere 'they stood 'with' ; abajut fif teea pr, eighteen . f eetof, a creek; between themr' ' ■'WUlkfer'told Wttrdto f surre'nclejr ; butjWard, presenting his cistol asked him whd he was, and 'his 'name ; also whetlier he had a family. On Walker replying tHat lie had a family, Ward told him jhe pHed, SU "No, I will die first." "Si right," said Walker, " You or I for it then," and immediately rushed His

horse into the creek. Whether it waa the sudden fall, or, as Walker .■ supposea, his horse went on lus I knees, it so happened that his horse went right under head and shoulders, and whilst in that position Ward jumped towards Walker to receive his death wound, for Walker at once fired, the ball entering under the left collar-bone, near, the ; ara^pitj and travelling ; direct downwards and backwards to about three inches below the right shoulder blade, where it came out. Both lungs were pierced. Ward fell, but immediately rose a^ain and grappled at Walker, who then struck him over the forehe,ad with *his revolver, and again knocked hihi under water. , Walker, . then turned his horse out 'of the 'creek,*' and dismounting went into the water and pulled the man out— apparently dead. Walker then, as it was getting dusk, rode back to Blanche's, and procured a norae and cart, but though he searched for three hours in the dark, he could not find the body. The nextmorn*ing he went out again in company with some others and brought the body in. It waa afterwards identified aa that of Fredl Ward, alias Thunderbolt. In the chase and final encounter- Constable Walker exhibited undaunted pluck,, and good riding, combined with, much prudence. Few men in the excitement of- a chase such as Walker rode, w.ould have had coolness enough to stop and shoot the bushranger's horse. It riot only exhibits coolness, but also determination, for by thus cutting off Ward's chance of escape, he fehdered him desperate 1 , and of course the more dangerous to encounter. Besides .when Walker. shot the horse he Had but one charge 'left, the other having been expended while chasing Ward; : ' ■ It appears as if Ward finding what a sticker was after, him,, thought to double Walker by swimming across,- and then, if Walker galloped round, either entice him to follow him into the creek — or else by swim> * mingback again mount his horse, ancLjt^u^ gain a start. If such was his idea, it was f ustrated by Walker's promptitude in shotingthe horse v Ward'saction at the last en*- ' counter also showed the desperate strait into which he \Vas brought, and Walker's pluck, in faceing. him. With-<ThnndeE-bolt it V&s life or death. With Walker it was simply duty. Thunderboltkhew that if he started to run on dry ground Walker "would" soon overtake him, therefore he stood on the bank of the 1 creek ready to avail himself of any chance winch might turn up to struggle with Walker, in the watjer, whereas much might depend, upon accident as strength! Besides Walker, though ..active, is but a slight. made man. All these were chances in Ward's favour J i£ v aj hand-to-hand- struggle took place .in the -water. ..It was, indeed, a* Walker said, " You or I for it?'* Ward's opportunity came when Walker's Horse floundered head under. The rusK was madei; but fortunately Walker Had die' shot lef^, and that, in taking Ward's life, very probably save . his ow.n. .From ;the direction the ball took, also the distance i$ traversed, Walkfer : musi have been almost directly over Ward, arid within k very short distance when 1 the shot was fired. Evidently Ward's nYotivewas to pull Him off His Ho^se, and one moment later he w.ould Hive hold of "Wialkev I but that moment sealed his dooiri— and THunderi bolt,,, the scourge of- the northern- district, is no more. „ ., ( , . '