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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1993, 26 December 1874, Page 2

Sullivan's account of ! his travels.!. :« x The " Bendigo Advertiser ■*>'■ of .-jtherlsth af r> December says: — Sullivan, arrived ii,n,. 7 l ; Sandhnrsi; about half-past nine yesterday^ : ' handcuffed and guarded by two policemen. His destination was Melbourne, and it was considered J necessary, -as much as possible, to; keep him from public, pb«__ 3ervation. .- The hews ■'_' of \ -the i " L of the criminal,' and his lodgment; in the lockup only got wind .about half. an. _, hbnr before the time; for his departure for J^ Melbourne, and- then : our '; reporter, by courtesy of Sergeant Drought; 'was allowed; y/ an interview with- the prisoner. Asfar as he was concerned (theiipriaoner. is meant), it appeared as if he ratherlikedl it. The conversation? which 'ensued', was a rather promiscuous one. Sullivan was as full of italk as could -be wished., rln"^ fact, he boiled over with talk. ' Being a^ prisoner, he desired to be a distinguished ""' prisoner. ' He had been a distinguished: prisoner;;, before, poor wretch, and,; hajd ri ,j----paid the penalty of the honpiv '.; New r Zealand "had cast him off from; her 1 shores/ 0 a and he had gone { to England; From there, for what? To be branded before he crossed the line .as a murderer. "It " was very simple," said he, "the ■^ay^they, found me out. I was a passenger of tne'^ ship (the name he would not' give)| so^r and-si to London, and. just 'asjwe.were ; crossing the line a woman identified :nie;.A Somehow or the other, women "haye -3 always been at the bottom of my mishaps^ It was .ifi.^ woman ;whc > drew me i to f New Zealand, and it was a ; woman I cameback;__ for. T tell you the truth," he said^to'" :;i our reporter. "1 could not rest away from my wife, T could not rest away rr Z from children. You see, I had pro-H| perty at Wedderburn, and I knew it had been sold for a song without, my consent, so I came back to reclaim it— only for the,,, sake of my childreni I can assure ypuyj-jj only for the sake: -.-of vmy , children.",::. Alt.-^ this stage, the prisoner r was on Hhexery; verge of tears, but he was gruffly reminded;;':that he was not expected to talk gammon^: ' and proceeded to relate his; adventures: in^; London. "I wanted^ 'top'iland' at "Fal-p mouth," he said very piteously, "but th'e^' pa3senger3 some.first-claßSoneSjr.whQ were going ashore ; in a boat,' objected a Jonah; You see the captain had; got mjfiii history by this time, and'waS l very sterna? with me.. I asked him 3 wKy- V o6Wd?nb't I ■ > bealiowed fblandjand hetold-'cfie^thit- Ihe had agreed, to take, me to London^'aiid 1 that take [me there' he would, Well, I got to London all right,. anc\.*witbT a Xt of" the passengers was ; : lahded l at the West India Docks allr right. But' when I landed vI saw a man who' looked at "me qusly, . as , I ; thought,-, and, folbwe^d, ,nw~" I book a cut and. went down to"a coffee shop in the Milei-end road,/.where \ had tea, but when J carneout another man I not know waß Waiting outside, .andObe^ too, followed me. I went about London fora week. I went to ; the thestie^itb 1^ the music halls, and, tQ-.places open only : in the 'small hours of.~the.l night, P a^4j ' wherever I '.went v thfere was : symelbn^a^,' my elbowi I went away into th ; e co^n'try down to Shropshire, to see some pepptej,, | knew there;, or who had^ known ; : we when" 1 I was young, and there; I found;, thatTl,^ was followed. Then, thinking the attention of my trackers, I went back to London. On passing 'Scotland-yard I saw a man watching-me intentlyi . ing an eye on him,] l crossed^ and j passed -- within a few feet of him. He,' liowevei^"j took no notice of me, as far as I could * see, but a few minutes afterwards I found i that I /was i again vfollowed.l jjf-0 travelled the city that; night, Bouth, north, east, and west. ' ■■. I, crossed Lond,on bridge with its crowd .; '.^Vaterloo .bridge, with its comparative • 'sblitudej bu : t 1<; e J verywh'eWT went the ,fqQtfaj[ of tfie imanwho was^old off to watcli me fell "on "my ear. 1 'don't wanttoviten; your that I^ was, frightened,, because, to tell you the-truth, I never wUa

For remainder of News see 4th page.

frightened in my life but once, and how that was I am not going co divulge, but somehow the pitpat of the feeb I knew were echoing mine in those busy London streets nearly sent me mad. You want to know," said he, after a pause, "how I came back to Australia. By what means, and by which vessel, I will not tell you. Enough for you that that I did not come by the Northumberland, nor did I come by way of Sydney. Lots of people have wanted to know that, but they will never know it. I came and I am here. I came to see my wife, and above all my children, and it is nothing to do with you or anyone else how I came. All I can tell you is that I am here, and that being here, I don't think anyone can send me away from here if I like to stay." Here our reporter mildly suggested that he might be sent back to New Zealand, where it was well known, if onje let free, he had no chance of escape. "As to that," he replied, " I am prepared to take my chance." Here, several persons entered the cell in which he was confined, and the conversation ceased. In appearance the man differed very little from what the writer saw of him some seven years since in Dunedin gaol, except that he had grown a moustache which had been dyed., He wore spectacles during the greater part of his conversation, but kept moving them at times, as if they were irksome to him. When the constable came to him to remove him to the cab waiting at the door, the handcuffs were placed on his wrists, and he laughingly remarked that they were old friends. Placing his great coat over his wrists so as to disguise the bracelets, he passed out to the cab in waiting, to be met by a torrent of groans, to which he readily replied by remarking audibly that he wished he had the in the bush. At the station a crowd was assembled to meet him, and here also he was received with a perfect delirium, of graausj to which he bowed his acknowledgements. He was placed in a room for safety, and on his advent thence again received the compliments of the crowd, passing along with a smile for all, and a bow for those nearest him. The wretch was placed in no new position. He merely enacted the part he had played before on many stages. He was the hero of the hour, and that seemed to satisfy his vanity, as it had done many a time before, when hungry hands sought for his throat, and cried to Heaven for vegeance in vain.

A correspondent writes from Wedderburn:—" Sullivan, since his arrival at Wedderburn, has been boasting how well he has got on since he was let off in New Zealand. According to his account be did ' not do so bad while under the patronage of the Zealand authorities, having acted as gaol barber and earning his 10a per day, and drew as much at a time as LSO. He says he has been to England and France, and made quite a tour in the former country, going to Cornwall, Staffoidshire, London, and other places, and while in London he says he often attended the theatre, and was surrounded by three or four detectives, bot they did not catch him."