THE KELLY GANG.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 92, 13 July 1880, Page 2

THE KELLY GANG.

Subjoined are details from Melbourne files to hand of the' Kelly tragedy .in Vie-, toria. The particulars given will be found extremely interesting, and am fuller and more complete than ftny of the telegraphic euiuruarieH -that hare been published: » .■- --TUB MLlinBH OJ 6UI-HIITT. With regard to the murder of Aaron Sherritt,m}ar Beechworth, one of the conHtables prevent tho folluWing nari-af tive : — " There wer» v four of us sent out to .WHtoh Byr.ie'u mo'hor'a homfl. -We were pliiitnd for a fow weeks in Sherritt'e hu% which ia »bput sevea milos from Beechworth. About five minutes past 6 o'oloofc on Saturday r vcning a man knooked at the door. Sherritt opened it, and said, ' Who is hero f The mau. repli-jd, *I have lost my wuy. (Jan you put me on • the right, truck for Sebastop"! t* Air* Aaron Sln-riitt. tol ] her liusbuud to go out and direct the man. Be accordingly went out, and found ' thHt the mau was Antonio Wioks. it digger, and found that, he was Mmlcuffdil. Joe Byrne stoot 1 . behind WiCkH, and the moment Sherritt stepped foi war.] ByniO shot him through tlio eye. SherriU xtaggered. backwards, and then received another bullet in the chest, and died. Sherritt's wife nrid mor her in-lusv were in the hnusd> and we wei ein the bedroom. Byrne entered 'the house, and Mked who was in the bedroom. Mrs Sherritt said it. was a man. Byrne then ordered her to bring the man out. She eamo in, and we kept her J here. Byrne than ' •aid to Mrs Sherritt, ( I will shoot your mother if 700 don't come out.' Mrs Sherritt's mother (hen came into the room to bring her out, and we kept them back. Byrne said, *1 will noon make you cotjje out,' and be, with Dan Kelly, Pit seven bullets through the walls of the hut. We never got a obance of shooting at them, Dan Kelly said, <We will set fire to the place,' and he broke up a barrel for firewood. Byrne asked Mr* Sberritt if she u*ed kerosene or oandles, and when she said caudles, he said he wanted kerosene to 8?t the o ; ace fth'ght. W* henrd them talking .f)3 the (miHi-l .until 4 or d n'olonk i.»£-.the tniirning, when they mu*t hare L-.f , Bym a^ked un to surrender, ami we replied tint wo would aoon^r div. Wiien they threatened to barn tat houM down, Mrs Sberritt's

mo'ber Bai,d, ' Do not burn down the house. Ik ow,- Byrne, you have got a soft heart.' ■ By.no repli.id, • I b.-ive a heart as hard as ' ••0 c. I wilt ih.'ot tho whole lot of tbem like dojr.i.' We feniained in tlu< hut until, j Ijiet nia:bt, when wa were relieved by another \ paty «f police." , ; Immediately on tho nows being spread of > the bi-utal murder of Sberritt a* Sebastopol the police were in aotivity. A special train ■■ was despatched from Melbourne at 10,15 ' on Sunday night. Bub4nspeotor O'Connor ' and hi* five blank trackers were pioked up at Esnendon. aud Superintendent Hare and eijjbt troopers with tbeir horses at Oen ilia, wh eh place was reached at 1.30 a.m., fnd a<Uir some littlo delay owiu^ to the tearing up4#tjeraihbythegffngTtSslJWß«Uol£S ' Olenrowao, and the men disembarked. TUB FIRST BMCOUKTBB. No sooner were the men out of the train, than Constable ßradren, the looalpoliceman, rushed into their midst, and stated, with'an amount' of excitement excusable under 'he circumstanoeft, that he had jupt> esoaped^ from the KeJly«, and that they wire- at- tnaV mumont iv possession of Jones' public houflo, Hb'Uf a buudre<l j'avds from tha U'ion. He cail^d • upon. %\in police >o urrouud the h.iutß, aud his advice wir followed without delay. Superintendent H<re with his men, "and Sub-inspector Connor with Li* bltck tracie.s, at once adrnncsl on the bu<ldin>r. Mr Hare took tb': lea^, aud oiiargad-ri^ht ap to the hotel. T { he first bm.h "was . «wcoL'din);ly hut.The polioe and the gang blaz >d awty at each other in the darkness furiously. It lb«tfd for about a quartet of an hour, and during that <ime there was nothing hut a succession of flnshes andreporti>,thepiogin • of^bu'lets in the air, und tha shrinks ot" women who had been made prisoneiß ; n the hotel. Then there was a lull, but nothing could be soun for a minute or two in consequence of 'iia smoke. In a few minutes Superintendent Hath r'etuued ta the railw-iy stavion with a shatter* d wrist The first «hot fired by tho gang had pasted through his left : wri&t. He bled proluioly from the Wound,' but air Carririgcop. artist of the Sketcher, tied up the wound with his handkerchief, and checked the hemorrhage Mr Hare then . set . out again Cpr ,the fray, .and cheered his men as well as he could, but he iwidually became co weak from loss oi blood that he hud reluctantly to retire, and was soon aft^wards conveyed to Benallu by a special engine. On his departure Sub -inspector O'Connor and senior son*tabld Kelly took charga, aud kept pelti ntf awiiy at fhe outlaws al I. the znbraing . IVlr 0' 'onuor took up a position in a small oreek in front of the hotel, and disposed •his blank fellows one on each side, and stuck to this post gallantly throu'gh6nt the whole encouQtor. The trackers also stood • r,he baptism of fire with fortitude, never flinching for an instant. At about five o'clock in the morning a heartrending wail of grief ascended from the hotel. The voice was easily distinguished a* that of Mrs. Jones, the landlady. Mrs. Jones was lamenting the ' fate of her j son, w*io had been shot in the buck, as she •supposed fatally. Sne came out from the hotel crying bitterly, and wandered into the buah on several occasions, and nature seemed to echo her grief. She always returned, ho vever, to the hotel, until ahe puc cneded, with tho assistance of one of the prisoners, in removing hor wounded boy from the building, and in sending him ou to Wangaratta for medical treatment. The firing continued intermittently, as occasion served. At daybreak police reinforcements arrived, augmenting the besieging toroe ; to about 30 men. Befor* dftylight Senior- eons; abb Kelly found a revolving rifle and cap lying in the bush, about 100 yards from the hotel Ihe rifle was covered with blood, and a pool of blood lay near it. This was evidently the property of one of tha bi.Bh* rangers, and suspicion therefore aroae that they had escaped. That these articles not ouly belonged to one of the outlaws, but to Sad Kelly himnolf , waa soun proved .~ Wash day was fawning the >vom<m aud children w?io hail been mude prisoners in tbo novel wer« ullowed to depart. They were, h'/w> over, oh-llenged individually as they approached the p:.»lie9 lino, for it , was '^ouifht tha the ou'.lawn might attempt to escape undor BOin'J disguiso. tftD K:CIXY'B PaOCEEOISGiJ. The rnorning i»roke bqffutiful an^ ple^-.; 'Che police were disposed all round" 1 the ho:el, whon thoy wore beset by danger from the rear. NTadJ£eHy was the^ cauao. It appears he was tKo mftn «ho Bhot -uperiiitoulent Mare, an-1 he bim^lf w-is woundod in tho atm by the firo which w*s roturn^l. He could- tior without danger -get -ima^&ift» hotel, so he sprang upon his horse, and ■luring tho excitement which'- followd ho 3>t awiiy to Morgan's Lookout, but it w v not the intention of the ruffian to dnserfc Ilis comrades, and he returned to fight his Wrt.y to them at nearly 8 o'clock. When ■:is t>iH figure was eoen behind the line of pi>l;o<v jt ,M ftrnty-was thoujhti h^ was -ji blaokfellow. ! Be' oarried a grey cout ovdr his aim and walked ooolly and slowly aiflijnir rh? polJet'-'bia head, cheßt, biichr, und Hi }c all beinjf provectvd with heavy plutew of quarier-inoh iron. When witLiu eiiHy distance of Senior-Constable Kelly, who was watching him. he 'fh'ed Th: police then koew who he w«s, anij Sergeant Steele, jgtai..*-' V.ns'able K^lly, »uTI Dowsett '(a* railway guard) fired. .: A BEMA.RK&BUB CONTB8?. ; r ; The c -nte.it now becahle'ontj whioh", from ftfl r-.-markable nature, almost baffles desoriiifi(»iirf > r rne of? rh.6 1 pfilice joined in tho couflici and fired point blank at Kelly, but, a 'though it w:is apparent many of the shots hit bim, in consequenee^.^f.,the way in Which lie staggered, yet he always recovered himsf If, and tupping hit breast, he laughed derisively at? bi* opponents as ho coolly re- r •turned their ! firej fighUnfe-onV witK*i* revolver. It appeared as if ho was a fiend with a ohannbd life. For halfan-honr this strange contest wa»- carried on, and tb,-)u Sargeant Steole resolutely olosed in on him, asd wiien within only about ten yards oi him firefl two shuta into ; bis ■ Icgß»'"an.d thus brought tin*, ontlrtw down. lie was only wounded', ''however," hhd it appeared he was Hti'l detormint'j to carry nn the>nifliot, but' Stei-je ruiihecl him; KM caught the hand in which- K»;i|y held his rovolver.ithe only' weapWi with • <irhich he was armed. He fired one chot after thi?, but without effect. Wheir oh Sfte,. ground - he roared with savage ferocity, cursing the police vehemently. He was stripped of his armour, and then became quiet and submissive, after which he wns borne to the railway station. Great praise is due to Dowsett for the pluoky manner in whvcji 1)3 Assisted tbe polioe. He wan ouly- armed with . a revolver, aud got very close to the outlaw. KEI/Lt'B WODNDB. At the railway station, Kelly appeared to b? very weak from loss of blood, and »oine brandy was given him. He was examined by Dr Nicholson and Dr Hutchison, who found that hn was suffering fr.om two buljet wouclt'-in the left arm, « builot in the right foot, uear the right tne, and five wounds in tha right leg, thoso bein<j tbo ones inflicted by Sergeant Steele. The ou'Uw wu4 quite composed. hkh BVAttuow'Mfitavtaini^ urn Mrs l.'eai-flon jnakefl the fo!low : rifc -tateinent:- u Jfy hiwbatl is a pl.»teUyor emi'loytd ou thu railway, and we live about a mils from tha station on tbe Btaallft tide.

At three o'clock on- Sunday morning we were alt in bed, and 'were roused by Nc<V Kelly, who knocked at the door, and -Co!J| my hu^bfind whfcn ho opened it to ( •urreiider biuisftp.'/ Tho^p had also made a "prisoner j6f Hallivan, another platfllayer, and Kelly ;• brought as to ihe station, where I if p» kept /lor some hoars. Kel'y took my hatband and Sullivan down the fine, in order to tear iup the raUs and destroy the coming train with the police. Ha was afterwards taken 'to the hotel. There ar« a lot of innocent peo- la in there now, and they are frightened to oome out for fear the police will kill them. Among them are James and Michael Beardon, my husband and son, Catherine and PatriQk."j,JeJanqr here..£oum»K}, - "Wf S Cooke, (r labourer), Martin bherry (a" platelayer). L~W.- Reynolds (broker of the postmaster), Robert Gibbons,- the, brothers Meanliffe, and other Ht rangers Whom 1 don't know." DEATH OF BTBNB. When the poor woman had completed iher. story, the firing oi the police became ' v»jry brisk, and it was vigorously replied to by ihe desperadoes Senior -, Constable Kelly, at' tnalt juncture, found ari «it»ined" «with blood iyiag on the side of the hill, and this Jed, tOtrthu supposition being forraud tint itpk'qt tne gang was wou ided; and had esoap*d<s' through the forest. Just before the arrival of another; detachment of police a heavy volley was poured into the hotel by Sthe golioe., and, to the statements whicf^iqme of the prisoners afterwards made, tfiat volley -proved fatal, to Byrne, who was standing ofoMe to young Delaney . drinking a " nobbier " of whiskey at the bar when he was shot in the groin. He wa« then- barriied: to the back of the build- - ing, where he gradually sank, and died a paiuful death This faot at the. time wan unknown to the polioe. THE BIE6B CONTINUED. • " At 1 • o'ulopk a whileflag or handkerchief ' was held out at the front door, and immediately afterwards about • 30 men, all piisr-nero, sallied forth holding up their hands. They escaped whilst Dan Kelly . and Hart were, defending the back door. The police rallied up towards them witn tbeir arms ready, and called upon fhem to stttnd The crowd did so, and in obedience .to a subsequent order, fell prone on the ground. The scene presented when they were lying on the ground, and demonstrating the respectability of their-Hcharacters, was unique, and, in some degree amusing. TH.B END.— XBS HOTEL BURNT. The siege was kept up all the forenoon, and till nearly 3in the afternoon Some time bef old. this the shooting from the hotel hud ceased, and opinions were divided as to whether Dan Kelly and Hart were reserving their ammunition or -were dead. The best part of the day having elapsed, the police, who were now acting under the direction of Superintendent Sadlier, determined that a decisive step nhould be taken. At 10 minutes to 3 o'clock another and the' last volley was fired into the hotel, and under cover of the fire Senior-constable- Charles Johnson, of Violet Town, ran wp to the house with a bundle of straw which (having set fire to) he placed on the ground at the went wipe of the building. This was a moment of intense excitement, and all hearts were relieved when Johnson was seen to regain uninjured the shelter he had left. All eyes were now fixed on the silent building, and tho circle of besiegers begtn' to eloso in rapidly on it, some dodging frorn^. tree to tree/and many, fully persuuded that every one in the hotel must bo hort de com' bat, coming ou; boldly into the open. Just at this juncture Nx& Skillian, sister of the Kellys, attempted to approach th* house from the front. She had on a blank riding habit, with a red underskirt, and white ftainsborough bat, and was a prominent object in the scene. Her urrival on the ground was almost simultaneous with the attempt to fire the building. Her object in trying to reach the house was apparently to iuiluce he nurvivors, if any, to come out and surrender. The polioe however, ordered her to stop. She obeyed the order, but very reluctantly. Iv the meantime the straw, which burned fiercely, had all been con-uracd, aud at first doubts were enter* t'tined as to whether /Senior-constable Johnson's ex^l 4*.rhaj ; Jbeen successful. Not very tuany minuies elapsed, however, before smoke was seen coming out of the •roof, and flames wero discerned through the front window. on fhe western aide. A light westerly wind was blowing at the time, anl this cirri ed the flunea from the straw underneath the Vail and into the hou^e, and as the" building wa» lined withoalic, tho file spread rapidly. Still no sign of life in tho buildinir. Wh«n tbe house was seen to b 9 fairly . on fire, Fath«r (iibney, who had previously* started for i; but had been stopped' by: the police, walked up to the front- door, and entered ir. By this time the patience of the besiegers was exhausted, and they all, regtr.iless of shelter, rushed, to the budding. ¥ajtuer Gjin6j\ at much personal risk from the flames, h tilled into a ropno t&'^the left, and the.-c anw two bodies lying Bide >>y tide oh their backs. .He touched them and found 'life whs extin«t iii each." These were tbe bodien of Duti Kelly and Haiti - and the rev. gantlenian expressed the oplniou, based on their pivsitidn, that they must have .^il^d one another. Whether they killed •onej nnotheror whether both or one committed suicide, or whether, both being mortally wounded by the besiegers they determined to die side by side, will never be . known. The priest had barely time to fee their bodies before the fi>e forced him to make a speedy exit from the room, and the flames had then made such rapid progress on the western ftderof the house that, tjl|O v few people wW folio wdd the rev. gentleman's heels dared not attempt to rescue tho two bodies. It may be here stoted that after the hptefr tod^ Wett ; fcurned down; the * two bodies were removed from the emhsrs. They presented a horrible spectacle, nothing but the trunk and skull being left, ttnd these almost burnt to a cinder. Their armor was,- found-, near them. , About -the remuins" there was apparently nothing to lead to positive identification, but tho discovery of the armor near them Jjnd other " eifcurastttnces render- v impossible to bo daubted that they were thobe of Dan Kelly ant!- Steve Hart. The latter was a much Hn,aller man than the younger Kelly, and thii) difference in site was noticeable in their remains, (kmstabfe Dwyer, by-tbe-.bye, who followed lather Gibney.jnto the hotel, B»ate»'th*t he "was hear enough to •*• reoognise Dan -Kelly. ./■■ . • • ' ! ■:'. < As to Byrne's body, it was found in ihe entrance to", «ho .bfrWoojn, which wag on the cast side .qf.the lipuse, ,and there was time to remove it from tbe building, but not before -the right side was' sngTitly scorched, Thiabody likewuo presented a dreadful appearance. It looked as it it bad been iIl-nQOriqufed. ,- Tbe .thin fjjee ,w«s bhok with «moke,.an.d.the arms were* ber.li at right ancle* at t tii >' elbows, thft fltiff*ned •; joints below theelbows eUnding ereot. The body WB4 quite etiff, and its appearance and tfte poaition in. Which it was found cowoborated the sujjement thtt Byrne died early in the mornihj?. He ie said to have received the ffttaf r «roun^,' which was in the groin/, while d-htbtng'a gl <§!■ of whiakey at tbe hnr. lie had a rinir.jpnuhis right bund; v w-nicli had belonged to Constable Scanlon, ' who watt murdered by the gang on tho Yf^n-ibat Rspgcs. The body was dressed in a bine mw coat, twetd ttriptd toonasn,

cSMiAl y*h!]rets J!f-fit«inK'''boot/ Wke Ned Kelly, ftyrn« bbwa bushy beiftl'atmot rin'-whioh e»ck member of the ffiilg was clad w-iaof.amost substsntiul cßwicter. It was made of iron » qnar.^r of au ir.oh tfiiok, and oonaiated of a lon« breastplate, ahouUcr plates, back-guard, and helmet. The helpiet ressmblbd v nail caaHrlthoat a crown, and with a lonjf rilt at the elevation of the ejes to look th'ou«h. All tbese arciules aro believed, to hare-been made by, two men, one. living near Greta, and the other near Osley. Th 9 iron 'was prbcuroof by the larceny of ploughshares, and larcenies of this kind - having been rather frequent of. late in the Kelly district, tha police had begun to suspect that the gang were, preparing for action. 4 Ned K>lly'« armor alone weighed 9ftbt, •'» opflsidttaUb "weight to oarry oto howobact.' • ' •-•■ : tdZATtSHbn OH THS TIIAIK.- : ■>'■ ! ■ !J ; *4tibrdß% to Ned Kelly, the srang-, ! Af tor •hooting Sherrit at Sevastopol, rode openly throngh tho. street* of BeecUworth, an.d then came, on to Olenrowan for ; the purpose^ of 'wrecking a»y special -pulioe (rnin which might be sent of tor them, in the liopq /of destroying the bfac-k fraefcors, ' Thdy descendea oaGlenro wan at about three o'clo 1 on Sandiay morniug, and rouaiiiß up all the inhabitants of the township, bai'e 1 them up. Fee^igf nfeab]e_io* liiEt the riila ihemellVeo/ they compelled the line-rep lirorg of the di* trict and others^o,49 ho.. The spot sjaj^cd was on' tbe*iftrst . turiiipg af'er reaching Glenrowan, at ajjqlvert and ou an inolinp. One vail waa rained' on each Hide,, .and iha--Bie*^eW wer#' tomov.-d 1 . The/ diTSoii# object in viaX» %Atr"<th>'<de^trnoUo'4 of the special train. Haying- performed this fiendjslft tjfect pfi^-rk-Kelly zoitm>«l<& the township, an*L bailing aty jth^ people up, kept them prisoners tn we' station master's house and.«Tonf h's hotel. P>j 3 o'clock on. Monday morning, they gathered all 'heir captives? intd the ho'eJ. and the Jftirnber <6f | those unfortunate people amoufited at ojej time to 47. .■. ■; ■■„-.-iT