THE KELLY GANG.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 165, 12 July 1880, Page 2

THE KELLY GANG.

FULLER PARTICULARS. The Poit of Thursday last has a full account of the destruction of the Kelly gang, which was telegraphed from the Bluff on the arrival of tho Tararua. From this we take the following exti acts The Glenrowan hotel, which had been taken possession of by the gang, was a weather-boarded building containing about six rooms, inclusive of the bar. Behind the main building waa the kitchen, the walls of which were constructed of slabs. At this part of tbe building the police kept up a rapid fire. When about sixty shots had been sent iuto the walls, tht. clear voice of Superintendent Hare could be distinguished above the screams of the terrified women and children in the hotel giving the order to " stop firing." The Kellys then fired three or four more shots, after which one of the gapg gave vent tp Borne coarse and byutal *m ...,——»_■■■*.■_., *****". i .ii^f »»o ■*iTM 'Wilt* l»r Wil «|JMMa_______________B_____________________l

, r \ .• V*-"' f- "*-.*. ) language, calling \to the i police*—" Come on> yoiLb- wretche$ K ahd you . can fire away; yon 'can; never hurt us."j A few straggling; Bhptfl wef6 then' fired,,abd tbcjatlack again • became; general. [Superintendent Hare reappeared.after getting his wotfnd bandaged,, biit soon #as compelled to Jeave the field, .owing to the lob.br: bloodi.-" V ' •</ "-■»". j--* v NEO kellt's PROCEEDINGS. The morning broke beautiful and clear. The police were disposed all round the hotel, wheu they were beset by danger from the rear. Ned Kelly was the cause. It appears he was the man who/sbdfc'ifSiiptrihtendfe'nt*; Hare, and he hitpseii. was wbphded in the arlfl by the fire which was returned. He could not without danger get into the hotel-, so he sprang upon bis borse, and during tbe excitement which followed he got away towards Morgan-^ Look, gut, but it was not the intention'of th'e'rufflaii to deaett his comrades, and he Returned to tight his wfly to theib at nearly 8 o'clock . When his tall figure was seen" close behind the line of police, it at first was thought he was a black fellow. He carried! a grey coat over his arm, and walked coolly; and*§lo!wly among the police, his head, chest,i ba<Jk,"and side all being protected with heavy ; places of quaner-inch iron. 'When within easyTdi'stance of Senior-Constable Kelly, who . was watching him, he fired. The police then knew who he was, and Sergeant Steele, Se lior-Constable. Kelly, _ with Dowaett ,^b_ railway guard), fired. b?yd JW V" " " A REMARKABLE"' CONTEST. CW'2 -> The'contest now became one which,- from ~its r remarkable nature, almost . baffles des- | -••bripfion. Nine of the police joined~in the conflict, and fired point blank, at Kelly, but .although it was apparent many of the shots hit him, in consequence of the way in which" he ktaggeredj'yet he always recovered him*. \ • self, and tapping his breast, he laughed derisively at, his opponents as he coolly re-l turned' their fire, fighting only /with bis.. revolver. It appeared as' if he was a -fiend with a charmed' life. „ For half-an-hour this strange contest was carried on, and then j Sergeant Steele resolutely closed in on him, j and when withia only about ten yards of him 'fired two shots into his legs, and this brought the outlaw down. CAPTURE Ol* NfcD KELLY. He ...was only wounded, however, and •it appeared he was still determined. to carry bn the conflict," bub Steele rushed him, and caught the hand in which Kelly held his revolver, the only weapon witli which he tiaS. arnied] He fired one shot after this, but* without effect. When on the ground ihe roared with savage fnrocifcy, cursiDg Ithe police vehemently.- He waß stripped of his armour, and theu became quiet and submissive, after which be was borne to the railway station. .Greatpraise is due to Dowsett for the plucky manner in which he assisted tbe police. He was only armed with a revolver, and got very close to the outlaw. , ' KELLY'S WOUNDS. . . At the railway station Kelly appeared to , be very weak . from loss of blood, and some , brandy was given him. He waa examined by Dr Nicholson and.Dr Hutchinson, who -found that he was suffering from two. bullet .wounds in the left arm, a bullet in the right foot," hear the' right toe, and five wounds in the right leg, those being the ones inflicted by Sergeent Steele. The outlaw was quite composed, and ; in v answer to" inquiries made the following Statement:— ' '- --•• • NED KELLY'S STATEMENT. What I intended to do, and in fact waß just about doing, was to go down with some of my mates and meet the special train, and rake it with shot. The train, however, came before I expected it, and I had to return to • the hotel. I thought the train would go on, and on that account I had the rails pulled up so that these b — — black trackers might be settled. . It does not much matter what brought me to Glenrowan. If I liked I could have got away last night. I got into the bush with my grey mare, and laid there all night. I had a good chance, but I wanted to see the thing end. When the police fired the first round I got wounded on the foot ; it was the left one. Shortly afterwards I was shot through the left arm. It was in front of the house where I received the injuries. I don't care what people say about Sergeant Kennedy's death. I have made my statement of it, and if they don't believe me I can't help it. At all events I am satisfied that Scanlan was not shot kneeling. That is not true ;he never got off his horse. At the commencement otthe affair tbis morning I fired three or four shots from the front of Jones' hotel, but I did not know who I was firing at. I only fired when I saw the flashes. I then cleared for the bush, but remained j there, near the hotel, all night. Two constables passed close by me talking, and I could have shot them before they had time to shoot. If I liked I could have shot several constables. At one time I was a good distance away, but I came back again. I bave got a charge of duck shot in my leg. Why don't the police use bullets instead of duck shot ? One of tbe policemen that was firing at me was a splendid shot. I don't know his name. Perhaps I would have done better if I had cleared away on my grey mare, It was just like blows from a man's fist receiving the bullets on my armour. I wanted to fire into the carriages, only the police started ou us too quickly. I knew the police would come, and I expected them. Inspector Sadler hero remarked, " You wanted then to kill the people in the train." Kelly replied, "Yes, of course I did. God help them ! They • would bave got shot all the same. Would they not have tried to kill me ?" Every kindness was shown to Kelly by the police, and bis two sisters were permitted to remain with him during the afternoon. He was also seen by the Rev. Father Tierney, to whom he made a confession. DECISION TO BURN THE HOTEL. Just as they were about to put this plan into operation, Mrs Skillion, a sister of the Kellys, dressed in a dark riding habit, trimmed with scarlet, and wearing a jaunt jr hat adorned with a conspicuous white feather, appeared on. the scene. Father Tierney earnestly requested her to go to the hotel and ask her brother and Hart to surrender. She said she would like to see her brother before be died, but she would sooner see bim burned io the house than ask him to surrender. THE HOTEL SET ON FlttE. This, in fact, was the procedure the police decided upon in order to bring the outlaws from their cover. The police first opened up a heavy fire on the hotel from the front and rear, in order to cover the operations of Senior-Conßtable Johnston, who rapidly approached to the hotel on the north side with a bundle of straw, which be placed against the weatherboards and Bet fire to. It was known that Martin Sherry, an old inau, was still iv the house, and wheu tbe last prisoner bad escaped he was alive though badly wounded. The thought that tbe man should be sacrificed, and perish in tbe flames with the determined bushrangers, caused a feeling of horror to pervade the crowd. Kate Kelly at this juncture came upon the scene, but the only expression which escaped her lips was one uttered in heart-broken accents, "My poor, poor brother." Mrs Skillion exclaimed, " I will Bee my brother before he dies," and then sprang towards the hotel, from the roof of which, by this time, tongues of flames were beginning to ascend. The police ordered her to go back, and she hesitated. A BRAVE PBIEST TO THE RESCUE. Father Tierney then emerged from tho cpowd, saying he \youl4 save Sherry. The

brave clergyman was encouraged on, his mission „by cheers from the spectators. He. : walked .boldly to tbe front door, was ..lost . ; to'VHJw amongst the smoke,, 'and a moment; jaf towards a ; masß of flames -.bbrst from the r wa|lSsand roof of the building'. 4 At,' the same; instarit a shout of terror from thej crowd! 'aphounced the fear tlja't \v#s_ felt ior the safety of the Courageous "jfriesib Xsonstabier' Armstrong and some other policemen rushed into the building from tbe rear, and a few seconds afterwards their forms, with that of Father Tierney, were seen to emerge, carrying with them Sherry, who was in a dying fetatej aud. the deadhody of Byrne. '■*_ ■ RECOVERY 04 s ThB ~ fcOOIESi- -THE OUTLAWS' ARMOfi. On reaching a place of safety, they stated that Dan Kelly and Hart were lying on the floor, apparently dead, and nothing could be done to rescue their remains from the fire. Soon afterwards the building was.completely demolished; abd. On a search being made amongst the fUins* two charred skeletons were raked oCffcirgm the smouldering debris. Weld, Wright', Hart (brother of Steve), and, otber well-known^f riends of the outlaws were witnesses of thßiicene. ~ft'j:l the bushrangers' were clad in the same armor. as, that worn by Ned Kelly, which weighed as much as 971bs, and had evidently: been constructed by some; cpuiftry blacksmith out' of'^loughsbares.' .-J?he'Vmarks on Kelly's armor showed that he .Had 'been hit seventeen times.^with bullets; -Sherry died soon after being rescued from the burning bdilding. NARRATIVE 01? THE SttATIONMASTEK. ') John Stainstreet, the station master at Glen' rowan, states:— About three -'-o'clock on Sun|day* morning a knock cametio fry door at the gate-house, witbin 100 yards*_of the station on the Melbourne side. I jumped up, and, thinking it was; some one- wanting to get , through the gates in a hurry, I half -dressed and went to the door. Just when I got to tbe door, it was burst open, but previous to that there was some impatient' talk,.-- which caused me to dress quickly. I asked "What is that for?" or, " Who are you?""' The answer was —"I am Ned Kelly." I then saw a man, clad in an overcoat, standing in the doorway. He pushed me into my bedroom where my wife and some of the children were in bed. There were two girls and one infant besides my wife. Then he said^to-me, " You havfe to come with me and takruf) the rails.'' "Wait," said T, " until T. dress." He said " Yes ;" and t completed my drees and followed him outof the house on the line. There were seven or eight men standing at the gatb which crosses the line to Mrs Joues' bote), the Glenrowan lun. Kelly said, "You direct those men how to raise some of the rails, a's we expect a special train very soon." I objected, saying "I know nothing about lifting rails off the line. The only persons who understand it are the repairers ; they live outside and along the line." Ned Kelly then went into Reardon's, tbe platelayer's house. Reardon lives outside the line, on tbe Greta side, about a quarter of a mile away. Steve Hart was present, and Kelly left us in his charge. When Kelly went away Hart gave me a prod with his rifle on the side, saying;. "You get the tools out that are necessary to raise those rails." I said, "I have not the key of the chest." He said, ."■ Break the lock." He told one of the .men to do so ; and on arriving at the station he got one of the men to do it. This, was in the little back shed used as a storeroom,' between the station and tbe gate-house. The tools were thrown out, and in the meantime Reaj.don and Sullivan, the line repairers, arrived with Ned Kelly. These two men and Ned Kelly proceeded down the line towards Wangaratta, to lift the rails. We were still under Steve Hart's charge, and we remained where we were over two hours, and then Ned Kelly and the repairers returned. Ned Kelly then inquired about the signalling of trains, and as to how I stopped a train with the signal lights. I said, " White is right, red is wrong, and greeu is * gently come along.' " He said there is a special coming ; you give no signals. Speaking to Hart he said, " Watch his countenance, and if he gives any signal shoot him." He then marched us into ray residence, and left us there under Steve Hart. Just before the special train arrived I was ordered to the Hotel by Hart, who was on and off duty all the time, to follow him to Jones's, and not signal to the train. I went into the back' kitchen, where Mrs' Jones, her daughter aged 14, and two joung children were. There was also a man there named Neil M'Phew. By this time the train had arrived, and firing was going on furiously. I did not see Ned Kelly in the room. I, with some others took refuge in tho chimney. I did not hear any remark passed by any of the gang, and they disappeared. A ball passed through the hut, and grazed Miss Jane Jones, 14 years of age, on the forehead. The girl said , " I'm shot," and turned to me. I saw the blood and told her it was nothing. The mother commenced to cry, and soon afterwards I left the kitchen and went into the back yard. I then saw three of the gang there, standing behind the chimney; they had their rifles in their hands. One o*. them said, I don't know which, * If you go out you'll be shot." I walked straight down the path towards the house ; the firing was then going on all around me, but I was uninjured. One of the police very nearly shot me, but I said "Station master"'when he challenged me. I forgot to mention that during Sunday afternoon Steve Hart demanded and received my revolver.