THE KELLY GANG

Temuka Leader, Issue 269, 10 July 1880, Page 2

THE KELLY GANG

The Bluff correspondent of the Otago Daily Times telegraphed the following particulars to that journal of the breaking up of the Kelly gang . Telegraphing on June 27, the Beechworth correspondent of the Melbourne Argus says : " The town was thrown into a stjite of consternation to-day upon the 'arrival of a constable from Sebastapool, a place about lia-f way between Becchtvorth and El Dorado, with a report that a mau named Atron Sherritt had been shot dead at Sebustapool on the previous night the perpetrators of the foul deed being the t&Uy gang. Four constables occupied his hut on the night in question, for the purpose of observing the place where it w;is thought-' at any moment the gang might call About six o'clock p.m they heard the back door open, when a German named Anchony Weeks, who had been made use of by the gang for the purpose, called Sherritt, and asked to be guided on the road home Upon Sherritt showing himself he was shot in the face twice by some person, supposed to he Joseph Byrne There were in.the 1 hut at the time four policemen, Mrs Barry and daughter, the deceased and his wife The hut was small, and the front door faced the back A third shot was fired at Sherritt from the front door, when he fell and shortly after died The night was very, dark,- and as a bright fire w.ts burriingfihsicle, the police were placed at a great disadvantage Sherritt fell inskhv and* the doors were closed and several shots fired through them and other parts of the building, at he police, but without- effecj An attempt was made to fire'the" 1 building by the outlaws, who remained near the hut for some hours.' Sherritt was 24 yi-ars of age. and noted as a runner and jiimpW- Prior'to the Kelly outbreak he was on very friendly terms with the gang, but recently placed himself in communication with the police, and for months had been employed by thorn The information lie afforded as to the movements of the gang was valuable, and-it is stated on authority that not only did the gang ascertain who was keeping the police posted up, but that they ulso"gave out' weeks ago that they"intended.'to take his life "

''Reverting to. the hotef siege, at'various times during the morning more policemen arrived, but the bushrangers could not be dislodged, and what was more perplexing still, the prisouers could not be persuaded to leave, although the* police repeatedly called upon them to come out. - At twelve o'clock, however, about thirty men and youths rushed put"of the froufc door, holding their hands aloft Ihe poljce told them to advance where they were located Many of the unfortunate" people, were s<T terrorstricken'that they ran hither and thither,, screaming- for "mercy They, then approached the police, and, -r:rew themselves upon their faces one by oue They were cdled on, and having been -'minutely* searched, were despatched to the station Tie olice kept up a constant lire until iioon, but the bushrangers ceased t<3 'return if"after one o'qlock It was believed that Hart had told Kelly they intended to be'qrtiet.anH escape at night The cunndn-telegraphed for from Melbourne did ndt arrive in time, aad the police determined to fire" tlm hotel At this moment, Mrs Skilligin,lister of the K il'ys, dressed in n dark riding-habit trimmed with red, and wearing a jaunty hat adorned with a conspicuous white feathcr.appeared on the scene:' Father Kferney earnestly requested her to go-to the hotel and ask her brother ami Hart to surrender She said she'would like to see her brother before he died,*bi# i she' would sootier see him

burnt in the house than ask him tosurren- ' V dcr. This, in fnct, was the procedure the, polio'; decided upon in order to bring the" outlaws fro n their cover Some 200 peopla ; b tliis'ime bad arrived on the platform Then the police opened up a heavy fire on t' e'hoti'lfrom tlie.ffottt «nd rear This! was done in order to cover the operations of Constable Johnstone, who approached the he use on the noitii side with a bundle of straw, which he placed against the weatherboards and ignited It was known that Martin Sherry, an old* man, was still in the house, and wlien the last prisoners had escaped he was alive, though badly woundecr The thought "that the unfortunate man should be sacrificed and perish in the flanks with the determined bush ran gen£- ; who had mad* 1 so long a stand, caused a feeling of horror to pervade the crowd Kale ttelly, at this juncture, came ung£' • the scene, but the general expression tlrai escaped her lips was the one uttered in heart broken accents, ' My poor, poor bro-" thers' Mrs SkUligin exclaimed, ' I will see my brother before he dies,' and then.: sped towards the hotel, from the roof of w'.iich, by this timre.tongues of flames were-, .beginning to ascend The police ordered her back, and she hesitated Father Kierney emerged from the crowd, saying ' he would save Sherry ' He walked boldly to the front door, and was lost to viewing the smoke, and a moment afterwards a, mass of flames burst from the walls and roof At the parne instant a shout of terror from the crowd announced their fears for the6afety of the courageous priest Canstable Armstio-ig, with some other police,' : rushed into the building from the rear.and in a few seconds afterwards their forms, with that of Father Kierney, were seen to emerge, carrying with th«m Sherryj who' 1 1 was in a dying stace, and the dead body, of the outlaw Byrne .Sherry soon after died. On reaching a place of satety they stated that Dan Kelly and Hart were lying on the floor, apparently dead ISfotriihg, however;; could be done to rescue their remains from' the fire Soon afterwards the building was completely demolished,and on search being made two charred skeletons were raked out from the smouldering debris All the bush-* rangers were clad'in the same armor as that -worn by Ned Kelly .which weighed as much' as97lbs, and had evidently been made same up 7 country blacksmith out of plough-' shares." ;.

NED KEXIiYS' STATEMENT. "I was going down to meet the train with some of my mates, and tp J rake it with shot ; but it arrived before; I expected, and I then returned to the* hotel. I expected the train would go en, and I had the rails pulled up, so that' t] iese black trackers might be settled/ Ido not.say what brought me to Glen-' rowan, but it seems much. Anyhow- I; could have got away last night, for I ,got; into the bush with my grey mare, and lay/ there all night. But I wanted to see thething end. In the first volley the policfe*. fired I was wounded oo the left foot; 'sop .1 afterwards I was shot through the left : arm. I got these woundß in front of the' house. I do not care what people say, about Sergeant Kennedy's death. I have . made uiy statement of the affair, and if* the public don't believe me I can't help-* it; but I anv'satisfied it is not' true that Scanlan was shot kneeling. He never got off his horse. I fired three or four shots from the front of Jones' hotel, but who I; was firing at I do not know. I simply fired where I saw police. I escaped to the' bush, and remained there overnight. I : could have shot several constables if Iliked. Two passed close to me. I coulrf* have shot them before they could shoot. I was ft good distance away at one. time, 'but'came back. Why don't the police use" bullets instead of duck-shot : I have got one charge of duck-shot in my leg. One policeman who was firing at me was a splendid sh. t, but I do not know his nrme .» I daresay 1 would have done well to have ridden away on my grey mare. The' bullets that struck my armour felt like blows front a man's fist, I wanted to fire ; into the carnages, but the police started on us too quickly I expected the police to come " Inspector Sadlier •. " You wanted,, then, to kill the people in the train?" Kv-lly : " Yes, of course, I did ; God help them, but they would have got shot all the same Would they not have tried to kill me V

THE- BtfEl&'f-PROOF ARMOUR The armour in which each of the gang was clad was of a most substantial character It was made of iron a quarter of an inch thick, and consisted of a long breast-plate, shoulder-plates, back-guard, •' and helmet. The helmet resembled a nailcan without a crovvp, and with a long slit at the elevation 6S=the eyes to look through All these articles are believed to have beenmade bs%wo men, one living near Greta, ! and the other near Oxley. The iron was' procured by the larceny of ploughshares, a-d larcenies of this kind having been rather frequent of late in the Kelly district, the police had began to suspect that the gang were preparing for action. Ned Kelly's armor alone weighed 971 b, a considerable weight to carry on horseback. There are five bullet marks in the helmet, three on the breastplate, nine on the back-plate, and one on the shoulder-plate. His wounds, so far aa at present known, are : Two on the right arm, several on the right leg, one on' left foot, one on right hand, and two near the groin.