A NARRATIVE OF THE KELLY GANG EXPLOITS.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1061, 12 April 1879, Page 2

A NARRATIVE OF THE KELLY GANG EXPLOITS.

(Continued from our last.) - On the 26 h, then, the party, con. sistiug of Sergt. Kennedy, and Scanlan, Lonnergan, and M'lntyre (constables) were camped m the bush. It is a wild country;, and m parts almost inaccsaible, save to those thoroughly acquainted with it. The scrub or bush is, densely thick and concealing, and consequently there is yery little leok-out. Kennedy and Scanlan went on patrol m the morning, leaving M'lntyre ahd Lonergan m camp. The Kellys were not then considered the desperadoes t hey have since proved themselves, and the constables seem to have ac-epted the position, witb perfect san% froid. In the afternoon M'lntyre amused himself shooting at parrots. ow there can scarcely ba a doubt that to that pieco of waatou and outside duty sport is to be attributed the whole. oilainity, for it led the Kelly.s m the direction ot the camp. It was M'lntyre's act, and M'lntyre was the one who escaped with hi* life. Well, m the latter part of the afternoon Lonergitn made a fire. Dining the lay they had beeu reading an account of Power, and discussing tho Kellys generally, In the .vords of M'lntyre, " the billy was -boiling on the fire when I suddenly heard voices crying out, ' bail up,' throw your , bauds up," and we were surrounded. Lonergan, making a movement towards uhe door, wis shot dead. RPlntyre craved h.s lie, and got it on condition blut Kennedy ami Scaelan on thjir retur-i surrendered. The rest of the Inn id story is known — how -canlan, showing fight, was shot from' behind a tree, leaving M'lntyre passive ; an i Kennedy, partly covered by a tree, prepared to fight it out. M'lntyre, relating the particulars of his escape, says : " Whea Kennedy dismounted the horse stood still, and, seeing 'here was no chance of Kenned*, regaining his seat, I, on the impulse of the moment, seized the bridle, vaulted into the saddle, , and tore away over ropks, gullies, and fallen trees," with his life. There is something exhilirating m following the escape of a courageous man, but 1 leave M'lntyre m the wombat hole m which he says he spent the night. Let him get out of it. But. a witness, Dan Kelly, m whose veracity on other subjects I should place no reliance, when talking of the affair on the occasion of the raid on the Eurora Bank, said :— " M'lntyre was a d d coward. When Kennedy rode into the camp and was ordered to bail up, he dismounted on the off side, so as to keep his horse between himself and anc the levelled rifle ; but directly he was out of the saddle, M'lntyre jumped on the back of the horse and rode away, wibout evsn looking [ round to see if he could give any assistance to his comrade. , The history of the Kelly gang exceeds m thrilling incidents anything we heard or read of m Colonial marauding, and we must go back to the stories of old border reeving and raising, with their attendant crimes and violenae, to rea lise the state of things which has existed m the Greta district within the last 20 years, even since, m 'act, bhe Quinns, Loyds, and Kellys have been m posstssion of the ra-ges. Linked together as one f Amily, they have acquired property under selectors' rights over a bredth of country now a ! most their own. anu, following their old patriarohal calling of cattle-stealers, seemed to have adop ted the old motto of Let them take who have tho power, Let those keep who eau. Before attempting to recount the the latter deeds of the men whosel names are m every mouth, I wilt endeavor to throw some little lighl upon the history ot the Kely family. " Red Kally," as he was called, is the founder of the clan. In olden days they lived at Craigieburn aud Kilmore, where they had as bad a reputation as even cattlestealers can acquiie, and ib was a source of thanksgiving to the locality when they left it to settle m the neighbourhood of Seymour, upon a moroel of land whioh would ne'er have afforded their required

support unless supplemented by the family pursuit, Red Kelly for some time evaded the law, but was at lasb ovetaken, and convicted at Beech worth of horse-stealing, and died about 13 or 14 years ago, leaving children— Edward Kelly, Dan Kelly, Kate, and Ja,mes. " Ths Quinns" (wrote a Melbourne biographer) " came from Ireland m the early part of the colony, and after living a sort of gipsy life knocking about all over the country, commenced a miserable existence m the Greta Ranges. There are two families of .Quinns — one of which Jim Quinn is the father, and a second of . which Patrick ' Quinn is chief. Though of the same name, Patrick and Ja-nes Quinn were not related by consanguity, but only through Patrick having married Mrs Kelly's sister. The whole of the Quinns, as well as the Kellys, had the reputation of being cattle stealers for several generations. The third branch of this notorious gang is the Lloyds, who are brother-iu-iaw to Mrs Kell^, , having married into the Qainn' family. Thus it will be seen that they are all mixed up by blood and marriage, and that accounts for the way m whioh they assist one another when m trouble: A strong feeling of fraternity has beeii engendered amongst them, and this finds substantial expression iv times of danger. Red Kelly, then, is to be regarded as the founder and paterfamilias of this clan, which has grown m numbers with somewhat alarming rapidity. It has been calculated that their are no less than 125 persons m the ranges and flats who are more or less closely related to the Kellys. These relatives are scattered all over the country, from Greta to the Buffalo Mountains, and they can easily render assistance to. theirs friends and convey them intelligence. Amongst the worst of tbe clan were the Quinns, who had the reputation of holding human life very cheap "indeed. In the words of an old Tip per ary doggrell : Shillelagha was his writin' pen, And all his joy was fightin' men. Amongst other acts of violence Jim Quinn was imprisoned for beating a neighbor wit.h a bullock yoke. He threatened to murder another man by the horrible process of boring an augur iv o his head ; and for a trampling assault, m which be cruelly beat a man with a heavy paling, he got three months. The autipithy of the clan to the police was inveterate, nnd we find Quinn one day assaulting constable Hall and splitting his head open with a stick. The village of Greta is within 10 miles of Mansfield and seven of the Glensowan railway station, and the hut m which the Kellys now reside is a few miles from Greta. It is m ohe immediate neghborhood of the ruiges which m-iy be called their own that the aran-g Lave taken shelter, and from wbioh, m defiance of the police, they make their predatory raids. In tlie old times of Morgan, Benn Mall, Thunderbolt, and Power, the Greta Kanqjes were the Alsatia to which thoy pushed m extremity, and were welcomed. The Kelly* stronghold was m t.he Elevenmile Creek, and along the Fifteenmile C eek up to Glenmore, near the Wombat Hills where the Quinns reside. From that point there is one road over the tableland to Mansfield, ancl another towards the King River Ranges is crossed through a gap runiuug back from the stream, leaving the lower flat inteisec'ed by lagoons. This gap can be seen from the. heights, and the point is so commanding that no one can approach without being subject to view. It is here that the Kellys have taken shelter, and being surrounded by their friends, it is impossible to approach them unawares ; and unless they are taken m the open, I am of opinion that it will be a long time bofore their : capture is effected. As I have said, -^ ■•their principal pursuit was cattle- \ stealing ; this was necessarily varied !by agriculture, but it occuped all | their spare time. It was not uuIcommon for some members of the clan to cross to New South Wales, drive a herd over the border, run them m to some place inaccessible to the police, erase old brands, re-brand them, and send them into market for sale. This was the school m which the Kelly's were trained, with what result we now see.