The Argus
5 / 7/1880
... part of the KellyGang story
The Argus continued with its report of the KellyGang at Glenrowan
Carrington account
He was dressed in the dandy bushman style—yellow cord pants, strapped with slate cross-barred pattern cloth, riding boots with very thin soles, and very high heels indeed; white Crimean shirt with large black spots; waist- coat same material as trousers; hair jet black, inclined to curl; reddish beard, and moustache, and very heavy black eyebrows— altogether a fine figure of a man, the only bad part about his face being his mouth, which is a wicked and cruel one. The doctor, who had arrived from Benalla, now dressed his wounds and he turned round on his side and dozed off as calmly as if nothing had happened.
I left Kelly and went outside, when I heard the police giving the remaining members of the gang and all who were in the inn their last warning. I don't know who it was called out but these were the words, "All those inside there had better surrender at once ; we will give you 10 minutes to do so, after that time we shall fire volleys into the house."
Instantly a white handkerchief was seen to wave from the doorway, and at the same moment some 25 persons rushed out towards the police line with their hands held high up above their heads. They rushed towards us, crying out in piteous accents, “Don’t fire! For God's sake, don't shoot us; don't, pray don’t!" They were here ordered to lie down, which they obeyed at once, all falling flat on their stomachs, with their hands still in the air. It was a remarkable scene, and the faces of the poor fellows were blanched with fear, and some of them looked as if they were out of their minds. The police passed them one by one, in case any of the outlaws should be amongst the crowd. They hand-cuffed two young fellows named M'Auliffe, known as active sympathisers with the outlaws, and the rest were set free. The 10 minutes grace being up, the police commenced to rake the hotel, in which I joined. From east, west, north and south we poured in volley after volley, and yet no sign of surrender.
We learned from those who left the house that Byrne was dead; that he had died leaning over a bag of flour, reaching for a bottle of whisky at the bar; that a ball had struck him in the abdomen, and that the blood spurted out like a fountain, and that he fell dead without a groan. We also heard that Dan Kelly and Hart were standing side by side in the passage between the two huts, looking cowed and dispirited, without the slightest sign of fight left in them. In fact, as one informant said, they looked "for all the world like two condemned criminals on the drop, waiting for the bolt to be drawn."
At a quarter to 3 o'clock a sharp rattle of rifles was heard and a man was seen advancing from the west end of the house with a large pile of straw which he placed against the weatherboards and lighted. The flames quickly ran up the side of the house and caught the canvas ceiling. In about 10 minutes the whole of the roof was in a blaze. Just at this moment a priest was seen going up quickly to the front of the house. The crowd closed in after him, and in a few moments the door was burst open. Four men rushed in and soon reappeared, dragging out the body of Byrne, who still wore his breastplate. He had a number of rings on his hands, and had boots made after the style of Ned Kelly's. In the meantime, the unfortunate man Cherry who was wounded to death, was drawn out at the back of the house, and the priest anointed him, and in a few moments alter he calmly passed away. The bodies of Dan Kelly and Hart could now be plainly seen amongst the flames, lying nearly at right angles to each other, their arms drawn up and their knees bent, and I feel perfectly certain that they were dead long before the house was fired. Mrs Skillian and Kate Kelly stood at the railway gates watching the inn burning, and when the charred remains of their brother were brought out, howled loudly and lustily over the blackened bones.
At a quarter-past 3 the roof fell in and the flames whirled up to heaven and myriads of sparks danced through the air as if with delight at the thought that three as cold-blooded murderers as ever walked the earth since the days of Cain had expiated their crimes on a fiery altar, and that the fourth was lying waiting for the rope to be put round his neck by Citizen Gately.
As the conduct of the police has been freely commented on, I may say that the rank and file behaved with great coolness and pluck, but when Superintendent Hare was shot they were virtually without a leader, and they seemed at a loss what to do next. It is true Superintendent Sadlier was on the scene, but he kept in the room with Ned Kelly most of the time, and he did not take any active part outside. There is not the slightest doubt that the hotel should have been rushed after the surrender of the twenty-five prisoners, as it was from them we learned that Dan Kelly and Hart were beaten and cowed. Had the police then any one to lead them they would, I feel sure, have followed at once. No extra rifles were taken up in the special train, and the four reporters on the platform were quite at the mercy of any of the outlaws or their pals. We quite expected to be attacked from the rear, as there was a perfect nest of sympathisers on the opposite side of the line, in and about M'Donnell's Hotel, where the Kelly's horses were stabled. However, all's well that ends well, and if I am ever called on to go again on a similar trip I shall take good care not to go unarmed. To be shot without having a chance of reply is not a very pleasant thing to contemplate, and I trust it may never be my experience again to be in a position rendering me liable to any such un- pleasantness.
I am sure Hart and Dan Kelly did not shoot themselves. When the 25 prisoners left the inn they told us the outlaws were still alive, and there was no shot fired from the inside, or inside the hotel again. My idea is that they stood together until the one was shot, and then when the other received his quietus he fell by the side of his mate. The dog, it must be remembered, was killed, too, by the bullets from outside.
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)
ADELAIDE , SUNDAY
It is stated that the Kelly family formerly resided at Penwortham, a village near Watervale, in this colony. The Wrights were also living there. Both families went to Victoria when the diggings broke out.
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