The Argus at KellyGang 8/7/1880 (8)
The Argus continued with its report of the KellyGang at Glenrowan
full text
On the day of the Glenrowan affray the city was a scene of unexampled excitement. Business was almost suspended, and Collins-street in the vicinity of The Argus office was blocked by a large and excited crowd, eager for the latest intelligence with regard to a tragedy which developed more and more startling features as it proceeded. Extraordinary editions of The Argus were issued at short intervals, supplying particulars of each successive stage of the encounter with the outlaws, and these were seized upon with avidity. In the capitals of the neighbouring colonies, too, the news of the destruction of the Kelly gang gave rise to the utmost excitement, and congratulations were tendered to those who had been instrumental in bringing condign punishment on the outlaws. The excitement prevalent in Melbourne received a new stimulus on the 29th ult., when Edward Kelly was brought to Melbourne. The authorities had been reticent in the extreme with regard to their movements, but a number of people learnt not only that the notorious outlaw was on his way to Melbourne, but also when and where he would arrive. A large crowd gathered at the Spencer-street station, anticipating that the outlaw would have been brought to the terminus, but the more correctly informed went to the North Melbourne station, knowing that he would be removed from the train there. Shortly before 2 o’clock the ordinary train from Wodonga arrived, bringing the prisoner. He was still in a state of prostration and helplessness, and was quietly removed from the van of the train on a stretcher, placed in a covered waggon, and conveyed as quickly as possible to the Melbourne gaol, where a crowd of 700 or 800 persons had assembled. No demonstration of any sort occurred, and the prisoner was soon safely lodged within the gaol walls. He was attended by Dr Shields, the medical officer of the gaol, under whose treatment he soon showed signs of improvement in health. A day or two after his arrival Kelly was permitted to have an interview with his mother, who was undergoing her sentence in the gaol for resisting the police while they were engaged in the eventful search that culminated in the Mansfield tragedy. Superintendent Hare returned to the town by the train which brought down Edward Kelly. Mr Hare was on his return to his residence attended by Dr Charles Ryan, and it was found that his left wrist had been completely shattered, a conical bullet having penetrated it, breaking the bones, and leaving a nasty wound. Amputation of the hand was at first thought necessary, but this operation was averted; and Mr Hare, who is on a visit to the Hon WJ Clarke, at Sunbury, is progressing favourably.
Facts elicited since the annihilation of the gang tend to show that the outlaws, forced from their concealment by the activity of the police, determined to terrify any wavering friends by the murder of Sherritt, and then, afraid of being tracked by the Queensland native police―of whom the gang had a great dread―took steps to destroy them by wrecking the special train; but the outlaws fell into their own trap. They were unable to leave Glenrowan because they had to keep guard over the railway officials in order to ensure, as they thought, the success of the scheme. Edward Kelly, when asked what led the gang to go to the hotel, replied that they resorted to it as a place of refuge, but that he would, for his part, have fought the police in the train, and killed every one of the passengers; and he added, “If I were once right again, I would go to the barracks, shoot every one of the traps, and not give one a chance.” He had opportunities of escaping from Glenrowan, but preferred “to see the thing out,” and thus fell just before his comrades met their tragic end. With the tragedy at Glenrowan ended the career of a band of marauders who had made a living by crime, revelled in bloodshed, and startled by the bold daring of their exploits a colony not unfamiliar with sensational bushranging episodes. To the principal agents in bringing about the destruction of the gang hearty congratulations were offered by the Government, and the general public received with unbounded satisfaction in the news of the destruction of a gang of desperadoes whose long immunity from punishment was producing a bad effect on a certain section of the community, and whose capture was essential to the breaking up of the nest of the marauders―the criminal colony, as it has been termed―in which they flourished.
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12-feb-12
