Royal Commission report day 37 page 32
The Royal Commission evidence for 20/7/1881
(see also introduction to day 37)
SConst Patrick Mullane giving evidence
13620 Did that arise from courage?— I think from courage.
13621 Might there not be an idea in his mind that they would not shoot him?— I fancy after he was arrested for horse-stealing, and Mrs. Byrne turned against him so bitterly, that that idea had entirely gone from his mind.
13622 Did they want him to go to Jerilderie?— They did, he told me himself.
13623 What excuse did he make?— I do not know.
13624 They must have looked upon him as a criminal like themselves?— He was entirely in their confidence up to that time, and after the Jerilderie affair.
13625 Did he often give information to you in good enough time for you to get the benefit of it?— I think not at all times, the information would be two or three days old when we got it, except that information about his being shot, brought by his mother—that was the quickest we received.
13626 What value would you place on information about such men as the Kellys , that they had been three days ago at a certain place?— It would all depend on the man that gave it.
13627 What use would it be?— Very little good, still we would know they were in the locality; it would be of great advantage.
13628 They might be far away into New South Wales by the time you got it?— They might, but it would be satisfactory to know that.
13629 It might be telegraphed to all the districts to be on the alert?— It would be sent to the officers in the district, and no one else. I am not aware that we ever sent to Mr. Nicolson and Mr. Hare when they were in charge.
13630 You see the nature of the work the outlaws did here. It was on the Saturday night, and they were supposed to be about until daylight on Sunday morning, and on Sunday morning at two o'clock it was that they stuck up Glenrowan?— They must have gone from here during the night to Glenrowan.
13631 Voices were supposed to be heard?— Those may have been the voices of other members of the Byrne family, in order to keep the men in, but it was certainly not the outlaws.
13632 You see how little value three days' information would be?— With information three days old it would then entirely depend upon the ability of the trackers.
13633 But the chances would be very slight indeed, in going through this thickly populated country, of picking up their tracks if they went on the road?— If they went on the road; still I have seen trackers track on the road. I saw the last trackers that came from Queensland —they tracked on the main road between here and Wodonga, and went three miles on it.
13634 How old was the track?— The day before.
13635 Then your impression is that those men should have made a move as soon as it became daylight?— Yes.
13636 And from what you know since, your belief is they would have met with no resistance at all?— Yes, because they were away at Glenrowan.
13637 How many miles is that?— By the road thirty-seven; they would make it a good deal shorter than that.
13638 Say thirty miles?— Yes.
13639 They were away thirty miles?— It would be less than that from the Woolshed; twenty-five.
13640 That would be, that from the time they shot Aaron Sherritt they were only six hours and a half until they were pulling up the rails at Glenrowan, because they had all those people in and had been up and down a length of time before information came to the police at half-past two. You see what little value with those men three days' old notice would be?— But such a concerted plan as that would be a different thing from information as to where they might be casually passing through districts. It was portion of the plan they had laid down before, and they travelled at a good pace, but in other cases it would be different if they were only going from one part to another.
13641 The plan you refer to was that they murdered Sherritt to draw attention to it?— To bring the police up there and wreck the train on their way up, and that was a portion of the plan that Mrs. Sherritt heard—that they were to do something that would astonish the world. 13642 Suppose Armstrong had escaped just after the murder and informed the police at Beechworth, would not that have been an advantage?— It was no advantage as it was, but it might have been.....
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