Sydney Morning Herald (35)
[BY TELEGRAPH]
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)
MELBOURNE , THURSDAY
Everything is now quiet at Greta. The bodies of the outlaws have been buried by their relatives and friends. It is said Sergeant Steele has received threatening letters.
It now appears that the platelayer, Martin Cherry, was shot by Ned Kelly, and not by the police. Kelly asked him to pull up the blind when he wanted to fire from the verandah of the hotel. The old man refused, and Kelly shot at him with his rifle, adding another to the list of murders by the gang.
The account furnished by the reporters of the Melbourne Daily Telegraph contains the following information:-
When Kelly lay on the floor in the railway van Inspector Sadlier appealed to him to send some signal to his comrades and spare further bloodshed, but he replied, "I cannot. They will never give up, and you cannot take them alive."
Inspector Sadlier: Now, Ned, I know you can influence those foolish fellows if you like to do to; come, give them some signal, and put an end to this.
Ned Kelly: Oh, no; they will not give up. They all have armour on, and you can't take them.
Inspector Sadlier: I do not speak for ourselves, but for the lives of innocent men and women who have been taken to the house.
Ned Kelly: I can't help that. The boys won't give up.
Reporter: How came you out of the house, Ned?
Ned Kelly: I have not been in the house since the special train came. I heard you coming, and went down to meet you. I could have shot you, but didn't. When I saw the engine stop down in the cutting, I went up close to you, and had a look, but you put the lights out, and as you moved slowly on, I came ahead, and walked up the station platform just before the train arrived. I went round the station and over to Jones's, where I stood, and saw the men come up.
Reporter: But you ran away after the first volley.
Ned Kelly: I didn't run away. I was shot in the foot in the first volley, and in the arm, and I wanted the boys to go with me. I thought they would follow, and got on my mare and rode quietly up along the fence over the hill; and as they did not come, I turned back.
Reporter: Your revolving-rifle was found stuck in the earth on the side of the hill.
Ned Kelly: Yes; I could have got away if I wanted; but I wouldn't leave the boys.
Reporter: Are they in the house now?
Ned Kelly: I think so. Byrne is hurt, but they cannot hurt the others – they have armour.
Reporter: It did you little good. Come, Ned, why don't you comply with Mr. Sadlier's request, and send the boys a signal to give up?
Ned Kelly: Don't ask me. They will never give up.
The duty of searching the outlaw was entrusted to senior-constable Kelly, who only found a threepenny piece, a silver watch, and a few chains on him. On asking the outlaw what he did with Kennedy's watch, he said that he wouldn't tell.
The armour the outlaws wore weighed 1 cwt. exactly, and consisted of six plates of ¼-inch steel, manufactured from ploughshares stolen from the farmers around Greta. On the armour there were eight perceptible bullet marks on the breastplate, five on the helmet, three on the shoulders, and nine on the backplate. These were mostly all deep dents in the steel plates.
It should be mentioned that, previous to the building being fired, repeated overtures were made to Inspector Sadlier by the men under his command to storm the building ; but, unwilling to run the chance of the loss of life, Mr. Sadlier refused, trusting to capture the outlaws by some less risky method.
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