The Argus at KellyGang 12/12/1931
When the Kellys were Cornered
Dramatic Series of Telegrams
By L T LUXTON
Like Robin Hood and his merry men, Ned Kelly and his picturesque ruffians are gradually acquiring the rosy glow of heroes of romance. How Ned and Dan Kelly and their accomplices Joe Byrne and Steve Hart appeared to their contemporaries how much terror and hatred they inspired and with what exultation the community heard of the destruction of "those pests to society the Kelly gang" is shown in the official telegrams printed below with all the urgent intensity of messages written in the midst of stirring events. As an antidote to the hero myth which is rapidly enveloping the Kellys they are invaluable. As far as is known by officers of the Chief Secretary's department the telegrams have not been published previously.
Briefly, the sequence of events referred to in the telegrams most of which are addressed to the Chief Secretary in the Service Ministry (Mr Ramsay) was as follows - After having terrorised North Eastern Victoria and the border towns of New South Wales, the Kelly gang came to Glenrowan at the end of June 1880, and tore up several lengths of rails on the Melbourne-Sydney railway line in the hope of derailing a special train filled with police. The telegraph lines were cut and most of the population of Glenrowan was herded into the Glenrowan Hotel. Mr Curnow, a school teacher eluded the outlaws, and running along the railway track he warned the crew of a pilot engine which preceded the train, of the danger. The police besieged the hotel and a long sniping fight followed. Ned Kelly sallied from the hotel clad in armour made of mould boards and he was shot in the leg and captured. Finally the hotel was fired by the police, and the three remaining outlaws who had armour also, perished.
Request for Black Trackers.
All the documents reproduced are telegrams. At an early stage in the proceedings it was intended to track the outlaws down with black trackers.
To the Commissioner of Police, Brisbane from Benalla - Confidential - Can you send me down a party of black trackers, say eight with someone accustomed to manage them? They might come by sea to Sydney when Mr Fosbery would have them forwarded to Albury. The country in which the outlaws hide is very mountainous, in places covered with dense scrub, very rocky, with deep gullies, quite inaccessible to horses. Info rm me rate of wages. Any expenses you may incur in sending them to Sydney will be at once remitted. Endeavour to send them off as quietly as possible so that it may not appear in the newspapers - F C Standish Chief Commissioner of Police.
To the Chief Commissioner of Police, Benalla, from Brisbane - The Colonial Secretary approves of my sending trackers provided they volunteer for the service, receive extra pay, and are assured of a fair share of the reward offered if their efforts lead to the capture of the gang. Our rate of pay is £3 per month. No hope of keeping matters from newspapers – D T Seymour, Commissioner of Police.
To the Commissioner of Police, Brisbane from Benalla -Confidential - Will pay your trackers any sum per day you may fix. Also find provisions in the bush. They will receive fair proportion of Government re- ward should they succeed in leading to the capture of the outlaws - Standish.
To the Chief Secretary, Victoria from Brisbane, June 28 1880, shortly before the capture of the outlaws at Glenrowan -- I replied hastily to your telegram last night authorising you to detain Sub Inspector O'Connor and the native troopers, and feel bound to say that although O'Connor has never officially reported the fact, it has been stated by Queenslanders who have been in Victoria that a general impression exists both there and here that a considerable amount of jealousy is felt by the Victoria police towards our men. I can assure you that unless our troopers, with their officers, are allowed to go to the front at once there will be little use in calling upon them to do so after the white police have effaced the tracks - H S Palmer, Colonial Secretary of Queensland .
The Siege.
Then follows a swift succession of telegrams from Benalla, describing the siege of the Glenrowan hotel. Benalla was the nearest telegraph station to Glenrowan.
The first telegram was from Superintendent Hare and it was received by Captain Standish in Melbourne it 6 o'clock on the morning of June 28. It was forwarded to the Chief Secretary (Mr Ramsay).
Benalla, June 28, 1880 . The pilot engine was stopped half a mile from Glenrowan, and we were told that the line had been pulled up by the Kellys a mile beyond Glenrowan. Train and pilot went to the Glenrowan station. I jumped out of the train and went to the stationmaster's house. The wife told me everybody in Glenrowan had been taken into the bank by the outlaws. I immediately ordered everybody out of the train, and at the same moment Constable Bracken ran up and said that he had escaped from Jones's public-house, and "for God's sake go quickly or they will get away." I ran along with two or three men following me, and I went up towards Jones, and when I was within 50 or 80 yards a shot or two was fired from the house and struck me in the arm - not seriously. I immediately got the house surrounded by all the men I had with me. I have telegraphed for men from Wangaratta, and Mr Sadleir, with all his men from Benalla are coming up at once. - Francis Hare.
To this message Captain Standish adds:
A subsequent telegram from Benalla tells me that Mr Hare is shot through the left wrist, but there is no cause for alarm.
Mr Hare telegraphed me to suggest a pilot engine as probably the Kellys might pull up the rails. This was a wise forethought on his part. I am anxiously awaiting further information. I fear that before the outlaws are captured or shot down if we are to have such luck this time, there will be considerable bloodshed."
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