The Argus at KellyGang 3/6/1880
THE KELLY GANG
Whether these outlaws are still in the colony or not is a question that is regarded by many people as problematical. The police and the residents in what is known as the Kelly district, however, positively assert that the outlaws are still in the country, and there is little doubt that this is the case. With regard to the police murders, it has become known that Sergeant Kennedy's life was taken in a very cold-blooded manner. He was but wounded on the day of the encounter, and was allowed to live all night, so that the gang might learn from him how to work his Spencer rifle. On the following morning Ned Kelly shot him dead through the breast. This fact having become known to the sympathisers of the outlaws, has produced a coolness between them and the gang.
The recent action of the police in sending out search parties in the direction of Beechworth having failed in producing any result, the question as to whether the Kellys are still in their old haunts has again become a subject of speculation. The narrative of a man who has just recently spent nearly two months in the Kelly country, travelling about day and night, with the express object of searching for the gang, will, therefore, be not uninteresting. We refer to Mr John Tyler, a millwright, residing in South Yarra, who started on his tour on the 5th of February last and returned on the 25th of March. He had undertaken to prospect the mining character of the country on behalf of a well-known firm in town, but he privately resolved to learn or see something, if possible, of the Kellys. He was therefore able to travel from station to station doing little jobs, on the ostensible excuse that he was prospecting the country, whilst he kept his ears and eyes open for Kelly information. What information he gathered about the Kellys was duly communicated to the police and the Chief Secretary, but he was in the main apparently ignored by the police. His statement was made to us in a straight forward and connected manner, and contains names, dates, and circumstances which appear capable of verification, and we therefore give it for what it is worth.
Mr Tyler states,—I left Melbourne on the 5th of February last and walked to Whittlesea and King Parrot Creek, and thence to Mr Wilson's station, near Merton. When at Wilson's station I went out fishing in a creek one day with a black boy. When fishing a miner named Noble came up and asked me where he could cross the creek. I left my fishing tackle with the black boy, took Noble over the creek, and went with him to his hut, which was about four miles away at the foot of the Blue Range. I then went to the place of a selector named — for some food. — was at Mansfield with corn, but his wife supplied what I required. On returning to Noble's hut I wrote some letters, and whilst the mailboy was waiting I happened to say something about the Kellys. The mailboy at once reported me all over the place as a detective. That was on the 13th February. I went to Tableland next day—to Mead's claim, about 10 miles away, and heard rumours frequently about the Kellys being in the vicinity. I returned to Noble's hut, and after assisting him with some arrangements for a mortgage I went to Merton to post letters.
On the way I met a miner named Tom Brown who, with his brother, held a claim at Hayfield. I went with him to Hayfield, and made arrangements to cut a race for him. Whilst I was cutting the race, some men, who were evidently Kelly sympathisers, and who thought I was a detective, threatened to report me to the police if I cut any more races in their district. Besides doing my work, I was continually travelling about the country. I went eight times from Brown's claim to Mead's. When I came back the last time, I went out one moonlight night shooting opossums in the Blue Range.
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