The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-14 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

Sergeant Steele that the fellow was encased in mail, and
he then aimed at the outlaw's legs. His first shot of
that kind made Ned stagger, and the second brought
him to the ground with the cry, 'I am done, I am
done!' Steele rushed up, along with Senior Constable
Kelly and others. The outlaw howled like a wild
beast brought to bay, and swore at the police. He
was first seized by Steele, and as that officer grappled
with him he fired off another charge from his revolver.
This shot was evidently intended for Steele, but from
the smart way in which he secured the murderer the
sergeant escaped. Kelly became gradually quiet, and
it was soon found that he had bEen utterly disabled.
He had been shot in the left foot, left leg, right hand,
left arm, and twice in the region of the groin, but no
bullet had penetrated his armour. Having been
divested of his armour' he was carried down to the
railway station and placed in a guardi,s van. Subse-
quently he was remckved to the stationmaster's office,
and his wounds were dressed there by Dr. Nicholson,
of Benalla.

"In the meantime the siege was continued without
intermission. That the three other outlaws were still
in the house was confirmed by remarks made by Ned,
who said they would fight to the last and would never
give in. The interest and excitement were conse-
quently heightened. The Kelly gang were at last in
the grasp of the police, and their leader actually cap-
tured. The female prisoners who escaped during the
morning gave corroboration of the fact that Dan
Kelly, Byrne, and Hart were still in the house. A
rumour got abroad that Byrne was shot when drinking
a glass of whisky at the bar of the hotel about half-
past five o'clock in the morning, and the report aftre-
wards turned out to be true. The remaining two kept
up a steady defence from the rear of the building
during the forenoon, and exposed themselves reck-
lessly to the bullets of the police. They, however,
were also clad in mail, and the shot took no effect.
"At eleven o'clock a white flag or handkerchief was
held out at the front door, and immediately after-
wards about 30 men, all prisoners, sallied forth. They
escaped while Dan Kelly and Hart were defending
the back door. The siege was kept up all the fore-
noon, till nearly three o'clock in the afternoon.
Some time before this the shooting from the hotel
had ceased, and opinions were divided as to whether
Dan Kelly and Hart were reserving their ammunition
or were dead. The best part of the day having elapsed
the police, who were now acting under the direc-
tion of Superintendent Sadlier, determined that a de-
cisive step should be taken. At ten minutes to three
o'clock another and the last volley was fired into the
hotel, and under cover of the fire Senior-Constable
Charles Johnson, of Violet Town, ran up to the house
with a bundle of straw, which (having set fire to) he
placed on the grombpaethe west side of the building.
This was a moment of intense excitement, and all
hearts were relieved when Johnson was seen to regain
uninjured the shelter he had left. All eyes were now
fixed on the silent building, and the circle of besiegers
began to close in rapidly on it, some dcdging from tree
to tree, and many, fully persuaded that every one in
the hotel must be hors de combat, coming out boldly
into the open. Just at this juncture Mrs. Skillian,
sister of the Kellys, attempted to approach the house
from the front. She had on a black riding habit with
a red underskirt and white Gainsborough hat, and
was a prominent object in the scene. Her arrival
on the ground was almost simultaneous with the at-
tempt to fire the building. Her object in trying to
reach the house was apparently to induce the sur-
vivors, if any, to come out and surrender. The police,
however, ordered her to stop. She obeyed the order,
but very reluctantly, and, standing still, called out
that some of the olice were ordering her to go on and
others to stop. t•llie, however, went to where a kno
of the beseigers were standing, on the west side of the
house. In the meantime the straw, which burnt
fiercely, had all been consumed, and at first doubts
were entertained as to whether Senior-Constable
Johnson's exploit had been successful. Not very
many minutes elapsed, however, before smoke was
seen coming out of the roof, and flames were dis-
cerned through the front window on the western side.
A light westerly wind was blowing at the time, and
this carried the flames from the straw underneath the
wall and into the house, and, as the building was
ined with calico, the fire spread rapidly. Still no
ign of life appeared in the building. _ __ _

"When the house was seen to be fairly on fire
Father Gibney, who had previously started for it but
had been stopped by the police, walked up to the
front door and entered it. By this time the patience
of the besiegers was exhausted, and they all, regard-
less of shelter, rushed to the building. Father Gibney,
at much personal risk from the flames, hurried into a
room to the left, and there saw two bodies lying side
by side on their backs. He touched them and found
life was extinct in each. These were the bodies of
Dan Kelly and Hart, and the rev, gentleman ex-
pressed the opinion, based on their position, that they
must have killed one another. Whether they killed
one another or whether both or one committed
suicide, or whether, both being mortally wounded
by the besiegers, they determined to die side by
side, will never be known. The priest had barely
time to feel their bodies before the fire forced him
to make a speedy exit from the room, and the flames
had then made such rapid progress on the western
side of the house that the few people who followed
close on the rev, gentleman's heels dared not attempt
to rescue the two bodies. It may be here stated that,
after the house had been burnt down, the two bodies
were removed from the embers. They presented a,
horrible spectacle, nothing but the trunk and skull
being left, and these almost burnt to a cinder. Their
armour, which was made out of plough-shares and
weighed about 071 b. per man, was found near them.
About the remains there was apparently nothing to
lead to positive identification, but the discovery of
the armour near them and other circumstances
render it impossible to be doubted that they were
those of Dan Kelly and Steve Hart. The latter was
a much smaller man than the younger Kelly, and
this difference in size was noticeable in their remains.
As to Byrne's body. it was found in the entrance to the
bar-room, which was on the east side of the house. and
there was time to remove it from the building, but not
before the right side was slightly scorched. This body
likewise presented a dreadful appearance. It looked
as if it had been ill-nourished. The thin face was
black with smoke, and the arms were bent at right
angles at the elbows, the stiffened joints below the
elbows standing erect. The body was quite stiff, and
its appearance and the position in which it was found
corroborated the statement that Byrne died early
yesterday morning. He is said to have received the
fatal wound, which was in the groin, while drinking a
glass of whisky at the bar. He had a ring on his right
hand which had belonged to Constable Scanlan who
was murdered by the gang on the Wombat Ranges.
The body was dressed in a blue sac coat, tweed striped
trousers, Crimean shirt, and very ill-fitting boots. Like
Ned Kelly, Byrne wore a bushy beard.

"In the outhouse or kitchen immediately behind
the main building the old man Martin Cherry, who
was one of the prisoners made by the gang, and who
was so severely wounded that he could not leave the
house when the other prisoners left, was found still
living, but in articulo mortis from a wound in the
groin. He was promptly removed a short distance
from the burning hotel, and laid on the ground, when
Father Gibney administered to him the last sacra-
ment. Cherry was insensible, and barely alive. He
had evidently suffered much during the day, and death
released him from his sufferings within half an hour
from the time when he was,removed from the hotel.
It was fortunate that he was not burnt alive. Cherry,
who was unmarried, was an old resident of the dis-
trict, and was employed as a plateplayer, and resided
about a mile from Glenrowan. He was born at
Limsrick, Ireland, and was 60 years old. He is said
by all who knew him to have been a quiet, harmless,
old man, and much regret was expressed at his death.
He seems to have been shot by the attacking force, of
course unintentionally.
"While the house was burning some explosions were
heard inside. These were alarming at first, but it was
soon ascertained that they were cartridges burning.
Several gun barrels were found in the d :bris, and also
the burnt carcase of a dog which had been shot during
gnboard bearing the following
the melee. All that was left standing of the hotel was
of the carnage that‘had just
the walls of the hostelry, read
thebeen
eeevlamp-postdevice,
perpetrated
w hie h a
inndwvti he
eh
ie
wsni
strangely—'The Glenrowan Inn. Ann Jones. Best
accommodation.'
"In a small yard at the rear of the buildings four
of the outlaws' horses, which had been purposely fired
at early in the day, were found and were killed at
once, to put them out of their agony. They were poor
scrubbers. Two of them were shod. The police cap-
tured Byrne's horse, a fine animal.
"Special trains were run during the morning be-
tween Glenrowan and Benalla, and Mrs. O'Connor
and her sister—who may justly be called the heroines
of the day, for they behaved bravely—were taken on
by one of them to Benalla, in the forenoon. Ned
Kelly, after being secured, quieted down, and became
absolutely tame, lie is very reserved as to anything
connected with his comrades, but answered questions
freely when his individual case was alone concerned.
He appeared to be suffering from a severe shock and
exhaustion, and trembled in every limb. In his
stronger moments he made the following statements :
I was going down to meet the special train with
some of my mates, and intended to rake it with shot;
but it arrived before I expected, and I then returned
to the hotel. I expected the train would go on, and
I had the rails pulled up, so that these
blacktrackers might be settled. I could have got
away last night, for I got into the bush with my gray
mare, and lay there all night. But I wanted to see
the thing end. In the first volley the police fired I
was wounded on the left foot; soon afterwards I was
shot through the left arm. I got these wounds in
front of the house. I fired three or four shots from
the front of Jones's hotel, but who I was firing at
I do not know. I simply fired where I saw police.
I escaped to the bush, and remained there over-
night.'

The Times, in a leader commenting upon the break-up of
has been the signal for a
the gang, says :—" Its cap.ure.
general outburst of cpngratul4tion. The Australian papers,
and no doubt the Australian public, can talk of nothing else.
There is, of course, a pleasant sense of better security to
life and limb, but the chief interest of the matter is in
the way by which the victory has been won and in
the details of the long fight. The whole narrative,
as the Australian papers give it, is of the most
extraordinary kind. Our Australian kinsmen cannot
have too much of it. Every detail is laid before
them. Every actor in the scene has his own story to tell,
and is in no want of hearers for it. Many an epic poem has
been constructed out of far less material and with less stir-
ring incidents than those which the Australian world has
been revelling in. Politics are at an end for the moment.
The people have no ears for such paltry, unexciting facts as
a Minister can furnish for them. They have hourly tele-
grams to attend to coming in fresh and fresh from the scene of
the late conflict. When all has been told once, the cry is,
'Tell it again,' and it is again told and again listened to with
the same interest as at first. The appetite for such news
seems still to grow by what it feeds upon. No point must
be left out, for nothing is too minute to be worth recounting
as a part of the strange story. There is no need to invent
sensational headings. The exist ready made, and come un-
bidden out of the story itself. The only difficulty is to select
from so overflowing a store. The Australian papets, it is
true, can scarcely feel this difficulty. They make no selection,
but surrender themselves to the facts, and tell everything
that they can get hold of. For them the bullets cannot be
made to rattle too often. The wounds and the bloodshed
cannot be too terrible for the appetites to which they are
offered."

A telegram from Madrid says that violent storms
have occurred in Upper Aragon, causing serious inundations,
and interrupting all traffic with France. Active measures
are being taken to restore the communication.