The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-03-20

pursuit. Following tie traces, they
reached the head station, Belslie, where
.hev learned that Pearson and his mate
nsd been before them, had helped Them.
selves 10 two Of my best horses, abandon.
nc their own, and, leaving the road, had
struck out due west across the bush
This occasionei some surprise, as Ruther'
ford, who knew the ground, must have
been aware that such route, il persisted
in, would necessitate seventy miles with.
out water, and that, too, with wounded
oOmrade.
Occasionally across the wide plai1s the
fugitives were sighted, riding leisurely
along, little suspecting how closely the
we're followed; and our men had tC
check their pace, as their tactics were to
keep them in ignorance of pursuit, with
the hope Of being able to take them by q
night surprise, when, as was naturally
expected, they would ego into camp"
McNall has described to me how, on one
occasion, where the plains we're smaller
aud the clumps OF timber more frequent,
they were able to get within riie.shot,
and he was sOrely tempted to show them
as little consideration as they had shown
the poor sergeant, and fire; but Couch,
who, before be came to my employment.
had been & sub-inspector of police, and
had had much experience in hunting
down bushrangers, was bent on taking
them alive, and would not risk the
chance Of a long shot. These cooler
counsels prevSiledssnd they steadily and
stealthily followed On. They were
doomed to disappointment in the end T;
for, almost incredible IS it may seem,
with. wounded man 10 endure such
hest snd fatigue, these hardy desperadoes
made no hsits. As night came on our
men, on the other hand, were obliged to
camp, as they could no longer follow the
hoofmsrks of the fugitives' horses with
out risk Of losing them altogether. So
soon, however, a. the moon was up they
were again on their tracks, and followed
them till soon after daylight, when,
worn out with thirst and fatigue, they
reached Mr.. Vincent Dowling's Yanta-
bulla station, on the Cuttaburra river.
Here they were mortified to find that
the bushraDgers had again been too quick
FOR them, had run the station horses into
the yard, helped themselves to fresh
ones, and were away with some hours
clear start. It was then decided to
abandon the pursuit. There were at
that time lew stations fuIther west, and
sooner or later starvation would compel
the runawsys to return to inhabited
parts. The troopers were left to watch
and endeavor to pick up further informa-
ton while McNall and Couch had reluc-
family 10 return and look TO their station
duties.
AT the time when busbrsnging was
rife in Australia there were parts of the
country where, among a certain class OF
small farmers and publicans, sympathy
Was shown for bushrancers, and what
the police had to encounter before they
succeeded in extirpsting the
evil was the great difficulty ia getting
reliable in Urm ton OF the movements q
thee m,rsuieTs, who on tie other hand
veIe themselves kept posted in the
movements OF tIeir pur-uefs, snd the
" flee being given, were bs,bored or
assisted 20 escape by secret allies, who
seemed shove suspicion. Ia the tor IN
leJior. where we lost sight Of Pearson
and Rut4er ord, this was f3.tnaateIy not
the case; here they would find 10
cover either from the nature OF the
country or the disposition Of the inhab-
tan,s. They could not hold ont long
outside the occupied country, and when
forc-d t. return. the population was 50
catered aud sympathizers none, that
hopes Of escape were slight. Added to
this, the excellent police force Of the
colony was on the alert and border
ps rolls active and vigilant. Notwith-
standing, FOR upward OF 3 month there
was 10 sigr; till one day Pearson was
sighted a. foot in range of hills near
Fort Bourke. He was EASILY captured,
and, when brought before the bench, was
hsg-ard and worn out with fatigue.
This unfortunate man was OF com,
parativeI- gentle birth, had been q med
ical student ia England, and being -ent
ont TO he colony to seek his fortune.
had, IS is too often the case where d
young fellow is shipped OF without
friends, interest or capital. lost caste. got
among dissolute companion. urdl,
attracted by what weak-minced boys
would think a dashing life, had come By
rspid steps to this terrible depth OF
crime.
The case was simple--his only care
seemed TO be to clear himself of the Sc
tual murder OF McCabe. The law, how
ever, could take no cognizance of this
whether he fred the shot or not he was
equally guilty of the muI ar. Re was
committed, tried snd sentenced to be
hanged. subsequently his sentence was
commuted to Imprisonment for life, and
when ] last heard Of HIM he was still an