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2 corrections, most recently by RonnieLand - Show corrections

SHERRITT AND THE KELLY   GANG.   We take the following concerning Ned   Kelly's removal to Beechworth and the murder of Aaron Sherritt from the   Argus:-   After starting, the police struck up a   casual conversation with Kelly about his   gang, and one remarked that he was the   only man in it. Ned replied that Byrne   and Hart were plucky, trustworthy   fellows. Sergeant Steele here interjected   that Hart was a mere boy, and that none   of them were so good shots as they   had thought themselves to be. The   prisoner thereupon fired up, rose from   his seat, and offered to fight Sergeant   Steele there and then. He was in the   act of pulling off his coat when one of   the constables – Mathieson, I think – in- terfered and pacified him. The special   train consisted only of an engine, car-   riage, and guard's van. Not a soul knew at the station what the mission of this train was. The prisoner was taken into   the guard's van, where seats had been   provided. His right leg being still unable   to bear him, he sat most of the time. t When passing Donnybrook he pointed   out the spot where he first drew breath ; and when he came in sight of the Strath-   bogie Ranges, he exclaimed, "There   they are ; shall I ever be there again ?"   He gazed intently at Glenrowan, said   that a good man (Byrne) had fallen there,   and pointed out the tree where he him- self fell. During the journey Kelly argued that he was illegally in custody, as he had   never seen any warrant, and that he could   never be hanged. Pointing to Constable   Bracken, he said, " There is a man I did not have heart to shoot;" and the time passed in conversation of that kind. With   regard to the Glenrowan affair, Kelly   now states that when the special train   pulled up he went down to the school-c   house to shoot Curnow, and not finding him returned to assist his mates, but that   he never re-entered Jones's Hotel. This,   however, is untrue, as it is well-known   that he was wounded in front of the hotel,   and passed through it before escaping,   and it just illustrates how untrustworthy   his statements are. I have had a run down   to Sebastopol to see Aaron Sherritt's hut.   It stands on the Eldorado Road, about six   miles from Beechworth. Two miles on   this side there is a bridge over Reed's   Creek. On the right hand side is a rocky   gorge, deep and picturesque, into which   the creek plunges, and forms a striking   waterfall. At this bridge Sherritt used   to meet Detective Ward, and give him in- formation about the gang. Their meeting   always took place at night, and before   conversing with each other they were   accustomed to descend into the gorge and   sit down by the cascade, which, of course,   drowned their voices. The road, having   crossed a range, descends into a long   valley, which extends westwards. In this   valley is the place called the Woolshed, and further on Sebastopol. It has been   pretty well torn up by diggers, and the   bulk of the population now are Chinamen.   Sherritt's hut, which stands on an eleva-   tion a few yards from the main road,   is now tenantless, and presents a very   deserted and dilapidated appearance.   Just here the valley and the road takes a turn towards the south, and two miles   more brings the traveller to Mrs Byrne's house, which the police who were sta- tioned at Sherritt's house were appointed   to watch. Looking southward, Mrs Byrne's stands on the left-hand side of   the gully. On each hand are high and   steep rocky ranges, but just behind the   house there is a gap and a track, which were utilised by the Kelly gang. The police had been watching the house for   several months, and had a very hard time of it. They slept all day at Sherritt's     house. Always at 8 o'clock at night, they started to fulfil their peculiar mission.   A creek runs through the centre of the     valley, and this they had to wade every night. They then picked their way     through the bush, and along the side of the left-hand range, towards Mrs Byrne's   hut, approaching it as nearly as they   could without risk of being seen. They   often observed men, but could never   make sure that. they were any of the     outlaws. Just before daybreak they re-   turned to Sherritt's house, where they   were fed and sent to bed until the fol-   lowing night, and as their presence   was never betrayed it seems never to have occurred to them that the outlaws   could pay a visit at Sherritt's house. It was known, however, that the gang had   a cave in the range facing the hut, and   another on the north side of a tall hill   known as the Sugar Loaf, which lies im- mediately to the rear of Sherritt's place.   It may be here explained that Sherritt   had been for about eight months em-   ployed and paid by the police as a special constable. It has been already mentioned that formerly he was a great friend of the Kelly gang. He and Byrne were once arrested by Detective Ward for cattle-   stealing, and on being convicted of having     stolen cattle in their possession they were   sent to prison. Through the services of   the same detective his assistance, after a   great deal of trouble, was secured by the     police. Clothes and money were given to   him, and he managed to maintain an   apparent friendship with the gang for a     considerable time, and to give the police   valuable information. He told the police   that the gang were about to take a run   into New South Wales before the Jeril-   derie outrage occurred, and the police   sent warrants over the Murray. He also     stated once that two men were to be sent   by the gang to inspect the banks at   Chiltern and Wodonga. A watch was   kept, and the information was also fully   verified, for the two men he had named   were kept under surveillance here,   traced through the bush, and were     seen to enter the banks referred to.     When they called at the banks   they pretended to be diggers, and   inquired upon what terms the man-   agers would purchase gold. Sherritt   had a paddock in which horses and cattle   stolen by his friends were concealed.   When he turned in favour of the police   horses were placed in this paddock. They     ere eventually observed there by a Kelly     sympathiser. The gang then soon heard   of it, and feeling themselves hard pushed     they resolved upon murdering Sherritt as   a traitor. After carrying out this black deed they rode down the gully past Mrs   Byrne's house, through the gap above   mentioned, crossed the railway line at   Everton, and were seen at the bridge over   King River at about 12 o'clock the Satur- day night. They then rode through the   square of Oxley and on to Glenrowan via   Greta.   Mrs Sherrit has sent in a claim for com- pensation to the Government. She does not name any sum, but submits that she is en-   titled to substantial compensation for the   assistance her husband and she herself rendered to the police (for she had to cook their meals), for the loss of her husband, and for the loss of her   house, which is rendered valueless, as no one will live in it. Kelly has by some means heard that she has made this   application, for in the train to-day he in-   quired if her compensation would be paid   out of the reward fund. For some time before his death, Sherritt appeared to   fully realise that his life was not worth much, and he sometimes remarked to his wife that some day she would hear of his being shot. On one occasion he was ordered down to Bennalla for duty on a

horsestealing case, and he told his wvife when he was preparing to leave that she would certainly not see him again alive, that she would hear of him being shot by the gang, and all he desired was that she should come down to Benalla and bury his remains quietly. Seeing that he was really afraid of his life, the officer in charge of the police at Benalla relieved him of his proposed new duty. Detective   Ward and Sherritt indeed made things very warm for the gang in the Beechworth   district, and the gang vowed vengeance against both. Ward was continually re- ceiving letters from them in Joe Byrne's handwriting threatening his life. On one occasion he was informed in this way that if they could lay hands on him they would place him in a hollow log and roast him alive. Another letter contained a large picture of a coffin, and a third a piece of crape. Ward, however, pursued   the tenor of his way undaunted.

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