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7 corrections, most recently by kmack - Show corrections

NED KELLY'S GRAVE.

DISCOVERY IN OLD GAOL. SCHOOLBOYS SEIZE BONES.

Extraordinary scenes were witnessed in   the yard of the old Melbourne gaol yes- terday when a crowd of boys from the   neighbouring Working Men's College     scrambled with workmen for portions of a skeleton supposed to be that of the   notorious bushranger Ned Kelly, who was   hanged and buried in the gaol on November  

11, 1880.

The portion of the old gaol now being demolished includes the bluestone wall on   the north side. Excavations are being      

made with a view to taking out the wall       and otherwise preparing the ground for      

the erection of an engineering school for         the Working Men's College. Some time     ago it was rumoured that the grave of Kelly would be found in this section, and   a number of the pupils of the college mani-   fested a morbid interest in the work.

When the steam shovel was lifting earth     and stones last week Mr. H. Lee, of Lee and Dunn, the contractors for the building, had his attention directed to the name

"E. Kelly" carved in a stone in the wall, together with the imprint of a broad arrow.   The excavation work was continued with the steam shovel, and the workmen kept     a lookout for the coffin. At a depth of 5 ft. or 6ft. beneath the original gaol yard  

the coffin was unearthed at noon yester-    

day. The edge of the shovel ripped off    

the lid of the coffin, which was made of  

redgum, and a skeleton was revealed.  

As soon as this gruesome discovery was   made a crowd of boys who had been stand-        

ing around expectantly while eating their    

luncheons rushed forward and seized the  

bones. The workmen intervened, but in     the scramble portions of the skeleton were     carried off, including even the teeth. The grave and coffin were still powdered with  

quicklime. After nearly 50 years the skele-    

ton remained intact when it was un-   earthed.

Mr. Lee intends to hand the skull to   the police for the medical school at the University. As it was found that the crowd       was increasing it was decided to close the   works for the day. Another coffin was seen protruding through the broken earth   near the same spot. Arrangements have   been made for the disinterment of this   and such others as may be discovered with due respect for decency.

Ned Kelly and his gang, including his brother Dan and Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, after committing many crimes, inc-     cluding the "hold up" of the bank at   Euroa, were brought to bay in the hotel   at Glenrowan. Wearing a metal head   covering and an iron breastplate as a     protection against bullets, Ned Kelly emerged from the hotel into the bush, and   he was shot in the legs. He was brought to   Melbourne, where he was tried and exe-   cuted. His three companions were shot

in the hotel.

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