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W.A. Man's Relic Of Kelly

Gang's Last Stand

Tucked in the pocketbook of 77-year-old Bassendean builder, Mr. W. H. Bond is a relic of Australian history.

lt is a piece of the red scarf with which schoolmaster Thomas Curnow foiled Ned Kelly's plan to wreck a trainload of soldiers at Glenrowan on June 28, 1880.

Mr. Bond remembers how Curnow was sent to Portland, Victoria, by the authorities to escape the wrath of Kelly's friends.

He gave a piece of the historic scarf to Mr. Bond's parents. It has been in

Mr. Bond's possession for 50 years.

"I was quite young then, but I remember Curnow well," he said yesterday.

"He was a man of average height, slightly dark and had a clubfoot."

Mr. Bond also recalls with a chuckle that he secretly despised the schoolmaster, as Ned Kelly   was the average boy's hero at that time.

"I remember Curnow telling my people about the Glenrowan incident," Mr. Bond continued.

"He was riding to get a doctor when he came upon Dan Kelly and Steve Hart, forcing railway- men at gunpoint to pull up the line.

"Curnow pleaded with them to let him go, which they did.

"He galloped up the line until he heard the train coming, then took off his scarf, and wrapped it round a signal lamp to make a danger signal.

"Train stopped, and Curnow directed the soldiers to where the Kellys were — in a Glenrowan hotel.

"Every schoolboy knows the rest . . ."

Mr. Bond's parents were brought to Victoria by the Hentys when they established Portland in the

1840's.

Mr. W. H. Bond displays the   piece of red scarf which played a part in the Kelly gang's cap-

ture at Glenrowan.

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