The Last of the Bushrangers: An Account of the Capture of the Kelly GangHare, Francis Augustus
History
The Last of the Bushrangers: An Account of the Capture of the Kelly Gang
Hare, Francis Augustus
Brigands and robbers -- Australia; Kelly, Ned, 1855-1880
Mr. John Stanistreet, station-master at Glenrowan, states--"About three
o'clock on Sunday morning a knock came to my door, at the gatehouse,
within one hundred yards of the station, on the Melbourne side. I
jumped up, and thinking it was some one wanting to get through the
gates in a hurry, I commenced to dress as soon as possible. I half
dressed, and went to the door. Just when I got there it was burst in,
but previous to that there was some impatient talk, which caused me
to dress quickly. When the door was burst in I asked, 'What is that
for?' or 'Who are you?' The answer was, 'I am Ned Kelly.' I then saw a
man, clad in an overcoat, standing in the doorway. He pushed me into
my bedroom, where my wife and some of the children were in bed. There
were two girls and one infant besides my wife. Then he said to me, 'You
have to come with me and take up the rails.' 'Wait,' said I, 'until I
dress.' He said, 'Yes,' and I completed my dressing and followed him
out of the house.
"On the line there were seven or eight men standing at the gate which
crosses the line to Mrs. Jones's hotel, the Glenrowan Inn. He said,
'You direct those men how to raise some of the rails, as we expect a
special train very soon.' I objected, saying, 'I know nothing about
lifting rails off the line; the only persons who understand it are the
repairers; they live outside and along the line.' Ned Kelly then went
into Reardon the plate-layer's house. Reardon lives outside the line on
the Greta side, about a quarter of a mile away. Steve Hart was present,
and Kelly left us in his charge. When Kelly went away Hart gave me a
prod with his rifle in the side, saying, 'You get the tools out that
are necessary to raise those rails.' I said, 'I have not the key of the
chest;' and he said, 'Break the lock.' He told one of the men to do so,
and on arriving at the station he got one of the men to do it. This was
in the little back shed used as a store-room, between the station and
the gatehouse. The tools were thrown out, and in the meantime Reardon
and Sullivan, the line-repairers, arrived with Ned Kelly. These two
men and Ned proceeded down the line towards Wangaratta to lift the
rails. We were still under Steve Hart, and we remained where we were
over two hours, and then Ned Kelly and the repairers returned. Ned
then inquired about the signalling of trains, as to how I stopped a
train with the signal-lights. I said, '"White is right, red is wrong,
and green is gently, come along."' He said, 'There is a special train
coming; you give no signals.' Speaking to Hart he said, 'Watch his
countenance, and if he gives any signal, shoot him.' He then marched
us into my residence, and left us there under Steve Hart. There were
there then about seventeen altogether, other persons subsequently being
placed in my house also. There were present Reardon's family, the Ryan
family, Cameron (son of the gatekeeper on the other line), Sullivan,
line-repairer, and others whom I do not remember.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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