SHORT-LIVED BUSHRANGERS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2646, 30 October 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

SHORT-LIVED BUSHRANGERS

SERIES OF SENSATIONAL STORIES (By Charles White, Author of “Australian Bushrangers,” “Old Convict Days,” etc.) (Published by Special Arrangement.) The following constitute the stories: -I. The Chinese Highwayman. 11. Two Bloodthirsty “Break-o’-Day” Boys. 111. A Raid with a Tragic Ending. IV. Holding Up the Gold Escort. .V. The Chinese Shepherd and his Cheques. VI. Young Bendigo’s Gang and the Diggers. VII. A Harmless Duel with Rifles. VIII. A Night Raid Frustrated. IX. Held up for Seven Hours. X. Turning the Tables: A Bushranger Killed by Chinamen. XI. The Murder at Diamond Creek ' • • Station. • „ XII. A Sequel to the Mudgee Mail Robbery. XIII. The Bushrangers and the Carrier. XIV. The Mail Robber and the’ Cheques XV. Amongst the Bogan Stations. i Chased lor 300 miles and shot down. XVI. A Constable whose Pluck atoned for his Folly. . XVII. Another Policeman’s Mistake; XVIII. A Saturdav Night’s Raid. XIX. A Sharp Encounter. XX. Practical Jokers and the Sydney Pressman. XXI. An Unresisting Victim. XXII. A Big Haul and a smart Capture. XXITI. Shot Down on the Highway. INTRODUCTORY. Gang bushrangiug n Australia did not by any means hold a monopoly- of sensationalism, and .ts record does not absorb all the exciting events associated with the men of the road and their doings. As a matter of fact, the gangs were often credited with outrages which individual bushrangers had committed, and the police authorities in each of the infested districts were put to a great deal of trouble at various times through the operations of individual bushrangers on the very fields that were being exploited by the bushranger gangs, it being a difficult matter to decide whether the individual was associated with the gang or was working “on his own,” and not a few of the latter had fair opportunity of escaping arrest while the police were running hot foot after the former.. Some of the following brief sketches will illustrate this fact very clearly. I.—THE CHINESE HIGHWAYMAN: It is a mistake to suppose that the bushrangers of Australia were all either ex-convicts or reckless and venturesome young native-born buslunen. These formed the majority, certainly; but there were others, and amonggst those others was an almond-eyed son of the Flowery Land, who rejoiced in the name of Sam Poo, and who, with other of his countrymen, had found his way to one of the gold-fields in the Mudgee district. At this time (early in 1865) the “Chow” was to be found in numbers large or small upon almost every “diggings,” particularly on those which had already 'been exploited by Europeans and left by them for some new “rush.” The yellow mail was quite content to take second place, after the European diggers on the more important fields had made it plain that they must not expect to find standing room on new fields; and they turned over the old workings to some purpose, frequently getting more of the precious out of the abandoned ground than had been obtained by the white holders of the original claims. But Sam Poo was not satisfied with his winnings in the digging line on the Talbragar. He had been on more productive fields, where he had picked up a good smatr tering of “pidgin” English, become .acquainted with many of the habits .and customs of European diggers, and had. learned that, as a profession, bushranging, if more risky, was sometimes less arduous and more profitable than delving for gold in abandoned shafts, thrice-cradled tailings heaps, or wash-ed-up river beds. Hence, he turned his almond eyes upon the road, and occasionally practised shooting from his tent door, a blackened tree stump on the side of the ridge adjacent forming the target. For some reason or other he had separated from his countrymen, lived in a camp alone, and worked alone as a “hatter” —as the digger without a “mate” was called. In his solitary state he was looked upon for some time • by the diggers and others in the locality as a harmless crank, and his own countrymen, when asked, “What for Sam Poo live by himself?” voiced the same opinion in the laconic answer, “He no good—he fool!” But, as the sequel shows, -there was a -roguish method in his madness, which assumed a form most vicious, and was followed by resulits most disastrous. One morning early Sam Poo disap- », peared from his camp, and on the following day the diggers on the field were shocked and surprised by a report that a man supposed to be a Chinaman had attempted to outrage a woman and her little girl on the Mudgee road. They did not connect Sam Poo with that crime, however, until later, when reports came in that an armed Chinaman was bailing - up solitary travellers on the Mudgee-Talbragar road, and then even the boys on the field correctly guessed that the offender was “Cranky ' Sam.” . . ' The news that a Chinaman had as- . Burned the role of bushranger, and was hailing up travellers, came as a surprise tojthe community, who had had abunV - dant proof of the fact that the Chinese - were, in the main, a law-abiding class, even if they were otherwise ob]ection-

able, and Mounted Constable Ward, of Coonabsrabran station, could scarcely credit the. story when, in patrolling the road on the Mudgee side of Barney’s Reef, he met two men, who informed him that “an armed Chinaman was about sticking up people.” Though doubtful, lie still acted, and, spurring up his horse, soon came to tho spot indicated, there to receive most painful proof that the story told by the travellers was correct.

As lie cantered smartly along the beaten track, lie espied a Chinaman on foot some distance ahead carrying a gun, and almost simultaneously the Chinaman saw him, and hurriedly turned off the road and ran into the bush. Ward at once chased and overtook him, never for a moment anticipating danger in the meeting. As he neared the fugitive Ward called out: “What you do? Put down your gun!” but immediately found himself covered, and heard the Chinaman cry out: “You policeman! I’ll fire!” To leap from his horse and take out his revolver was the work of a moment, and them, seeing that the Chinaman really meant business (for he came nearer, with the gun still levelled), the constable made' an attempt to get round the horse, again calling out: “Put down the gun!” himself not casing to fire. Ward’s humane hesitancy proved his undoing, for the Chinaman followed him quickly and fired, wounding him severely in the . side. Ward fell at I once, firing one revolver shot at his assailant as he foil, and two more shots as he lay on the .ground at the horse’s feet; but one of the shots took effect, and the Chinaman ran away, reloading his gun. as he ran. There had been no witness to t.iis tragedy of the bush, and poor Ward was like to have bled to death where he had fallen, but for the providential passing by of Mr J. F. Plunkett, the squatter upon whose run the occurrence had taken place, and who was on his way to an adjoining sheep station. Mr Plunkett found the wounded constable in a semi-comatose condition, and, having hurriedly sought assistance, had him conveyed to his homestead at Talbragar, where every effort was made,,to assuage his sufferings and minister to his comfort pending the arrival of a doctor, for whom a wellmounted messenger had been despatch cd a distance of nearly fifty miles. Put when the doctor arrived, on the < ay following, poor Ward was beyond ilie need-of aid. He had passed into ibe Great Beyond, forming another - tin. long line of those to whom death has come in the performance of duty. V Mr Plunkett, in a few sentences, subsequently told the pathetic story of Ward’s passing, thus':-—“Poor- Ward' died on the day following. I spoke to him repeatedly; lie said ho knew he was dying, and asked with tears wliat would become of his poor wife and family. He made a full statement to me of the encounter with the Chinaman, which statement I took down in writing. He was quite satisfied that ho was dying when he made the statement, and asked me to pray for him. lie was a member of the Church oi England, and I read a form of prayer for the sick from the book of Common Prayer, which was very beautiful. 1 read the -whole of the service, and a part of it is for a person at the point of death. Ward died after asking that his wife and family should be sent for, and they did not reach my place until after he -was buried.” Meanwhile, the hue and cry had been raised, and the whole countryside was on the look-out- for the Chinaman. All the available police took horse and scoured the bush for miles around the scene of. the outrage, but they could not find oTTe murderer, though traces had been left by him -in the shape of camp fires, and at Mr Plunkett’s sheep station some Hour, spilled when the empty hut was being raided for provisions. On tho fifteenth day .after the murder, an aboriginal half-caste named Harry Hughes, working on*-Cabbora station, volunteered to go with the police as a tracker, and his offer being accepted, Troopers Todd, Burns, and McMahon started out, with him into the bush. The keen eye of the black speedily discovered the trail', and the quartette of hunters pressed steadily ! forward -until a point was reachet; where it was considered best for tin party to divide, Burns and McMahon taking the scrub, and Todd and the tracker keeping to the river which skirted it, arranging to meet at a given point some miles distant. Burns and McMahon first caught sight of the fugitive, who had been concealed ill a gully. He fired at them as they passed, and then plunged into the scrub and disappeared. The troopers returned the fire as soon, as they saw him, hut Sam Poo was too quick for them, and got away where they could not follow with their horses, and as they were fearful that he might esca-pe if they lost time trying to penetrate tho scrub, they galloped forward to M’Vicar’s, some three miles distant, where they met and told their story to Todd and Hughes. The whole party then hastened hack to the gully, where Hughes soon got to work, and noiselessly followed the track until no came across the quarry hiding in the thick scrub. The Chinaman saw Hughes at the same moment, and immediately raised his gun. and fired, the charge parsing through Hughes’ hat. The tracker’s alarm sounded simultaneously with the discharge of the gun, and the troopers rushed forward. Their appearance was the signal for more firing, for tin) Chinaman, whose movements were very rapid, loaded his piece and discharged it several times*' from behind the shelter of two- trees before his pursuers could get a shot at him. At last Todd saw a fair opening, as. Sam Poo exposed himself for the' purpose of taking

aim at Burns, and, seizing it, lie emptied his shotted gun with good effect, the charge entering Sam Poo’s head, neck and body. Burns then rushed forward to secure him, and as he did o the Chinaman, resting himself on one arm, raised his gun to fire; but Burns was too quick for him, and struck him down with the butt end of his rifle, the blow breaking the stock of the piece and cracking the murderer’s skull. THe troopers returned’ to M’Vicar’s that night, and next morning proceeded to Mudgee, where Sam Poo was treated in the gaol hospital. In due course lie recovered sufficiently in duo course he recovered sufficiently to permit of his removal to Bathurst, where he was subsequently tried, convicted and hanged, nine months having •elapsed between the arrest and the execution. Shortly after Ward’s death, a public meeting was held at Mudgee, and a goodly sum of money was raised for the support of the widow and children, who had been bereaved of their breadwinner by the only Chinaman that has ever been known in Australia to take the road as a bushranger. (To be Continued.)