This version attempts to mimic Datas' book. The paging and text follows
the book's layout as far as possible.
CHAPTER X
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES
IT is just fifty years ago that the Kelly Gang,
one of the most notorious gangs of outlaws that
ever existed, were trapped in a wooden shanty,
and put up the last grim fight of their wild and
reckless lives. I have more than usual good
reason to remember the date, as young Jim
Kelly----a younger brother of Dan and Ned the
bushrangers----was a great pal of mine, having
travelled over 44,000 miles with me as ring-
master of Wirth's Circus with which I was
appearing.
From Jim I heard many wonderful stories of
his notorious brothers at first hand, and thus I
am able to reveal much of the history of these
outlaws who created a reign of terror amongst
bank managers and mail coach drivers in Aus-
tralia, and tell intimate stories of them which
have hitherto never been told. Indeed, I always
made a point of getting first hand information
167
168 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
about any date or incident I wished to memorise,
as by that means I found that the event became
more definitely fixed in my mind. I thus get a
picture in my eye and whenever an event is men-
tioned the picture rises up before me and the
date follows automatically.
It was in Wangaratta that I first met Jim
Kelly, a fine upstanding specimen of manhood,
with a smile for everyone, and a heart of gold.
I had gone out to Australia to do a tour with
Wirth's Circus, and picked them up there on
September 21st, 1909. Wangaratta is right in
the heart of what was known as the Kelly coun-
try, because it was round about there that they
had operated largely, and were best known.
I introduced myself to the manager of the
circus, and he beckoned me in a mysterious
fashion to the tent which acted as an office. It
had been agreed that I should devote myself as
far as possible to the answering of questions
relating to the history of Australia, and I was
thoroughly conversant with the type of question
which would be asked. I had no fears for myself,
but I was not prepared for the bit of advice which
the manager at once thought fit to give me.
"Look here, old man," he said, "I just want
to put you wide. We are in the Kelly country,
and it is more than likely that you will be asked
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 169
questions about the gang. Now young Jim
Kelly is my ring-master, and I can tell you that
round about here, anyone who suggests any-
thing against the Kellys is not popular, and is
likely to get hurt. I thought I'd better give you
the tip so that you can frame your answers. If
you think it best, switch off on to another
question."
I thanked him, and then said I'd like to meet
Jim Kelly. So I was taken across, and then and
there introduced to one of the most picturesque
figures you can possibly imagine. At once we
took a great liking to each other, and so began
a friendship which lasted for many years.
That night I made my first appearance in
Australia, and----sure enough----the very first
question that came at me was from a burly six-
footer who bellowed out: "What date were the
Kelly gang rounded up ?"
I did not hesitate. "The Kellys were brave
men," I replied, "and let me tell you that they
were driven into what they did in avenging a
sister's honour."
The place rose at me, and Datas had got over
in the first second. Then I went on to give them
the chief dates of the various bank, and mail,
hold-ups, and how at last after a two years' chase
which cost the country œ115,000, they were cor-
170 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
nered and shot down on June 27th, 1880, Ned,
the only survivor, being hung on the 11th Sep-
tember, 1880, in the same gaol where his mother
was incarcerated, and on the same scaffold on
which Deeming was to pay the penalty of his
crimes years afterwards.
There were other questions, of course, but
that one established me right away, and my
fame went abroad. In the few minutes I had had
with Jim Kelly I had asked him point blank why
they had murdered the policeman who had come
to arrest Dan, and thus embarked on their
career of robbery and murder. He it was who
told me that it was to avenge his sister's honour
and he it was who afterwards told me the story
of the happening in full.
"I was only a kid at the time," he said, "but
I am never likely to forget it. Dan and Ned had
been doing a bit of cattle rustling, and Dan was
`wanted'. All that the public have ever heard is
that when the officer called to collect Dan, my
brother Ned shot him down, whilst my mother
struck him to the ground with a shovel. That
is true, but only partly true. What really hap-
pened was this:
"The policeman called, and asked for Dan.
My sister Kate answered the door and told him
that Dan was away and not likely to be back.
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 171
This was perfectly true. He called her a liar,
and said he was coming in to search the place.
She opened wide the door, and told him to come
right in. She knew Dan was out of the way, and
that was all she cared. My mother was in
another part of the house, and the policeman
followed Kate into the kitchen. At once he tried
to put his arms round her, and she gave him a
punch that sent him reeling. He then sat on the
table swinging his leg, and, looking at her with
passion in his eyes, he told her that if she would
consent to certain suggestions, he would go back
and say that Dan was away, and could not be got.
He did not know my sister, for she hurled her-
self on him in a wicked temper, and it was then
that the struggle began in which he attempted
to assault her. He had torn half the clothes from
her body when I came on the scene and at the
same moment my mother came into the room,
drawn there by the sounds of the scuffle. There
was a heavy spade standing in one corner, and
my mother seized it, and with a mighty swing of
it struck the officer to the ground. Almost at
the same moment a shot rang out and I saw
Ned standing in the doorway. He had fired his
shot just at the same moment as my mother had
swung at the policeman with the spade.
"He was killed outright, and I can remember
172 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
the terror in my heart when Ned with the gun
still in his fingers turned to my mother and said :
`Well----I suppose Dan and I had better keep out
of the way. You stay on here and look after the
family, mother----I'll take what's coming for this
lot----if they can catch me.'
"He did not hurry. Just made certain arrange-
ments, and then went off . The next we knew was
that my mother had been arrested, and one or
two others who were found in the house when
the police came, and she was eventually tried and
sentenced to six years' imprisonment for her
part in the crime. Dan and Ned had joined
forces, and with a price on their heads were
forced into leading an outlaw life.
"And I want to tell you that they were not the
wanton murderers they have been made out.
Their names are still revered all over Australia.
They were never known to harm a woman. In
fact they always showed the greatest respect for
them, and never robbed one. They only robbed
banks and mails, and----they never murdered
anyone except the police, against whom they
held their grudge, and who came to capture
them dead or alive.
"Very often they helped people in need, and
I remember Ned telling me how they had come
to the assistance of a poor widow. If it hadn't
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 173
been for the love which the people had for my
brothers, they would have been captured long
before. But like myself there were plenty of
`bush telegraphs' about. A `bush telegraph' is a
person who gives the tip when the police are
about, and there wasn't an inn-keeper or man
in the district who would not hang out the signal
if the boys had got to keep clear of a place.
"Sometimes it would be a table-cloth hung out
on a bush as though to dry. I used to act as an
informant at times, and go off into their hiding
places when there were any signs of danger for
them, and tell them just how things were. I saw
them pretty often, and it was on one of their
visits to the town in which I was staying that
Ned told me how the widow had gone into the
hotel where he was, weeping. Ned asked her
what was the matter, and she told him the bailiff
was threatening to sell up her furniture if she
did not pay the œ17 rent she owed. Ned
promptly handed her over the money and told
her to go and pay him off. She did so, and then
Ned waited for the man to come out of her house,
held him up, and took all the money the man
had got, and threatened to shoot him if he did
not clear off soon.
"Ned was one of the kindest-hearted men you
could ever meet. And the manner in which the
174 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
gang carried out their hold-ups shows that
neither he nor Dan were murderers at heart.
Food and shelter were always ready for them
wherever they went, and the rest of the gang
were treated in just the same way. There was
Joe Byrne, Steve Hart, and Aaron Sherrit, and
one or two others from time to time, but it was
Sherrit who turned informer, and gave the gang
away to get the œ8,ooo reward which had been
offered. He did not live to get it because Ned
shot him two days before the rest of the gang
were rounded up.
"One time a posse of four police troopers got
after them, and there was a fight. Three of the
police were killed, and the gang collared their
uniforms, guns and horses, and got away. Not
long after they rode into Euroa, and entering
the bank first of all held up the clerk, and then
the manager. Before doing this, however, they
had done what they did in a number of bank
hold-ups. They got to a place just outside the
town about two days before, and going into a
farmhouse held up the farmer, and locked the
family up in a store room. Then they made for
Euroa, leaving a couple of the gang in charge
of the prisoners. Everyone who passed the
house was roped in and imprisoned with the
rest, and eventually nearly everybody in the
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 175
sparsely populated town was captured and taken
along. They were treated with every considera-
tion, and played cards and other games to while
away the time. Before the bank raid occurred
there were at least sixty prisoners in the farm-
house, and Ned got away with œ3,000 that time.
"On another occasion Dan and Steve Hart
got to Jeriblirie and at the point of their guns
drove the two policemen into their own cells,
and having stripped them of their uniforms
paraded the town in company with one of its
citizens, locating the bank and the hotel, and
generally spotting out the ground for another
hold-up. The other folks thought that they were
two new police officers drafted into the town to
find the Kellys whom report said were in the
neighbourhood.
"It was after this that Sherrit played the
traitor, after the reward had been increased to
œ8,ooo. It was he who put Police Superinten-
dent Hare on their tracks, but as I have said he
was shot dead by my brother Dan, and if ever
murder was justified it was in this case. I've got
no room for a squealer. More than once the
gang had had a narrow squeak after Sherrit got
in touch with the police. Once they were
actually in a house when the police arrived, and
it was only because the friendly occupants smug-
176 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
gled them out of a back entrance that they got
away. On another occasion they stood in water
up to their necks, their heads hidden by rushes,
whilst troopers were searching the banks of the
river.
"When they got wind from one of their `bush
telegraphs' that Hare was coming down with a
young army of police and some native trackers,
Ned decided that he would kill the lot by
derailing the train in which they were riding. He
got a plate-layer at the point of a pistol, and
made him take up part of the track near a steep
embankment across which Hare and his men
would have to come. But Hare was too wide
for them this time. He had a pilot engine sent
on to spy out the track, and the alarm was given
in time. In the meantime Ned and the rest had
made their way to Mrs. Jones' hotel at Glen-
rowan. They had previously rounded up about
fifty of the residents, and were holding them
prisoners in the inn. They were going to rob
the bank that night and get away with their
haul.
"The police came straight on from the em-
bankment. They made for the house, and as
they approached in the moonlight a, shot rang
out. Joe Byrne had seen them and started the
shooting. The first bullet hit Hare in the wrist
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 177
and put him out of action. That first shot was
the signal for a regular fusilade. The gang were
armed with repeating rifles, so were the police.
Inside the building the unfortunate citizens were
crowded together in terror. Ned and the rest
were under the veranda, and were calling out
to those inside to lay flat on the floor so that
they should not get hurt. Ned told me after-
wards----I saw him in his prison cell----how he
was haunted by the screams of the children.
`You know I would not have had a child hurt for
anything, Jim,' he said, `and the women, too. It
was horrible. The police ought to have waited
for daylight, and not fired like they did. They
did more shooting of harmless people than I did
in the whole of my career.'
"Several of the inmates of the house were shot
through the thin match-boarding of which the
hotel was built. One died as a result of his
wounds. The night wore on and by this time
police were coming in from other districts to
make up the number. Yet not one of the gang
had been captured. Then the police called on
those inside the house to come out, and men,
women, and little children rushed out of the
house screaming with terror, falling on their
faces with fear as they reached the police.
"Ned told me that they never fired a shot
178 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
whilst these poor devils were getting----to safety,
and it was not till then that they retired to the
house themselves to take extra cover. All of the
gang had been hit by this time, but they were
all wearing suits of armour which had been made
for them by a friendly blacksmith out of old
pieces of iron which came his way. They had
iron masks for their heads, and shields to cover
the front of their bodies. Only their arms and
legs were exposed. Dan had already been
severely wounded, and Joe Byrne had also been
rendered useless, having been wounded several
times in both arms and legs. Ned and Steve
carried them into the house, and returned the
fire of the police. But they were unable to keep
going from all sides at once, and one of the
policemen rushed up with some straw to one
unguarded side of the place, and set it alight.
At once it became a blazing inferno.
"Huge crowds had collected by this time, and
an old priest, Father Tierney, dashed up to the
hotel to rescue some of the citizens who had
been wounded. It was he who dragged out the
dead body of Joe Byrne. Ned meantime had
retreated to a bit of a wood just at the back of
the place, and presently realising that he could
not hold out alone, he stepped out into the
moonlight and carried on a single-handed battle
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 179
with the police until he dropped to the ground,
shot in both arms, and legs. He had thrown off
his coat before leaving the hotel, and there he
stood in his coat of armour, with bullet dents all
over it.
"He was captured, taken to Melbourne, and
placed in the same prison where my mother was.
There I visited them both, and it has been said
that she was allowed to see Ned before he was
hung. That is not true. She was given the
opportunity of doing so, but refused. All that
she asked was that he should be told that she
hoped he would die like a Kelly, and that was
the message I took to him the last time I ever
saw him alive."
Such was Jim Kelly's story. Ned was
executed at ten o'clock in the morning on the
11th September, 1880.
During my tour of Australia I met a man
named Curnow, an old schoolmaster, and a
friend of Ned's from his boyhood days. He was
on the scene soon after the shooting up of the
gang, and he told me that, when the hotel had
been burned to the ground, the bodies of Dan
and Steve Hart were found amidst the ashes
charred beyond recognition, the only means of
identification being their bullet-proof coats of
iron. He also bound up the wrist of Ned who
180 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
told him not to worry about him, but to go and
see that some of the inhabitants of Glenrowan
were all right.
Ned was born in 1854, But before ever he
embarked on his career of crime, his father
before him had been transported from this coun-
try in 1839. So that he was already the son of a
convict, his father having been sentenced to fif-
teen years for killing a man. Transportation
ceased from this country in 1853, a year before
Ned was born, and I remember, when we got
down to Perth, Jim Kelly pointing out to me
in one of the main buildings a broad arrow
upside down. It had been built in by one of the
convicts who was working on the place, and is
there to this day for those who care to look
for it.
And perhaps the most singular thing about
that tour of mine in Australia is the fact that
not only was Jim Kelly a member of the circus
company but amongst the tent-men was one
named Gilbert, who was the son of the notorious
Gilbert, who, with another desperado named
O'Mealy was one of the Ben Hall gang of bush-
rangers. Together we went out to place a wreath
on the grave of Hall at Forbes, who was shot
down after a terrible battle with the police, being
riddled with no fewer than thirty-seven bullets
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 181
before he was killed. The three of them had
been outlawed, and were to be shot on sight.
Gilbert junior was proud of the fact that his
father had never shot a woman, and it was he
who once asked me a question which I could not
answer.
"What street in London was named after Ben
Ha11?" he asked, with a grin, after we had
placed the wreath on his grave. I gave it up.
"Lead-in-Hall" street was the reply.
Australia seemed to specialise in bushrangers
at one time, and it was surprising to me how
question after question was asked concerning
these worthies. One of the favourite questions
was concerning Morgan, who was, I should
think, the most blood-thirsty outlaw who ever
lived. His was another grave I visited, but----we
did not put a wreath on this time. Morgan was
born in Paddy's Market, Sydney, and had the
reputation of shooting on sight. That is to say
that he shot first and robbed afterwards. On one
occasion he shot a man, and whilst he was still
writhing in agony, he leaned over him, and said :
"Poor fellow----I did not mean to shoot you, I'll
go and get a doctor." He turned away, and then
with a grin turned back to his victim once more.
"You don't want a doctor, I'll soon put an end
to your troubles." Then taking careful aim, with
182 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
slow deliberation which must have tortured the
man as he lay there awaiting his end, he shot
him dead.
Morgan was shot by a youth named Quinlan,
a farm-hand employed by a Mr. McPherson, at
Pechelba. Morgan had ridden up to the farm,
and entering the homestead held up the family
with a pistol in each hand. There was a pretty
maid employed at the farm, and he compelled
her at the point of his gun to sit down at the
piano and play to him whilst he commanded the
rest of the family to dance whilst he sang in a
raucous voice. Suddenly the maid rose from the
piano and asked him to let her go upstairs for a
minute to quieten the screaming baby. Morgan
let her go, and in doing so signed his own death
warrant. For the girl clambered through a
window and went to Quinlan and told him that
a bushranger was holding up the family. Quin-
lan, still in his early twenties, got a rifle, and
hiding behind a tree, waited for Morgan to
come out.
He came out in company with the farmer, and
no sooner had he reached the doorway than
Quinlan shot him dead, the two pistols falling
from his nerveless fingers as he fell to the ground.
When Quinlan learned that the man he had shot
was none other than the notorious outlaw whose
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 183
exploits had terrorised the country for years, he
went raving mad and died in an asylum.
But all my experiences were not associated
with gruesome stories of this kind. There were
some very amusing incidents during this Aus-
tralian tour, and perhaps one of the most amus-
ing was when old George Bonnor, the famous
cricketer whom many will remember, made one
of our elephants reeling drunk.
We had arrived at Orange on the Blue Moun-
tain River on the 13th July, 1910, and at once
made our way to the Orange Hotel, which was
kept by Bonnor. I wanted to get all particulars
of his records apart from those which I had
already collected. Some of his more local stuff.
The hotel was a very rude sort of structure,
built of wood, with no glass in the windows,
because of the heat. Jim Kelly came along with
me, and by way of a little advertising stunt we
took one of our baby elephants, who weighed a
trifling two tons, to visit George.
Jim introduced the small elephant to George.
The latter, always a bit of a wag, said: "Will the
elephant have a drink, Jim ?" And Jim looked
at him with a quizzical eye, and replied: "It
might buck him up a bit, George."
So George got a bucket into which he poured
some milk. Then he got four bottles of rum, and
184 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
poured the lot into the milk. This mild beverage
was put down near Jumbo. He had a sniff, and
then plunged his trunk right in, and nothing
could be heard for a moment or two except the
suction as he drew the liquid into his trunk. We
stood looking on in amazement, whilst the
crowds who had been drawn to the hotel by the
sight of Jumbo in the saloon were greatly inter-
ested. He did not stop till he had finished the
lot, and then he stood there blinking, and eyeing
us one after the other in much the same way as
a man slightly inebriated eyes one when the
alcohol is beginning to take effect.
Old George was tickled to death, and roared
with laughter, whereupon Jumbo took a few
reeling steps towards the bar counter, against
which he stumbled, pushing the whole thing
down. Then the bottles on the shelves attracted
his attention, and seizing them one by one with
his trunk, he started slinging them around the
bar, and through the window spaces. Poor old
George----his face was a picture as he ducked this
way and that in his efforts to dodge the bottles
or else catch them. He performed feats of field-
ing that day that he had never equalled in any
Test Match of his life, and I remember him
crying out to Jim: "Get him out----for God's sake
take him out."
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 185
"Nothing doing," replied Jim, whilst Jumbo
playfully continued his Pussyfoot activities, and
Carrie Nation bar-smashing exploits. "I'm
`hopping' it." And "hop" it, he did, down
to the menagerie. In a few minutes he re-
turned with two of the big elephants, who
went in and lugged the intoxicated Jumbo
out of the bar, and belaboured him with
their trunks, afterwards dragging him home
still reeling, and still ribald in his elephantine
way.
Jumbo would never go near an hotel after
that, and would shy away immediately, whilst
any offer of drink would put him in a flaming
temper which it was wise to avoid.
It cost œ90 to repair the damage done by the
playful two tons of elephant, and George swore
that he would never be so hospitable again. Not
to an elephant, anyway.
Amongst the other members of the company
were a nine foot giantess, and a two foot five inch
dwarf, and Jim thought it would be a great idea
if we could inaugurate a touch of romance for
publicity purposes. We talked it over with the
two parties concerned, and the next day the
announcement was made that the dwarf had
proposed to, and been accepted by, the giantess.
There followed days of anxiety owing to the
irascible nature of the wee fellow, who was an
186 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
irritable little devil, always falling foul of the
rest of the company.
Every now and again he would let himself go
at his sweetheart and reduce her to tears by his
violent cave man tactics. The only way in
which she could successfully manage him was to
lift him up in one hand, and tuck him into her
hat, which she carried like a basket. The indig-
nity of it all used to act as a quietener, and her
dwarf lover would become as docile as a cooing
dove. Neither of the lovers was allowed out
during the day, as if the people were able to see
them outside the show, they would not be so
likely to pay their money to come in and see
them. So they took their exercise together
between the hours of two and five in the
early morning, going for a stroll in Prince
Alfred's Park, Sydney, always accompanied by
another member of the company by way of
chaperone.
The climax came when, before huge crowds,
they were married at midnight, the blushing
bride being attired in full wedding regalia, her
diminutive bridegroom gallantly placing a ring,
which could have encircled his neck, upon her
finger. Oh, yes----there was romance as well as
thrills on this trip, and one of the most thrilling
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 187
experiences which happened to me was at Mar-
riundi.
One of our clowns was taken ill, and I walked
some little distance from the circus ground to a
neighbouring hotel to get him some beef tea. He
was very grateful, and in the dusk of the evening
after the show, I made my way back, carrying
the jug in which I had brought the soup. I
handed this over to the hotel keeper, and set out
on my way back. I was passing through a
thicket when I saw a slinking figure which I took
to be one of our big dogs. I put out a hand and
stroked the head, only to be greeted with a big
low, rumbling growl.
I took a closer glimpse, and then saw that it
was no dog but one of the circus lions which had
managed to escape. I ran till daylight. I've got
a pretty good memory, but I'm no lion tamer,
and I was not sure how friendly he might be to
one of the company. Meantime the escape had
been discovered, and it was found that there
were two lions missing. All the tentmen were
rounded up, and armed, and they went off in
they managed to locate them in a farmhouse,
where they had got into the stables and were
devouring the horses. A few shots soon brought
to an end their depredations, and after that I
188 DATAS: THE MEMORY MAN
was much more careful about stroking animals
in the dark.
To turn to a more amusing aspect of circus
life I would like to mention my old friend
"Professor Hoppit", the famous trainer of per-
forming fleas, who died in Peckham a few years
ago. Never was there a more resplendent figure
than the silk-hatted, frock-coated "professor"
who had a troupe of fleas which could do almost
anything. His bill matter was of the most pre-
tentious type, as will be seen at a glance of the
accompanying illustration.
"So many fleas will be left behind at every
hotel visited," was one of his slogans, and he
was very proud of his "company". There were
tight-rope walkers amongst them, hansom-cab
drivers, and you could see them working away
with picks and shovels. He used to feed them
by placing them on a vein in his wrist, and the
little beggars would bloat themselves on his arm,
whilst he drank rum. One night disaster over-
took him. He had a drink too many, and when
he came to look for his "company" he found
them missing. He was in great trouble, and for
the next hour or two, he was busy catching a
fresh supply of fleas from elephants, horses, and
other animals, harnessing them up, and trying
to put them through various tricks. A great
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 189
showman was Hoppit, and I often wonder what
became of the missing fleas, for they were never
discovered.
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