Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 77
Descriptions of Ryan distinguish him by the powder marks on his face, neck
and left arm. This was the result of phosphorus burns he suffered in February 1896
while working at Belubla Station, near Tocumwal on the NSW-Victorian border. Two
tins of phosphorus caught alight in a storeroom and Ryan volunteered to remove the
cans so the building would not burn down. While removing the second can, the
burning phosphorus leaked out onto his arm and burnt him from the shoulder to the
fingers. Newspaper reports of the incident say that Ryan had ‘suffered frightful
agony’ as the flames could not be put out. No mention is made of how Ryan lost his
eye, but given that exposure to phosphorus can cause significant corneal burns,
it is likely that Ryan sustained his eye injuries during the Belubla Station
incident.
The last time Ryan appears in the NSW Gaol Photographic Description Books,
1870-1930, is in 1908. By then, his aliases included Patrick Ryan, Myles Ryan,
Mitchell O’Brien and Charles Mitchell. In 1912 a warrant for his arrest for
stealing was issued in Goulburn with the description:
Offender is about 45 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high, strong build, dark
moustache only, or may have about a week’s growth of beard, powder marks on
face, minus one eye; dressed in dirty work clothes, and heavy boots, usually
wears a red handkerchief round neck, slovenly appearance; a labourer;
addicted to drink.
Ryan was still in the Goulburn area in 1915, where once again, he was wanted
for uttering a valueless cheque.
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