St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-03-24
4 COLONIAL. HERO.

. 4 COLONIAL. HERO.
Tlie West Australian Tmes contains the
following:
| can incident in the life Of a poor man
was related last week in the course of our
criminal sessions that;n a former age would
have excited general admiration. Two
shepherds were in charge of one Of The
tlocks Of Mr.. 5o!ln llassctl. at remote sta
tion. There was no other station within
twenty miles Of them. One afternoon,
some tiSie ;HSo, onc Of these men white oc-
cupicd in his hut, which was only compes
ed of stakes and rushcs, fancie1 >Ee icard Il
groan st little distance. Going outside
he again heard The sound of low moaning,
and soon discovered his companion, Char
ley St.rcy, living insensible in brake, and
covered with innumerable spear wounds.
Carrying him OH his back to the hut, lie
laid him ON .ltis Kangaroo skin rug washed
lnd probed his wounds, succeeded in cx-
| tracing the barb Of :, spear which was
buried in his side, and ultimately restored
him to consciousness. 1t turned out that
Storey had seen attacked by natives, who
wished to seize the sheep. This was all
mitted by the native witnesses at the trial
Of one of the party for tic murder of stor-
cy, who eventually died Of his Wounds
The two unfortunate men remained awake
all night: one in extreme pain, the other
carefully attending upon him. Next
morning the natives surrounded the hut,
and began throwing spears, which COM
:plcteiy passed thro ;g: both SIDES of it,
Finding that they would be murde, cl Ed
| ward Ladbury, the witness, who told Tie
/ tale in simple, unvarni$hcd terms. took his
only Weapons, his pocket knife and biI-
hook, and boldly sailed forili lIc had
covered the bill-hook with his coat, so as
only to display the haha.s, Which the ma
tives took to bc pistol. lie threatened to
fire upon them uuless they withdrew, and
! after some deliberation they suddenly re-
tired. An That day the men rem aimed in
fear Of their return. During the next
night Storey saia',rc felt better and they re-
solved to endeavor 10 make tlfc,r escape to
Mr.. llassell's 4tczt station, twenty miles
distant. At two O'clock in the morning
they stole out of the hut Edward Ladbury
was laden with their bedding and effects,
and Storey clung to his arm. After crawl
ing about one hundred and fifty yards the
wounded man said he could 60 no further,
and urged Ladbury to leave him to his fate,
land save himself 1t appears to be almost
impossible to rescue Storey: hut Ladbury
determined not to leave him to = certain
death. Hc hurried forward with lis load
and deposited it. qnarter Of a mile off,
then returned for his comrade, hoistcd him
Oh TO his back, ehl carried him on to the
same spot, ifSHt wheHre lie exchanged him for
their personal effects, Ql'e sole property OF
these poor fellows,) which I,c again carried
a quarter of mile further. Then he. re.
tarned for his friend; ana thus they jour
neyed, one nearly dead of his wounds, and
the other exhausted with his excrlions, for
! d distance OF seven miles, when they reach
cd spring Of water. Here they remained
q while. scarcely able to crawl any further.
1 Ladttry c6ald no longer carry Storey, but
lie managed to drag him along. After q
|1hiserable;journey of two days and night
they reached Mr. Hasscll's station at Jerry.
mpngup, both Of them nearly dead. Tho
wounded man, after peccssary rest, was
sent forward in y car to the hospital at Al.
bany, where his suiferings a We're Terminated ii
by death. Few men have better deserved
the Victoria cross than this humble shep,
herd, Edward Ladbury, What struck Us
most forcibly about The matter was that his
7 conduct elected not d. single comment q,
remark from either court, counsel or jury
4 From what we are inclined 70 infer that s}uct
acts are far from singular Or uncommon
in this country. For our own part, We fce]
if 10 be only one degree lower tf,ani b Crime
to allow such an instance Of generous self:
devotion to pass without the tribute Of ap.
plause; aHd although III III his ttifEs, as in raos
cases. virtue is likely to be its own reward
Edward Ladburyt may return to his hard
life, with the consciousness, that he, has no:
bly, earned rs the sympathy and and appreciation
of hls fellow -colonists."
----- -. - 4 1u.-- ----- ~ - 2G' 1'1'
HftII.f y2.H ,4$tsIFY f.r.f ada ,.yg;-rT eiI
LIVES there man with soul 50 dead,
r. That to himself has never said: II -