The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-11-15

rumors of their outrages We're circula-
ted. 1t was of no protection to be poor.
The man whose pockets were well lined
was robbed and released but the wretch
who had nothing wherewith to satisfy
the cupidity of his savage assaiants,
was pounded to jelly; or, being tied
naked to a tree in the lonely forest, was
exposed to all the horrors of slow starv-
alton. Moreover, the weather was eX-
tremely unfavorable for travelling rain
fell in torrents, and the roads were such
hopeless quagmires that one hundred
and twenty pounds sterling was gladly
paid for the conveyance of single ton
of goods to the Bendigo Creek. | deci-
ded, therefore, to wait awhile, and took
up my abode at tavern called the
Duke of York, which stood in those
days at the corner of stephen and Col
lins streets. The Duke of York had no
doubt been Il comfortable hostelry in
the primitive days of the colony, but ut
the time of my s0journ there it was
crowded to excess. Extra beds had
been crammed into all the bedchambers,
and were instantly secured at prices
when would be thought exorbitant in
an aristocratic West End hotel. Mat
tresses were laid at night on all the sit
ting-room tables, and a large shed in
the yard, with rough stone walls and
an earthen floor, was filled with iron
bedsteads; but even this apartment
which we nicknamed the cholera hos
pital-was fully occupied, and | was
fain to pay halfa crown Il night for the
privilege of laying my own blankets on
the dirty ground in the confined space
| between two of the aforesaid beds.
| There were some drawbacks to this
mode of passing the night. As most of
my room-mates INDUCED in the objec-
tionable practice of smoking in bed ,and
AS lay on lower level than they did,
/ was apt to become the unintentional
target for some of the results of their
tobacco -vapor. Again, it was not un-
usual for some jovial gentleman to en-
ter the cholera hospital at two o'clock
in the morning, with bottle of cham
pagnc in his hand and couple more
under his arm; he would wake up
everybody in turn, and insist that each
of the sleepers so awakened should
either drink his health or fight him on
the spot. / have several times been
aroused by the unwelcome apparition
of this veritable Champagne Charlie"
I'm m Nu1,r hn, hnl
good fun at the Duke of York. As the
weather was cold and wet, and as The
streets after dark were full of foot-pads,
we mostly stayed at home in the even
ing, and amused ourselves by assem-
bling in the parlor under the guidance
of an experienced chairman, and sing
ing songs in the most approved Sons o
Harmony fashion. Mr.. Mills took tn,
chair, Il man whom we greenhorns look
ed upon with no small awe, for although
0 only twelvemonth in the colony, h
C was reported to have amassed fortun
in the diggings, and was now on til
u point of returning to England. More
: over, as Mr.. Mills was thirty years @
age, and had prematurely bald fore
G head he assumed quite fatherly al
towards youngst,r like me, for wa
D not yet out of my teens, and my beart
o was still all underground"
"Why don't you go up, young man?'
i says Mr.. Mills one morning, rs we stoo,
cleaning our boots in the yard. (Th
n landlord kindly provided brushes AM
blacking.J
"Because I'm waiting to hear wher
my friends are"
"Pooh, sir; never wait for friends il
this country. Every day in town is
+ day lost. Every day there is so mucl
1 gold subtracted from the soil, and ever.
day, consequently, there is so much les
left for newcomers. Why not go NJ
next Thursday in company with Bald
: win and Fry? They are going to wall
up to Bendigo, where your friends are.
: l ventured to point out to Mr.. Mill
that knew scarcely anything Of Messrs
" Baldwin and Fry.
! "No more do l." he retorted. "No
body knows anybody in this delightful
II country. Baldwin does Mt know Fry
Fry does Mt know Baldwin. | knoN
. neither of 'em, except rs members {
y the Duke of York Harmonic Society.
> have heard Baldwin say that he wa
first counterman toEa grocer in tn
: Kingsland Road, on that topic l hav
g no certain information; but do kno'
! that he sings a good song. He throw
, pathos into that popular ditty,-
y "I had dream, Il happy dream
N l dreaml that was lrec,
l which is worthy of more refined a
k mosphere than that which usual
exists in the parlor ofthc Du le of Horl
10 AS for Fry, he is Il Dickey Sam, as h
s. tongue will inform you, u,-hther repor
er ed to be one of the first horse-dealers
90 Liverpool. Though reserved, and a
Mt most sullen in private life, Fry com
out well in chorus. allude especial
to Landlord, fill flowing bowl, al
IN "A hunting we will CO. Mr.. Parker
ly said this antipodean patriarch ofthirt
ie- as he laid a friendly blacking-brush (
el- my shouiutI, i'cohiiticHu s'u W.
le. up with Baldwin and Fry"
tie think Mr.. Mills was good fello
re but too apt to judge human nature fro
lit the harmonic point Of view sh'
ro- not detail the history OF that journey
all Bendigo, which occupied nearly Il wee
". and wkich was full of adventures mu
ne leasanter to talk about afterwards tn
Ter to endure at the time. 1t is enough
he me to state that Messrs. baldwin Il
ter Fry soon began to quarrel with ea
lit other, and before the end of the journ
st., was reached displayed towards ei
= other sentiments of the most deaC
ing hostility. managed to keep on pre-
lu- good terms with both; still, ii