Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-12-06
THE SHINING SAND.
AUSTRALIAN ARGONLUTS.
The HIah Old Times In Days Gone br, when
the Rich Yeiisw was In EVER Mas
Packets.

The HIah Old Times In Days Gone By, when
the Rich Yellow vas In EVER Mas
Pockets.
New York SUM-
"I've digged for cod and I've found
gold wherever god was to be digged
for and found" obstinately remarked
an old Australian, in reply to some
observations just made by California
gold-miner. "I've digged in Califor-
MIA as hard as you have, and I've dig
ged, for my pains. in Ireland, when
fellow sailed hole in Galway and
raised company to plough up
the gold he had sowed. But there
vas more gold, and redder gold.
and may be better gold, in Australia in
1852 than there has been in any other
part of the world before or since. And
there was more fun in gettin' the gold
than you could shake a stick at. The
harbors Of Melbourne and Sydney were
crowded with ships that couldn't get
away, because their crews bad deserted
them and run off to the diggings; and
the towns were crowded with the
sailors and lots of others, too, comm
back with their pockets full--for
nobody seemed at the same time
to be tryin' to make fortune and
90 home. All they wanted to do
was to raise enough money for good
spree in one of the towns; and their
notions Of what q spree meant would,
/ think, have astonished even a Cali
fornian. A dozen times I've seen a
fellow walk into liquor saloon with
crowd behind him, call for drinks for
all the rest, and issue a special order
for dozen of champagne and tub for
himself. Selfish? Oh, no; there was
nothing selfish about it. He merely
poured the champagne into the tub,
pulled off his shoes and stockings, and
washed his feet in it. OF course he was
crazy but doesn't gold make nine out
Of ten men crazy, whether they dig it
out of the earth or get it in Wall
street?
Everything had to be paid for in
gold dust, and every bar had weights
and scales to test the value of the dust.
which was then current coin. For what
miner then paid for an ordinary round
of drinks he could now buy heavy
gold ring, but such ring then would
have been of small value in Australia
compared with the worth Of pint
Of whiskey. The eccentricities of
successful miners coming to the
cities 10 spend their gains extend
ed to their clothing. Almost all of
them were fond of tall silk hats, bur
their tastes varied as to the part of the
hat that was most becoming, some pre-
ferriDg the top and some the bottom,
and a common sight was a man walk
ing in a crowded street wearing the
highly-polished crown Of a silk hat,
followed or accompanied or preceded
by a man whose head showed itself
above the low walls encircling the rim
that had thus been cut off from the
upper portion of the hat.
Elaborate weddings took place
every day. AS often as not the bride
and bridegroom sat together on the
drivers seat Of furniture van, both
drunk, and still drinking health and
long life to the crowd that was cheering
them on their way, and exchanging
jokes with the long procession that
drove or rode after the happy couple.
| don't know whether such weddings
resulted we'll or not, but they were cele-
brated very often.
1.-THE police force Of Australia was
ore Of the best in the world. 1t was
very like the Royal Irish constabulary.
But it was all out Of town, and while
very fair order was preserved at tie
diggings themselves, in the towns every
man seemed to be following the die
tates of his own free will, whether they
proved him to be a saint or sinner"