New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-02-01
AUSTRALIAN TRAITS.

Australia might travel from hins oeo' 20 q ~
kbe Gulf of Carpentaria without nearing any GA
pression of acknowledgment for TWO ihpor..,O
ssrvces which America has rendered to the British
.o,on;., living under the Southern Cross. since
Governor Phillip, nearly hundred years ago. Uai0
the First Fleet cast anchor in botany Day.
Separated BY world of waters from the paion'
State neglected by an Administration whoso ST.
& on was concentrated in European waIiA'o'
FAINT colony for several years alter 'ts o', $500
ment Was once and again III dire extremity through
aheer starvation. British commerce hau hoe &c w
found its way to those distant shores anu REM"
privatecrs pIeycd on the comm'ss'r"s ,eoe :
dispatched from England. Bnt those o'tS e.
can merchantmen sailing under neutrai h"s'
80. rIoroh;no the seuthern seas, and carrying
.rsterancc TO the settlers whose huts studueu 'ho
margin 90 sydney Cove. In the Early nays y.
17aa starvation stared in the face alike coiohsts anu
conyicts. Already the settlement was on nan ,a
tions and there remained in store out non'"'
proyision, when the American ship " nope came
sailing between the Heads. laden Win Stoioe
enough to keep the colony alive TOT Tour n"h'm'
But for the opportune arrival OF inc fope. .
British colony might actually have witnere" o"' "a
existence from sheer hamilton over haii cen,u,S
later America was incidentally the means OF reheV
inc Australia from at least portion of the burden
of a orcat embarrassment. New South Wales bau
eascd 70 he recertace for the felOnry OF the otne
conntrv All Australia swarmed with hpera'ou
rulijYus and threatened to lapse INTO panue
monium But in the beginning OF lo4' t'io 'ioWS -
the gold discoveries in California reached fort
Jackson followed soon by vessel Win i,-os
ounces of the precious metal aboard linen -fa'
trala caught the gold fever for the first time III er
history. swift current Of migration set in across
the Pacific With the orderly and enterprisins
oolonist. there went too the liberated lag "-the
Gexnreev whose release cursing the lana III
which the scoundrel had been set free. lie earheu
for himself in California evil pre-eminence nnder
the name of the Sydney Duck,"-a term ho' Sou
forgotten on the Pacific slope. The" sydney DUCK
,n;gr,,,d indeed to California; bat he came back
to Australia Only to a very limited extent Ana
vet he did not live long on the Pacific slope VIM
bsfell him He met his deserved tate III co'
munity where justice was OF an extremely ro's"
and rsadv character The Sydney Duck" died oy
the revolver and tho bowie knife, or was io""o
dangling at the end of rope which had oeeh
fastened ronnd his neck by the "vigilantes, ana LII
rsIevino the colonies of this vest Of all products
of civilizatiou America rendered Austrhia
second important service. Australia huecu iu,J
be sail to owe TO California that discovery "i eo
in her valleys and quartz reefs when mas oI'"s"
for her in It's train development SO fapiu "nu
prosperity so solid. As iargreaves prnspeeten aous
the rugged Stauslaus, AMI rocked ms cra'le NY 'no
Vuho
co,tour and geological formation o. this anriierous
california were ourousy identical with tracts Ut his
no,;ve Australia which were familiar In his memory
So filed did he become with the impression that lie
lnrriei hack to Sydney. amidst the mockery 81
men who scented him as a mailman. and sirn3k ii''
the far interior straight for the spot. by .he
Hill Creek that had been for months stes1'iy De-
fore his mental vision The first dish gave color ;
four months later DR.. Kerr drove INTO bathurs.
with the great hundred weight nugget onoer lhe
seat Of his buggy and Hargreavess discovery has
enriehed Australia IN thrty-three years TO the
stnpendous amounts or fifteen hundred milton
dollars.
Al.bou0h The earliest discoveries of gold were
made in New South Wales. the richest heids TOT
surface mining developed themselves III inc ooion'
Of Victoria and all the world streained INTO .'o
mort of Melbourne burning in feryid access Oh te
rold-fever. 1t then for the hTst '""o ''"'
Americans in any considerable numbers cam 70
Australia The earliest arrivals were miners rom
california sharing in the rush to richer fields than
Tho placers, of the Pacific slope. They WIN
others of other than British Nationality bah 10
contend against an outcome OF the apprehehs'ohs
of the colonial authorities. Alurking sense dahger
regarded as likely to accrue fIom an in'lu1 oi
foreigners unimbued with q respect for British law
was shown in O clause of the Colo act whIch eN'
acted from aliens double amount of royalty or
II
perieuce gathered under the shadows of Shasta,
uero among the most successful pioneers at
BoIlaarat Mount Alexander. CastlemaIne anu
Forest Creek On the Australian gold fields some
of the characteristics of the Californian mining
camp we're closely copied Tho drinking saloons
TAINTED the familiar banners. blazoned with such
Titles as the Ell Dorado the international and
the Empire" Stage coaches Of the American pat
fern dri ven by who ight have been own Cousins
Il. Al do huetp aDi
Melbourne aud the gold fields American mining
phrases passed mperccptibly into the local vernacu-
lar. where their traces still linger Bat on the
Australian gold iells there was fine abstenton
from crime and rowdyism. Facilities for lawless
Gets nnquestionably abounded in wild tract OF
forest honeycombed with thousands ct ready
made graves" where the miscreant who envied a
fortunate digger might hurl hun to die in the hole
he had scooped to find fortune IN. 1'ut the mot
fordre Of the mining communities was order With
an efficient police there no need for lynch law.
md there appetite for any snch provender
ms niau for breakfast every morning. One out
break against constituted authority did occur, cele
bratei in Victorian annals as the Eureka Stockade
Riot The Ballaarat gold miners resented what
they regarded oppressive acts committed on
them by the Gold Commission in connection with
their mining licenses. They broke into something
suspiciousy resembling open rebellion, and con.
structed rough fertilization, out OF which they
were driven with serious slaughter by detachment
of regular soldiers Among the ringleaiers of this
emaate were men of many nationalites; there was q
Hanoveran. Prussan o Wurtemberge-. a French.
man, an Italian, Canadian; and there were
several Irishmen. of whom, the e" Commander
in-Chief." sits now Speaker of the Victorian
Parliament. with empty coat sleevc-the arm
that should fill it he left IN the Eureka Stockade
But no American took part in the disturbances. The