Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-06-04

city, with huge wharves and ware
houses and elegant buildings and stree
cars and noise and smoke, and biz
ships and steamers in the harbor. anc
thousands of people who never hearC
of the Brooklyn bridge or the Barthold
statue! just think of it! / tell YOU
realized these things when | landed in
the big, strange city and knew there
was not a man, mn OF child there
l had ever seen or heard of. Lonesome
as | was on the ocean, Iwasa thousand
times more lonesome in this bustling
place. so full of strange faces. I wanted
to blubber right out in the streets, but
of course l wa enough of nan not to
do that.
las 1 said before, l had a letter OF
credit in my pocket. There was moth
ing mean about my father, and he had
given me documents which would en-
able me to draw at the various banks
in Australia 925 sterling, or over 5000
a month. But | had been thinking the
matter over. There was a very con-
siderable portion of the American
eagle tucked away in my si%Nteen-year-
old body, and | was too independent
for any thing. [ made up my mind
that | would notuse the letter of credit,
or accept any further assistance from
my father [ would cast him off. He
had chosen to turn me away from his
home, l said to myself. Never, never
again would [ touch u penny of his
money. would show him whether l
was a good for naught, as he had said.
My plan was to make a fortune in short
p,.1n. Tl,n, would ,o+,,., IN N>-,
York, and as | unfolded my millions to
the aston;shed gaze Of my stern parent,
would snap my finger in his face and
cry:
"'Keep thy wealth, sirrah! wish
none of it!
slt gave me great comfort to repeat
these words, and as l thought over my
coming triumph l forgot all about my
homesick feelings.
go dear! don't believe you want
to hear the rest of this story. 1t makes
me blush to think of it. Well, if Unjust,
here goes.
81 very soon found out that Mel
bourne was full of men who had come
from distant lands to get rich quickly
in the Land of Promise. The city was
full of strangers of every sort; English
men, Irishmen. Americans, Spaniards,
Cinnamon. and Idon'tknow whatall. It
was Il pretty rough crowd, if the truth
must be told. They we're all talking of
the gold fields and the sheep pastures,
and l soon found out that these were
considered the two royal roads to for
tune. l mingled with the rough, rest
less crowd, and my ears burned with
the stories | heard of fabulous nuggets
of gold picked up in the new Ell Dorado.
Men looked at my smooth, boyish face,
and my stylish clothes, with some
astonishment, butthey were accustomed
to see all sorts of men and boys among
them,,for the gold fever is byno means
a poorm mans disease, and ministers and
miners often worked side by side,
grading for the precious mineral which
makes the world so miserable.
Zone day 1 fell in with a smooth,
sleek man who took a great interest in
me. [ told him all about myself and
my plans for astonishing the governor.
He said 1 was a brave fellow, and adj
vised me to join his party. which was
getting ready for the gold fields. l was
only too glad to accept. When l woke
up one morning and found that my
new friend had walked off with my
new clothes, my gold watch, my letter
OF credit, and all my money, l began to
lose faith in the gold fields. The rascal
had left me his well-worn clothes, and,
to show that he still had a conscience.
he had placed a couple of gold sover-
eigns in the vest pocket.
$50 1 tried s~heep-raising, perforce.
Now, [ don't think 1 care to say much
about the two years 1 spent, three hum
dred miles from Melbourne, working
for a farmer at seven English shillings
q week. 1t was not a life to brag
about. For a young man seeking his
fortune it was notA success. If you
could have seen Ernest Travers, the
son of a rich man, Smelling dried peas,
and helping to wash sheep, and curry
ing horses, all for the princely sum of
a dollar and a half a week and his
board, l don't think you would have
envied the Prodigal Son a bit. l don't
care to tell how many quarts of tears I
shed on those peas or how many, many
times | vowed that if 1 ever got home
again 1 would be 4 good boy for ever
after. Ihoarded the pennies but they
came slowly.
"0ne day, after two years of THIS
life, | threw down my spade whore l
was digging, and started on foot Tor
Melbourne. Do you know VIII IT it =.
to walk three hundred miles over a
rough country? Ihope you never will.
When l reached Melbourne my clothes
were in tatters and my shoes were all
uppers. was SO stiff that it took me
an hour to walk half mile. and the
big blisters on my feet often made me
cry with pain. and [ was no baby
either. Twas pretty looking specta-
Gle! On the road a big tramp took
away my little hoard of money. and all
| had left was a few shillings which he
had overlooked. l had intended to 90
home as a steerage passenger. Now l
must work my passage.
"But this was not so easy. Sea cap
tains looked at my ragged clothes and
tangled hair, laughed, and said they
didn't want any help.
II slept at a tramps' clearinghouse
at best it was almost that. For a six
pence you bought u ticket emitting you
to Il nights lodging. such as it was. [
ate stale rolls, and thought them good.
| had no money to buy better fare with.