Arizona republican., 1892-07-17


 the mob dispersed, while few miners who had not been at the bonfire or had played a shrewd Ananias game displayed their pa pers at the supreme moment, and the com missioner and his police and armed sol diery marched back to camp rejoicing.
 The miners lost no time in replying to this raid by a declaration of war. The lone Exile of Erin, whom fate had made the John Hancock of the Declaration of In dependence, was elected military dictator and for the space of forty-eight hours, more or less, signed himself Peter Labor, Com mander in Chief of the Dggers Under Arms" An insurgent camp was pitched on a height overlooking Ballarat, known as Eureka Hill. Horses, weapons, ammu- milton, provisions and even recruits were impressed by tho simple edict of Peter Labor etc., and the hill was fortified by means of a barricade and stOckade com bined The work of intrenChing was under. taken in a hurry and every hour added some new device for obstructing and harass ing the enemy's approach. As fast as they could be procured slabs were imbedded at one end, stakes were driven, ropes were stretched, cists and other bulky obstacles were overturned and to all was added earth embankments, for the diggers hadn't for. gotten their trade. The strangely com. posite intrenchment enjoyed ephemeral no toriety as the Eureka Stockadc."
 The warlike preparations of the insur- gents went on for two days and three nights undisturbed by the government The miners gave out that they would as sault the governors camp, but didn't do it. Their equipment was the weakest part of the insurrection. Many hundreds pre- tended to bear arms, but shooting pieces were scarce, and the majority had to take up with rude bikes, made at q common forge and mounted on slaves green from the bush.
 After four days of the widest excite ment and fatiguing labor-counting from the mass meeting of Nov. 29-everything being ready for the grand struggle, Peter Lalor's army took a notion about mid night of Dec. 9 to go to sleep. And it was not sleeping on arms, either. The men stood valiantly to the barrcade until mid night, then made off to town, to their huts to wherever inviting and comfortable berths could he had. Of course not all were so suddenly overcome by drowsness. The "commander in chiefn and handful  ever, remained to guard the stockade and perhaps give an alarm of impending danger.
 Now the governors troops were real sol diers-regulars at that, barring a few po- licemen, which is the same thing-and at half past o'clock on Dec. 3, when the great army of "Diggers Under Arms" were also under their blankets, the gov ernor's military underling led out de- tachment of not quite 300 men and noise lessly stormed the stockade on Eureka Hill. General" Labor and his old guard were alert, and began to shoot with such irons as they possessed. The British bugle sang out, Commence firingr and the sol diers rushed upon and over the barricade, dropping a score or more of pikemen be- fore the recall was sounded. The flag of defiance to colonial tyranny was quickly hauled down, over 100 prisoners, wounded and unwounded, were taken, and between 30 and 70 dead miners showed what might have been had not the bulk of the diggers gone to sleep at time so inopportune for the future of the Victorian league.
 Labor escaped, but carried bullet in his person that cost him an arm and so marked him for life as the leader of the Victorian gold field rebellion. There were prOsecu. tions for high treason and all that sort of thing but no conviction, and a general amnesty resulted The leader remained in hiding until the affair cooled down, all the time unrepentant and bewailing the unfortunate drOwsiness of his army on that momentous morning. The miners eventu- ally sent their hero with the empty sleeve to parliament and he served term after term, landing at last in the speakers chair of the Victorian commons. So much for sentiment and that brief night tussle in defense of the Eureka Stockade"
 GEORGE l.. KILMER.