The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-04

az the Cuban ''enbalmed beef" every
thing Is in tins For a healthy man IN
the fun flush cf manly vigor this Is not
- bad. but when that awful scouTge OF
the gold felds-typhOid feyer-strikes
Gown ia victims In scores, the absence
Of suitable food leaves everything to a
mans constitution. They died by hun
dreds IN the early days. A few years
ago the writer saw two brothers blasting
out a grave with dynamite. while the
coffin of empty beer cases containing the
body Of their elder brother lay By the
SIDE OF the open hole waiting to be buried
IN the rocky ground. lmprovised hos
pitals Of brush were hastily constructed
% keep Of the blasting whitening sun.
The worst annoyance was the plague OF
flies which Is enc OF the curses Of the
country. Everywhere, In countless
EWgFEng they MI the air and render life
Well-ngh unbearable. With the first
streak Of dawn as the sun rises glow
ing ball Of fire above the horizon. they
come in myriads. buzzing in the eyes ana
face TIL a veil g. necessary TO keep them
OF " you XII one thousands come TO
the funeral.
sRunFed eve" IS a common complaint.
A fiy settles on q mans eye, bites 1t, and
within a few minutes II sWells up until
the eve Is closed. As this Is a common
occurrence. a man may nave botn his
eyes closed, and find IL necessary 10 De
led home By his mate In no part or the
world does nature wear more inhospit-
able aspect the utter desOlation OF the
country, the deadly ulonotOny Of the vast
solitudes Of sand and stunted scrub pro,
duca feeling OF pity for those compelled
TO live. for long years possibly, IN such
an awful desert. Yet the interior has
bred race Of men manly, seif-reliant:
and fearless, full Of reckless impulses and
oDen-handed generosity The farther a
visitor penetrates up country the more
cordial the welcome met with in the camps
Of the pioneer prOspectors-
Tragic side of It All.
The history Of the West Australian
bush has It's tragic side. too. The bones
Of many a hardy adventurer lie hidden in
its solitudes No death could be more
horrible than that OF perishing from
thirst. with empty water bag, parched
palate, and the wandering brain of the
unfortunate lost in the bush. To the
agonies Of physical pain are added the
tortures of the mind. Then deiirium sets
IN, ard all articles Of clothing are strip
ped off and thrown aside. The bodies,
when tracked up by the keen-eyed ma
tives, are generally found naked. With
the crows scenting a carrion feast, wait
ing overhead, myTiads OF ants that infest
the ground everywhere crawling over the
blisteTed limbs, a shadeless sky overhead
and a shadowless bush all around, the pic
ture is hardly pretty one. Yet il has
often been acted in detail during the last
few years while the gold seekers were
securing the country. The man who es-
SAYS the quest takes his life in his hands
when he leaves civilization behind him.
The mining populah,r Of the new West
is divided into two distinct classes. There
are the quartz miners and the alluvial
men. These latter work only the surface
/ deposits, and the total absence of water
( for sluicing or panning has resulted in
the adoption OF process known as dry
blowing. Wind takes the place of
water. The dirt is broken fine emptied
into an iron dish, and, held over the
miners head, is slowly poured out into
another dish on the ground. The wind
blows away the fine particles, the heav-
ieF metal being caught in the lower dish
| This Is repeated a dozen times till only a
small residuum is left. 1t is a slow and
/ labcriOus process, but provides thousands
with an occupation and IA living.
Flee Before Civilization.
Most of the old hands disappear when
| those evidences of advancing civilization
women, goats, and parsons-begin to col
lect in a settlement, and seek the freer
atmosphere Of the untrodden bush further
inland. In the writer's first trip up coun-
Try there mad been no rain for two years
What little water was found was, Tor the
most part, salter than Brine though sew
eral holes were sunk, and, at the first
| small soak, the prospectors lay awake ct
night for hours, ready with empty meat
or jam tins to scoop up each drop of mud
/ dy water as 1t trickled into the small
catchment hole. 1t was drought time.
| Horses were turned out to hustle for
themselves or perish, chiefly the latter
Slaughtering was an easy business in
those days. A bullock was driven in,
shot, and left TO cool in the blazing sun
while the boss refreshed himself at his
camp. Later on. the beast was dissected
with an AK, amidst group of eager, nun
cry men, and the chunks of flesh hooked
sharply with a downward pull on 10 a
spring balance. No one saw the figures on
the front Of the scale but the butcher, and
when he, with five pounds of reeking flesh
in his hand cried Seven pounds. who
takes it?" willing hands were thrust for
ward for the unsavory morsel and The
price paid without dispute.
Another enterprising citizen was the
proprietor OF ten gallon keg of rum. He
Kept II at his camp under a tree, famIl-
iarly known as the Rise and Shine 40
tel" and, like the widows cruise of oil. 1t
never ran empty. Morning and evening it
ran, at . cents nip in a milk tin, yet
was always ready. The contents, how
! ever, got thinner and stronger, till a COM
Portable debauch cost very little. Finally,
when even digSers cast-iron stomach
| turned against ii. the remains OF the
| liquor were poured out on the ground
staining the stones il struck, and destroy
| ing every YeStige of vegetation il fell on
| In those days water often meant a tea
| mile tramp 10 the nearest soak At tea
| time the meat was boiled in the tin billy
| can" skinned. removed when coOAe1,
atter which the remaining water was used
/ for the tea, or if tea was not to be had
| then a handful of hops did duty And
| when tobacco was absent for a post-1ran-
| dial smoke, tea leaves proved a ready
| substitute.
| These days of hardship only exist now
| away out back; the country is opened up
| by railroads and coach lines. and the gov
| ernmcnt has provided public buildings,
| c0ndensers, wells, post, and telegraphs
| over thousands of SQUARE mile of country