The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-05-18
A G0ld6ielQ Renaissance.

How long have you been In the
colony?" Il arrived just week ago. =
The answer to my Interrogation was
| given by my neighbor. a fresh, vigor-
| Gus, handsome young fellow of five
and-twenty, or thereabouts, who had
| been my travelling companion on the
top of Cobb and Co.'S coach during the
transit between Melbourne and Cas-
tlemaine.
He was Welshman-a farmers son
inferred, and one Of the last batch
Of recruits who had rushed out to the
great battle-flelds where the daily
strife for gold was waged so passion
ately and bitterly.
OF course, he had all the energy and
enthusiasm of new hand, and, as
looked at his fair, deep chest, and bold
blue eyes, asked myself, sadly
enough, how long it would be before,
like many others, he would have be-
come a dispirited failure or a reckless
mining desperate.
was In the first batch myself, not
through any lack Of industry or hon
esty: perhaps because of the presence
Of the latter quality, the cute ones
mi. .<t have told you.
1t was not the prospect of an Ell Do
RADIO that had lured me to the colonies.
I had been settled there, and prosper
Ing, before the world-famed shepherd
saw nuggets in the creek; but, bitten
by the mania that turned peaceful citi-
zens into ravening beasts, and left
once happy homesteads desolate, got
rid of my stock and impedimenta at
ruinous prices, and decamped for the
mining districts.
OF course, had the usual CLEANS Of
luck that make the race for wealth
passion here; but they were so few
and brief. and the long nights OF de-
spondency that lay between were so
toil-filled and bitter! It was the nav
vy's existence without the nayvy's re-
compense. But, naturally. we sent
as one and another turned them up,
and, Briton-like, we kept our disasters
to ourselves, and so the new recruits
kept pouring in, and extortion, and
rapacity, and dishonesty spread like a
plague. l do not deny that noble
things were done and cruel things
borne, now and again, heroically. Even
in its lowest depths, humanity retains
some stamp of the divine; but l must
reluctantly confess that these stirring
memories are matter of tradition, and
not of personal experience with me.
Any one who has ever thought about
mining must understand that it. can
not be carried on single-handed; that
for the processes Of digging and wash
Ing alone, not to speak Of protecting,
cooking for, and serving each other, at
least four partners are almost neces-
sity, and, could so many work together
harmoniously, each claim could run a
gang Of double that number. But these
partnerships are the main difficulty of
the miners life. the scope for his
choice of a kindred spirit being so
limited, and the strong probability
that the first CLEAN Of prosperity will
turn his mate into swindler or a
drunkard, so very disheartening.
For some time past we had been
working In a gang Of three, two old
miners, far more experienced in the
life than I was, having picked me up;
but, our late washings having been
more profitable than usual after the
rainy season, knew Rogers and
Smith were on the lookout for a
fourth hand. Not guessing that any
but a man of their own selection
would be unfavorably received by
them, and feeling much drawn towards
my young companion on the stage
coach, and friendships being rapidly
cemented here, l made him acquainted
with our circumstances as we bowled
along over the uneven, dirty highway.
II have nothing to offer you but the
chance of gold and the certainty OF
hard work." I concluded; "but such
q it is you are welcome to it, for the
present, at any rate"
'T'm your man, and thank you
heartily" he said, grasping my hand
with British warmth; and then, as we
aeared Castlemaine. and the sun. like