The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-07-29

! districts which they inhabited were at
ter nightfall dangerous alike to police
| and private citizen.
! Public opinion was aroused in con-
| demnation of these ruffians by degrees
so amazingly gradual that more than a
| quarter century passed before any ade-
| quate measure of reform was institu-
| ted to suppress the evil. The culmina-
ting point was, however, reached, ana
the last straw laid upon the back OF
the stupidity tolerant camel in conse-
| quence of an heroic but futile attempt
on the part of the police to arrest a
push battle while in progress one sun
day afternoon in a place called Allen
Wood situated on the outskirts of
Leichhardt about five miles from the
city of Sydney.
The police. having gained intelligence
| of a particularly savage encounter,
were ordered at all hazards to prevent
| it. Arriving on the scene too late for
that, they rushed fearlessly upon the
combatants and succeeded in capturing
! eleven of the larrikins In the surprise
of their first rush. The pushes" how
| ever, sank for the moment their private
|
the common enemy. After an hours
struggle three of the police fell despe-
rately wounded, and the remainder,
finding themselves outmatched, fled for
their lives, taking with them, however,
| two prisoners. There ensued the extra
ordinary spectacle of two score blue
| coats running like hares before mob
! of yelling lads, not one Of whom could
| have been more than twenty-five years
| of age. After a hard chase they
reached and entered a steam tram, the
driver of which Immediately sent his
engine full speed cityward. The
pushes" eager to rescue their COM
rades, followed for half mile, batter
ing the cars with showers of stones but
were then distanced. No further ar
rests were made, and the prisoners
were sentenced to didiculously trivi-
al punishment.
This affair excited such storm of in
dignation that the authorities We're
compelled to adopt measures against
the pushes" despite the influence eXer-
ted by them in opposition to the reform
measures, After the law was passed
the constabulary were allowed to ira
verse the most turbulent districts with
out molestation, but the pushes" re-
manned active, simply changing their
tactics. The article continues:
No longer are the bodies Of their vic
Tins to be discovered lying mangled
and lifeess in some lonely nook or de-
serted thoroughfare, but men suddenly
disappear from the face of the earth,
leaving no sign or clew to explain the
cause of their evanishment
The pushes" moreover, having real
lied the Importance of their numerical
power, politically applies, lost little
time in turning the discovery to their
own advantage, and so great has now
become their address that any candi-
date for parliamentary honors who is
announced for election in push" dis
trict is made Immediately aware, how
ever vaguely, that he has been ap-
proved or discarded as that "push's'
protege.
There undoubtedly still survives
among the lowest classes in Australian
cities flavor of the old bitter convict
spirit which originally sought express
sion in the formation of bandit gangs or
predatory bushrangers. In the tradl-
lions of the various pushes the most
desperate of these long departed out
laws occupied positions of heroic emil
nence, and many individual larriklns
claim them as ancestors, probably not
without reason. With the destruction
of the last of the Australian bushrang-
ers the cause of their existence van
ished, indeed before that time, for by
1870 the colonies had ceased to be penal
settlements. A constantly instreaming
free population, with its concomtant
civilizing influences, fradually swal-
lowed up and humanized the more
amenable and major portion OF the ola
convict leaven. In 1886 two-fifths of
the entire population of Australia
seyenty-seven housand--conSlsted OF
conviots. Fourteen years later the pop
ulation had increased to 26550o sous,
only a small proportion of whom could
have been convicts or of convict origin.
In the meantime names were changed,
the newcomers intermarrled win the
old and disgraceful recods of the past
were mercifuly consigned to OBLIVION.
But in the cities and heart centerS
there remained, in spite of all Things
moving to the contrary, truculeht anu
intractable element-men and women
who either naturally vicious or turned
to evil courses by injustice or i'll usage,
associated together from sympathy ana
similarity of disposition. These crea-
lures established themselves IN sepa-
rate communities, and, being for the
most mart idle and criminally inclined,
selected for their abodes places whose
geographical conditions suited their
requirements, chief Of which were
vantage ground from which they might
issue forth to beg or steal, and readl-
" accessible refuge from pursuit.
With the growth of population ana
the expanse of civilization these pestl-
lential areas have been gradually IN
closed by warehouses, Wharves, su-
burbs. and in occasional instances by
wealthy and thriving thoroughtares.
But the communities themselves were
as little as possible affected by the
march of outer progress, and until re-
Gently constituted in their dwellings,,
habits and modes of life landmarks or
the ancient convict system. Their ex-
listing representatives are doubtless
better, more industrious and enllght-
iy,