Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-12-10
The Miners Of Copper Island.
BY S. J. REA.


Bendigo, tried silver-mining at Broken
Hill, land at a later date worked side
by side in, the tin mines rat Mount T
Zeehan, in Tasmania, besides conduct
ing several prospecting trips on our
own ACCOUNT @-sE ~ y s
G'ConRell; was a man for whom | aao nae
wholesome respect. He was quiet
reserved, good-natured fellow, who
never drank too much, and who hated
nothing in this woriu more than row.
He was "a man of immense physical
strength, ali expert boxer, and mag
n;ficent swimmer. His placid demean-
or mid an indouiitable spirit, and /
would as soon have fought a steam
roIer as Jim O'Conhell; the one would
hsse been as uncompromising as the
other * "",s'', -" - J,
1t was en- one of our prospecting
trips thatsJim told me the partc ulars
Of; his .strang- experience eon Copper
island, brief hint Of which l had al
ready obtained from police court par
agraph some time before in the Bris-:
: hane Courier.
1t seems that Jim wasYin~Sydneys
out of work, whenshe saw one day an
advertisement in the Sydney Morning
Herald asking for half-dozen miners
to; proceed to Copper island1san un1
inhabited island lying between Bris-
tanr and Fhursday"i there
prospect sor copper oAGonneli- imme-'
diately made app1fcation to the adver--
tiser, one Captain DIR, a mining ex-
bert. D. had control Of the busl-
ness on behalf of well-known SSydney
firm Of shipowners, who held a con-
cession for mining :. Oh the island.
OConnell ,beins a practical miner OF
wide experience, was made the boss"
of the gang, and five other men having
been engaged and contracts signed for
! six months, the little party were ia
ken by Captain D. to the scene OF
their operations in a schooner char
tered. for the purpose.
Having duly landed the men on the
island, whose sole inhabitants they
were to he; D. left them, promising
to return at the beginning of each
ali went we'll. The men were amply
provisioned, and, besides, there was
some feathered game to be shot, fish
to be caught, and fair supply of eggs
Of various kinds The men soon settled
down to work in earnest, meeting with
considerable success in their search for
copper er..-But- the month expired. and,
contrary to their expectations. Captain
D--'s schooner came not. There was
still plenty Of food on the island, how
ever, and the men kept at their work
end dNwers=no tEat first uneasy. But when
ert--rfontn e1apseu ana sr1rr ttrerG
: was no sign of the schooner, they be-
gan tosge. seriously alarmed.
The stores became exhausted, and
soon after a,.far greater evil befell.
Hitherto@ssa plentiful supply of water
lad been obtainable, at spot where
the islanders fondly imagined spring
existed, but no rain had fallen since
their landing, and the basin becoming
empty, itwas seen that there had been
merely "a. surface supply, and now not
a single drop was to be found on the
whole island!
In this awkward difficulty O'Con-
rell's resourcefulness soon showed it
self. Everybody naturally looked to
him; even had he not been their boss"
it would have been sjustgthe same.
Digging for=water proved barren of re-
suit and, as there was evidently no
water on the island, O'Connell deter
mined to look elsewhere for it. About
a mile to the westward lay another
small island, and thither O'Connell de-
..termined to make his way. He sug-
Igested that one of his mates should ac-
: company him, and that they should
take an empty cask in tow, and bring
back supply of water if any were
:. found. Four of the men acknowledged
themselves to be swimmers, but not
one volunteered for the mile swim
through the shark-infested sea.
AS itwas more than one mans work,
however, to tow a alladen cask, in the
event of success, lots were ultimately
cast, and a man called Gange set forth
(. with O'Connell. The two reached the
island without any misadventure, were
fortunate to find an ample supply Of
water, and brought back their wellfiled
.cask in safety. They had but one cask,
ard, as it held only scanty supply for
one week, it became necessary to make
periodical visits to the other island.
. It was, of course impossible for them
to take Up their residence there. Not
only was ,cne of their number a nom
swimmer, but they had no means of
transferring their firearms and ammu
nfaon-upon which they now largely
depended for subsistence tent,
cooking utensils, tools, etc. Every
Saturday, therefore, visit was paid, to
Water island" as it came to be
known, and each stimeSthe voyage was
made lots were cast for who should
accompany sO'Connell-for o the brave
boss" always insisted upon personally
conducting the expedition. There are
plOUdbly luduy ohdA No IL thCoC W
ters as anywhere ca the face of the
globe, AMI the first few trips were
made in fear and trembling. But Sas
time went on and no niischance oc-
Cured the men gained confidence. al
though the sight of The: triangular fin
occasionally set their hearts beating
uneasily. Itis probable that the pres
ence of the cask disconnected the
sharks, but certain it is that they did
not venture to molest the. swimmers
The miners soon settled down to a
dull routine Of starvation rations, the
monotony Of their life only broken by
the weekly trip to Water island. Would
the schooner never come? A fiagpole
was .r'sged up in the hoIe of .communi--
eating with some passing ship, but,