THE REAL ARTHUR ORTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1205, 8 June 1872, Page 2

THE REAL ARTHUR ORTON.

'■ ■ -[standard.]'- ''■'-.■V* : ■ . ' ' ';■"': ' .'-% The following outline of, the career of , Arthur Orton, from his boyhood : days ,-i down to the year 1861, will no doubt, be "s---read with some interest by the pubUc. r i^ Arthur Orton was the youngest son of George Orton, who nearly all his life carried on a. lucrative buaines3 . of shipping . butcher and dealer in Shetland ponies at 69 High street, Wapping. In 1850 he had an unusually good position as a tradesman, and amongst other large contracts was one which he had for supplying Chelsea Hospital with meat. His busif. ness, however, began to decline some years before his death, and at the time of his decease, in 1862, it was conducted by : - his married daughter, Mrs Tredgett, arid :• Charles his third son. He had several" children, of whom Arthur was the youngest. He was bbrri at 69 High street, Wapping, ia June, 1834, and christened, at the paiish church. When about nine: years old, a Mge fire took place at Hirfc ley's Wharf, nearly opposite the house of , Mr Orton . It broke out during the night} The flames extended to the side of 'the* road on which Orton's house* was situ- ■ ated. The greatest consternation was caused, and the neighbors had to fly for ' their lives, the roadway _ being very narrow. Previous to this occurrence the - boy Arthur was strong an d healthy, but shortly afterwards he became afflicted with the St. Vitus's dance, which' maladywas attributed by his friends to m the *. shock he sustained to the nervous ■ system * on the night of the fire. Being thua. afflicted, and at all times a pet boy, ne r! was much indulged by his parents, and his education was consequently .neglected, A although, when able and willing, he wYw sentto a day, school in the neighborhood; During this time recourse was hadby'his' parents to various remedies for hisjcom-^ plaint, but without My immediate eWectT A change of air was^ among other reme- ; dies, suggested, and Arthur was, accordingly, sent down to the 'house; of Mr! Holmes, a friend of olds/Mr Orton's, and' the keeper of an inn at Nettswell Cross, a small village in Hertfordshire. There he derived some little benefit by the attention he received. Having been ordered shower-baths,; a bath of a rather primitive character was improvised during the boy's stay at Nettswell Cross. Young Holmes, with Worn Arthur^ slept, used to take>him into the brewhouse every morning^ fill a. large watering, pot with < water, J mount a ladder, and pour it over his conwi panion. After remaining at Nettswell several months,: he returned to bis parents at Wapping. Being anxious to complete a remedy which had partially developed itself, Mr Orton was advised to giYeArthura. sea voyage, or two, Jbut* being too young to send a great distance ■without, personal care, his mother" took him by sea upon two or three occasions, jn a sailing vessel, to Bridport, in Dorset-Y jihire. The vessel belonged to Oap^ tain Angel, a friend of the Orton family. Findiug that these voyages- - had a beneficial effect upon the patient, it was resolved when he hi»d reached the ; age of fourteen to. apprentice, him to the sea. Accordingly, on the 28tK of April, 1848, Arthur was apprenticed to Captain

George Brooks, of London, and he saUed in the Ocean from Gravesend on the 30th of the same month. The vessel was bound for Valparaiso, and reached that port on the 3rd of November following, when Arthur, having quarrelled with the captain, deserted hia ship and made his way to the village of Melipilla, which is situated about fifty miles inland from Valparaiso. Here he arrived in a state of destitution, and, being a foreigner, entirely without the means of subsistence, and unable to speak a word of Spanish, he became an object of sympathy, and a person named Thomas de Castro, a cattle and provision dealer residing in the village, finding him a strong powerful youth, took him into his employment. His duties were to diive cattle, horses, &c, and being a good rough rider— having been previously accustomed to ride Shetland ponies, in which, as already stated, his father was a dealer— De Castro found him a very useful lad. Arthur soon became a great favorite *ith the Castro family and other residents in the village ; indeed, bo attached did he become to the Castros that he used to address them as "father" and "mother." During hia stay, which lasted upwards of two years, he became quite proficient in throwing the lasso, and also acquired in that time a tolerable j knowledge of the Spanish language. After a stay of about two years he expressed a wish to return to England, and a subscription was raised to enable him to do so. Returning, en route for home, agajn to Valparaiso, the port from which he had quitted the Ocean, he shipped on board the Jessie Miller, on the 18th February, 1851, which vessel arrived at the port of London on the 12th of June the same year. He was then just 16 years of age, and weighed \3± stone. He went, upon landing, to the house of his parents, at "Wapping, where he lived about two years. During this interval Arthur assisted his father in his business as butcher, but it appears they did not . altogether agree. Soon After his arrival home he became acqVaainted with a young person named Mary Anne Loder, the daughter of very respectable parents, residing in the neighborhood. There were in the habit of walkinc oat together, on which occasions Arthur wn| fond of airing his Spanish. As time progressed the friendly relations between Arthur and his father did not improve, and, the former resolved in consequence to go again to sea, declaring that he would never return to England during his father's lifetime. In his nineteenth year, on the 30th November, he again sailed from the port of London on board the Middleton, Captain Stone, bound 'for Hobsrt Town, as ship's butcher. He left the ship on its arrival at Hobart Town, and, having relations there, he soon found employment as a journeyman butcher, but afterwards opened a small butcher's shop on his own account in the "New Market" in that town. This venture, however, not succeeding, Arthur left that place in 1855 for Melbourne, where he engaged himself as to a Mr Foster, of Gipps Land, in whose employment he remained for some considerable time. Upon leaviug Mr Foster he continued to earn his livelihood as butcher, *' Btockraan," cattle driver, *&a, in different parts of Australia,, until the year 3861, when he was living at Oastlemaine, from which time all trace has been lost of him.