"COMMON DODGES "

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5366, 8 June 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

"COMMON DODGES "

(By Old Boomerang, in thetiydnoy Mail.), Some of, my readers may l remember an aboriginal black man who a few years ago used to live in a bark gunyah off the road- - ■•way* - at "the eastern - side of Rose Bay, 1 What his • real name was I do not,know, but his nickname was Rickety Dick, probably so called from his ; decrepit condition. His lower limbs.wore paralyzed,' and lie could, only.,crawl from his hut to, the roadside, where he usually sat all day long, clamouring for money or. “< bacoa ” from passers-by. , I dare say many riders and'drivers on that road have good reason to ‘ remember old Dick,; through • their; having bolted at the sight of him, for he: was indeed a frightful, .specimen? of; humanity. ; . ' ; ' ■ One day, as I .was enjoying a leisurely walk in that beautiful locality,. I stopped before Rickety Dick’s hut for tlie, purpose of having a.few minutes’ cliat,with him. -I have ;had-a good - - doal-of intercourse with-the nativoblacks in my time,: and haveusuallyfound'them glad to talk with me,.so -- that - ! 1 was surprised'to‘see •that : Dick was - not at'all'anxious for agossip, for ho did - not oven ‘give me the: customary - greeting of “ Goo. mdrnin’,' massa !” '“Perhaps the .p90r.,01d fellow’s limbs are unusually- painful thismorning,” I thought, and, I called to mind times in my own experience: when I, dreaded.the intrusion -of-more, gossiping acquaintances, ,-m X was vabout, to i pass; on* and leave Dick to his seclusion, when, in: an imperious tone, - he shonted, *' Gitn me tikeepence I” By ■ a passing glance into his gunyah, I oould'see an- - abundance of: broad and cooked moat and a square ginbottlo, so'l judged l that;he was not ; so* much in want of money as - some ’ poor persons were whom I knew in Sydney; besides, I had not a small coin in my pocket. . ‘ I have not a sixpence to give you this morning, Dick.” I was going to add; “ I, will send you an. old cloak to-morrow - to .keep you warm.’’ But before I could say. it, ho again yellod out with an oath, “Gim mo tikeepence.” I said, “If I had sixpence ! would not give it to you now, for your impudence.” 1 ' i' ! - I do not know if Dick understood what I said, but he began to swear, and roar-in a way that was downright- hideous. : I walked off as fast as I could, for I thought he was going to throw a -nullah or a boomerang; but he only hurled curses at. mo which were! quite harmless to-;me. I could hear his frantic shrieks when I • was nearly half-a-milo .away; and I fancied that-had any other - persons ■ heard them they would perhaps have thought that he was being cruelly ill-used; .The conclusion I came to - at the time was that Dick, was suffering from the effects of drink ; but T. have since had reason to believe that his shrieking out in that furious.way was a common expedient of his to extort money. - from persons .whom he saw were going: to pass by without, dropping a; silver coin into his hat. : It - is not improbable that: - the poor old fellow was under ■ the; delusion that' I was a bushranger going to plunder: his hut;- and he .inow that a 1 bushranger’s'victim had better cry'out at once, for usually it is the only chance ho has of being able to cry out at all. Whether Rickety Dick’s motive waa.to intimidate me or to punish me by drawing down , public feeling’ against me I, can only-surmise, but either way there,was nothing new - , in : hi* policy.»i; They were, common .old .dodges, i andutheyudid. mot serve Dick at all on that ‘ occasion. It is

■ needless to speculate' how; and where, he learnt his.cunning tricks,- whether; from' the example'of "street larrikins or eialtedstatesmen’; there is 'no doubt as to the. evil source of trickery in genera!; 1 .and the' more.'we investigate it' the;'fainter grows bur hopo.’of a human cure, ( , My experience of the boys of -older countries, .this has hot,l?een. 'very great, airct; I; am not well able to judge ...iff they,are as. expert in; artful,dodgery as •the larrikins.of tliis colony are. <• ''All 1 1 can say is;.that any boys who are a match for, 1 our. Sydney boys must bo cunning boys’ indeed.* "A friend of mine (Mr. “Trueman) who lives less tlian 300 miles from 1 Syd-’ hey, has an apprentice lad,'whom he believes was specially sent to him as a severe test of his patience. Dan was reared'in a public ; institution in Sydney, and* it is j evident that reading, writing, ;and ,arith- i motib are not , all that he learned there. | Perhaps he had a few years’experience of I street life-beforehe went ■to the asylum, but:of that lam not sure: : He. was not a bad’looking boy, and the first time I saw him-; I thought:; my friend Trueman had got in Dan the making of a sort of righthand man ; and as I called 1 to mind bio-, graphical sketches of great men' in :this colony ; and elsewhere, who were once poor illiterate boys,'l could 'conjure' up a fanciful picture of; Dau, 25, years -hence, standing oh the hustings .and, returning. thanks to the sensible electors: of; ; M- . for placing him at the head, of the poll *as representative of their.; fine city.. r!Buta closer acquaintance’with Dan. dulled my 1 hope of. his ever’rising above 1 a common level? for if -he"wore not positively lazy; ho certainly was not a diligent boy. Seeing' him one day going at a job, .which was not agreeable to his taste, reminded'mo of. the sluggish movements of the road chain?, gang in days'of yore, and I muttered to. myself, “Ah, Dan, my boy lif you could only- sea as clearly as-1 can that the lazy, old* Government .stroke, which '.you > are: now learning will injure yourself far more than itwillcheatyonrabsent master, :you would f never i try it again, whatever t job you’re sot to.”- ■ ■ - •■ . ■ ■' ■ ■■ ■ : One l day Dan’s master caught- him in ■an iraproper act; the nature of whiohsit is needless’ to explain, and, being 'uncommonly vexed, he.gave the urchin a wolldesorvodjbox, on- the i.ear. . .Perhaps he meant to give him a second box—for sacli boxes usually,,go' in .before he-, oould. do.it, ho iwas startled by the;most; heathenish;.screams he:had over heard. Dan; flungidiirasolf' on -the’ ground .and shouted so dustily that his master was fairly appalled.-"; ‘‘ Stop"your roguish noise ; you -are- not- hurt!” ho said’ ox? citedly,- as “he took the boy by, the collar and tried to lift him on to his feet. But - Dan resisted to, the .utmost,, and roared out at his loudest pitch—indeed,- if his master had . been scalping* him or: scoring, him all ; over , with a red-hot poker, I he could, hardly, have ;yelledout; more furiously.,Singing out before ho was hurt was . a dodge he was well up in. Soom some of the neighbors rushed into the backyard to see who was being killed, whereupon Dan changed •' his roar to, a piteous' whine,- and'' wriggled about .ns 'if he''had, sustained somegriev'ous injury. , .Now,',.there is,- perhaps, not. a man in th,o i world; .‘whether ho* lives in'a large, community or > in a small one, . who ns wholly free from enemies,: and Mr. True-’ man-was not an exception; Some of ilhe> neighbors .who .had- been 1 attracted I byDan’s outcries were l glad l of a'chance to abuse' Mr. Trueman; ' and a meddlesome qlcl woman, a few-doqrs off, flung up iher' back window and] cried, “ Sliamo! shame on ' you, bid Trueman,' to beat' a ',poor, orphan'boy in that savage way,lt was very little uso- for Mr.. Trueman, to; exfs plain .that he liad only , given, the boy one small, ;Cutf on.-the,"head ; mlltheifeeling: was,-against him, -..and one :excited iby*> slander vowed .that, henvould’knock Mr. l Trueman’s nose off if "he-put a finger on-| the 'boy'again; "In-the' meantime Dan | got bn his= logs, * and stood leering’ at "his i master with' the sly exultant look' of a i ■wicked old thief who had just escaped apenal sentence through, a , legal quibble,of his counsel.,Tf- Dan got, ai box i on |one. ear,“his good master got; both;.his; oars assailed; by.; a; torrent,; of; abuse,: such: as- . ho, could scarcely l ,', have ; '(do-; served, .for, , any thing ~i short of wilfully ! cutting and wonn'ding; That was the first cuff ho gave: to his obstinate iap- 1 prentice, aiulidare say he' will refleot'a" little" before he cu ffs the boy’ again; anal -bringS 'allhis spiteful neighbors out 'upbn'' him'.'i .Dan' gained the, day, .or'got jthe. best of his master—not by fighting, ibiit, i.by crying’; outj lustily,arid . drawing ioujt, .public sympathy. on, his "side ; bnt’itiis; morally, certain that;, his victory will -not bo of i any permanent advantage; to. him;; It would be: simple for me to predict that' he will not rise in the world- if ' he; perseveres in his low cunning ways, for,he may see "living examples enough all around; him; to ’encourage him .'.under anything that might be said against his policy, j It is true he may rise, for" a .while - , to' an influential position in the world through a course of trickery’; but it is very certain that the end of liis career will not :bo.a; glorious one. ~; ; ..i. -. '<• : (

. .Since penning,-the: .foregoing lines, I have been ■ .ruminating, t for ■ half-au-hour over old. times, and I oannot-find-that the boys of forty or; fifty years ago' were as artful as the boy's of the present age; any way-thosej of my early acquaintance were not remarkable for crying out for nothing. I dare say that when I was a boy. I. might have got 'fewer stripes from, my .schoolmaster's cane if I hadicried .out lustily before I. was-hurt.- Still! do not look back -,witli. regret. at .the .patient endur-i ance of - my young-,'nature : on 'the-con-trary,.! I-., feel -.gratified* to.. remember that : I used .' toj -take l - my seasonable whackings like 1 a-.little • man;" and: said nothing about them', out of. ; school. There • are perhaps ■ very, few healthy, spirited ■ boys . that wholly escape.' the rod. : If. a boy can 'get 'alongr without punishment,, let iliim, think himself exoep-j tionally lucky ; but if he-gets ai.merited, flogging occasionally,, he had bettor take it with good-natured ) ‘submission,''and, make no -fuss about it. I warrant..that' ■he will be: better pleased with-himself, if 1 he lives-to be than' he' will’/be to 1 reflect', that 'ho' used to roar out .like a bull-calf ■ .as 1 soon :aa' his tutor, lifted a slick;'arid'that he tried .to make..'folks outside think- there was wilful, murder going, on inside the. school. 1,-may-as. well tako'this. opportunity of .saying, that, I have not. much, sympathy with-.parents: who are too ready to go,to .war with a sghoolmaster for giving a salutary caning to their refractory sons.

■ i: i A notice of the tricks of modern society' would fill as’ many volumes as the Popular Encyclopaedia, and it' would be more die-: mat work to me' than writing ghost stories. I have just glanced at two, tricks, that are current among the old beggars and the young larrikins- of our. land, ,? 1 despair of; curing. the .old .Rickety Dicks by anything?! can say?or,write ;..but I do? hope that some of my boy readers? may? bo influenced? to shun-all deceptive practices,' even though they, may-be playfully called “ Common Dodges.” -