INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A JOURNALIST.

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 146, 30 June 1883, Page 232

INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A JOURNALIST.

. .2Jd. > X.~^ i 'JPa|ko».^^/~ra^<rd^«i Escape — -... .',, •.. '■;•' M'C.aviiig : Shaft. „ I'■ I HIVE, ah;ead^. remarked iin^iprevious chapter that there was intense jealousy and rivalry onithe Indigo between the *?Tips V an&the Cornishnien,' which, frequently resulted in fights^ '■ I^remember a regular pitched battle atlfche Wahgunyah races. ,-A' i di.B^ute;aro.Be,'Qrer" .Bonie trivial question be? tween tyro, champions os "the rival parties, who speedily came to blows. Their respective partisans grew hot with exciteriienfc, . and the affair developed into' a regular pitched battle, both aides rushing the booths, and using the bottles, ' J full as well &i empty,- as missiles! The fire, wa,B, reryhot, and jbhe; .spectators prudently left ,the combatants to fight out their own battle, haying. - <due regard for the old proverb that ; ; „., „'; .Those who in quarrels interpose : ' ,' „-,.,./' ''' Will often get a; bloodjrixose. ! ' ' , In; the, midst of the din and. confusion,, while the air' Fas 'thick with showers of bottles, • tufts .of grass, and stones, Detective Alexander coolly Showed, his way into the struggling crowd and . Arrested , a man. . who : was " wanted" for some offence. I believe the secret of his escaping tmhurt j-vira.B the sight of ; a loaded . revolver, which lie held in his hand. Fights on a small scale between, 'Europeans: 1 and" Chinamen were cpm- - , -^n . enqugh pecurrences, bnt^thevpne, I .speak i}£ between the Oprnishmen and "Tips" was;- the fiercest 'l had ever : seen at the diggings. The' casualties consisted of a. few broken heads, 'and - ttie"fe was some but there fefo (few serious injuries in comparision with the yelling, ; ; the heavy, vollies of bottles, and the fighting at, . . close quarters with aticka& If I renjejtnSer^ightly, ' however, ' one man .^die|t£frpin the ejects pf a wound oh. the scalp £&*' ,-t.K' ; "'•■ .. , ■ .1 have , had mafly; jTskvoyr^ a^ayes in> my life-"' time.. I tWnk^may.'^ayTwit^pilt egotism that. ; ■ I havb often^ Jooke4 death jin -the. face without flinching • jbfitt><>ne pf 'nxy. nawrpwest'^shaves was in. Indigo. Tw^irff m^itna^esjwere'' on the spree,"; and ; mysetf and s w«ce trying ,-to poke out a _.: !littlewash d^r@o- : -k>epu^^e*'.^at foiling. . A good : deal of the ground, ti^fbeen. Vo^ed out, and as it.was o£ly .sjjghjly. timbered .with what were .caUedi'^pldier^^s^^u^witnPut ,"" sets," itfwas settling down. S^o^n^ice, in mining the sound of cracking timijfr beneath tlje enormous weight . : df;hundreda;df^^^| ? su^e4hcumbe.nt earth is jQPt by. any means comforting, though I have often seen old diggers working in -such places with the utmost unconcern. ' The wash dirt^was •growing thin' as it run ; up towards the reef, or the uppei* edge of the gutfceiy and the " face " was therefore somewhat low, so that it; was necessary to work .on; one's side. Suddenly a mysterious but .irresistible influence came pver me to go put into the, shaft. The nature pfihat - influence is indescrible. It was no audible L voice, but more like,|a conviction impressed upon? one's brain by some external intelligence. Scarcely had I reached the shaft, and. jerked the rope^as a signal io the man at' the windlass to' pull up, than an^ enormous layer, of earth, six or eight 'feet thick, fell with a thunderous sound, amidst, the •raih of timber, from & "soapy heading " ;over the spot where I had been ait work.* Old diggers will readily understand tho phrase, but, for; the benefit qf the uninitiated, it may be explained that a " soapy heading " is a stratum of greasy pipe-clay, closely resembling white soap in appearanca, and breaking off from its junction with the stratum above it. . These .alluvial leads have formerly been water courses, in which the .debris •of boulders and gravel liave been deposited from the hills, and the -gold has naturally filtered through it, and itß course been arrested. Above this bed various layer's have been deposited from time to time by successive floods, the soapy heading consisting of a shiny white clay, which has solidified and hardened beneath the pressure of. subsequent .deposits. I should think that the layer which " caved " on the occasion referred to muet have weighed at least twenty tons. At anyrate it was sufficient to have crushed one into a pan-cake. My mate had left the windlass and gone off for a drink. The reader can imagine my feelings as I stood there in the shaft, shouting with all my might, and pulling frantically at the rope, fearing that at any moment the whole "concern would collapse and crush me to mince-meat. Fortunately the noise waa heard by some men at an adjacent claim, an 1 they pulled me ,up. At the risk of being accused of egotism I will here relate another similar escape, in order to show what risks the miner encounters in. his search for the precious metal. I was engaged hauling up " mullock " (unauriferous earth) from the shaft one day, when suddenly I felt a tremendous pressure on the rope, as if the nail-can had got caught against some projection. Slacking off the rope a little, the pressure suddenly increased, there was a crash, the handle of the windlass was dragged out off my control and whirled round , with, frightful rapidity, catching me Bomewhere in the small of the back and landing me on a heap of washdirt five or six yards away. 3?he wonder wasiit : did riot dash out my brains, or break my back. A large piece of the shaft, where there was a small drift, had caved in, its descent being temporarily*arrested by the bucket and its own size. Of course these escapes are no? much to speak of. J Qld diggers who have* follpwed the rushes, can rebate thousands of more sensational incidents, amongst, the waterless deserts, alligators, snakes; liens, under the scorching sun pf .Queensland, and the Cape dimond fields. liet\the reader acquit me pf any desire to rival Murichatisen; when J.JSSy,, however, that I have stul;to, narrate a snake stoiey^hich beats the one gi^eb;jna former/chaptier. r; j^ As to' the source: of th§;jn#tiejjce under which I was impelledto go ?o.ntmttfth| shaft just in time to escape ce>taua,- d^ith,^ 'vf^not attempt to define ifc. ilJeay^ that'to:*p^opie more learned in tke.phenomfcna of . psycJibl6M>or mental iiiipres"S? 6 ? * •;?? ™f Bi ®si in^lli|^be7howe^r, it had all the force and distinctness of, a .miraculous instinct, as if some j|ood;anget had been' afc^hand. „ . A miracle', with miracles enclosed ' !. y,- .. . Is man, and sifcarfcs his faith, at what is strange P ■ v^™**. leß^th^jmraoles i front (Spa can flow? '- Admit a God,— that mystery supreme, '■; , That Cause uncaused, aUot^rwondgrß cease.