IMPROVIDENT "LUCKY" DIGGERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2322, 28 May 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

IMPROVIDENT "LUCKY" DIGGERS.

HOW THEY SOMETIMES SPENT THEIR MONEY. Writers or narrators of reminiscences connected with the early days of the Vietoriau'gold fields are invariably liable to lay, themselves open, in these incredulous times, to the charge of drawing the long bow to an unreasonable tension. Narratives which would have passed muster twenty or thirty yaars ago as being perfectly veracious are to-day regarded and discarded as savouring a little too much of Baron Munchausen and other in-agina-tive persons of that stamp. The verdant "new chum," and the colonist who represents a cross between a new arrival and an " old identity," differ only in degree as regards their unbelief in the numerous reliable incidents which had their origin in the palmy days of the Australian gold fever. Sensational stories of fortunate diggers, possessed for the nonce with more money than sense, lighting their pipes with one pound—aye, and even five pound notes—got to be regarded in course of time as events of everyday occurenco. Viewed side by side, in the dull light of the present colonial depression, authentic instaucos of the wasteful extravagances perpetrated thirty years ago are well calculated to call forth feelings of regret at the difference in the value of money, and at the manner in which it was oft-times the custom of many who wero troubled with a superfluity of "filthy lucre" to ease themselves of the burden of wealth. The individual who had hia horse shod with shoes made of pure gold was a man evidently desirous of being talked about. That he succeeded in his object, no one is prepared to deny. The shoes were made, and after being used were hung np as a reminder to the proprietor and his family of the "good old days."

One method very much in vogue among those diggers who had made a "pile," and who were desirous of evincing their kindly feeling towards their less successful fellow-workers, was to take a publichouse for a day, or for the week, according as the humour seized them. "Taking a public " had a far different meaning then from what it has in the present day. The ostentatious modus opcraudi usually observed on such occasions was as follows : —Bill Robinson, having been, perhaps, exceptionally fortunate at the diggings, comes down to town for the purpose of having a "spree." After arraying himself in the usual orthodox habiliments, for whicli the dijrger of that period invariably exhibited a preferential weakness, he would, as a great favour, ask the permission of the landlord of the hotel at which he might happen to be staying, to be allowed to pay for all the liquor consumed in that house during the ensuing twenty-four hours. This permission, so far as I have been able to HTOBrtain, was "hardly! ever" refused. Having, by virtue of the magic power of his gold, been installed in the position of " mine host," he would set himself diligently to work to make the drink flow. Everyone who had the good fortune, or the misfortune to pass that hotel during the day h;id to pnrtake of some kind of liquor. Whether it was " hard tack "or "soft tack," drink he must. No one passing that wny was free from persuasive eloquence, or the more persuasive physical 'forco, exerted by the largehearted temporary landlord, in indnoing him to drink his health. On one occasion considerable amusement was caused through the "running in " of a solemnlooking clergyman. Do what he could to pass the door unobserved, he did not escape the argus-eyed gratuitous dispenser of alcoholic beverages. " Come hero, you old bore, and drink my health, , ' and before he could discern whether he was on his head or his heels he was standing at the bar with a glass of liquor in his band. By the time the hour lor closing; had arrived, the bottles on the shelves and the kegs on the rack were nearly all empty, and those who had deliberately, and out out of pure good friendship, assisted in transferring , the contents of the bottles to liven up the inner man, were in most cases to be found occupying a horizontal position. Instead of "downy couches" and "slumbers light," the recumbent erstwhile imbibers were accommodated with sleeping space on the bar floor gratis. In the morning, the host of the day previous settled up his " little bill "; the landlord of the hotel replenished his stock ; the bar was swept and tidied, and things resumed the even tenour of their way.

But the most extraordinary, and perhaps unparralleled, freak on the part of a digger that the writer has any recollection of, took prace many years ago in the town of Geelong. Entering the Duke of Wellington .Hotel one hot summer's afternoon, a dusty, travel-stained digger called fora "long drink." Whilst sitting ou the bench, eugaged in the performance of putting his corporeal system outside of the contents of his deep-sinker," his eyes lighted upon a hogshead strnding in one corner of the bar. Almost simultaneously, an idea struck him. Enquiring of the barman as to the contents of the said hogshead, and ascertaining that it was empty, he at once ordered that the head should be knocked in. His instructions having been compiled with, he next requested the barman to "pour in a dozen of everything you've got in the house." After receiving an assurance of a satisfactory character concerning his customer's financial position, the amazed bar-tender hastened to comply with the extraordinary request. Assisted by the usual habitues of the bar-room, who displayed an excited, interest in what they evidently regarded as a wilful waste of some of the "good creatures of God," he speedily executed the order. " : Novv, are you quite sure you haven't missed anything ?" pueried the. eccentric stranger. On being assured that every article in the hotel had a dozen representatives inside the hogshead, lio requested to know the amount of his bill. The sum total was easily computed. The champagne at a fabulous price per dozen ; brandy, and other spirituous concoctions at about a pound a bottle ; and other liquors proportionally high, he was not the least surprised or discomfited on being informed that that the amount of his indebtedness was a trifle over £200! Believing that short accounts are productive of long friendships, he promptly paid his bill. The liquor having become by his right of purchase, he proceeded to complete his peculiar whim, by getting into it. Divesting himself of his unfashionable and ragged clothing, he climbed into the hogshead and proceeded deliberately to -wash himself. The faces of the by-standers who witnessed the hitherto unheard of use to which he was putting the liquor, were a study to behold. Having made himself as clean, as it was possible to do under the circumstances, he donned his clothes ; and, with the air of a lord, informed the on-lookers that the alcoholic bath was at their service—that it was pro bono publico. Willing hands soon removed the hogshead, from the inside to the outside of the house, and thirsty mortals then set to work to consume the fearfully mixed liquor. The incident was not long getting wind; and, in an incredibly short space of timo, all the loafers in Geelong were congregated in close proximity to tho spirituous mixture. And did'nt they drink ! If ever a man was toasted, over and over again, with three times three, it was the eccentric donor of the drink iu the hogshead.

Orer what followed, the writer would willingly draw a veil; bub truth and candour compel him, as a voracious and candid narrator of matters of fact, to put on record the sequel to the bath and the carouse. For two days and nights and beautiful green in front of the hotel had the appearance of a miniature field of battle. Scattered over it—here and there —was a motley army of "drunks," all of whom had been put horn dc combat by the invisible enemy, alcohol. But while for the time they wore rendered incapable of pedal locomotion, they wore not completely vanquished. Again and again,

pannikin in hand, did they crawl up to the hogshead, until they had entirely conquered and consumed their alcoholic foe.

But it was a dearly-bought victory. The individual who so prodigally wasted his substance in having a £200 bath, was far more sensible than the poor deluded beings who so eagerly consumed it. The one had a certain amount of enjoyment for his money ; the others had a proportionate amount of suffering. What ultimately became of the race of " lucky" dingers who so extravagantly squandered their money, is not known with any degree of certainty ; but it may vory confidently be asserted that they did not attain to the ratik of Australian millionaires. One hears occasionally of an "old hand , 'ending his days in some obsqure spot, or in the hospital ; and the world at large is duly made acquainted with the fact that the deceased had at one time, in the early history of the colony, been possessed of considerable means, but that owing to a most unfortunate propensity he had developed for spending his money, he had lived long enough to die a pauper's death, and he buried at the expense of the colony.—Christchurch Press.