THE IRON GANG.
"To what base uses we may return."
--SHAKESPEARE.
Doctors, in the practice of their profession, not infrequently inform
their patients that there is an insufficiency of iron in their blood,
but no such assertion was ever known to be made to a man who at any
time occupied a position in the Port Macquarie Iron Gang, for if there
was no iron in their blood there should have been, if the "barking of
shins" went for anything. I was sent into this gang, and amongst the
men in it were a number termed "specials." These "specials" were sent
out principally for forgery or swindling, and many of them were so
flash that they used to look down upon the other class of men, and try
to play a game of "bluff." I was boiling my billy of tea one evening,
when one of them came up and threatened to do all sorts of things to
me if I did not remove my billy and allow him the fire. "What do you
want?" I asked. "I want the fire," he replied. "Well," I said, "you can
have it when I am finished." He took no notice of me, but persisted in
removing my billy and placing his own on the fire. At last I quietly
lifted his off, threw it into the swamp, and gave him a good thrashing.
I was then removed, and got a little peace.
Perhaps for a fortnight now I went to work with the hand-cart, bringing
firewood for the Government officers, and finally joined the iron gang
again. Shortly after I re-joined this gang a man named Arger, who had
been captain in a regiment, was attacked by a fierce looking fellow
named Lorrens, who went up, and, drawing a knife, stabbed Arger both
sides of the neck and in the ribs, then told him to "draw his sword
and defend himself." This man had not the slightest provocation to
commit such a murderous act, as the poor fellow never did him the least
injury, and he was sent to Norfolk Island for life.
Another man in the gang named Handersen, a carpenter, went up to a
Frenchman named Antonio, and knocked him down with a hammer; then,
turning round, he said: "I killed that b----, and I hope his soul has
gone wandering." These acts were done principally for tobacco, or for
half-a-loaf of bread, (even in those days "half-a-loaf" was considered
to be better than "no bread") and the object was generally to get some
of the flash "specials" a holiday to Sydney in charge of a man, and
this was called "jeeing" them.
When a man received six or 12 months in irons, he had to sleep on the
floor with one blanket, and a sleeper for a pillow; and if he got ever
so wet before going to bed in rainy weather, he had to put on the same
wet clothes next morning.
There was another cowardly thing done in the iron gang. A poor fellow
named Freeham was met by a member of the stone-breaking party, who
raised a hammer and struck him in the jaw, breaking it. This wretch
got 12 months added to his former sentence, but was afterwards sent
to Sydney on a charge of murder on his own word, for killing a man
at Ballengarra, situated some miles up the river; but as there was
no evidence except his own, he was sent back to Port Macquarie for
12 months--though he said that he would rather be hanged than serve
another 12 months in such a place of slavery and trials; for out of
about 50 or 60 men, 14 or 15 of them would be brought before the court
every week and punished, and they were all poor, harmless men. The
charge against them was usually neglect or disobedience. Fancy poor
wretches, with chains hanging about them being charged with neglect of
work, or even disobedience. Walking about in chains was hard enough
work without carrying hand-carts full of earth, and who could bring
themselves to obey flash "specials?"
One poor wretch got a month in the cells on bread and water for having
a piece of writing paper in his pocket, and another unfortunate fellow
was sentenced to "100 lashes" for having a letter in his pocket which
he was endeavouring to send to a friend. Still these officials went to
Church, offered up prayer (?) and aped religion.
Tom ---- was sentenced to two months on bread and water for running
away; but although Tom bolted he only went a little way and brought
himself to an anchor on a farm, which he never left. He used to go
into a hollow tree in the day time, and, opossum-like, come out at
night and eat the corn. Half-an-acre of this grain disappeared in a
fortnight, and then he gave himself up, as there was no more corn to
eat. This man had great storage capacity, as one Sunday morning I saw
him eat eight men's allowance for a ration of corn bread whilst going a
distance of about 200 yards. He was transported for taking a man-o'-war
boat, in company with five others, and was a 7-year man. But he was a
fearful glutton, for his allowance of food was no more satisfaction to
him than a straw is to a bottle. I remember one day, returning from
work, he saw a woman lying drunk on the road, and he picked her up,
lifted her on to his shoulder, and ran away into the bush with her. The
Police Magistrate who was in the vicinity, noticing what was taking
place, sang out, "Put that woman down!" "If I do," said Tom, "the d----
police will have her" and he took no further notice, but continued on
his journey, and there was not a sign of him till the next day. Then he
was arrested and locked up by the police, and received 14 days on bread
and water for his trouble. When he came out he bore a half-starved
appearance--the bread and water did not suit him.
About the year 1839 the gang had completed the first road, and the
lame, the blind, and those with wooden legs were furnished with a clean
bed in honor of the occasion. These cripples were employed principally
in taking goods to the settlers without payment, and the poor wretches
often went short when their journey's end was reached. When not
employed, they used to lounge about on the hills overlooking the sea
sunning themselves, and it was not infrequent that they had quarrels
amongst themselves. Just picture to yourself a man with wooden legs
offering to "fight any b---- man on timber" as they used to put it.
When these wooden-legged men had a quarrel in a boat they sat on the
seats, with a man propped against the back of each, and in this fashion
they would fight away in great style. I saw two of them on one occasion
fight till they could not see each other. There were also one-armed men
amongst them; these were employed in breaking stone, and they had a Jew
for a boss, who was also a wooden-legged man. One day he went to sleep
in the sun on one of the hills above the harbour, and another Jew
named Lewis collected a quantity of old maize stalks and other fuel,
and set fire to his wooden legs whilst he was asleep. They were not
burning long, however, before he awoke and found one to be shorter than
the other; and it was a sight for sore eyes to see him walking down to
the Old Broken Barracks, singing out to everyone that he met--"That
Jew-looking b---- down there has burnt my legs nearly off."
Just after this a poor fellow died in the barracks. A coffin was made
for him, and his remains were being carried away for interment by four
of his fellow-prisoners. After they had proceeded some little distance,
two of them had a quarrel, when they threw the coffin down, and it
burst, and out rolled the corpse on to the ground. They fought their
quarrel out, and after receiving satisfaction at each other's hands,
they picked the body and coffin up and carried it back to the barracks,
where it was tacked together again, and four other men were sent to
bury it.
The making of roads in the streets of the Settlement was now being
actively proceeded with, and in some instances the hills which had to
be cut through were so steep that a man could not comfortably ascend
one of them without irons on his legs, let alone with them--but the
hills had to be broken down by men with sore backs, and if one man
happened to collide with another who had been recently flogged, it
would be--"Oh, G----! mind my sore back." These were hard times; hard
worked and half starved.
Six men once got "50" for refusing their allowance of beef--it being
of inferior quality; but good meat was brought to court when they were
being tried, not the kind that was refused. They were questioned, "What
have you to say?" but were only allowed to get one word out when the
order would be "50." And so it appeared to be "no use going to law with
the Devil when the court was held in H----." Some men seemed to have a
harder skin than others; a few would stand "50" like a piece of wood;
they would sooner die than allow anyone to hear a groan. There was
one poor little fellow named Mick whom the wretched overseer used to
take a delight in bringing before the court; he would never pick out a
flash-looking rascal, but only poor men who could just crawl about.
I remember one terrible schemer who came into the gang. He met Mr.
---- one morning, and said, "If you do not give me five 'bob' I'll lay
a charge against you for buying rations off the Government men." He was
thereupon caught by the collar and taken off to the watchhouse, and
was sentenced to two months in the iron gang. It was about 11 o'clock
in the day when he came into the gang, and that evening he got "50"
for doing something. The next day he tried the same dodge, but was
walked off again and got another "50." The third day he went up to the
overseer and said: "Do you expect me to work after the flogging I got
yesterday?" The answer was a smack with a big stick. He was compelled
to go to work with the other men, dragging hand-carts full of earth.
There were three men to each cart, and a soldier always accompanied
the men to keep them from running away or receiving tobacco, as if any
of the weed were found on a man he would get "50." No spoons, knives,
or forks were allowed men in the iron gang, for if they had them they
would stab each other. Some used to eat their "hominy" with a piece of
iron hoop, which they used as a spade-scraper. Others used a piece of
bone. One fellow had a hat with a double-crown, and he used to secrete
tobacco and other things in it. The overseer once picked this hat up
and said to him: "You have a hat with two crowns." "Yes," he replied,
"It's a good job you have nothing in it to-day," added the overseer.
And so it was, for if there had been it would have meant trouble. Some
of the men used to watch the boss, and scheme when his back was turned;
but if he caught any of them they were sure of "50," for he never said
a word--only just held up a stick and a policeman would come to the
rescue.
Every Sunday the men got a small piece of soap with which to wash
their clothes, and if rain happened to come on whilst they were doing
it, orders were given to just gather up the clothes, and, wet or dry,
they were brought into the room. These clothes then had to be worn to
church by the men, who were safeguarded by a tyrannous overseer and a
soldier: and there they sat listening to a minister preach, and looking
at the hard-hearted wretches who were ruling them. If the men had got
something to eat, it would have done them more good than hearing about
the next world, for they thought very little about religion in their
sad state.
Poor ---- was sentenced to 12 months in the chain gang for running
away, and he was only in the gang two days when the overseer brought
him to court and got him "50." He then took the sulks, and would
neither work nor eat. Then he was handcuffed and dragged up and down
the street till some of the more tender-hearted officials could stand
it no longer; and he was eventually chained to a bed-post, where he lay
down, like an over-worked ox, and died. It was the custom to chain men
to their bed when they became sick and were sent to the hospital, for
fear that they would run away in the night. One man did bolt at night,
and was not heard of again, the supposition being that he perished
in the bush. This was a fine man, too, and once belonged to the Life
Guards in London.
I was amongst a batch of men who were once marched down from
the barracks to assist in unloading a little vessel--the
"Waterwitch"--laden with corn, which had become wrecked whilst crossing
the bar. We worked all day and were brought back at night, receiving
cornmeal and water for our supper. All our clothes were wet, and we had
either to sleep in them or else lie on the floor with nothing. Such was
life in the iron gang.