ROUGH LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS--"STOP THIEF!"
GOLD-RUSHING--DIGGERS' CAMP AT HAVELOCK--MURDER OF LOPEZ--PURSUIT AND
CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER--THE THIEVES HUNTED FROM THE CAMP--DEATH OF
THE MURDERER--THE POLICE--ATTEMPTED ROBBERY OF THE COLLINGWOOD
BANK--ANOTHER SUPPOSED ROBBERY--"STOP THIEF!"--SMART USE OF THE
TELEGRAPH.
In the times of the early rushes to the gold-fields there was, as
might be expected, a good deal of disorder and lawlessness. When the
rumour of a new gold-field went abroad, its richness was, as usual,
exaggerated in proportion to the distance it travelled; and men of all
classes rushed from far and near to the new diggings. Melbourne was
half emptied of its labouring population; sailors deserted their
ships; shepherds left their flocks, and stockmen their cattle; and,
worst of all, there also came pouring into Victoria the looser part of
the convict population of the adjoining colonies. These all flocked to
the last discovered field, which was invariably reputed the richest
that had yet been discovered.
Money was rapidly made by some where gold was found in any abundance;
but when the soil proved comparatively poor, the crowd soon dispersed
in search of other diggings. A population so suddenly drawn together
by the fierce love of gain, and containing so large an admixture of
the desperado element, could scarcely be expected to be very orderly.
Yet it is astonishing how soon, after the first rush was over, the
camp would settle down into a state of comparative order and
peaceableness. For it was always the interest of the majority to put
down plundering and disorder. Their first concern was for the security
of their lives, and their next for the security of the gold they were
able to scrape together.
When the lawless men about a camp were numerous, and robberies became
frequent, the diggers would suddenly extemporise a police, rout out
the thieves, and drive them perforce from the camp. I may illustrate
this early state of things by what occurred at Havelock, a place about
seven miles from Majorca. The gully there was "rushed" about nine
years since, when some twenty thousand diggers were drawn together,
with even more than the usual proportion of grog-shanty keepers,
loafers, thieves, and low men and women of every description. In fact,
the very scum of the roving population of the colony seems to have
accumulated in the camp; and crime upon crime was committed, until at
length an affair occurred, more dreadful and outrageous than anything
that had preceded it, which thoroughly roused the digger population,
and a rising took place, which ended in their hunting the whole of the
thieves and scoundrels into the bush.
The affair has been related to me by three of the persons who were
themselves actors in it, and it is briefly as follows:--At the corner
of one of the main thoroughfares of the camp, composed of canvas tents
and wooden stores, there stood an extemporized restaurant, kept by a
Spaniard named Lopez. A few yards from his place was a store occupied
by a Mr. S----, now a storekeeper in Majorca, and a customer at our
bank. Opposite to S----'s store stood a tent, the occupants of which
were known to be among the most lawless ruffians in the camp. S----
had seen the men more than once watching his store, and he had formed
the conviction that they meant at some convenient opportunity to rob
him, so he never slept without a loaded revolver under his pillow. One
night in particular he was very anxious. The men stood about at the
front of his store near closing time, suspiciously eyeing his
premises, as he thought. So he put a bold face on, came to the door
near where they were standing, discharged his pistol in the air--a
regular custom in the diggings at night--reloaded, entered his store,
and bolted himself in. He went to bed at about ten o'clock, and lay
awake listening, for he could not sleep. It was not very long before
he heard some person's steps close by his hut, and a muttering of
smothered voices. The steps passed on; and then; after the lapse of
about ten minutes, he heard a shot--a scream--and hurried footsteps
running close past his hut. He lay in bed, determined not to go out,
as he feared that this was only a _ruse_ on the part of the thieves to
induce him to open his door. But soon he heard shouts outside, as of
persons in pursuit of some one, and jumping out of bed, he ran out
half dressed and joined in the chase.
Now, this is what had happened during the ten minutes that he had lain
in bed listening. The thieves had stolen past his store, as he had
heard them, and gone forward to the restaurant kept by the Spaniard.
They looked into the bar, and through the chinks of the wood they saw
Lopez counting over the money he had taken during the day. The bar was
closed, but the men knocked at the door for admission. Lopez asked
what they wanted; the reply was that they wished for admission to have
a drink. After some demur, Lopez at last opened the door, and the men
entered. Nobblers were ordered, and while Lopez was reaching for a
bottle, one of the thieves, named Brooke, made a grab at the money
lying in the open drawer. The landlord saw his hand, and instantly
snatching up a large Spanish knife which lay behind the counter, he
made a lunge at Brooke, and so fiercely did he strike that the knife
ripped up the man's abdomen. With a yell of rage, Brooke drew his
revolver, instantly shot Lopez through the head, and he fell dead
without a groan.
Meanwhile the other thieves had fled; and now Brooke himself, holding
his wound together with his hand, ran out of the house, through the
street of tents, across the lead, and into the bush. But the hue and
cry had been raised; the diggers bundled out of their tents, and
before the murderer had reached the cover of the bush, already a dozen
men were on his track. It was full moon, and they could see him
clearly, holding on his way, avoiding the crab-holes, and running at a
good speed notwithstanding his fearful wound. Among the foremost of
the pursuers were a trooper and an active little fellow who is now
living in Majorca. They got nearer and nearer to Brooke, who turned
from time to time to watch their advance. The trooper was gaining upon
him fast; but when within about fifteen yards of him Brooke turned,
took aim with his revolver, and deliberately fired. The aim was too
true: the trooper fell dead, shot right through the heart. Brooke
turned to fly immediately he had fired his shot, but the root of a
tree behind him tripped him up, and the little man who followed close
behind the trooper was upon him in an instant, with his knee upon his
body holding him down. Brooke managed to turn himself half round,
presented his revolver at his captor, and fired. The cap snapped on
the nipple! My friend says he will never forget the look the wretch
gave him when his pistol missed fire. A few minutes--long, long
minutes--passed, and at length help arrived and the murderer was
secured. The number shortly increased to a crowd of angry diggers. At
first they wished to hang Brooke at once upon the nearest tree; but
moderate counsels prevailed, and at last they agreed to take him into
Havelock and send for a doctor.
When the crowd got back to Havelock their fury broke out. They
determined to level the thieves' tents and the grog-shanties that had
harboured them. What a wild scene it must have been! Two or three
thousand men pulling down huts and tents, smashing crockery and
furniture, ripping up beds, and levelling the roosts of infamy to the
ground. When Dr. Laidman, the doctor sent for from Maryborough,
arrived to attend the dying man, he saw a cloud of "white things" in
the air, and could not make out what they were. They turned out to be
the feathers of the numerous feather-beds, which the diggers had torn
to pieces, that were flying about. The diggers' blood was fairly up,
and they were determined to make "a clean job of it" before they had
done. And not only did they thoroughly root out and destroy all the
thieves' dens and low grog-shops and places of ill-fame, but they
literally hunted the owners and occupants of them right out into the
bush.
I must now tell you of the murderer's end. He was taken to the rude
theatre of the place, and laid down upon the stage, with his two
victims beside him--the dead Lopez on one side and the dead trooper on
the other. When the doctor arrived, he examined Brooke, and told him
he would try to keep him alive, so that justice might be done. And the
doctor did his best. But the Spaniard's wound had been terrible and
deadly. Brooke died in about half an hour from the time of the
doctor's arrival The murderer remained impenitent to the last, and
opened his mouth only once to utter an oath. Such was the horrible
ending of this digger's tragedy.
Cases such as this are, however, of rare occurrence. So soon as a
digging becomes established, a regular police is employed to ensure
order, and local self-government soon follows. We had often occasion
to ride over to Maryborough, taking with us gold; but though we were
well known in the place, and our errand might be surmised, we were
never molested, nor, indeed, entertained the slightest apprehension of
danger. It is true that in the bank we usually had a loaded revolver
lying in the drawer ready at hand, in case it should be needed; but we
had never occasion to use it.
Some years ago, however, an actual attempt was openly made to rob a
bank in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, which was very gallantly
resisted. The bank stood in a well-frequented part of the town, where
people were constantly passing to and fro. One day two men entered it
during office hours. One of them deliberately bolted the door, and the
other marched up to the counter and presented a pistol at the head of
the accountant who stood behind it. Nothing daunted, the young man at
once vaulted over the counter, calling loudly to the manager for help,
and collared the ruffian, whose pistol went off as he went down. The
manager rushed out from his room, and tackled the other fellow. Both
the robbers were strong, powerful men, but they fought without the
courage of honesty. The struggle was long and desperate, until at last
assistance came, and both were secured. A presentation of plate was
made to the two officials who had so courageously done their duty,
and they are still in the service of the same bank.
In direct contrast to this case, I may mention a rather mysterious
circumstance which occurred at an up-country bank, situated in a
quartz-mining district. I must first explain that the bank building is
situated in a street, with houses on both sides, and that any noise in
it would readily be heard by the neighbours. One young fellow only was
in charge of the place. The manager of a neighbouring branch called
weekly for the surplus cash and the gold bought during the week. The
youth in charge suddenly reported one day that he had been "stuck up,"
as the colonial phrase is for being robbed. He said that one night, as
he was going into the bank, where he slept--in fact just as he was
putting the key into the lock--a man came up to him, and, clapping a
pistol to his head, demanded the key of the safe. He gave it him,
showed him where the gold and notes were kept, and, in fact, enabled
the robber to make up a decent "swag." The man, whoever he was, got
away with all the money. The bank thought it their duty to proceed
against the clerk himself for appropriating the money. But the proof
was insufficient, and the verdict brought in was "Not guilty."
We were one day somewhat alarmed at Majorca by a letter received from
our manager at Maryborough, informing us that a great many bad
characters were known to be abroad and at work--and cautioning us to
be particularly upon our guard. We were directed to discharge our
firearms frequently and keep them in good order, so that in case of
need they should not miss fire. We were also to give due notice when
we required notes from Maryborough, so that the messenger appointed to
bring them over should be accompanied by a complete escort, _i.e._, a
mounted trooper. All this was very alarming, and we prepared for
events accordingly.
A few nights after, as we were sitting under the manse verandah, we
heard a loud cry of "Stop thief!" The robbers, then, were already in
the township! We jumped up at once, looked round the corner of the
house, and saw two men running off as fast as they could, followed at
some distance by another man shouting frantically, "Stop thief!" We
immediately started in pursuit of the supposed thieves. We soon came
up with the man who had been robbed, and whom we found swearing in a
most dreadful way. This we were very much astonished at, as we
recognised in him one of the most pious Wesleyans in the township. But
we soon shot ahead of him, and gradually came up with the thieves,
whom we at first supposed to be Chinamen. As we were close upon them,
they suddenly stopped, turned round, and burst out laughing! Surely
there must be some mistake! We recognised in the "thieves" the son of
the old gentleman whom we had just passed, with one of his companions,
who had pretended to steal his fowls, as Chinamen are apt to do:
whereas they had really carried off nothing at all. In short, we, as
well as our respected Wesleyan friend, felt ourselves completely
"sold."
The only attempt at dishonesty practised upon our branch which I can
recollect while at Majorca was one of fraud and not of force. We had
just been placed in telegraphic communication with the other towns in
the colony. The opening of the telegraph was celebrated, as usual, by
the Town Council "shouting" champagne. Some time before, a
working-man, who had some money deposited with us, called in a fluster
to say his receipts had been stolen. This was noted. Now came a
telegram from Ballarat, saying that a receipt of our branch had been
presented for payment, and asking if it was correct. We answered
sharp, ordering the man to be detained. He was accordingly taken into
custody, handed over to the police, and remanded to Newstead, where
the receipt had been stolen. Newstead is a long way from Majorca, but
our manager drove over with a pair of horses to give his evidence. It
turned out that our customer's coat, containing the receipt, had been
stolen while he was at his work. The thief was identified as having
been seen hanging about the place; and the result was that he was
committed, tried, and duly convicted. So you see that we are pretty
smart out here, and not a long way behind the old country after all.