EXCURSION TO DELORAINE.--THE CHUDLEIGH CAVES.--FROM LAUNCESTON TO
HOBART.--ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS.--THE OLD WAGON-ROAD BUILT BY
CONVICTS.--DEATH OF THE LAST TASMANIAN.--HOW THE ABORIGINES WERE
DESTROYED.--A WONDERFUL TIN-MINE.--HOBART: ITS CLIMATE AND
ATTRACTIONS.--LOVELINESS OF TASMANIAN LADIES.--PORT ARTHUR.--DOGS
AT THE NECK.--FROM HOBART TO ADELAIDE.--ARRIVAL IN SOUTH
AUSTRALIA.--ADELAIDE: ITS PRINCIPAL FEATURES.--A RIVER THAT IS
NOT A RIVER.--CHURCHES AND RELIGIONS.--POPULATION OF THE CAPITAL
AND COLONY.--EXTENSIVE WHEAT-FARMS.--PRODUCTS OF SOUTH
AUSTRALIA.--FRUIT-GROWING.--GLENELG.--THE HISTORIC GUM-TREE.--PARKS
AND GARDENS.--OVERLAND TO PORT DARWIN.--HOW THE TELEGRAPH WAS
BUILT.--EXPLORATIONS OF STURT AND STUART.--CAMELS IN AUSTRALIA.--A
SIDE-SADDLE CAMEL.--AN AFFECTING INCIDENT.--THE OVERLAND RAILWAY.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CAVE.]
"The forenoon of our second day in Tasmania," said Frank, "was devoted
to an excursion on the Launceston and Formby Railway as far as
Deloraine. We left Launceston at eight o'clock in the morning, reached
Deloraine, forty-five miles, at a quarter past ten, had an hour and
three-quarters in and around the place, and started at noon on our
return. They urged us to stay longer, and see more; and some of the
acquaintances we had made seemed much disappointed that we declined to
do so. The Tasmanians are as hospitable as their Australian neighbors,
and do their utmost to make the stranger feel at home.
[Illustration: NEAR DELORAINE.]
"They specially wished us to visit the Chudleigh Caves, which are about
twenty miles from Deloraine, and are considered, by the Tasmanians at
least, among the wonders of the world. We were told that we could walk
five miles underground, and see the entire caves in about four hours;
that the mud and water would nowhere be more than three feet deep, and
there were many places in the caves where there was no mud at all. No
doubt the caves are remarkable; but as we had seen the Mammoth and Luray
Caves, we did not specially care for those of Chudleigh, much to the
disappointment of the gentleman who urged us to see them.
"The railway between Launceston and Deloraine passes through a fertile
country in which there are many fine farms, and a goodly number of
pastoral stations devoted to the rearing of high-class sheep which are
exported to Australia to improve the flocks of that country. The train
rolled through glades and over plains, along the sides of mountains and
across rippling streams, and as we approached Deloraine the conductor
called our attention to a bold spur of a mountain called Quamby Bluff,
which is the end of a long range that filled the horizon.
"On our return to Launceston we were just in time to catch the 3 P.M.
train for Hobart, which we reached at eight o'clock in the evening. The
Launceston and Western Railway is of broad gauge, but the line to Hobart
is a narrow one (three feet six inches), on account of the heavy work in
the mountains through which its route is laid. As long as the daylight
lasted we had a beautiful panorama, the scene changing at every turn of
the sinuous track. Occasionally we had glimpses of the old carriage-road
built by the convicts, and were impressed with its solidity and the
thoroughness of the work of which it is evidence. It is said that the
road cost more than a railway would at present; and I have no doubt,
after seeing it, that this was the case.
"We asked if any aboriginals could be seen along the route, and were
told that the last Tasmanian aboriginal, Truganini, or Lalla Rookh, died
in 1876, and the last Tasmanian man in 1869. When the island was first
occupied by the English, there were four or five thousand natives upon
it; there was incessant war between them and the whites until 1832, when
the greater number of the blacks had been killed, only a few hundreds
remaining. In 1854 there were only sixteen of them alive, and these
gradually died off.
"It is said that when the English landed in Tasmania they mistook the
friendly signs of the natives for hostile ones, and the mistake led the
commanding officer to order his men to fire on the group that had
assembled on the beach. Fifty natives were killed on this occasion, and
thus a needless war was begun.
"Of course we have been invited to visit gold-mines and other places
where valuable minerals are found; they tell us that Tasmania contains
the most valuable tin-mine in the world, its annual yield being worth
nearly a million dollars. It was discovered in 1872 by a man who was
regarded by his neighbors as more than half a lunatic. For years he
sought for tin among the mountains, suffering all sorts of hardships and
privations; and when at last he found the desired deposit, his assertion
that he had done so was not believed. He was nicknamed 'Philosopher
Smith,' and had great difficulty in securing attention to his discovery
and raising the necessary capital for working the mine. Like most
discoverers, he did not reap the reward for what he found, as he was
compelled to sell his shares in the mine while they were at a very low
price. A share originally costing thirty shillings was worth £80 a few
years later.
"A few miles before reaching Hobart we came to the banks of the Derwent,
the river on which the capital stands. It is a beautiful stream flowing
down from the interior mountains, and its valley is said to be
exceedingly picturesque. Hobart justified the description which our
friend at Launceston gave us; it stands on seven hills, with a larger
hill, called Knocklofty, behind it; and behind this hill again is Mount
Wellington, 4166 feet high. The harbor is deep and capacious, and the
navigation is so easy that ships often come in without pilots.
"Until 1881 this place was called Hobart Town, or Hobarton; in that year
the name was officially changed to Hobart.
"The day after our arrival we climbed to the top of Mount Wellington,
and were well repaid for the fatigue of the ascent by the magnificent
view it afforded. It was landscape and seascape together, and both
extensive and picturesque. Water and land were spread below us as on a
map, and we looked away towards the Southern Pole, and wondered what
would be encountered if we journeyed in that direction.
[Illustration: AUSTRALIA AT THE FEET OF TASMANIA.]
"Hobart is a famous resort of Australians, who come here to escape the
heat of summer. Its climate is delightful, and if all that the
inhabitants claim is true, the Australians who come here have no reason
to complain. Doctor Bronson says he has been told that the ladies of
Tasmania are so charming that the friends of an Australian bachelor
tremble for him whenever he decides to spend the summer at Hobart. But
the Doctor says the friends of a Tasmanian bachelor might be equally
fearful when the latter goes to Melbourne or Sydney for an extended
visit.
[Illustration: OLD CONVICT CHURCH, PORT ARTHUR, TASMANIA.]
"New York boasts of its Franklin Square, where the Harpers have their
great publishing house. Hobart has its Franklin Square, which is a
pretty garden in memory of Sir John Franklin, who was governor here at
one time; in the centre of the garden is a bronze statue of the renowned
navigator. There are other gardens and parks; there are the Royal
Society's grounds and the Queen's Domain, which are much frequented; and
there is a splendid cricket-ground, where games are played very often.
We have witnessed a rowing match between the Hobart and the Mercantile
rowing clubs, and are told that there is a grand regatta here every year
that brings many visitors from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and other
cities. Altogether, Hobart impresses us most agreeably, and the
inhabitants are justly proud of it."
The stay of the party in Tasmania was somewhat shortened by reason of
their haste to reach South Australia. They made a brief visit to Port
Arthur, which is about three hours distant from Hobart by steamer, and
lies in a landlocked bay enclosed between rugged hills, which completely
shelter it from the wind. Here are the prisons where thousands of
convicts were once confined under the most rigorous discipline, the
least infraction of the rules being punished with the lash, and serious
ones by death through hanging.
The story is that the latter punishment was so frequent that the jail
chaplain at Hobart once made a protest, not against hanging in general
or the number of men hanged, but at the pressure upon their facilities.
He said that no more than thirteen men could be comfortably executed at
once, and the crowding had been too great; he trusted that for the
future the accommodations of the jail might not be overtaxed.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE WATCH DOGS.]
Our friends saw the prisons at Port Arthur, but the prisoners have been
gone since 1876. The massive buildings remain without tenants, and are
going to decay as fast as solid stone structures can go. Frank and Fred
were specially interested in "The Neck," the narrow isthmus which
connects the main-land with the peninsula, where the prisons stand.
Across The Neck savage dogs were formerly chained at such close
intervals that a man could not pass between them; the isthmus is not
more than a hundred feet in width, and as there were fifteen dogs kept
there, a man had no chance of passing them. If he attempted to swim
around them at night, the dogs were expected to give warning by barking;
and the waters are so infested with sharks that a person swimming has
little chance of getting away with his life.
[Illustration: "LAND, HO!"]
The dogs were also used for hunting down the few prisoners who managed
to get past the line. The number of escapes was very small; but in spite
of all precautions, escapes did occur. The most notable instance is that
of three men, Martin Cash, Jones, and Cavanagh, who swam across the bay
one night, reached a farm-house in the early morning, and there provided
themselves with weapons and ammunition before their escape was
discovered. Thus equipped for highway robbery and defence, they remained
free for years, but were taken and hanged at last. Convicts at Port
Arthur and other Tasmanian prisons were known as "yellow-birds," on
account of the yellow uniform they wore.
[Illustration: ON THE PIER.]
"Rather suddenly," said Fred, "we left Hobart one day for South
Australia, as we found that if we waited for the next steamer we should
be detained longer than we cared to be in Tasmania. Three days carried
us to our destination at Port Adelaide, where we again set foot on the
Australian continent.
"We passed up the Gulf of St. Vincent, and entered Port Adelaide between
two large shoals of sand which are marked by light-houses. The captain
of the steamer told us that the port was formerly difficult of entrance
and quite shallow, but it has been deepened within the past few years,
and the channels have been widened, so that it is now accessible for
very large ships. As its name implies, it is the port of Adelaide, the
capital of South Australia, seven miles away, and easily accessible by a
double-track railway.
"We landed at a long and handsome pier, and had time to observe, before
leaving for the city, that a great deal of money has been expended in
dock and pier facilities, and in making the harbor a suitable one for an
ambitious colony. There are immense sheds for the storage of wool and
grain, there are graving docks and repair shops, manufactories of
several kinds, two or three hospitals, a home for sailors, churches,
schools, public buildings of the usual kinds found at a well-arranged
seaport, and hotels and restaurants sufficient for the entertainment of
all who are likely to remain long enough to require them.
"The railway carried us to Adelaide in about twenty minutes, and we
found ourselves in a city whose regularity reminded us of Philadelphia
or Chicago. It was founded in 1837 by Colonel Light, who named it after
the queen of William IV.; it originally contained one thousand and
forty-two allotments of one acre each, and is built nearly in the form
of a square, with the streets at right angles. The ground is almost a
level plain, and the situation is about five miles from the Mount Lofty
range of hills, whose highest point is two thousand three hundred feet
above the sea-level.
"The streets of Adelaide are wide and generally handsome; the show one
of all is King William Street, which runs from south to north and
bisects the city. We drove along this street, and were all agreed that
we would have to travel very far to find a handsomer avenue in a city no
older than this. We passed the Government Offices, which is an extensive
pile of buildings forming a solid block, and covering a large area.
Close by the Government Buildings is the Town-hall, which is conspicuous
for its high tower, and on the other side of the street is the
Post-office, which accommodates both the post-office and the telegraph,
and will do so until Adelaide is more than twice its present size. The
white freestone of which the Town-hall and Post-office are built is said
to have come from some extensive quarries near the city.
[Illustration: POST-OFFICE AND TOWN-HALL, ADELAIDE.]
"In addition to the public edifices, King William Street contains banks,
newspaper offices, and other private buildings that would be a credit to
any city of Europe or America. As for churches, I don't know how many we
have seen in our drive through the principal streets; they give the
impression that Adelaide is a very religious city, and that her wealthy
people have been very liberal in providing places of worship. All the
prominent religions are represented, the Church of England taking the
lead, as in the other colonies.
"At the last census of South Australia the Church of England had 76,000
adherents, Roman Catholics numbered 43,000, Methodists 42,000, Lutherans
20,000, Presbyterians 18,000, Baptists 14,000, and Congregationalists,
Bible Christians, and Primitive Methodists about 10,000 each. No State
aid is given to any of the churches, all of them being supported by
voluntary contributions. There are nearly a thousand churches and
chapels in the colony, exclusive of four hundred other buildings which
are occasionally used for religious worship.
"We asked the driver of our carriage to show us some of the finest
private residences; he did so, and we certainly commend the good taste
of the leading citizens in their architecture. Our drive extended to
North Adelaide, which is to 'the city' what South Melbourne is to
Melbourne, being principally a place for residence. The river Torrens
separates Adelaide from its northern suburb; we crossed it on one of
three handsome bridges, and found it less worthy of the name of river
than is the Yarra at Melbourne, its bed being little more than a dry
waste of sand. Ten months in the year this is said to be its condition;
for the other two months it is an impetuous flood.
"The river isn't as bad as it was, as a dam has been thrown across it
near the jail, and the water held by it forms a narrow lake about two
miles long, which furnishes a floating-place for steam-launches and
row-boats in great number. We took a sail on one of the launches, and
enjoyed it very much; the lake reminded us in some respects of the
Ausser Alster at Hamburg, and seems to be much appreciated by the
citizens. The water supply of the city comes from the Torrens; it is
drawn into reservoirs a few miles above the city, and brought thence
through covered mains into the city limits.
[Illustration: ADELAIDE IN 1837.]
"The population of the city itself is about 50,000, and there are said
to be 130,000 people living within a radius of ten miles from the
Town-hall. The population of the whole territory of South Australia is
not far from 350,000, including about 5000 aboriginals. The area of the
colony, including the Northern Territory, is estimated at 903,690
square miles; it covers twenty-seven degrees of latitude and twelve of
longitude, and is more than fifteen times as large as England and Wales
combined. Its greatest length is 1850 miles, and its greatest width 650
miles.
"We delivered some letters of introduction, and were hospitably
received, our entertainers doing their best to give us a good opinion of
the city and colony. One of them told us that Adelaide had been called
the 'City of Churches,' on account of the number and beauty of its
religious edifices; and also the 'Farinaceous City,' owing to its great
shipments of wheat and flour. South Australia is largely devoted to
wheat culture, and some of the farms will rival the great wheat-farms of
the North-western States of America. They have all the improved
machinery for raising wheat on a grand scale, and their owners are
liberal buyers of American ploughs, mowers, reapers, and other apparatus
intended for economy of labor in producing the 'staff of life.'
"We visited one of these large wheat-farms, and were greatly impressed
with what we saw there. It employs ordinarily about seventy hands, and
in the busy season the number often exceeds two hundred. Everything is
reduced to a system, and the manager is autocratic in his power; there
is a set of printed rules to govern the conduct of the men, and they are
required to sign them when engaged. All hands are called when a bell
rings at 5 A.M.; horses are cleaned and fed before 6 A.M., when
breakfast is served; the teams are in the field by seven o'clock; an
hour is allowed at noon for dinner, and then work continues till 6 P.M.
in summer and 5 P.M. in winter. Supper is served at seven; horses are
fed and watered at half-past eight, and the dining-room is cleared and
locked up at ten o'clock.
"First-class hands receive twenty shillings (five dollars) weekly,
second-class eighteen shillings, and third-class sixteen shillings. Any
one in charge of horses who abuses them, or neglects to feed and care
for them properly, is discharged at once, and forfeits all wages due
him. Varying penalties are affixed for other offences, and the
inducement is held out that any laborer can raise himself to a
first-class position by good and industrious conduct.
[Illustration: REAPING BRIGADE AT WORK.]
"The product of wheat in the colony varies in different seasons; in
1884-85 it was nearly fifteen million bushels, but since then it has
been much less, owing to severe droughts. There are nearly seven
millions of sheep in South Australia, and the wool crop is the next in
importance to the bread-stuffs. The colony produces great quantities of
grapes, and the export of wine is steadily increasing. Grapes, peaches,
apricots, oranges, and kindred fruits grow with very little attention,
and in their season they are retailed in the market of Adelaide at a
penny a pound; so that all tables are liberally supplied with them. We
have eaten some very fine fruit since we came here, but the people tell
us we are not in the time of year to see the orchards at their best.
"There are several pretty watering-places within a few miles of
Adelaide, where the people go in summer to enjoy the cool breezes from
the southern seas. One of the favorite spots of this sort is Glenelg,
which is only a few miles distant, and easily reached by railway. We
went there one afternoon, partly to see what it was like and partly
because it is where the colony was founded. On the 28th of December,
1836, Captain Hindmarsh landed there, and in the presence of a few
officials and some two hundred immigrants, who had been sent out from
London, read his commission as the first governor of South Australia,
and proclaimed the foundation of the colony.
[Illustration: PROCLAMATION TREE AT GLENELG, NEAR ADELAIDE.]
"The ceremony took place under a venerable gum-tree, or Eucalyptus,
which is known as "Proclamation Tree." We saw the tree, but it has
fallen and is greatly decayed, and were it not for the board affixed to
it, telling that on this spot the colony was founded, no one would
consider it of any importance. The anniversary of this event is
celebrated as a public holiday. All business is suspended on that day,
and Glenelg is crowded with people who come to look at the Proclamation
Tree, and enjoy the cool breeze that blows from the ocean.
"The long pier jutting into the bay at Glenelg is a favorite resort on
pleasant evenings, and our experience there reminded us of an evening at
Coney Island or Long Branch. The Orient and P. & O. steamers stop at
Glenelg to land and receive the South Australian mails. The anchorage is
somewhat exposed to heavy winds, and occasionally there is considerable
delay in landing or embarking.
"The Adelaideans are very proud of their parks and gardens, and with
good reason. They certainly compare well with those of Sydney and
Melbourne, and that is saying that they are very fine indeed. All around
the city there are reserved lands which vary in width but will average
not far from half a mile. They are intended for parks for the public,
and are planted with shade-trees and laid out into walks and drives. As
the city grows they will be in the midst of houses, and not at such
distances that a special journey will be required to reach them.
[Illustration: VICTORIA REGIA HOUSE, BOTANIC GARDEN, ADELAIDE.]
"Then they have squares of several acres in each quarter of the city,
beautifully laid out and planted with shade-trees, and they have the
Botanic Garden, of about forty acres, containing among other things
several fern-houses, shade-houses, a Victoria Regia house, and a large
and handsome palm-house, in which tropical plants are sheltered. We went
repeatedly through the Botanic Garden, and constantly found something to
interest us. A few years ago a Museum of Economic Botany was erected,
and since it was opened to the public it has done much practical good.
Plants are distributed to those who desire them, and many valuable or
beautiful exotics have thus been acclimatized in Australia."
As usual, Frank and Fred studied the map of the country, and considered
its capabilities in the way of travel. Frank thought it would be the
best kind of fun to cross the continent from south to north, following
the line of the overland telegraph from Adelaide to Port Darwin. Fred
was of the same opinion, but suggested that before broaching the subject
to the Doctor they should learn something about the route.
With this object in view they made inquiries, the replies to which quite
discouraged their enterprise. What they learned can best be given in the
words of their informant, a gentleman connected with the telegraph
service.
"I have been over the whole line from Adelaide to Port Darwin," said he,
"and will briefly tell you about it. The distance is about seventeen
hundred miles, and more than half of it is uninhabited by white men,
except at the telegraph stations. Some of it can never be occupied, as
it is absolutely waterless; but in course of time, and with improved
means of obtaining or storing water, the greater part can be made
inhabitable.
"The first white man to cross the continent was John McDouall Stuart.
Don't confound his name with that of Captain Sturt, a thing that's very
likely to happen, as they were intimately associated."
"Won't you kindly tell us a little about Captain Sturt?" asked one of
the youths. "We've heard his name frequently as that of one of
Australia's heroes."
[Illustration: EXPLORING EXPEDITION ON THE MARCH.]
"Certainly," was the reply. "Captain Charles Sturt was sent out by the
Sydney Government to make an exploration beyond the Blue Mountains in
the direction of the interior of the continent. Between 1827 and 1830 he
made two expeditions, in which he discovered the Darling and Murray
rivers; on the second expedition he descended those streams in a
whale-boat which he had taken along for the purpose of navigating any
rivers or lakes into which the smaller streams already discovered took
their course. The Macquarie, the Lachlan, and the Murrumbidgee flow
westward from the Dividing Range, but their outlets were then unknown.
"On his voyage down the Murray to the sea Sturt had several fights with
the natives, underwent many hardships and accidents, and found his men
greatly reduced in strength. There he was obliged to turn back and
propel his boat against the stream to the point whence it started.
"It was a toilsome journey. The natives opposed the explorers, and they
fought their way from place to place, and it was only by the superiority
of their fire-arms over the primitive weapons of the blacks that they
escaped with their lives. For fifteen hundred miles they travelled in
this way, and when they reached their old camp, on the twenty-seventh
day of their upward voyage, Sturt was hardly able to stand. Provisions
were exhausted, and when aid reached them they were at the point of
starvation.
"In 1843, this same Captain Sturt offered to lead an expedition from
South Australia to the interior of the continent; his offer was
accepted, and in 1844 the expedition started on its way. Unfortunately
summer was approaching, and the party was destined to suffer terribly
from heat and thirst. For six months it was encamped in one spot, unable
to move; there was little or no water in the country, and four months
passed without a drop of rain or even of dew. Sturt reported that the
heat drew every screw and nail in their boxes; the horn handles of their
instruments, as well as their combs, were split into fine laminæ; the
lead dropped out of their pencils; their signal-rockets were entirely
spoiled; their hair, as well as the wool of their sheep, ceased to grow;
and their nails became as brittle as glass. Their flour lost more than
eight per cent. of its original weight, and other provisions in greater
proportion. The mean of the thermometer during December, January, and
February was 101°, 104°, and 101° respectively in the shade, and in the
sun it sometimes reached 160°.
"Sturt did everything that lay within human power to reach the centre of
the continent, but was unable to get nearer than within one hundred and
fifty miles of it. Some of his men died, and he turned back when at a
point where it was absolutely certain that no water lay beyond.
"His draughtsman on that expedition was John McDouall Stuart, the man
who was the first to cross the continent from south to north, and whom I
asked you not to confound with Captain Sturt. Stuart tried three times
before he succeeded; at last, on July 10, 1862, he reached the sea, at
the mouth of the Adelaide River, in Van Dieman's Gulf, on the north
coast.
"Very soon after the result of Stuart's expedition became known, it was
proposed to build a telegraph line across the continent, following
Stuart's track, to meet the cable from Singapore to Port Darwin, and
thus connect the colonies with the rest of the telegraphic world. The
work was planned and completed by Mr. Charles Todd, superintendent of
telegraphs, and was begun in 1870. On August 22, 1872, the first message
was sent over the completed line, and congratulations were exchanged
between London and Adelaide."
"Didn't the blacks give you a great deal of trouble?" Frank asked.
"Less than was feared," was the reply. "We managed to give them a
wholesome dread of the 'white fellow's devil,' as they called it, and
though they have raided the stations on several occasions and killed the
officers, they have never disturbed the wires. While we were building
the line we gave every native who visited us an electric shock, and it
seriously affected their nerves, and also their imaginations. Once we
had two of the most important chiefs at points more than a hundred miles
apart; we carried on conversations for them for two or three hours, and
then had them meet half way between the stations and compare notes. To
say they were awe-struck would be expressing it mildly; they were fairly
paralyzed with astonishment."
[Illustration: CAMP SCENE ON THE DESERT PLAINS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.]
"How far apart are the stations?"
"The distances vary according to water and other conditions. Some of the
stations are more than a hundred miles from their neighbors on either
side, and at every station there are two operators and four
line-repairers. When a break occurs a repair party starts from the
station on each side, and travels along the line, testing it every
twenty or thirty miles until the fault has been found and communication
restored. Then the parties return to their own stations, generally
without seeing each other."
"How do you carry supplies through this desert?" inquired Fred.
"We use camels, which were first introduced from Afghanistan by Sir
Thomas Elder, and have been found admirably adapted to the arid regions
of Australia. A camel-breeding establishment has been in existence at
Beltana for nearly twenty years, and more than a thousand camels have
been supplied from it for hauling stores and doing other work that is
usually performed by oxen or horses. They are broken to harness or the
saddle; they draw drays or light pleasure-wagons, singly, and teams of
six or eight camels are harnessed to heavy wagons, which they easily
pull through the sand together with a load of two or three tons. The
belle of Beltana, the daughter of the superintendent of the station, has
a camel which she rides with a side-saddle just as a belle of New York
rides her favorite saddle-horse. All the later exploring expeditions
have been equipped with camels, and it was for exploration that these
animals were first brought here.
"About three years after the line was opened, the men at the Barrow
Creek station, a thousand miles from Adelaide, were attacked by the
blacks. A line-repairer and an operator, Mr. Stapleton, were mortally
wounded, and two others seriously. As Mr. Stapleton lay dying, the news
was flashed to Adelaide by the other operator. The doctor and Mrs.
Stapleton were summoned to a room in the Adelaide office, where they
listened to the click of the instrument, which told how the husband's
life was ebbing away in the far distant desert.
"An instrument was brought to his bedside and placed under his hand. He
received the doctor's message that his wound was fatal, received the
farewell of his wife, then telegraphed her an eternal good-by, and as he
finished it his fingers clutched the key, and in a moment he lay dead. I
was one of the group that stood in the Adelaide office that day, and you
can easily believe that the scene moved everybody to tears."
The youths easily did believe it, for their own eyes were moist as they
heard the sad story. The gentleman paused for one, two, in fact for
several minutes, with his head turned away, and then resumed:
"The success of the telegraph has emboldened us, and we are now building
a railway along the same line, and hope to have it done within the next
ten years. Four hundred miles are completed northward from Adelaide, and
on the other side of the continent half that distance is in the hands of
contractors. Camels are employed to carry supplies, material, and water
to the men in advance of the end of the track, and the work is being
pushed forward very much as your builders in America constructed the
Central and Union Pacific railways across the great plains east of the
Rocky Mountains, and between those mountains and the Sierra Nevada
range."
[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND GROUNDS, ADELAIDE.]