Australian Town & Country- Bourke reports

BOURKE. Monday.

Five valuable draught horses, the property of persons in this town, have been stolen. The police are in search of the thieves.
The measles are attacking both old and young in this district.
No rain.   –January 15, 1876.

BOURKE.    January 5     

We have been blessed with weather which would make a blackfellow (if he knew) curse the fate which led him hither ward. Yesterday the glass Indicated 112 deg, today (Wednesday) it is about 115, and blowing from the usual persecuting quarter, the south. There is no sign of rain, and in a week or two the road from here to the Cobar will be a water-hole waste. Even now there are 83 miles to go without seeing water. How John Collins, the contractor for the mails, manages to carry on is a mystery. Now, a great deal of this privation ought to have been prevented. At the Yellow Water Holes a huge water-tank, and the best of them all, distant about 55 miles, about 12,000 sheep have been allowed to camp for months; in fact they budged not until fear of dying on the spot caused them to be shifted. Then they went on their way to the Bogan, visited the other tanks, and drained the road dry. Many people are in from Cobar, and one of them, C. Warren, offered 1s a bucket for water for his horses, and then did not get it. The state of this road is simply disgraceful, and those whose province it is to watch over the interests of the district, have taken no more notice of the grass infringement of the people's rights than they would of a cloud flitting across the moon during their sleep. Thu mail cannot run much longer, and then perhaps, their pockets being touched, they may see the error of silence.
On Boxing night the Bourke Dramatic Club gave an entertainment, the proceeds of which went towards keeping the cattle pads from the graves of our friends by the erection of a fence.
-January 15, 1876.

BOURKE.  Saturday.
One of the Cannonbar Bank robbers has been apprehended by Sub-Inspector Keegan and Constable Naughton. £654 was found on him.
Burfield, the lost mailman, was found dead two miles from Ford's Bridge.
The weather is dreadfully hot. Cattle are dying in all directions, and there are no signs of rain.
In regard to the first item of the above we publish the following communication :-" Commercial Bank, Sydney, 21st January, 1870. We have just received the following telegram. There is no doubt the notes referred to are part of those stolen. Man apprehended at Bourke on suspicion of Cannonbar robbery. Found on him £654 odd notes and silver. Numbers of notes correspond with those robbed."
Thursday.
The chief of the Cannonbar Bank robbers has been committed to take his trial. His name is Henry Cunninghame.
The weather has changed, and rain is expected.
-January 29, 1876.

BOURKE: Monday.

The Redbank Hotel, (John Lloyd, landlord) has been burned to ashes ; nothing saved.
-February 12, 1876.

BOURKE. Thursday.

A cruet and chalice have been stolen from the Roman Catholic Church, but it is likely the articles will shortly turn up, as the police are on the point of solving the riddle. Rain is threatening. The heat lately has ranged as high as 110 degrees in the shade.
-February 19, 1876.
BOURKE.    February 16.
We are going from bad to worse, from a brisk simmer to mad boil. The shaded mercury has gone up these last three days to 114. Last night, at tea time, 6 p.m., it was 104 and at half-past 10, 94-we are literally roasting-and not a sign of rain, while the country is as dry and brown as a worn-out cricket ball. All household articles of consumption are very high. Bread, 21b loaf, 7d; milk, per quart, 9d; oats, per lb 4d, and everything else equally high, whilst the river holds out no hope of supplies, navigation thereon difficult as it would be on a dromedary's back, while carrying on the roads is nearly at a stand. At Corroweenee (the yellow water holes) there is about ten days' water, and then the whole distance to Cobar from Bourke, 120 miles, will be waterless. If no rain comes, it is serious to anticipate the result.

Mr. John Doyle's tavern at Redbank, on the river, was utterly consumed by fire last week, with more than L150 cash and jewellery. The family had barely time to save their lives. The cause of the ruin was the bursting of a kerosene lamp. Much sympathy is felt for the landlord, and everyone has expressed a wish to help him in his trouble. Mr. Hatton, of Yanda, and Mr. Hood, of Gundabooka, neighbouring station-holders, acted in the affair like true-hearted men.
Another lonely death has occurred near Ford's Bridge, making the second in a few months, and each traced to the monster curse of grog drinking. The first was Burfield, the Hoodville mailman, who wandered away drunk or mad, and was found a week or two ago dead. The next is of similar nature. John Cleary, who had spent 14 or£15 in three or four days, left the same hotel in a similar state, and was found next day likewise dead. The mailman was buried where he fell, no one but a policeman seeing the sad wreck. Cleary was likewise shovelled out of sight, and neither policeman or magistrate looked upon his ashes. He was found by a shepherd lying on his face in a pool of blood. A small bottle, which proved to be strychnine, was close to the body, and water and brandy were also near; the face was much discoloured. Mr. Thompson, J.P., with Trooper Prior, went out, but, as I have said, the body was buried. The evidence of the men who assisted at the sad work was taken. The poison was handed to Dr. C. Grant, who pronounced it such, and a verdict given" that the deceased died from the effects of strychnine taken under the influence of drink." And this is the way men and women die about us, and verdicts like the above returned. How any man, medical or otherwise, can form a true and satisfactory conclusion in cases of sudden or mysterious deaths without seeing the deceased, and sifting thoroughly the circumstances surrounding the case, is more than I can Imagine. I could point to many such verdicts, but at present shall only say that death in the bush is a matter of little interest in Bourke.
   Mr. Becker's vineyard is, considering the season, looking remarkably well, and if any one deserves success, it is the proprietor. He has been at great expense, having everything as complete as it is possible to make things. Irrigation, of course, is constantly attended to, the water being lifted from wells by a pump, and distributed through hundreds of yards of iron piping. The vines and fruit trees, tended by an experienced gardener, look healthy and strong, and in a few years the people of Bourke may now and then be refreshed by fruit and wine, grown on the banks of the Darling. It is not very economical to pay 2s 6d per lb for grapes, especially when you haven’t enough half-crowns to purchase shoes for the little ones at home.
-February 26, 1876.

BOURKE.  February 21.
The weather, which may well be termed a drought of over two years duration, had begun to wear an alarming aspect, when happily it was broken up, a few days ago, by some partial, refreshing, and welcome showers, which set the river Culgoa running for five days ; but it has not added much to the volume of water which passes down the Darling. It has not been sufficiently high to release the steamer Wilcannia from her forced moorings on the rocks above here, near Warriweena station.
The late rains have put have feet of water in the tank at Milroy head station -a very acceptable boon ; but the river Bree has not yet come down past the Milroy big dam. 1 am not aware of any statute law which clearly defines the power given of stopping, and making reservoirs on running creeks and rivers. By what right does one squatter construct a huge embankment which turns the water backward in a river for a stretch of fifteen miles, thereby cutting of the needful supply from the neighbouring stations which are lower down the stream? The disputes which arise in matters of this kind, which people in these parts do not seem to understand, has caused much ill-feeling, and has led, from time to time, to a great deal of expensive litigation. Some person in authority ought to look to it.
I find the Town and Country Journal is taken in at all the stations in this district. It is almost always found lying on the parlour tables or sofas of the squatters, and at many of the out station huts. It is not only a good thing to have supplied a want which has never been fulfilled before, but it is better still to have the minds of the people furnished with the good, sound, wholesome, and useful matter which may always be found in the columns of that journal. Through the medium then of the Town and Country Journal, I desire to draw the attention of the public to an evil which has grown up in these parts, which is a scandal and a disgrace to the whole community, and loudly calls for immediate remedy. Since the squatters runs have been fenced, the establishment of public pounds in many places have become useless, and some of the pound keepers, whose occupations are gone, have been transformed into living nuisances. A pound keeper enters into arrangements with a boundary rider to sweep all the neighbouring horses and cattle they can find, and put them into the paddock round which he daily rides: the animals are then taken to the homestead stockyard, and the complaisant squatter, or manager, gives the pound keeper authority to impound; they are then driven off by the pound keeper to some place thirty or forty miles away, as the case may be, mand sold for a mere song to the people who are little better than a gang of thieves and horse and cattle stealers. The public will be able to see by this report, what an organised system of robbery has sprung up, in a certain sense, under the patronage of the Government.
-March 4, 1876.

BOURKE.   Tuesday.     
The Cobar mail due on Saturday, has not come in. Fears are entertained as to the safety of the mailman, as he has to traverse 102 miles without water.
103 horses belonging to the Common have been impounded from Barton's Station. Great indignation prevails on the subject. The weather is very hot and dry.
-March 4, 1876.

BOURKE:  March 1.

I must send you this week the same dismal wail about the weather. All is hot and dry, and stock are suffering severely. To make matters more uncomfortable, some of our neighbours seem to have followed the virtue of charity. On Monday 103 town horses were impounded from Mr. Russell Burton's station, although the town herdsman had been told notice would be sent him to muster and remove the commons stock. For two nights, so report says, the famished animals were yarded before they were dispatched ten or twelve miles to the pound. If this be true, and the miserable condition of the captives warrant the belief, the heartless author of the suffering deserves the contempt of every lover of a horse. Mr. Burton is in Sydney, or I cannot think such a heartless act could have been performed, for among the herd were those of gentlemen who had permission of the owner of the station to run what number of stock they choose on his ground. Thirty head of Mr. Becker's were impounded, and it is hoped by all in Bourke that as soon as this raid is made known to Mr. Burton he will at once stop such proceedings. The act of impounding was illegally done, and the police court will doubtless be called on to settle more than one case. As a contrast to this "dog in the manger" policy, the generous conduct of the gentlemen in charge of Jandra, the commons western boundary, shines particularly clear. At this very moment there are no fewer than 1800 head of cattle belonging to Mr. Hatton, of Yanda, with perhaps 150 head of horses on Jandra run. Mr. Fletcher knows the terrible state of the country-the almost impossibility of keeping stock within boundary-and has met the difficulty in a noble spirit. The horses and cattle will not be tortured with the pound. Each owner is hospitably invited to the station to muster and remove his property, and next Wednesday the work commences. Mr. Hatton has worked day and night to keep his cattle at home, but his attempts have been futile. Stockmen and stock whips have been useless, such is the terrible absence of feed. Had Mr. Fletcher wanted an excuse for ungenerous conduct he has it ready at hand. A few days ago he found one of his few water- holes fenced in and taken possession of by travellers, who had also emptied some iron tanks. On asking the gentlemen what they were doing he was assailed in polite bush oratory for having the impertinence to question their ownership. Here likewise there was nothing but manly acting with Mr. Fletcher. He quietly lighted the brush fence, which was quickly consumed, and gave the nomadics so long to clear out. The common horses are now tailed, for it would be simply destruction to allow them to go back.
The Cobar mail, due on Saturday, is not yet in (Tuesday night), and grave fears are abroad that the mailman may have perished. There is no water on the road for a hundred and twenty miles, and should an accident have occurred death is the only ending, should it be of serious nature. Last week one of the mail horses caved in, and was left on the road. He was close to the spot as the man returned. A sable groom was sent to bring in the wretched animal; when he was brought to water he had been seven days and six nights without a drink, and the heat intense. There has been rain to the north, for the Culgoa River is stirring up the Darling.
The police, after removing 50,000 bricks, failed to find the plate stolen from the Catholic Church. Too much praise cannot be given the force for the actual labour done to secure the articles. The vicinity was thoroughly searched, and a sliver hunting watch, doubtless plunder, was found in a well on the premises.
Our races, so it is said, are to be postponed on account of the absence of everything whereby horses are made fit to race.
Mr. Davidson's men, who had gone out to the Yellow Waterholes to fence in the tanks, have been again driven in, the water having failed. One man was left with a couple of horses to remain a few days after the natives left, but the native dogs, he states, actually hunted him from the place. Heaven send it may rain soon, for all things look very gloomy.
Another dead man has been found near Tooralie. Commissioner Thompson, in capacity of coroner, with a trooper has gone to the body. The other trooper is confined in bed, so we are without police protection. .
To-day there are to be special prayers in the different places of worship for rain.
-March 11, 1876.

BOURKE.  Saturday.

For the last ten days the weather has been very hot ; for three days the maximum of the thermometer in the shade was 114,108, and 110 degrees. The shy is cloudless, and there is no sign of a break; it is two years since the last heavy rains.
-March 18, 1876.

BOURKE.   Monday.
Very heavy rain fell on Saturday; the fall was 1.17in. Southward of the Cobar road there is nothing but a sheet of water. All the tanks are full. The weather is now fine.
-April 1, 1876.

On last Saturday, which was pay-day at the mine, a smelter named Reece was stabbed by a labourer named Johnson. The latter is at large, fearing no molestation, as there are no police within 120 miles from here.-  April 22, 1876.

BOURKE.   Monday. 

The sessions opened today before Mr. District Court Judge Josephson. There is a heavy criminal list. Mr. Coutts prosecuting for the Crown.
240 tons fine copper await removal at the Great Cobar Mine, which, with the coarse copper and regulus on hand, represents in value £20,000.
Tuesday.    The Quarter Sessions opened here on Monday before Judge Josephson. The calendar is a heavy one. Mr. Coutts is acting as Crown Prosecutor.
-May 13, 1876.

BOURKE.   June 6.
The drought is positively ended. Rain has fallen in great quantities and grass is growing finely. There has been much said relative to losses of stock on this river, but a much louder complaint has been made than the actual truth demanded. We have suffered of course, but not to nearly the extent some have proclaimed. These untruthful reports do much harm: for instance, a station-holder whose stock is stated to be dying wholesale, hears this in Melbourne, of course he is alarmed, and probably put to much annoyance, and perhaps positive loss ; and not only this, should the property be in the market its value is decreased, no one can say to what extent, should we ever be subjected to drought again. It is to be hoped the fairest side of the picture will be held up for display.
A most brutal murder was committed last week by a black fellow named Paddy, his victim being one of his own countrymen, whose head was battered in by a heavy nulla nulla. The poor wretch was asleep when his summons came.

Yesterday (Monday)I accompanied Inspector Keegan to the west end of the town, where it was said a poor old man was  slowly starving to death. On arriving at the home of the poor fellow-simply a few upright slabs, without roof, doors, or windows-we found the object of our search huddled up under a few boards, so intermingled with filthy rags that it was almost impossible to distinguish what was human of the heap. The earthen floor was strewn with filth of every horrible form, and, to quote the inspector's words, the scene was the foulest he had ever seen. “I saw the Irish famine of ’46, have seen the squalor and misery of London and other large towns and cities, but nothing so bad as this.” Mr Adolph, in a truly benevolent manner, made the police acquainted with the circumstance. The poor sufferer had been heard calling on the passers-by for a mouthful of bread; and this in Bourke, where open-handed charity is the chief characteristic of the people. It need scarcely be said that the afflicted one was nourished, clothed and removed to the hospital.

As the coach from Cobar was on its last journey one of its passengers died ere he reached town. An inquest was held after a post-mortem by Dr Charles Grant, the Government medical officer, and the cause of death declared to be congestion of the lungs.
The river is rising, and it is the heartfelt prayer of all poor men and women that it may so continue until the steamers reach us, for everything is terribly expensive. Of course when our store-keepers have to pay £30 or £40 per ton carriage it must needs pinch the consumer. The last flood brought up twenty-seven steamers, besides their barges- some of them three of these-and yet we are getting or are already short of the common supplies of household consumption. This fact will give you some idea, of what is done by way of trade here.
Our races will take place as soon as oats and hay arrive, and they will be richer in horses and money than any we have had. We have some of the true sport-loving fellows among us.
A little six years old boy was brought to me the other day with the marks of a brutal beating upon his tender back. I do not intend to enter fully into the shameful affair; but should such a scene again be enacted, the flogger shall be held up to public loathing. The punishment he has already received, shown in the condemnation of all in Bourke, may be sufficient to arrest another such display. It is to be hoped, for his own sake, that it may.
14,000 sheep belonging to Mr. Davison are passing Cobar at the Yellow-water holes, 50 miles south of Bourke. The tanks, which cost £2000, are full, and the country looking splendid. Mr. Flanagan, dairyman, brought from the Culgoa 30 cows on Saturday ; they are a fine lot.
The contract for the public school, £2600, I think has been given to E. Hesler, and he will soon be at work. There is betting on the chance of the school being up before the court house, though the latter has had ten months start, and the school is the favourite.
-June 17, 1876.

BOURKE.  Tuesday.
The river has risen 12 feet, and is rising one inch. Raining since Friday. Weather fine. Great complaints in all circles relative to inaction of telegraph contractors on line from Bourke to Wentworth and the Queensland Border. No start made, and no sign of starting.
-July 22, 1876.

BOURKE.  Wednesday.

Two inches of rain has fallen since the 3^rd instant. The river has risen 32 feet, and is still rising fast.The weather is fine. No sign as yet of telegraph contractors starting with the river and border lines.
-August 12, 1876.

BOURKE.   August 16.

The dullness of our town has been relieved by the arrival of seven steamers, all fully laden with stores, of which we had been in great need for a long time, so much so that flour has been sold at £8 per bag, and kerosene was at £2 10d per case. At the last flood 27 steamers visited us, and we imagined our supplies could not run short; but they did, as every poor man knows to his sorrow. Now, that "Corn is again In Egypt," another source of trouble assails us-the river is becoming alarmingly high, and rising rapidly, as much as I2 in per 21 hours; should it thus continue for a week we shall be living in trenches.- The rain guage for the last week showed ___, so as to grass for summer we are pretty certain. It is not so, however, 200 miles to the west and should the late rain not have extended thither, they are badly off indeed.
All manner of trade is active; buildings in wood and brick are going up, and property seems everywhere in the ascendant. The extension of the telegraph to Wentworth and the Queensland boundary is still to be commenced, although the tenders have for a long time been accepted. This is causing much ill feeling and annoyance, and the Government should move in the matter; it is a mere farce giving men contracts and allowing them to act just as they please. It is the same with the Courthouse, although the tender for its erection has been held for nearly 12 months, not a brick is laid. So it is with the bridge: money was voted, and to all practical purpose the affair might as well never have been placed before the House. At the fishing village things are done in a far better manner, and when the importance of each place is weighed the success of the one community and the non-success of the other is a mystery. Some of our people attribute it to the number of persons residing there whose names are embelished with J.P. If this is the talismanic sign we must at once resort to it: but surely Mr. Lord must know that a thousand pounds revenue coming from half a dozen simple Mr. Smiths is more conclusive than a hundred pounds from Russell McLoftus, Esq. I fancy it is our simplicity and want of importunity which keeps us in the cold, but cold we are, and miserable in our lack of perpetually pleading for that which is ours by justice.
We shall soon, I expect, issue a racing programme, for horse feed is now abundant, and more than £1000 subscribed.
Shearing is rapidly taking place in some places, Tooralie having 70 shearers at work, but at Beemery and other sheds floods have put a stop to work ; this will occasion delay and loss to Mr. T. Topham, who has had a very large body of men employed since the beginning of the month.
The free selector is settling among us. Mr. Taylor has taken possession of 680 acres on Janara run, and others are doing the same on Beemery.
The health of the town is generally good, and the weather simply delicious. The frosts, which were more severe this winter and of far longer continuance than usual, seem to have gone, and the days are warm and bright dawn continually upon us. A draught of fine waggon horses came to us from Maitland, and those sold here brought L25 each, unbroken; this class of stock was needed, and always commands a liberal price. There is no stock able to travel from Queensland now, though 30,000 sheep passed us lately on their way to Melbourne.
-August 26, 1876.

BOURKE,  Saturday.
At Cobar on Thursday last, the mail contractor, John Colliss, was thrown from the coach and killed on the spot. The river is falling unusually fast.
-September 16, 1876.

 BOURKE.  Saturday.

The largest and most influential meeting ever held here took place last night, at the court-house, the Police Magistrate in the chair. The object of the assemblage was to draw the attention of the Government to the neglect of local requirements. Petitions were adopted for presentation to the ministers. The proceedings, which were enthusiastic, ended with a vote of thanks to Mr. Lord the member for the district.
-October 7, 1876.

BOURKE.   October 14

An inquest was held in the Bourke police gaol on Thursday last, before Mr. Alex. O. Grant, P.M., coroner, touching the death of Martin Costello, aged about 40, unmarried, labourer, native of Ireland. Deceased had been sentenced by the Bench at Breewarrina, on 2nd instant, to one month's imprisonment, in Bourke gaol, he having been found guilty of having no lawful visible means of subsistence, the Bench recommending him to speedy medical treatment. The resident doctor at Breewarrina was at Dubbo, attending Quarter Sessions. Deceased was conveyed partly in a buggy and partly by mail coach to Bourke gaol, at which place he arrived in a “very weak and thoroughly exhausted condition, with a sore leg ; full of maggots, the apparent result of a burn”. Dr. V. Brown was sedulous in his attention to the sufferer; he had every medical comfort that might have conduced to his recovery, and was nursed night and day by two of his fellow-prisoners. He died on Thursday morning from exhaustion, and was decently interred in the cemetery a short time afterwards.
The brickwork of our now Court-house is now up to the wall-plates. It is much to be regretted that our promised post and telegraph office is not in the hands of the same contractor. The money has been voted, but no tenders invited as yet.
-October 28, 1876.

BOURKE.
The Goolwa, river steamer, arrived yesterday, with more provisions, and as the river continues to rise we may soon have other arrivals to greet. It is a matter of much concern to the people of this town and district is the arrival of river; steamers, when it is borne in mind that at a certain period in 1868 we couldn't get in Bourke one pound of flour for a five pound note.
There is a man here now who is destined soon to be one of the bright and shining lights of Sydney and the world. He has already amused and amazed by turns, hundreds of people between Menindie and Bourke. He is impelled by a superior unseen power to denounce the prevailing wickedness of the world in general, and the folks on the Darling in particular. Vice, ignorance, folly, humbug and shams of every species are his targets. In short, he is the founder of a new sect, which he calls, "The New Evangelical, Un-Rechabitish, Nonconformable, Protestant-Catholic Religion." His Bible is Nature, his God the "Great Unseen. Wise, and Merciful. " He is voluble, logical, and earnest; is blind of one eye, Samuel by name, and a saddler by trade, That you will soon find him on Hyde Park, I have no doubt, and because of this, and because he has proved himself an identity in these parts,  I thought it my duty to apprise you of the “coming man”.
    Two peculiar police cases, which I thought would have been concluded in time for last post, but are still sub judice, and which I may say were the only items of interest, led me to forego sending you a brief letter, and to turn my thoughts to "The Land." On this subject many minds obviously differ, still, it is of use to the practical statesman, and of interest to the public, that as much information as possible should be derived from every source, no matter how insignificant. We know in these parts that if this dry, sultry, burning weather continues five or six weeks longer there will be a general travelling of stock, not for water only but for grass. The back blocks will be scorched up as scores of them are now; but it is "the land" I wish to speak about. The modern squatter is not in all cases the passive creature of circumstances which existed years ago. The system of dummy leasing now in vogue in these districts, and the evils resulting from it, are not generally known, neither is it known  generally that these jobbing quasi-lessees have tolerably thick skins, are not easily abashed, will hold on by hook or by crook to the " golden goose," i. e., the chance of making all they can out of the public estate, till such time comes when a just and vigorous administrator of the Lands Occupation Act puts a stop to their disgraceful practices.
     The same state of things obtained in Queensland till the result was that all runs in that colony had to be stocked within a short period under penalty of forfeiture. And further, unless so stocked, open to be occupied by any person having a license to occupy and the flock with him to put on the ground. The Queensland regulation, of which I am speaking, was put in operation about 1863, and was strictly enforced in that colony. It originated from the same malpractices which have been so prevalent in this quarter, and which have operated as an incubas on it -prostrating its development as one of the first and best pastoral regions of New South Wales. In fact, that such a state of things should have been allowed to go on for years past, as they have, gives some weight to the opinion so freely expressed in the sister colonies-that the New South Wales Governmental Administrative Departments are a generation behind them in their ideas of what is required for the advancement of our great colony; that all the outlying parts of this colony are only considered by them in the light of so many oranges to be sucked by the metropolitans. Further, I have often heard the remark made in those parts, as well as others, that New South Wales advanced by private enterprise alone, in spite of its legislative enactments, as administered, which as a rule have been a drag on it instead of assisting in its progress. Is there any other colony in Australasia in which a large tract of country abutting on a fine, navigable river like this Darling, on which vessels have been plying regularly for the past fourteen years, would be allowed to be wasted and idle to suit the speculative propensities of a few gamblers or jobbers, who seem to look upon the State property as legitimate game on which to raise the wind ?  Would this be tolerated in any other colony for a day? I have had now several long and melancholy years of bush life, and was always of an inquisitive disposition, wishing to understand the reasons for things which I saw in general ; but the whole result of my cogitations has been that, so far, all legislation in New South Wales has been for the benefit of cliques, and where the object has been attemptedly hid, the cloak has been very, very transparent. In my own mind I often long to see some true Patriot with a soul above this grovelling class legislation, to whom the well-being of all the community was the desideratum. We badly want, I have often thought, some of John Bright's stamp among us, to scatter our pigmy politicians to the winds! I have seen a few changes during the past twenty years, and whoever lives to see the next will no doubt see greater.
It looks, for the fiftieth time, like rain as I close this letter.
-November 11, 1876.

 

BOURKE.   Saturday.

Two and a half inches of rain has fallen over a wide area, and all fears of drought have subsided.

 – 2 December, 1876.

 

 

1875-Australian Town & Country Bourke reports

1875.  (Oscar’s third child, Glen Lennox Hughan, was born in 1875, and died on October 29 of the same year. Oscar again was serving as acting post master.)

BOURKE.  Tuesday.
Fine showers have fallen all over the Bourke district, and fears of drought have entirely disappeared. The Cobar tanks are filled.
-February 20, 1875.

BOURKE.   February 5.
During the past week we have had a little rain, and the serious fears we have had of drought are somewhat quieted, though we are not yet sanguine of relief. At Cobar things a day or two ago were truly alarming, nearly the whole of the population had left, and the few who remained, unable to depart, were truly in danger. Per letter today (5th), I learn that rain had fallen; and at Mopone, 8 miles from the mines, 8 feet of water was in the company's tank. This is a vast boon and will enable those still there to hold on. The showers were partial, none falling at Tindera, 40 north of the works. At Bourke we have had a little moisture-not enough to benefit the dried-up plain, but the weather seems broken. Of late it has been most trying, the mercury touching 114 in shade. The river is about as low as it can be, and steamers are again needed. Yet we are still prosperous; buildings are going up, and all seem contented.
The English church, a pretty brick edifice, will soon be ready for its congregation. Mr. Good's brick house, and a fine one it is, is nearly complete, and many other new places are already occupied.
Race horses are coming in fast, and some of them no doubt will prove themselves such. The Bourke Handicap of £200 will bring a good field, but the Steeple of £100 will, for the prize, be small. There will be between £400 and £500 run for.The Williams Brothers will show strong.
   A Mrs. Clark was committed for manslaughter on Saturday. This was a case of neglect at the birth of a child. Dr. C. Grant's evidence was very conclusive.
    The public school is in a most satisfactory state, in charge of Mr. Reinits. There are as many us sixty-nine on the books; the teacher is a most competent man. The Rev. Mr. Brady, Church of England, is now stationed here.
    There have been meetings called relative to the disgraceful state of our unfenced cemetery, but strange to say the most perfect apathy exists thereto; and so it is with all other movements. Hospital meetings seldom deserve the name, and one would imagine this would stir the blood of the people. Since I last wrote, another Bank is here established -the Joint Stook. This, to the lucky fellows who have the cash, is a great benefit.
   I am thankful that our little ones are in good health ; but from the various pest-heaps about the town, they may be stricken any hour.
     8000 sheep, Wilson's, of Looralie, passed yesterday; Mr.Ingram in charge. Report speaks of rain at Cunnamulla and Charleville.
   -February 20, 1875.

BOURKE.   March 17.

The weather is stilt fearfully dry, and the plains about the town brown as a friar's robe; this rain has done us little good. The river has risen 9 feet, and report states it is still coming down, so that we may expect the steamers, and a blessing it will prove. Flour is now L4 per bag, and everything else just as high.
   A new tavern, The Telegraph, was opened last week by the owner, Mr. M. Good, and a fine, comfortable public place it is. This makes five inns here, quite enough, with the two wine fountains now in Bourke.
    The racehorses are doing good work, but I am afraid there will not be a successful meeting; the complaint is, the deductions from the prizes being too heavy a sum for improving the racecourse being demanded from the winners.
     I see the Fishing Village is to play against Bourke at cricket; and all I can say is, if the willow is not used a little more among our men, it will be " weeping willow" when the game is played. It is really strange that, knowing as our men do the propensity of the" pisentorials to vaunt their powers, they do not set to work as though they intended to do something
    A man named Richard M'Donald the other night was smashed down by a cowardly ruffian with a blow from a heavy gum paling. The wounded man is in serious danger, not being able to appear at court. The prisoner is remanded until next week. The unfortunate McDonnld was not the victim intended ; and while such fellows as the prisoner are abroad it is dangerous for people to walk the streets.  Constable Prior as usual was at the scene when needed, and is now prosecutor. The sessions in the criminal court will be heavy this time. Some ten or twelve cases are already awaiting the Judge.
    The plans for our new Court-house, &c, have at last arrived, and it is to be hoped we shalt soon be released from our infliction of heat in summer, and cold in winter.
    The country to the north looks pretty well, but the grass is very patchy, some places having abundance and others completely bare.
    There is a mob of pure-bred cattle close at hand, going to Mr. Holland's station on the Bogan ; they are from the Murray. Horses, without they are really good, are of little value. Mr. Bloxham's sale on Saturday showed this in an unmistakable way.
    Mr. Topham has finished scouring Davis and Gibbs's wool. It goes overland to Sydney.
    Weather colder, but very dry.
   -March 27, 1875.
     Sydney friends would be amused, it is said, at the tone of conversation that took place on Wednesday afternoon last in Bourke. It is customary on the part of friends when they meet in the public streets to inquire after one another's health, but not so on this day, the congratulations took place in the form of such questions as “ have you had a potatoe ?” Not long ago the prevailing saying in Bourke was “Could you eat a tart?” Lately it has been-“Could you eat a spud?” Answer-“Could I eat a spud ?” in a satirical tone of voice, followed up by “Could I eat 40 blessed spuds ?” Great emphasis on the forty. It appears that the steamer the Jolly Miller, arrived at Bourke on Wednesday last and brought three bags of potatoes which were sold at 25s a cwt, hence the rise for the flowery conversation.
    -June 5, 1875.

 Respecting the subject of an item in our telegrams from Sydney, we take the following from the Central Australian of a recent date:—"On the arrival of the Adelaide mail on Sunday evening last, the Acting Postmaster, Mr. Oscar Hughan, received two packages which are supposed to have contained strychnine, addressed to Warraweena Station. A great deal of the stuff had come out and was distributed over the various letters and papers, so much so, that Mr. Hughan was very ill on Sunday evening from the effects of the stuff, and many other parties complained of an exceedingly bitter taste in their months. A subject like this could afford to be well ventilated, as the danger incurred is so great; but as the Postmaster General was communicated with on the subject, and a reply to the following effect was received: we do not care to bring it more prominently before the public at present. Reply to Mr. Hughan's telegram from Mr. Burns, the Postmaster-General of New South Wales:—'Clear letters, &c, as much as you can, and write across each envelope—" destroy this as quickly as possible as it has come in the same bag with poison."

-        South Australian Advertiser, June 1, 1875.

 BOURKE.  June 20.

The newest excitement here is the quaking of the earth last week. We in Bourke were let off with but a slight shiver, but at Cobar the spasm was more acute, and really alarmed both men and women. Mr. J. Cohn, whose truthfulness no acquaintance can question, states that at one period of the disquietude things were quite serious; the water at Tindara Tank was violently agitated, and this place is 40 miles south of the mines.
   Speaking of Tindara the smelting is going on, but the quantities turned out are not known outside the walls of the Commercial Bank.
    Mr. John Colliss has started a line of coaches to Hilston, on the Lachlan, a distance from Bourke of close upon 300   miles. He has made one trip and is sanguine of success. 
    I am sorry to say our hospital is closed so far as receiving fresh patients. Dr. Charles Grant still generously relieves what sufferers there are left, and it is to be hoped that a committee, willing to be taught by his large experience, will, ere long, re-open the hospital with additional efforts to meet the distress of the district. There has been bungling somewhere, or this state of things could not have happened, for there is no place on earth, if I may omit the little piscatoral village, where there is so much open-handed liberality shown as at Bourke. The people are rough in their ways at times, especially against anything like cant or humbug ; but so soon as an actual need is known, the needy receive substantial comfort ; not dismal commiseration, but hard solid coin of the realm. A poor man some time ago had his leg broken by a vicious horse, and next day £50 was at his disposal.
     A concert to benefit the Church of England fund was held in the public school on Saturday evening, and was well attended, all concerned did very well indeed, and some of the singing and playing was most excellent. The duets were all good, and the gentleman who sang " Let me like a soldier fall " has a voice of much sweetness and purity. The comic element was truly comic, and the localisms cleverly strung together. These pleasant meetings while they relieve empty or failing treasuries serve to keep alive the friendships which should exist. A dramatic performance is the next thing on the roll in favor of the hospital. May it be judiciously put before the public. We have plenty of talent, if it be not thrust aside by superficial aspirants.
     Our town is rapidly building into greatness, and trade is brisk ; all we want is a few apples and potatoes to make us happy, and as steamers are nearing us, we hope once more to eat as we once ate, when we were boys at home. You can form no idea of the affection we have for the buff-skinned tubers.
     The weather is delightful, warm days and cold nights. Grass is plentiful, and all the rivers are high. No pastoralist can complain, and we in the streets are content. Before the steamers came we were paying disgustingly high for everything. Flour for instance £4 per bag, now it is £2 5d.
    The barge of the steamer Moolgewanke is still at the bottom of the river, the efforts of two steamers have failed to raise her. She has much cargo on board, a great part of it consigned to Ross & Co.
    The English church is nearly finished, and if it does nothing else it will ornament the place. The workmen have faithfully done their work.
     Mr. Andrea, a gentleman in Ross & Co's employ, had his thigh broken tho other day whilst hunting the tripod, and Mr. Samuel Patterson, long known on the Darling, died suddenly at Tattersalls, from inflammation of the stomach. He was in charge of Bowen Downs cattle.
   Eighty stud bulls passed for Cunnamulla, Q. L Bradley's, Mr. J. Malane in charge ; they are well-bred and look well.
-July 3, 1875.

 A shocking death by burning is reported from Bourke. The victim was a young girl, the only daughter of Mr. John Read, and the accident occurred while she was standing before the fire preparatory to going to school. Her clothes caught fire, and she rushed into the street screaming, and made for the Bourke Hotel, close by, running through the various rooms in a frantic state and into the bar, where she was seen by several persons with her clothes all inflames about her.

-July 24, 1875.

 REED -Accidentally burnt at Bourke, on the 8th August, Frances Eliza Reed, aged 15 years, daughter of John and Elisa Reed, and grand niece of Mr. Henry Hutton, Colnbrook, England, and grand-daughter of Mr. John Green, of Grafton. Home papers please copy.

-August 14, 1875

BOURKE.   Monday.

A brutal stabbing case has occurred at Cobar. Edward Crisp, in charge of Gundabooka cattle, attacked Edmund Lancefield in camp, and wounded him five times with a sheath knife.

-October 2, 1875.

BOURKE.

November 19.

The terrible times of '68 seem to be again approaching. Rain we have had none of actual benefit for months and months. Everywhere the country is as brown as a duck's back. I was 60 miles down the river a week or two ago, and on the frontage there is not enough grass to make a cradle mattress, and it is too late now to expect feed even should rain visit us which from all signs it will not do. The weather is quite different from any we have had since the big drought.

The days are hot and fearfully windy. In fact it is often blowing a 40 mile gale-dry and harsh as an oyster shell. The nights, however, are positively cold, and thus the weeks come and go as far as the weather is concerned. Another circumstance of unusual character is laid upon us, namely illness in every farm. Some years ago we used to say no one would ever die in Bourke: now there is scarcely a house which hasn’t had its sufferer. Measles is tackling old and young, and fever is not absent, while colds of a severe form are everywhere; yet notwithstanding all these inflictions, our town is rising rapidly into importance, and prosperity smiles through gloomy hours. This I think cannot be questioned when you learn that close upon £1000 will be run for at our next annual races. We are very liberal in most ways, but the race course is our white-haired darling.

The sessions are over, and a heavy batch of evil doers were punished. Owing to the vast extent of the district, there is no ground for hoping a change for the better; in fact, when you look upon the paucity of police protection in these parts, you can yet wonder that crime is not more prevalent. We have two troopers in Bourke, and the next station is 250 miles down the river, nearly 300 to the south, and 200 to the north, so you see what a field there is for fraud and violence. The district at heart is sound and honest, or you would hear of terrible deeds performed.

The fruit this year will be very light, owing to the dry spring, but we are troubled with none of the curses which ravage the orchards near Sydney. Rain is all we need to make us blessed with abundance of all that grows.

-December 4, 1875.

BOURKE.  Monday 6.23. p.m.

A woman, named Eliza Tradgelly, fell down on Friday and died in five minutes.

Mr. George Samson Gibb, discoverer of the copper mines at Cobar, died suddenly on Sunday. Rain is threatening.

-December 18, 1875.

 

BOURKE.  December 7.

This evening, 7th December, is so unseasonably cold that am writing in a thick winter coat, which, when you remember that the mercury a day or two ago rose to 112deg. in the shade, is more than suffering humanity can bear without absolute disgust. The wind from west-south west is blowing half a hurricane, and the dust, like fine pepper, is everywhere, and no sign of rain. I may tell you that we have had no beneficial rain since last March twelve months. There have been sprinklings, which made the frogs croak a few mournful prayers, but nothing which we could claim as grass-giving rain. Two or three days' constant downpour is what we at all times look upon as needful. Our plains may be ankle deep in the evening, and by ten o'clock next day you could play cricket on dry ground. People say- new hands-that they are afraid we are going to have a drought. I wonder what it is we have now. I have a small garden with about twenty trees, a few flowers, and fewer vegetables, and to keep these from actual annihilation it takes at the lowest estimate 1200 gallons of water per week ; there is no romance about it, " water, water everywhere," if you want a green leaf to look upon. I have a few camellias which in any other civilised place would have bloomed long ago. Mine are about two inches high, struggling for dear life. This is the state of Bourke in a horticultural point of view. What with hot, fiercely driving winds, pitiless sunshine, and not a single thunderstorm, we live a life about as jolly as a toad's would be under a plunging harrow. There has been much sickness in the form of measles, bronchitis, brain fever, low fever, and colds of a very serious nature, but Dr. C. Grant’s skill and attention has kept all from the realms of shade, save one, an infant, who died from congestion and exhaustion. When I first came to Bourke we used to say “No one will die here”. (NOTE: the infant referred to here was Oscar’s own six month old son, Glen Lennox Hughan, who died on October 29, 1875)

How the aspect is changed; the cemetery is thickly studded with graves, and death enters our corner terribly often, and even now we wonder there is so few departures, for there is enough filth in various parts of the town to set up two or three hospitals. Dead horses, dead calves, dead dogs, with other utter abominations, offend you incessantly, and still are allowed to offend. 700 store cattle passed en route for Winbar Downs, on Saturday, in charge of David Welsh ; they are a splendid lot. Today Mr. Welsh was summoned by his cook, a poor ailing old man, for six weeks' wages, which the defendant refused to pay. On arriving at Bourke, the plaintiff was compelled to wait upon Dr. Grant, who pronounced him unable to continue work, a certificate to this effect being produced in court by the white- haired sufferer, who had informed his humane employer as to the true state of his health and his inability to proceed, without eliciting a touch of pity. The defendant, who was not personally in attendance, was righteously ordered by the Police Magistrate to pay immediately the sum i.e L9, and costs, to be recovered by distress, in default of which 14 days. The decision of the Bench was received with approbation by the people in court- and it is to be hoped no similar case will ever come up here for judgment.

6,900 sheep belonging to Davidson, of Wagga, passed through on Thursday, in charge of Thomas Davidson, jun., who was summoned by the Sheep Inspector for not giving the required notice of intention to travel, and which should be done ere the sheep leave the station. A fine of £2 and costs was inflicted, the Police Magistrate stating that £50 could be imposed.

Mr. Booker's new bonded store is finished. It has three floors, two of them under the surface, and a more complete building could nowhere be found; the walls of brick are thick and massive, stone foundations, and the timber used is Murray gum. The lower floor gives a difference of temperature of 5 degrees against the second floor, and about 8 against the surface floor. It is a splendid affair, the builders-Messrs. Peek and Bourke for brick, and Mr. E. Hesler for wood - have faithfully earned their wages.

-December 18, 1875.

 

 

1876.

BOURKE.  December 12. 

On Friday, about 5 p.m. Mrs. Eliza Tradgely, an old resident, whilst walking beneath the verandah of her house, fell, and in five minutes had passed into the unknown world. On   Tuesday, before the shock of this death had passed away, news came that Mr. George Samson Gibb, one of the discoverers of Cobar Copper Mine had passed away; he had been ailing, but being a young, strong giant, no one thought that death would have struck him thus soon. He was at one time proprietor of the Central Australian, and from his modest unassuming nature, was respected by all classes. He was buried on Monday, attended by a large train of true friends, and in speaking of this burial, I may state, hoping it may be for the last time, that on the arrival of the previous mourning gathering, it was found that the grave was not ready for its sleeper, and a considerable time the friends and relations were kept waiting ere the solemn duty could be   performed - one would think common humanity would stir the arm of the listless in such a moment, for it is simply disgraceful that such scenes occur in a place owning churches and other places of moral persuasion.
   An article from the Pastoral Timess, copied into the Melbourne Argusus, narrating how a certain scion of the bluest possible blood was horsewhipped by a gentleman for being too blatant respecting a young girl in Bourke, has turned up in rather a turbulent manner. No man, or woman either, pitied the smitten one, for he richly deserved it, as does any one who traduces a woman ; but the article went further, dragging into the paragraph a young gentleman of most respectable position and character, to allude to whom as a larrikin, is unmerited and unjust. I have merely mentioned this to remove an impression which has root, that the article in question sprang in a quarter which of all others hold the party assailed as wantonly insulted.
The Hospital, you know, has been closed for months, the medical attendant, Dr. Charles Grant, being paid and, as far as that institution is concerned, dispensed with. Had he left the place as he intended, we should have been in a nice way, for never since Bourke was formed has there been so much and varied sickness as during the first five or six months, and there cannot be now (if there was formerly) a doubt as to the skill with which he has combated the many cures committed to his care; he is not only skilful-he is attentive, intelligent, and thoroughly at home, with disease in all its shapes and horrible belongings.

The rain which threatened us with a few blades of green grass has gone like the tenant who quits without warning, and the brazen-faced skies smite us again like burning glasses. Mr. Topham has just commenced scouring about 300 bales of greasy wool, belonging to Lili Springs, Yellow Water Holes, and Bulboo, which, I fancy, will be his last for this year. His plant is extensive and the great patronage he receives speaks for the excellency of the work performed.

Sickness is still thickly upon us, but death, save in cases where no human aid could serve, has been warded off.
Weather cool at night, windy, hot, and dusty by day.
A report came into town, yesterday, that James Vincent, of the Park Hills, had perished in the bush for want of water. The report is not believed.
-December 23.

Rain still prayed for and still -vainly looked for, the country dry as pumice stone and about as lively looking. Flour is getting scarce and they say L30 per ton is asked from Sydney; what happy people we are? but if flour is scarce and dear, potatoes are plentiful and dirt cheap, only one shilling per pound ; one shilling mind you, and then they are just fit for a game of marbles. The people are still ailing, but no deaths have taken place.

A gentleman in the blues escorting a prisoner from Wilcannia to Bourke, camped at the hotel at Louth, 170 miles below us ; the usual handcuffs were put in requisition, and the man of metal buttons divested himself of uniform &c, &.. and sought ' tired nature's sweet restorer-balmy sleep" and so balmy did the God descend that at early cockcrow he found himself alone, chained to the bed post with the same fetter he had used on the absent charge. Uniform, watch, worth £20, then three or four pounds all vanished ere he could realise the terrible state of things; the wandering sheep returned minus the property. A blacksmith struck off the officer’s gyoes and some kind creature lent him clothes; and the delinquent was lodged with our true blues, and if he catches them on such a hop the community will vote him his freedom. It was doubtless his idea to abstract the valuables, plant them, and return ere his departure became known; but unfortunately for him the good folk of Louth are fond of seeing the rising sun.
     A herd of cows and calves for Winbar (Tobin's) passed today; and a fine lot they are. Another lot of fat bullocks are passing down the Warrego in charge of Mr. Franklin; they are near Tooralie.
  The mails are running well.
-January 1, 1876.

 

Australian Town & Country Magazine- 1874 reports from Bourke.

1874.

BOURKE.   December 21.
The weather has been of a most fiery character and many men, women, and gentler sufferers-the dear children- are down under the affliction of sickness. Dr. Grant, I trust, will show, for he is as an intelligent worker in sanitary matters, that much of this evil might have been warded off. I am not inclined to intermeddle with the affairs of policemen, but I am compelled to say that there is a great deal left undone by them, to the detriment of the public body. I could point out centres of disease and death in several places. Pits of filth full to the brim, which have no business to be in existence. The matter was called ______________ since, but no one pound of pestilence-generating matter has been removed, and it is high time that action was taken.
     Inspector Keegan has been away, severely ill, but he has returned, and doubtless many transgressors will be reminded of the duty they owe themselves and others. We have had no rain, though it threatened for some days, and all has passed away, and the sky is clear, and as metallic looking as a Life guardsman's helmet. At the mines they have a good supply of water, but things in general are stagnant.
   Last week a poor follow named W. Johnson, a very old resident, was found dead a few yards from his hut. He was a shepherd for Mr. McNall, Jandra, and God only knows what was the conflict between life and death of this hapless human unit. He is another on the scroll of unattended departures.
     3000 sheep, in charge of Mr. D. Carragin, leave Mooculta (Russel Barton's) for the south-east. They are a fine lot of animals, and do credit to their breeder.
    The river has risen some two or three feet, but it is feared we shall not have enough to aid us in lifting up steamers from below.
   The quartz crushing building is going up, under the directions of Mr. Millican, from Ballarat, a gentleman excellently qualified for the task. It is to be hoped that under instructions from men, in Victorian, he will visit the mines, and bring some of the energy and dollars of that colony here ; it is all that is needed to make us second to no place as a copper procuring district.
    The Catholic Church is slowly progressing towards completion, and when done will be a comfortable little building.
     Races at West Bourke will take place on Boxing Day and I dare say there will be a good attendance. Mr. J. Lunn will do his endeavours to make all at home, and should his fine garden be what it ought to be, the meeting amongst the melons will be most pleasant.
       -January 3, 1874.

 BOURKE.  Tuesday.

  The drought has broken up, and the much wanted rain fell in good showers this afternoon. It is still raining, with every prospect of continuing.
     -January 17, 1874.

BOURKE.   Saturday.
The navigation of the Darling is resumed to Bourke. The Jupiter steamer arrived this evening.
Heavy rains have fallen throughout the district and it is now raining heavily.
The Sydney mail is thirty hours late.
-January 24, 1874.

 BOURKE.  Saturday.

   It has rained in torrents for the last twenty-four hours, and in that time the Darling has risen three feet. The steamer Jupiter has loaded wool from Beemery, Mooculta, and Jandra Stations. The Nil Desperandum with copper ore from Maranoa, has landed materials for the Episcopal Church, and gone on to Brewarrina for wool.
   The Sydney mail is very irregular.The river Bogan is a banker, and coaches cannot travel. Nearly five inches of rain have fallen in twenty hours; the streets of Bourke are a sea of water.
   Sunday.  Nine inches of rain have fallen since ll p.m. on Friday. The river has risen seven feet since yesterday morning. It is dull and cloudy now.
- January 31, 1874.
 

LOST IN THE BUSH.

(from the Bourke correspondent of the Dubbo Dispatch )
On Saturday, the 10th January, 1874, John Doyle of the Redbank Tavern, with his niece, camped on the Pink Hill, en route to Bourke, from Sydney, the usual duties of a camp were completed, the blacks had hobbled the horses on the northern bank of the Bogan, and beneath the shade the party waited the going down of the pitiless sun, little dreaming what suffering was in store for one of the little company. Doyle, not satisfied with the previous conduct of the blacks, went at the close of sunlight to see that his animals were well cared for, he crossed the treacherous river, and all unconscious, wandered towards the merry tinkling of his horse-bell now some distance in the horrible scrub; gladly he hailed the departure of the sun, smitten as he had been the live-long day by its pitiless beams; cheerfully sang the tell-tale bell, and as the stars peeped from the violet sky, the voice of the master fell upon the horses' ears, they were on abundant grass, and with a kindly word Doyle turned his face the river camp. Perfectly content with all the world, he sang and pushed ahead, but was suddenly brought to a pause by a dense wall of lignum; this was not seen before, and instead of stopping at once and cooeying, he struggled into the tangled mass of matted vegetation, getting at each step more confused, he thought here of shouting for help, but the demon pride, which has so often betrayed its victims, bade him remain silent, and after desperate efforts to set things right, he lay down for the night; up ere the stars were swept from the firmament, the lost man was again on the move, hoping and fancying all was right; up again rose the blistering sun, and when his beams fell slanting hot from the tree tops, Doyle confessed himself lost-lost in the desert. Still lost, going with elastic step and unflinching heart, the day advanced, and with it came the horrible want of water. All above, around, and under feet was parched and hot, and the fact of being lost, as it always does in a waterless tract, made the pain tenfold harder to bear-still on under a sun that smote like scimetars-still bravely walking as against fate, and still no sign of relief. Dismal as was the scene, it was cheered by the sight of four horses. " I will follow these " thought poor Doyle, " and water will yet be found" ; close on their track, without causing alarm, the famishing man struggled hour after hour, fighting against the fell enemy with calm despair; towards sunset, and not before needed, an opossum is pounced upon, and its blood greedily drained, and then the trail of the horses is again taken up. The sufferer is better now-the red draught has refreshed his tottering energies, and hope awakes again only to be rudely dashed in pieces; it is now dark, and the horses, seemingly the last link which binds him to the living world, have vanished, and he is again alone beneath the glittering stars; another night of mental and physical agony, and a new day dawns. There is a marked change in the conduct of the lost man his lips are swollen and blue, a ringing sound hovers about him, a vagueness as to the true state of things, a partial unconsciousness to pain, the boots are thrown away, and over the blistering sand the stricken one wanders. Reason, though shaken, sits still upon her throne, and a native orange tree beckons him on, a couple of oranges are found and these are pressed to the parched lips with insane intenseness; on again, the upper garments left behind, till tired nature refuses to obey; down on the earth among the million ants, the now delirious man lies quiet as a babe at rest. But not for long, life is tough and another struggle must be made before it is given up; half crazy, with tottering step, the wretched man stumbles upon a road, and with a cry of fervent thanks, he falls upon the track-" Someone will now find my body" is the first thing which flashes through his shattered reason; how long he lay in deep oblivion he knows not, he roused himself and saw within the dust the tracks of naked feet- " I may yet find salvation," escaped the now closed lips, and naked as Adam before the fall, (for every vestige of clothing had been thrown away) he reeled along the dusty roadway. The cry of birds parrots, crows, bye-and-bye, reached his dulled senses, and hope again burned bright-fifteen miles, and as a shadowy dream, a tank and hut appeared, and with a last effort, John Doyle sprang and fell speechless and senseless at the shepherd's door, after being three nights and two days without water. The shepherd, a Chinaman, Doyle says, tended him kindly, doing all that one man could do for another. News went in to Charlton, and Mr. Longmore, with a friend, went out with a cart, to bring the rescued man in : and I am asked to state that, to Mr. Longmore's generous and Christian charity, coupled with that of his shepherd, Doyle's life is owing.

-The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, Thursday 12 February 1874

BOURKE.   Monday.

Great rain has fallen at Cobar. The tanks are brimful, and operations at the smelting works have commenced.
-March 14, 1874.

FROM BOURKE TO BREWARINA.    April 20.

WITH the mailman Morrisson, an obliging youth, I started from Bourke after waiting in vain for the Sydney mail some five hours, and over a rough burr-blotted road arrived at what to me seemed a strange obstruction in what is generally supposed to be for the accommodation of the public. The obstruction is simply a fence thrown across a thoroughfare lending directly to Brewarrina. The Minister for Lands may have given permission for this obstruction, but I fancy it is ublawful and would humbly advise the owner of this fence to place gateways as demanded by the law for the use of travellers on a common highway. I can hardly imagine the turning of a thoroughfare two or three miles to suit private convenience, especially when the road has been in existence since travelling commenced from the Darling to the Bogan. It is a great inconvenience, and I trust a pound or two will be expended in gates before long. Going round this paddock we soon struck the old road, and blundering along in the dark came in a few miles to " Dry Bogan," a considerable stream in flood times but dry in days of drought.
Crossing it we were on the Island, a magnificent piece of land belonging to Town and Co. I cannot accurately give the circumference, but should think it about 10 miles, and for pasturage it is about the richest I have ever seen. The Galvin family received us most cordially, attending to our own wants and those of our horses in a manner you seldom find in these times of wire fences. Off again in the morning, we reach in about 23 miles from Bourke, the Wet Bogan, an ugly swimmable stream with rapid current (I am speaking now of flood time). A boat belonging to Beemery 8 miles onward conveyed our saddles and precious selves to the other side-the horses swimming over like Newfoundland dogs. On again until we pull rein at a public house about two miles from the home station, a collection of numerous buildings, from a good size watch box to a squatter's dwelling. Mr. Thomas McNevin is the representative of the firm and ably he manages. The country is richly grassed, open and well adapted for sheep and cattle.
The Bathurst Burr is raising its defiant head in this district in a most alarming manner, and unless something be done to check or crush its growth our district will soon have an unenviable reputation. In Bourke and below that place it has already taken a possession which will take much chopping and burning to drive it out.
Leaving Hagerty’s, who entertained us well, we proceeded up the Darling to Yambacco, a deserted station, 13 miles from Beemery, belonging to Town and Co., situated on a magnificent water privilege, and surrounded by glorious country. There is a comfortable house, fine cattle yards, and the burrs- well, our horses had to be spurred through them. This was once the home of the late S. Sharpe, and its desertedness seems strange. Eleven miles, and Gundawina, lately the property of Lord and Mc'Nevin, is reached, and if choice country could tempt a squatter, he would squat here over an excellent road, the greater part never touched by floods. About seven miles, and the first township from Bourke is| reached-Brewarrina, or as it is generally called, "The Fishery." Going to the Brewarrina Hotel, a huge building of hewn white stone, procured in large quantities close to the township, I was received by its landlord, an old friend, with the true courtesy of an English landlord. I say this because you so seldom meet with the reception given you in the old country. Mr. Kelly has long struggled for the position he now holds, and the luxurious home he possesses. I say luxurious, for the big house of stone is a luxury not found within hundreds of miles of the place. All that tends to comfort is done, and when you go away you make a vow that when you next visit Brewarrina, the white stone house, with its ponderous walls and well-appointed apartments, shall receive your weary frame. There is another hotel, the Sportsman's Arms, a well kept inn, watched over by Mrs. Kerrigan. The stores, two in number, are well stocked, and what is more, the obliging manner in which you are waited on makes the scene more agreeable. Rich and Thompson are the proprietors of one, and H. Cohen and Co. of tho other. There can be little said against the determined manner by which the inhabitants make their wants known to the Government.
They have a court-house, which is a little picture, within and without, a public school not finished, a pontoon bridge, a fenced-in cemetery, the telegraph, postal arrivals from every quarter, and a bridge over the Cato.
Some of these works are not yet completed, but they have the money; they are lucky too in their public officers. The head of the police is an intelligent, energetic officer; the telegraphic manager clever und urbane, and the postal regulations are strictly performed. They have a resident clergyman, Mr. Glasson, a man of great capacity and unflagging energy ; a surgeon, Dr. S. M. Yule, whose skill can be proved by hundreds; and a bench of magistrates, taken as a body, just, unswerving, and above suspicion.
The town is situated on one of the most picturesque portions of the river, high, and with plenty of “get away”. It is the centre of a most valuable squatting district, and must prosper. At this bend of the Darling, the water rushes over masses of huge rook, keeping up a perpetual roar. When the stream is low, the “fish pens” formed by the blacks are visible and the quantities of fish which are, or could be, taken from them is marvellous.
The fish, coming down stream, enter small openings, and once in they remain there. It has been said that years ago some white man must have planned the traps, but this is not admitted by the blacks and the assumption is great, as the labour has been as clever as is the idea that the natives formed the work. While giving my horses a rest, a young .man much respected, Mr Conway, mailman, led to the altar a blushing bride, and the manner in which the wedding was celebrated showed that the inhabitants are hospitable and kind. I am going to Gongolgan, and shall send you a description of the country; thence across the bush to Cobar, that is, if I succeed in reaching the copper.
-May 2, 1874.

From The Brewarrina Correspondent:

“May 5.
The fine steamer Excelsior, Captain Brackenridge, from Adelaide, arrived here on Saturday last, with a large consignment of general merchandise for Messrs. H. Cohen and Co., and Messrs. Rich and Thompson, of the Commercial Stores. She finished unloading her cargo this morning, and has got underway en route for Fort Bourke, eighty miles from the "little fishing village," as my esteemed friend, your Bourke correspondent, delights in styling us. By-the-bye, I omitted mentioning in my last communication, that we actually had the honour of a personal visit from him, and he took the trouble to examine those "wonderful fisheries," and was heard to exclaim, if we could only transport those wonderful fish-ponds to Bourke, I should be a happy man; what's more, a friend of mine informed me that this Bourkeite did not by any means despise the fine fresh cod nor the beautiful bream, which the blacks capture in the fish holes alluded to before. I trust that this gentleman, in the future, will have a better opinion of this unfortunate "fish village" than he previously held.”

-May 16, 1874.

BOURKE. Saturday.
The Handicap Steeplechase, as telegraphed yesterday, was a most exciting race, and was won by Mr. G. F. Sullivan's Sportsman, O'Shannassy's Orphan second. Mr. Collis's Bally was killed.
-May 23, 1874.

Gongolgon to Cobar.

[FROM A CORRESPONDENT)
Gongolgon is a pretty little township, eighty miles eastward from Bourke. The soil is a rich sandy loam, capable of producing any crop which can be raised in any part of the world. Whilst there I visited a garden cultivated by the Chinese, and the prolificness of everything was wonderful. From a vine I collected a splendid lot of grapes, being the second crop, and they seemed more like the fruit grown in England than those in the early months. Pumpkins, weighing forty and fifty pounds, are no uncommon sight; one hanging in Mr. Whye ‘s bar turned the scale at forty-three pounds, and still, strange to say, they charge 4d per pound for the vegetable. This is a great mistake on the part of the gardeners, for tons of them are left on their hands. The same is true with melons; they charge so highly for them that people will not or cannot afford to buy, and not only are vegetables abundantly raised, but oaten hay of splendid quality has been reaped by Mr. Whye, and still the Bourke people import it from Adelaide. The town is built on the Bogan, and has plenty get away from floods, and is surrounded by magnificent country. There are two good stores, two taverns -the Lame Horse and the Royal. I sheltered myself at the lame quadruped, and found the host most obliging. I was in great need of a horse, having to go forty miles up the Bogan before starting for the mines, and, without even asking for the loan, it was tendered. I take this opportunity of thanking my landlord.
  On my making it known that I intended to cross the bush to Cobar, saving a distance of about seventy miles, one gentleman, offered to bet me a pound that I could not cross. This bet I accepted, and in the morning set out, accompanied by Mr. Whye, who kindly rode with me three or four miles to the track which led to Bog, fifty miles from Gongolgon. There had been two carts over the trail some days previously, and this gave me encouragement for nearly 100 miles across the bush. Without a road is rather a delicate business, especially when a couple of men, a week or two before, had been nearly perished in the same country. Arriving at the point of departure with my guide, he shook hands with me, after giving me very exact information, and said he hoped I should get over safely. This I didn't like, for there was a doubt in his tone as to the failure I might make.
   However, I started with 45 miles to the nearest water, through thick scrub, where the track was not very plain. I rode, delighted with the grazing properties of the rich open flats over which the course lay. At 25 miles there are numerous holes where water could be retained at little expanse; and could travellers procure it at this stage, the road to Cobar would soon be opened. Leaving this camp, the country suddenly changes to fine open plains with grass as high as the horses' ears in places-and then the difficulty of keeping the track commenced. All you could set was a waving ocean of yellow bending grass. I found the horse I was riding frequently left the path or track ; and knowing the consequence of getting wrong, I changed to my led steed, and was delighted to find that he seemed as anxious  as myself to keep the course. A dozen times when the grass, like a luxurious wheat field, hid everything from sight, I found him as it were feeling for the road with his feet, so that at last I left it to his judgment. After crossing a wide stretch of splendid country, as level as a billiard-table, he stopped very suddenly, a sound coming up from his shod feet like strokes from a muffled drum. I looked down, and we were standing on a table of bare granite. Riding to a spot where a flock of parrots were chattering, I found a circular hole eight feet deep and as smooth as the edges of a basin, brimful of water, clear as gin. On further search I found other holes similar in character, all full of the precious liquid. How these cavities were formed is to me a mystery. The rock is hard as flint, and in the centre of a plain. I was now about forty-seven miles from Gongolgon, and three more brought me to Bog, a large sheet of shallow water, which could be converted into a splendid privilege. This, I think, must come from a creek known as Mulga, and why the country is not stocked is marvellous. I had scarcely camped when I was visited by a troop of wild horses, and had some difficulty driving them off. Should any one camp here with mares, he would stand a chance of being left to walk. There is a well in this place and the ruins of a hut; so someone must have had stock here. At Gongolaon they said it was eighty miles to Tindera, a public-house, forty miles from Cobar, kept by Mr. Charles Campbell-and well, too, it is kept-a marked distinction to many roadside inns. But let anyone who takes this track count on ninety miles, and he won't e far out. However, you save sixty to seventy miles in not going to Bourke, and in rainy times there is no difficulty. They talk of making another track steering more to the south and there is no doubt that the mines could be reached in 110 miles from the Bogan. Should this be done, a journey of ninety miles would be saved. There can be little question this country will soon be occupied, for it is, without exception, the finest I have ridden over for years. Should at person feel disposed to take this route to Cobar, let him inquire the way at Golgolgon, for there are many tracks three or four miles from the town. The course is south-west and a man steering thus must cut the road running from Bourke, which goes due south.
At the mines there was little indication of the vast deposits of copper there lying. The same inactivity which has always marked the place was visible, and, until other enterprise be imported, I fear it will remain thus. The Wilcannia people have now Victorian men at the head of affairs, so we shall see what they do.-  June 20, 1874.

BOURKE.  July 6.

The postponed Quarter Sessions are over, and the acting Judge, Mr. Wilkinson, gave universal satisfaction; but it is to be hoped that such another stoppage of law will not take place.
Bourke is building up rapidly, and had we a few of the governmental blessings which are bestowed on the fishing village, we should have nothing to complain of. How it is that this little hamlet towers far above us is a mystery; the people there seem but to have to speak, and all they ask for is granted. They have two or three energetic men who will not be throttled, and in after days the names of Kelly, Goven, Doyle, &c will be remembered.
The weather is wet and cold, and during the trials at the Sessions, judge, jury, and visitors were rendered miserable: almost beyond description, by the disagreeable state of what we are obliged to call a court-house. Not only is it a suffering to inhabit it, but it is so ridiculously small, that when the jury retire, every word they utter can be heard in the body of the court. On Thursday, a panel was looked up, and during  an angry debate as to the prisoner's guilt or innocence, the  following came through the half-inch pine partition-" You I say guilty?" "Yes. "You say guilty?" "Yes." "No, I I'm d__if I do." This classical exclamation fell on the judge's ear, and a smile of mirth or something else crossed his face. I trust he will relate this fact to hon. gentlemen, and they may then see that, for decency's sake, something should be done.
Work among the sheep washers is about to commence, and the first to gird on the harness is Mr. J. Topham, a man widely and favorably known as a first-class wool scourer. He was to have commenced at Hood and Torrance's, on the Paroo, but these gentlemen having decided to send away their wool in grease. He goes to Womba, on the Darling, where 120,000 sheep await him. From thence he goes to Curranyalpa, where 22,000 will be mustered, and then to Buckenbee to whiten 7000. Mr. Topham will have a start, superintended by Mr. Blakey, of about 70 men, many of whom, with their employer, will leave Bourke next week.
I was out at Tinderee last week, and paid a visit to a mine about 2 miles from the main road and 70 from Bourke. I   shall not say anything this week, but l am confident that a lode will be found. I shall wait until I can give a clear account of this place.
I met 40,000 of McLeod's sheep, crossing to the Lachlan, and 4000 of Russell Barton's en route for Melbourne. These were splendid animals, and would fetch a long price if taken into market. 
Before closing I must state that of all the horrible places for wild dogs Cobar is the most horrible. A poor horse was found the other day partially eaten, though alive. The poor brute had lain down from some cause, and was attacked by the dogs. When found at daylight his hind quarters were frightfully mangled, and his intestines actually torn from his   body. Mr. O. Warren killed the suffering brute. Should a child  or a drunken man get astray they would have a poor chance from the pranks of famished brutes which prowl about the mines.
-July 18, 1874.

BOURKE.  Saturday.
The Darling has risen five feet this week, and now stands at twenty-nine feet nine inches above the summer level. Steamers are arriving from South Australia.
-August 15, 1874.

BOURKE.  Wednesday.

A large and influential public meeting was held last night, at which it was resolved to forward to the Government petitions for a new court-house and pontoon bridge. The river is falling fast; No reports have been received of a further rise. Shearing is general throughout the district.
August 22, 1874.

BOURKE.  August 13.

The river is now twenty foot above summer level. Three steamers have been here, and others are on the way. You would, could you see the cargoes landed from these vessels at every flood, begin to think the far west entitled to a little more consideration than it receives.
Bourke is prospering wonderfully under the yoke she is compelled to bear, and were the ordinary means used to facilitate her progress, we should stand a prominent settlement. The Sydney mail was only 78 hours late last trip, and the lesser contractors seem to take their cue from Cobb and Co. One of these gentlemen was heard a few days ago to say that the Bourke people were the queerest set of fellows he ever knew. For if the mail was a day late, they kicked up a jolly row. Now, I maintain the contrary to all this. The Bourke people in this as in nearly everything else, show an apathy which goes to mar their own prospects. The people of the fishing village have the same complaint. But they make more clamour and, as a natural consequence, their wrongs are sooner righted. This village is building up rapidly; already they are twenty years the start of us in public buildings, and although they want a good deal striving to make a blackberry a mulberry, they deserve much credit for what they have tugged from the government. Mr. R. Kelly, I see, is to be feted and testimonialed for his activity in this line, and he deserves it.
We have had a vast deal of  sickness lately. Nearly every child, and many adults, are suffering from what is called whooping cough. Though it is of a milder form than that of some. There is an evident change in the climate. I have been here ten years, and never saw so cold a winter; even now heavy frost is seen in the morning.
Work is going on among the sheep, and the squatters have everything to be thankful for. Scouring is going on down the river. One gentleman, Mr. Topham, assisted by Mr. T.Blakey, employing about seventy men. This is a glorious season for the work, and will doubtless be profitable to all concerned.
The Waradgery steamèr, with Murray gum, expected daily. This is one of the Melbourne boats. The Maranoa has passed upward to Walgett.... I saw a letter from a most reliable source, living in Queensland, stating that their rivers were in flood, and that we might expect their water in three weeks ;so we may have to bank up again. Fencing is going on on a large scale. Seventy tons of wire passed up the river last week.
Nothing doing at Cobar. The election of Mr. Charles Cowper, to the office of Sheriff, gives much satisfaction to the majority of the people.
Our townsmen, I am glad to state, are planting fruit trees largely. Mr. O'Shannassy, at Fort Bourke Station, has established quite an orchard, and it is to be hoped others will follow his excellent example, for we cannot afford 2s per pound for grapes, and 3s or 4s per doz. for peaches.     -August 22, 1874.
Wednesday.
The foundation-stone of St. Stephen's Anglican Church was laid today by the Rev. F. B. Boyce, acting incumbent. £150 was laid on the stone. The total amount subscribed was £1550.
-August 29, 1874.

BOURKE.
Monday.
A meeting was held at Wilcannia on the 17th instant, with the object of erecting an Anglican Church there. The sum of L385 was subscribed.
Tuesday:  Mr. James Moloney, Customs locker, has been missing since Saturday night, and grave doubts are entertained concerning his safety. The river has been searched by Becker's steamer, and horse men are starting now for the bush.
Thursday:  Mr. James Maloney, Customs locker, who was missed from here on Saturday night, has not been found. The horsemen who went in search of him have returned. It is supposed that he has been drowned in the river.
-19 September, 1874.

BOURKE.
Monday:  The body of Mr. James Maloney, Customs locker, was found in the river on Saturday, and was buried yesterday (Sunday).
-September 26, 1874.

BOURKE:  Tuesday.

A settler named John Dunne, of Netley station, Menindie, is drowned.

-October 3, 1874.

BOURKE.     September 19.

James Maloney Custom's locker, was seen on Sunday night last, and since then has been hidden from all search. Mr. Becker sent his steamer, the Princess Royal, on Monday to search the river, while the police have been constantly employed to solve the mystery. A troop of horsemen were out, some of them from Tuesday to Wednesday night, but nothing has been found of definite shape. A handkerchief, bloody, belonging to the missing man has turned up this morning, and report says a boot. When last seen late on Sunday he had been subject to rough usage, but to what extent is unknown: the whole affair is one of strangeness, which none can reasonably solve.(Body since found in the river as announced in telegraphic columns in our last issue)

Business very brisk, all kind of work plentiful, but few workmen to be had; wages are high. The weather set in warm.

The English church being built. The public school under Mr. Reinits, a gentleman of great experience, is open again, and parents are delighted.

All pastoral affairs are looking sound. We have had typhoid fever here but it is disappearing. Dr. Grant has nearly stamped the plague out, more power to him.

-        October 3, 1874.

 

BOURKE.    September 26,

Some time ago I mentioned the copper mine at Tindera, and now I can give you a full description of the work done, and the prospects held out to the company. In May, 1873, the ground was discovered by John Rayner, and by him taken up as a mineral adventure: and with the assistance of one man, he has worked during the whole time with no other reward than that which may acerne should the mine prove successful. At any rate, 12 months hard work has entitled him to the name of a man of indomitable energy; and had the rest of the mines been worked in the same energetic manner, our district would now be the foremost copper-producing one in the colonies. Some short time since a company was formed, and 1000 shares at one pound each were issued: 500 of these were offered to the public, the remaining 500 being held by the proprietors. Those offered for sale were sold with an understanding that the money was to be expended in developing the mine. All has gone well up to date, and on Tuesday a meeting of shareholders was held at Tattersall’s, when it was decided to go on with the work. Mr. Rayner showed a drawing of the work done, which, considering that only two men have been at it, and that, they were occupied a great deal of the time carting water, &c., &c., from a long distance, afforded an earnest of the faith of the proprietor. Number 1 shaft has been sunk to a depth of 83 feet. At the 43 feet level a drive 28 feet has been driven to the west; and at its end another shaft, I think of 18 feet. From this shaft, at the 40 feet level, a second drive of 30 feet has been made. The lode was cut in the 20 feet drive, and the second drive sank upon it. It is now purposed to sink lower, it being the opinion of the miner that the ore will be found in rich payable quantities. I have seen the ground, and talked to many experienced men on the subject, and all say it is but a thing of time for Tindera to prove a good copper mine. Tindera is 30 miles nearer Bourke than Cobar, and about one and a-half west from the Co's tank. The surface has all the indications found at established mines, and those beneath give unmistakable evidences of a rich lode.

Mr. Thomas, the new manager at South Cobar, I hear has condemned the huge smelting shed put up by Mr. Davis, at a great outlay. It is not only on a wrong site, but is 20 feet too short, 10 feet too narrow, and too low. This is what I am told, and I think my informant is reliable. There appears to be the grossest bungling ever seen in these same mines of ours.

Mr. Charles Campbell has commenced storekeeping at this place, and there is little reason to doubt his success should action be taken in regard to unearthing the boundless wealth there hid. Mr. Thomas, from Peak Downs, proclaims Cobar not one whit over-rated.

The body of Mr. Maloney was taken from the river on Saturday evening. The verdict at the inquest being "found drowned." The deceased was a most zealous officer, punctual, and thoroughly at home in the duties entrusted to him. As a friend or companion, he was kind, gentle, and unassuming. His funeral was largely attended, the service being read by Mr. August Booker, in the absence of a clergyman, in a most impressive manner. Mrs. Maloney is still in Bourke, and has the heartfelt sympathy of all here.

The Freetrader, Victorian steamer, every day. The Waradgery steamer at Beemery, taking in wool; she will take about 1800 bales to Melbourne. This Co. is making quite a stir upon the river; Adelaide feeling that unless she changes her mode of doing business it will shape its course. Echuca railway was much needed, and the firm of McCullum have strong backs. Our town is building up rapidly, and if men would sink the individual for the sake of the general weal, Bourke would soon be a pleasant place to live in.

Our first show, under the Pastoral Association, takes place in November, and you will then see that we have good stock about us. Labour is very scarce. I know as much as 12s per day is paid to some labourers-10s being the sum generally looked for. Mr. Barton, of Mooculta, is offering 22s 6d per hundred for having sheep shorn, and is still short-handed. The weather is dry, and if rain comes not, we dread the consequence. A drought is badly feared. There is plenty pasturage, but rain is much needed. Provisions plentiful; best flour, £18 to £20.

Mr. Doohem, of the Weelong Hotel, I have just heard, is in a dying state. Dr. Grant, is summoned to attend.

-October 10, 1874.

The Coroner's inquest held recently at Bourke, relative to the death of the late Mr. James Maloney, Customs officer, and which is reported in the Central Australian of the 26th ultimo, does not throw much light on the subject it was meant to elucidate. There is no evidence to show how the deceased gentleman met his end, and, of course, the verdict was found drowned. Mr. Moloney was not a man likely to commit suicide, but whether he was thrown into the river, or fell into it accidentally, will probably never be known. The deceased was much respected by all who know him, both in Sydney and at Bourke. His funeral was the largest over seen in Bourke. He leaves a widow to lament her loss, and for whom much sympathy is expressed at Bourke. Mrs. Maloney was formerly teacher of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Denominational School in this city.- October 10, 1874.

 

BOURKE.    October 13.

The weather is very hot, the mercury going to 100 in shade. The river is again rising, and we expect other steamers. The Goolwa from S. A. is now unloading. Business is very good; employment plentiful; but few men to be engaged. We are to have another bank established. An agent of the Joint Stock is here making preparations. This will be a boon to all who are lucky enough to have money to bank. Already the Commercial has lowered its rate of exchange to Victoria to ½  per cent. It used to be one per cent. Fancy a man having a Victorian £10 note, and before he could get NSW money for it he must needs lose 2s. Mr. Arthur Lloyd has arrived from Sydney, and is now in charge of the Custom House. Mr. Layard, from Bathurst, is expected to do the duties of C.P.S. The English Church is being rapidly built, and when finished will be a very comfortable building. The Mechanics' Hall is finished, and with a little crowding, I have no doubt 30 people could sit and read.

There is a great stir among our Pastoral Association friends; the show will be held next month, and you will hear of some fine animals coming forward. During the past two months there has been brought here about 150 tons of fencing wire ; this will give you an idea of what is doing in that direction. Nearly all the large stations are owned by Victorian men, and. there is little doubt they will change for the better the working of their property. The line of steamers sent from Echuca by M'Culloch and  Co, whose agent here is R. M. Hughes,  has roused the almost dormant energies of S. A. Wool goes down now for L8 per ton to Melbourne. Their boats are first-class, and very powerful. One of these, the Lady Daly, passed down, having on board 1770 bales. The Waradgery left here with about 1000. There can be little doubt but this route is the most speedy and safe. Shearing is not yet over, owing to the scarcity of shearers. Mr. Russell Barten, of Mooculto, has been offering 22s 6d per hundred, and still offers. Rain wanted.

-October 24, 1874.

BOURKE: Thursday.

A great fire occurred here on Sunday. The telegraph office and three other buildings were destroyed. No injury to life occurred, but there were great losses in personal property.

-November 14, 1874.