The Spell of Coolgardie – a verse

Fly Flats Coolgardie c 1894 – Photo SLWA

Ships brought men to Perth
From all parts of the earth
Lured by fabulous tales of gold yields
Some biked it, some hiked it
But no one quite liked it
The long dreary trek to the fields

The ground was their bed
A stone for ones head
Four bags made a Wagga like quilt
Bough shed did for houses
Few men had their spouses
Coolgardie had yet to be built

Warden Finnerty elected
Claim judgements respected
Real order took over the town
Bank, shops by the score
Wild clamor for more
would the pace ever stop or slow down.

If a crime had been done
The camp stood as one
Be it robbery, murder or lust
A court was called in
By rattling the tin
Its judgements were reasoned and just.

The well healed elite
Ambled down Bailey Street
Where life became gayer and gayer
Some drank and did borrow
Without thought of tomorrow
Came the council, Town Hall and a Mayor.

There were rough men,
Hard tough men
And weeklings who tried to crack hardy,
Wild nights on the booze
Men swore Kangaroos
Had invade the streets of Coolgardie.

There was a ‘Nightman’ O’Shea
Perched high on his dray
Fly swatting, but devil a’carin
Whistling a tune
About Annie Muldoon
The peach he had left in ‘Old Erin’

In dealing with food
Mens habits were crude
Health matters got out of alignment
Grim Typhus took toll
For men in a hole
Gave damn little thought to refinement.

Gay life ambled on
In that city now gone
There was sporting, courting, confetti
Men still tell the news,
How one Diver Hughes
Save a miner called Varischetti

A fall undreground
The miners thronged round
As one they came from Fly Flat
One death, how they slaved
His mate had been saved
By shielding his face with his hat.

A city grew, bloomed, fell
Yet old folks still tell
Its lore wherever you find them.
Twill rise one day
They’ll wistfully say
The spell of Coolgardie still binds them.

by George Hosford

The mine rescue referred to in this verse is that of William Smetherham –

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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