The Unlucky Gamble – by Big Jim Allanson

OVER THE PLATES
An Unlucky Gamble.

DEAR “Non-Com,” Early in the “Roaring Nineties,” Billy Collins, Ned Campion, Barney – and I were camped at a pool ten miles west of Cue. At the south end of the pool, flies were making short work of a horse and cow, both dead, that had bogged in the mud. We scraped holes at the rocky edge of the pool, the water was not too bad. The daily menu – breakfast, dinner, and tea – was tinned dog and damper, the nearest store being Murphy and Gibson’s.

Cue at that time consisted of Payne Carlisle the butcher, Sutton the baker, Fred Carlisle of the Cue Hotel,  Tom Williams the Crown Hotel, and an iron camp post office, with Mr. Livingston as postmaster. The Warden’s Court was a 12 x 4 tent. The gaol, a big mulga log.

Tom Williams  – Crown Hotel, Cue – Photo SLWA

Big Russian Jack had been on a bender and was handcuffed to the log. After a sleep he woke up and feeling thirsty so he carried the gaol (log) to the pub. Constable Lucanus missed him, located him, and ordered his return. “All right, constable, another drink, and I’ll go” and to the amusement of everyone, he picked up the gaol and returned. A few weeks later Jack got the fever and was one of the first victims.

We were working a lease on the other side of the range, called the Fairlight. We had a fair amount of stone in the paddock showing little gold, but it dollied well. It was usual to fire out last thing before knocking off and the smoke was well clear by the next morning. One morning we got a pleasant surprise. An ironstone bar had crossed the reef and where it intersected the reef, it had made rich stone. The face was like a jeweller’s shop. The first bucket sent up had over a hundred ounces of specimen stone which we took into the bank.

It created quite a sensation. Lord Percy Douglas (the heir of the Marquess of Queensberry Estate and brother of Lord Alfred Douglas, the lover of Oscar Wilde) was in Cue in the interests of an English syndicate, and he returned to the lease with us. After looking over the property he offered us £4,000 cash and a quarter of interest which we accepted.

It was arranged for one of us to go to Perth with Lord Percy to complete the deal. Of course, we would all have liked to go, so decided to have a gamble. We shuffled a pack of cards and dealt, the first with a Jack was to go. Barney was the lucky man. Lord Percy and Barney left by Marsh and McKenzie’s coach for Geraldton the next morning en route to Perth. Many weeks went by and we heard nothing from Lord Percy or Barney. No cheque had been paid into the bank and Barney was drawing heavily on the account. The rich stone turned out to be only a pocket, so I went to Perth and found Barney, just getting over the D.T.’s.

He had never seen Lord Percy after arriving in Perth, he had gone on a bender and when he got over it, Lord Percy was halfway to England, having secured another property and because of the death of his father, the Marquis. Then he had gone to the races to try to make good for the loss of the sale of the lease, but Barney was a good judge of horses that did not run quite fast enough. I took him back and for some time we worked, trusting to strike it rich again. Then I got a letter from an old mate working in the New Moon mine, Sailor’s Gully, Bendigo, telling me they had struck rich stone in the adjoining property and advising me to go over and buy some shares, so I sold my interest to Billy Collins and went east.

My mate’s advice was a very profitable investment. Not long after I had been East I got a letter from Billy Collins saying Barney was missing from the camp and they found he had put a detonator in his mouth and lit the fuse. Poor old Barney. R.I.P. by BIG JIM, Allanson.