“Classic.” A book which people praise
and don’t read.
—Pudd’nhead
Wilson’s New Calendar.
On the rail again—bound for Bendigo.
From diary:
October 23. Got up at 6, left at 7.30; soon
reached Castlemaine, one of the rich gold-fields of
the early days; waited several hours for a train;
left at 3.40 and reached Bendigo in an hour.
For comrade, a Catholic priest who was better than
I was, but didn’t seem to know it—a
man full of graces of the heart, the mind, and the
spirit; a lovable man. He will rise. He
will be a bishop some day. Later an Archbishop.
Later a Cardinal. Finally an Archangel, I hope.
And then he will recall me when I say, “Do
you remember that trip we made from Ballarat to Bendigo,
when you were nothing but Father C., and I was nothing
to what I am now?” It has actually taken nine
hours to come from Ballarat to Bendigo. We could
have saved seven by walking. However, there was
no hurry.
Bendigo was another of the rich strikes of the early
days. It does a great quartz-mining business,
now—that business which, more than any
other that I know of, teaches patience, and requires
grit and a steady nerve. The town is full of
towering chimney-stacks, and hoisting-works, and looks
like a petroleum-city. Speaking of patience;
for example, one of the local companies went steadily
on with its deep borings and searchings without show
of gold or a penny of reward for eleven years —then
struck it, and became suddenly rich. The eleven
years’ work had cost $55,000, and the first
gold found was a grain the size of a pin’s head.
It is kept under locks and bars, as a precious thing,
and is reverently shown to the visitor, “hats
off.” When I saw it I had not heard its
history.
“It is gold. Examine it—take
the glass. Now how much should you say it is
worth?”
I said:
“I should say about two cents; or in your English
dialect, four farthings.”
“Well, it cost L11,000.”
“Oh, come!”
“Yes, it did. Ballarat and Bendigo have
produced the three monumental nuggets of the world,
and this one is the monumentalest one of the three.
The other two represent 19,000 a piece; this one a
couple of thousand more. It is small, and not
much to look at, but it is entitled to (its) name—Adam.
It is the Adam-nugget of this mine, and its children
run up into the millions.”
Speaking of patience again, another of the mines was
worked, under heavy expenses, during 17 years before
pay was struck, and still another one compelled a
wait of 21 years before pay was struck; then, in both
instances, the outlay was all back in a year or two,
with compound interest.
Bendigo has turned out even more gold than Ballarat.
The two together have produced $650,000,000 worth—which
is half as much as California has produced.
