SOUVENIR-CHARTERS TOWERS, 1872 TO JULY,
1950
Page 9
IN IT'S HEY-DAY-SOME INTERESTING FACTS
BUSINESS went on as usual even on Saturday mghts and what mghts they
were, more particularly if Saturday night happened to be a bright
moonlight night, it was something not easily forgotten. "The
miners night", for all the week he has been hammering away in the
darkness of the night at the drill held by his chum, and lighted by a
flickering candle, and thanks to good ventilation and to
plenty of offiicial inspectionl his eight hours of toil were spent as
pleasantly and profitably as he himself could wish. Most of the miners
came from England and the wages they received on the Towers field
were twice or three times as much as they were earning back in the Old
Country. In a big percentage of cases the miner and his family
lived in a house which he erected himself and in many cases the good
wife helped with the building of their "mansion." He could live on 30/-
a week, clothe and feed his wife and family and the best of meat being
procurable at about two pence per pound, thrived on .the best of meat
at least three times a day. He could give his child,ren a good
education and living conditions generally were much better than in any
of the mining villages at home. It is a recognised fact that although
the miners earned £3 to £3/10/- per week and could live on
£1/10/- per week, and in that case would be able to spend
£1 or £1/10/- per week on drink, they did not do so,
because in many cases at least half of his pay went into mining
speculations. So that the earning of a good income did not mean
increased drinking The miner felt independent and had
a good deal of self respect.
At this time Mosman Street was really the main street tog.ether
with
Gill Street, but if the honour of being the main street was judged by
the number of hotels, Mosman Street must easily have been proclaimed
the leading street for at this time it alone could boast of at least
fourteen liquor places The fact that the old stock exchange, and
Brokers Offices also were situated along this busy street meant that on
a Saturday night it became a popular meeting place for the miners.
It could be said, that, for about three parts of the miners the
main
object of the Saturday night was to get together and discuss matters
and chat with his old mates whom he would only see on such nights and
these get togethers would necessitate a beer or two just as a matter of
ceremony.
On this night the miners would come out in force. They would
stand in
groups usually wearing moleskin trousers and flannel shirts, with a
sash around the middle, and a slouch hat. It would be impossible to
find such a large gathering of men with so few men under the
influence of liquor. There was practically no crime in the Towers
in the early days almost every man worked for a living and there was no
poverty. If any crimes took place it was usually the wvork of
undesirables from the south.
The takings on a Saturday night must have been enormous. The
miners
wives usually did their own shopping by themselves in order to
indulge in a little gossip after all the necessities had been
purchased. This also allowed the miner to indulge in his spot of
yarning and a glass of beer with his chum.
There were a large number brokers operating and
according to reports this broking was done pretty fairly at first,
but eventually a sort of ring was formed with the idea of working
together, more or less, to each others mutual benefit as far as the
general public was concerned
There were some brokers who were not in the ring. In many cases
the
prices advertised in the papers were much lower than the actual market.
Many stories are told of the gutter broker who, not registered in any
way, would enter into deals, which would nearly always turn out to the
disadvantage of the client. The public generally would suffer
considerably at the hands of this type of commission agent.
