P. W. Steel

An interesting small book, the front cover states “A story of Life upon the Mining Fields of George’s Bay, Tasmania, in the seventies (1870’s)”, which I mistook it to mean it was a book about mining. It is more about a humourous heist, supposedly a true story.

The main character Jim (14 years old) goes to the mining fields in search of job paying eight bob a day which as a ploughman he is getting per week. The first half of the book is a pub crawl from Hobart Town to George’s Bay (now St Helens) in a carriage. Once they arrive a mine manager says there is no work as there hasn’t been rain so Jim and the other carriage passengers get a job fixing roads.

The last part of the book is where Jim and new friends organise a huge ball and invite most of the town, getting all the food and beer supplies put on credit with the promise that the mine manager is paying for the event. The pubs and local stores put on food and beer for a weekend for the entire town and then the lads skip town to try their luck in Melbourne.

The book was written sometime during WWI and money raised was to go to the Oversea Comfort Fund. I can find only one other book written by Steel which is also about the local area. I cannot find a digital copy, but NLA and Libraries Tasmania have copies available.… (mais)