Page:Banking Under Difficulties- Or Life On The Goldfields Of Victoria, New South Wales And New Zealand (1888).pdf/125

116 luck. It then struck me the gold must have been taken out of the safe. I told Broham the whole circumstances of the case, and moreover, whom I suspected. He went to the store and searched, but without discovering anything. The gold was gone without a doubt. I had no alternative but to report the loss to my inspector at Christchurch, which I did by the first opportunity. My anxiety now was to know how the report of my loss would be received, and I must say I fully expected to be called upon to make it good. I did not hear from the inspector for some considerable time (letters in those days having to go via Nelson); meanwhile I was continually being asked by one or another whether I had heard from the Inspector. At last a letter arrived to the effect that although leaving the key of the safe behind was careless, still, taking everything into consideration, the difficulties I had to contend with, &c., it was decided that the loss should not fall upon me. On taking the letter to “Jimmy Price,” he said it would not have affected me in any case. I replied, “Only this much, that I would have been some £140 out of pocket.” “Nothing of the kind,” said he, “had you been called upon to make good the amount, it would have been paid by the principal business people here and at Greymouth unknown to you.” I was thunderstruck, and at the same time gratified, to think I had such kind friends who would have assisted me out of my difficulty.

To account for my cash balancing at Teremakau, as I said before, I had no gold scales there large enough to weigh off, so took the weight for granted, putting the value down at so much, say 500 ozs. at £4—£2000, which balanced my cash, but on weighing off found I had only 465 ozs., which at £4 would be £1860, or £140 short. A letter was written, and signed by nearly all the business people on the Coast, and forwarded to my inspector, calling his attention to the hardships I had to undergo, the liability to loss through having no office, &c. When at the Greenstone I always slept with my clothes on, even to my boots and hat. I had my own blankets, which were kept (or supposed to be) in a bushel bag to prevent their being “fly blown,” but which had not the desired effect, for when I had occasion to use them I found them “crawling.” I was, of course, disgusted, but what was I to do? I just had to grin and bear it. My bedstead too was anything but a comfortable one; four posts stuck in the ground, three saplings on the top, the middle one a shade higher than the other two. The first time Broham had occasion to sleep at the Greenstone he went to Tracy’s shanty. Tracy said, “You can have Mr. Preshaw’s bed, you will find it very comfortable.” Broham and I have had many a laugh since then about my bed at the Greenstone.