HORSE SHOD WITH GOLD.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LI, Issue 9067, 12 April 1906, Page 6

HORSE SHOD WITH GOLD.

STORY OF THE "ROARING DAYS" RECALLED BY THE DEATH OF A GOLDFIELDS PIONEER. Recrntly (says the Melbourne Argus) we announced the death of Mr Daniel Cameron, who in the early fifties represented i the Ovens ia the Legislative Couaioilj'aiwl as to whom it has often been said that he rode into Beechwoxth from the Wool- j shed aitsr the election on a horse shod with j gold. The true story as to the horse and the golden shoes was told by Mr Jas. Travis (late Secretary for Mines) in an , interview published in the Argus under the heading "Goldseekers of the Fifties." Mr Travis said : — "Who has not heard that stoTy of the golden horseshoes, yet how few have heard it correctly? It has been cited always as em illustration of the wild, spendthrift qualities of the man of the Ovens goldfield. In plain truth, it was only the bold advertisement of a circus proprietor named 'Tinker' Brown. It was on. the occalsion oi the first election of the Legislative Council on the Ovens, and the .diggers wished to Teturn Mr Daniel Cameron. It was a local party fight of the' Woolshed v. ■the World, and the men of the Woolshed, ; on finding at the last moment that their , man had not the monetary qualification, subscribed In a remarkably short space of tome the necessary £2000. Johnston, the king of the Woolshed, started' the fund with £100, and Pat Bary went one better with as many guineas. • "Johnston, I may mention, by the way, was a plucky, determined digger, who deserved the title of king of the Woolshed. When working" on Reid's Creek he had always an idea that there was gold in the Woolshed Valley, and backed his opinion with all his savings. He took over- six men, and started to sink, but it was a wet diggings, and week after week the water beat them back. At> las*, one Saturday night, his money was exhausted, and he. said, 'I'm done, boys; I can go no further.' 'Well, you've been always fair to us,' they replied ; 'we'll give you a ! week's work free.' That week they bottomed on absolutely the richest part of | the field. In a few weeks Johnston made between £50,000 and £100,0Q0, and he | always paid these six men £9 a week each while they were in his service. "Such were the men who made Cameron, the nominee of the Woolshed, and returned , him as the district representative. There was wild excitement. Johnston 'shouted,' and paid £145 for the first round of drinks. After the election nearly the whole Woolshed accompanied Cameron to Beechworth for the declaration of the poll. It was a Temarkable 6ight, that long toain of mounted diggers, coming down the nar- j row alpine tracks, for racing was a craze there, and every lucky digger aspired to own sometftuiq that cot I op. It is just here, -,h,u.gh, that ficti- v has tak.a possession of the incident. It has bvn told in every civilised country ia t'*.e world — a story of barbaric magnificeacw. Eye-witnesses have described that wonderful spectacle of the cavalcade of red ehirf od diggers cktffcering down the range, and at their head Daniel Cameron riding iiis house shod with massive shoes of gold. So many .readers have been impressed -with it — as with the dazzling story of deov patra's barge of beaten gold -r- that it seems a pity to topple such an episode from its eminence, and degrade it to a -Aniere matter of good business for a circus.

But there was enough of wild romance and mad excitement on the Ovens tributaries in the fifties without going outside the Tealm of hard fact.

" 'Tinker' Brown had just pitched his circus tents in Beechworth. He was* a cute man, with a quick eye for business — as keen for a 'good ad.' as the majji'ty of circus 'proprietors are to-day. One of the attractions of the show was a house brained to lie on his back in fcbe ring and flourish his hoofs in the air, showing the audience that he wore shoes of gold. These plates, which were fairly 1 solid, had been specially made by a little jeweller named Tofield. They weTe taken off the horse at. night, and after the performance, displayed in the town ais an advertisement. 'Tinker' Brown saw in this demonstration his opportunity. He same to some members of Cameron's commjfcfcee, I being one, aod offered, im the event of 6ome allowance being made by us for wear and tear, to put the gold shoes on the horse, bring out one of the. gaudy circus carriages, and drive the new I member through the streeits of Beechworth. It was just 6uoh a proposal as suited the extravagant humor of the wild men of 'the i Woolshed. We jumped at the offer, the I news of it ran like wildfire through the town., and the people poured into the streets 'to see the unique spectacle. Cameron's drive, that was to become famous, took place; the member .himself was not the .lion of the occasion. Instead, I fear that he was rather overlooked. The crush I was everywhere to see the hoTse shod with gold. 'Shoes of gold,' ran the murmur everywhere. 'Shoes of Woolshed gold!' shouted the diggers from that favored place.* "