BANJO CHARLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1943, 14 February 1889, Page 28

BANJO CHARLEY.

THE COLONIAL CAREER OF CAPTAIN , CHARLES ANDERSON. A Life of Vicissitudes — The Captain's Stabt — A Privatb Hosktat, — Two Fortunes Dissipated— A Gentleman to thb Last. — The Captain's Story, as ,told by the wakatipu correspondent of thb Witness. The death of Mr Charles Anderson, at the Frankton Hospital, recalls to mind many incidents in acareqr which is typical of pioneer goldfield life. Deceased was a gentleman of high attainments, who, in the vortex of colonial goldfield life, sank to very low depths indeed, bat who, even in his most unfortunate moments, never outraged that' intuitive quality of breeding that constitutes the gentleman. Mr Anderson was well connected at Home, and at one time held a commission as captain in one of the Scotch' regiments. He came to Victoria in the early days, of the. gold rush with a fortune of £17,000, aba opened a hotel at Yackandandab, Ovens district, which in" tbe rough days, when nobblers were half a crown - each, and; lucky diggers stood a shout of 100 bottles of champagne at £1 per bottle, was conducted in a manner that gained the' respect alike of the public and the" authorities in a high degree, and Captain Anderson was regarded as "king "of the situation and the goldfield. Attached to the hotel was a private hospital maintained by Captain .Anderson, and many^ a poor miner's life was .saved 'by the kindly attentions. : disjpensed thereat.;] But time'spbanged, and though. Captain Anderson started his colenial career with a large fortune, a careless way of managing it soon reduced its whilom possessor to dire straitß. In a fit of desperation ho joined the famous "Billy Barlow" troupe (of blue-bottle fame) which made .a name for itself all over Australia. > Dropping his military title he starred with * Billy Barlow/ and Madame Carahdinias leading tenor—a voice singularly rich in volume and tone and carefully trained and cultivated making him a general public favourite. Again fortune smiled upon him, and befcarae in,for a legacy. of £13,(X)0.-; Leaving the. concert stage he went to Indja/fipent his'monpy hunting elephants, tigers, and other big 'game; returning when funds ran low to Melbourne, and later came on to New Zealand, where he

was appointed postmaster at Invercargill, and upon the gold rush to the West Coast to a similar appointment at Hokitika. Here in the fast life of a fast time, in the wild excitement consequent upon the gold discoveries, Mr Ander&ou lost the last dregs of his staying power, and upon resigning his office he disappeared from the scene of public life. Now his descent was rapid, and it is needless to dwell much longer upon his unfortunate career. About 20 years ago be tnrned np at Arrowtownj and meeting with some' friends at the big beach, Arrow river,, who had known him at Yackandandah, he found a temporary home amongst them. His musical capabilities, which he was ever ready to exert, either for the amusement of a few listeners or in aid of som« public object, gained for him the sobriquet of " Banjo Charley" from the fact that ho usually accompanied himself on the guitar. He subsequently was engaged teaching school at Miller's Plat,! Skippers, and Gibbston at different times. His kindly and intensely humane nature soon made him » great favourite amongst the young folks, and he; would have scored a brilliant success as a teacher if he could have mastered hifl one farting. His accomplishments were many. He was a linguist, speaking French, German, and Italian fluently ; and, as a matter ; of course, was well versed in Latin and Greek ; he had gone through a thorough military training, and was an adept at sword exercises, and defeated the renowned Professor Palmer on more occasions than one, and took a special delight in : drilling a number of youngsters. He excelled in many athleh'c games, and in his younger days was a orackcricketer ; he was a master of mathematics; and with all his accomplishments combined the most amiable temper imaginable. Yet all the golden prospects of his career, all his high attainments, his einglariy amiable disposition, the great tact' with which he, in the most circumstances, maintained the character of a gentleman, availed him not against his enemy " Strong drink," which at the end of a chequered career laid him prostrate in a soon-to-be-f orgotten grave.

Mr George Brownlee informs us (North Ofcago Times) that the burr-like plant lately found upon the reclaimed land is nothing to be afraid of, although the plants have ran wild and sported a little from the original type. They belong to the genus medicago resembling trifolium in, that each of its leaves consists of three leaflets. The little flowers are arranged in short racemes — that is, a number of short-stalked florets is given off from each side of a common flower stalk, the resulting structure appearing not unlike a small clover head. The unjointed pod of medicago is spiral, while the pod of trifolium is nearly straight. The plant under notice is black medick, or nonsuch, genus medicago lupulina, resembling very closely the common yellow clover. It is a pretty little plant, considered by some writers to be identical with the shamrock of Ireland. As a wild plant it is, common in fields and waste places. The root is tapering and fibrous., the stem branched. ' It is named black madick, from the black colour of the seed vessel, or pod, which is coiled into a kidneyshaped spiral, and' has a network on its outer fiurfaoe, causing it to adhere to any 'rough substance. The plant is biennial or subperennial, flowering from November to February. It has been cultivated in mixture with red clover and ryegrasa for a great length of time in Europe, but we have never heard of its being sown here. Possibly the seeds have come among low grade trefoils. Mr Brownlee has found the plants growing upon many of the roadsides, in a. radius of eight" miles round town, but the best specimens are growing in & ditch on the left side of Severn street, going towards the hill. We are glad to learn that the plant is of some feeding value and not likely to do any harm to our wools. , A Fair, Bbatjtipui. Skin. — Sulpholine Soap gives the natural tint and peach-like Bloom 'of a perfect complexion, makes the Skin smooth, supple, • healthy 1 , comfortable.— 6d Tablets, Everywhere