Twelve Ounces To The Ton (1889)
"A Croydon claim has just crushed 48½ tons for a yield of 500oz., being an average of 12oz. to the ton."
--Mining Paper.
I.
With pick and shovel, with hammer and drill.
In crosscut, level, or stope,
I toil all day with right good-will,
For I cherish the miner's hope ;
A six-foot reef, in country kind,
And quartz that's easily won,
And the yield of gold when the stampers grind,
Twelve ounces to the ton !
Hurrah for pick and shovel and drill !
Hurrah for hammer and gad !
Hurrah for the busy stamper-mill !
And hurrah for each miner lad !
II.
From rush to rush I've humped my swag
For thirty years or so,
For I never was known to funk or lag
When my mate said, "Jack, let's go."
New Zealand, Queensland, Bendigo,
And New South Wales I've done,
But I'm looking yet for a little show
Twelve ounces to the ton !
Hurrah, &c.
III.
But whether Fortune smiles or frowns,
Whate'er my luck may be,
In spite of hardships, ups and downs,
A digger's life for me !
A note to spend, another to lend,
A mate as true as the sun.
And a crushing a month my wants to end,
Twelve ounces to the ton !
Croydon (Q.), March 1. G.C.S.
Notes
From the Melbourne Newspaper the Australasian Saturday 25 May 1889 p. 48.