The Worker's Dream (1923)
There came to my ear in the dead of night,
The cry of the masses that clamoured for right.
And clear was the cry, which there's nothing can quell,
Down, Down with injustice, we've cause to rebel.
I heard the deep sob of the parents in grief,
Who eked an existence on meagre relief,
I heard the meek cry of the children who strayed,
Unkempt nnd unclothed--for redemption they prayed.
They say he is mad, he who sparks in extremen,
They say his ideas are the outcome of dreams,
But think for a moment, my friend you will find,
The coal in the earth's for the good of mankind,
And not for the tyrants who treat us as slaves,
And penniless let us go down to our graves.
Be firm then my friend, though we fight or we fall,
May the God of our fathers watch over us all.
So strong be jour heart and firm be your tread
For the sake of your fathers now faded and dead.
For the sake of your fathers remembered with tears,
For the sake of your children that grow with the years,
For the sake of yourelves, the sake of your wives,
Be firm to the end for the fight of your lives
T.W.ORCHARD.
Notes
From the NSW Newspaper the The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder Friday 29 June 1923 p. 2.
OBITUARYLATE MR. T. W. ORCHARD
Mr. Thomas Walter Orchard, late of Ferguson St., Cessnock, passed away at the Cessnock
Hospital yesterday after a lengthy illness. He was 80 years of age. Mr. Orchard was a
very well known and respected resident of Cessnock. Until his retirement he was employed
as an engine driver at Millfleld-Greta Colliery. For many years he was a gold miner in
Western Australia and was, in later years, a keen tobacco grower. He told many interesting
tales of happenings on the gold fields. He is survived by two sons, Thomas and George.
His funeral leaves the Funeral Parlours in Vincent Street, this afternoon, for the Church
of England Cemetery.
From the NSW Newspaper the Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder Tuesday 7 July 1953 p. 3