dear hopes are not born to be blighted,
By the tide of misfortune in earth's dreary life,
For you know, dear Tom, you have charms which delighted
A young girl to be your dear loving wife.

And now, dearest Tom, with a squeeze and a kiss
That would burst the staves of a six gallon barrel.
I pray God to grant you health and heavenly bliss
When united for ever to your loving E. Carrol.

When I last visited Townsville in 1917, I called on Mrs. Hobbs, who
showed me the original of the above, still in good preservation.

Tom was a very shy man, and asked me if I could arrange for his marriage
to be held by the Registrar at the Court House on a Sunday evening. This
I did, the wedding party arriving at the Court House by different routes
to avoid publicity. The Registrar had only a candle, which did not give
sufficient light, so he asked if I could obtain a lamp. I went down the
hill to Evans', afterwards Enright's, Tattersall Hotel, and borrowed a
lamp ostensibly to look for lost jewellery for a lady. Several loungers,
doubting the reason given, followed me, with the result that at midnight
Tom's house was surrounded by uninvited guests, and I had to hand out
some bottles of brandy before they could be induced to leave. We kept
things up until daylight, when I rode back to my camp at Mount Louisa,
six miles away.

About this time the carriers were challenged by the Townsville cricket
club to a match, to be played on a ground prepared at the German
Gardens. A carrier named Billy Yates took his waggon, decorated with
boughs and bush flowers, drawn by bullocks, to bring out the town team.
The principal bowler for Townsville was L. F. Sachs, of the A.J.S. Bank.
Ours were Charlie and Fred Hannaford. After a hard-fought game of two
innings each, the carriers won, I having the honour of being top scorer.
The particulars did not go into print, so I am unable to give the
details, although I remember the happenings connected with and after the
match were interesting.

I was loaded at Mount Louisa on my way to Ravenswood, when, during the
night a man wakened me, and asked if I could give him a drink. I gave
him a nip of rum from the jar. Shortly afterwards I noticed the smell of
burning, and on looking round saw a dray with a load of wool well
alight. I immediately raised the alarm, and the men from several other
teams who were camped there ran over, but all that we could save were
the bullock yo