20. Trouble with horses
In the 19th and early 20th century, when horses were an all-important means of transport, accidents were frequent. Most people are aware of Chinaman’s Bend, on the Mt Camel range. At that point, on what was then the main road from Bendigo to Beechworth, Yee Geen’s horse and cart went over the edge of the steep incline in 1879, with the driver being killed. Yee Geen was working for market gardener Ah Gow, delivering vegetables to properties in the area around the Mt Camel range. An inquest was held in a pub at Redcastle.
A few years later “No small amount of excitement was caused in Rushworth yesterday afternoon when it was seen that a horse attached to a dray was parading Murchison Street at the rate of about 20 miles an hour, and clearing everything before it in a most miraculous manner. After running the course of the street it turned along the Tatura road, and after galloping about a mile and a half pulled up from sheer exhaustion, and allowed itself to be captured without breaking a strap. The runaway is the property of Ah Cheong, a puddler residing in Growler’s Gully.”1
At the time, the newspapers tended to confuse the names Cheong and Chong. In this case, it was almost certainly Ah Chong, who was a small-time miner around Rushworth for a long time. Growler’s Gully is on the eastern side of Growler’s Hill, where Ah Chong had a hut and puddling machine in the 1860s.
20TH CENTURY
The fine Chinese gardens on the banks of the Campaspe River at Elmore have been mentioned in an earlier story. “Jimmy Ah Khan, well known here as a Chinese vegetable vendor, met with a very painful accident on Saturday week. Ah Khan had just returned from Bendigo in his wagon, and was about to dismantle his horses from the vehicle. Whilst in the act, they suddenly moved forward, and the pole of the wagon struck Jimmy in the chest, precipitating him with violent force to the ground. Luckily, however, both wheels eluded his prostrate form, but from what can be gleaned from him, it appears one of the horses must have trampled him. On taking the injured Chinaman inside, it was found he was in a very critical state and Dr Costillon was summoned. Two or three days later, a Chinese doctor from Bendigo attended him, and he is now recovering from the effects of his experience.”2
Of interest is the vast distance (90 km return) Ah Khan was prepared to travel with horse and wagon to sell his produce. Also, the use of a Chinese medical practitioner came after he had tried a European doctor, suggesting that he may have had greater faith in the former.
RUSHWORTH ACCIDENTS
In Rushworth in 1914, Mrs Chong (Emma, nee Branson) was thrown from her gig when her horse stumbled. She broke her wrist in the fall and was probably lucky not to sustain more serious injuries.3 Some of Mrs Chong’s sons later served with the AIF in World War 1.
An unusual chain of events happened in Rushworth in January 1928. “Mr G. Jones, of Bailieston, left his car standing on an incline in front of the shire hall. The car started off, and collided with an electric light standard. The force of the impact dislodged a large globe, which burst with a loud report on hitting the ground. This caused a Chinese market gardener’s horse to plunge and break free of the harness, with the result that the cart, in which the Chinese was still seated, ran down the hill until brought to a stop by the gutter in front of the Commercial Bank”4, the building which still stands at 34-36 High Street. The shafts on the cart were ruined but no one was hurt.
Of interest here is the fact that Chinese market gardeners were still operating in the area as late as 1928. The paper did not report on the name of the Chinese market gardener, so we cannot establish whether it was someone with a vegetable garden in the local area, or whether he had come from further afield to sell his produce in Rushworth. Chinese gardeners were still selling their produce in Rushworth much later than 1928.
Sources: 1 Goulburn Advertiser 9.5.1884 (thanks Alan McLean); 2 Elmore Standard 2.5.1901; 3 Murchison Advertiser 22.5.1914; 4 The Age 28.1.1928
