translation

This is a handwritten notice, the body of which is in Chinese characters, informing Chinese miners about the 'Gold Fields Regulations' and 'Gold Fields Act'. The notice is 15 columns wide with approximately 25 characters running down each column. Below the heading, in smaller script, is written 'By Order / of the Commissioner / J.G. McDonald Esqre / Charters-Towers / May 1st 1873' and 'Translated by / James McHenley / Anglo-Chinese Linguist'. The edges of the paper are worn in places and there are pin holes in each corner. Acknowledgements: Reproduced courtesy of State Library of Queensland. Written by James McHenley. - This translated notice was meant to inform the rapidly increasing numbers of Chinese miners of the mining regulations in force in 1873 on the Charters Towers goldfield. - The majority of Chinese miners would not have been able to read this notice because they came from impoverished backgrounds such as farming, where literacy rates in terms of written characters were low. - Many people on the gold fields at the time, including the Chinese miners, could not read or write. Anyone reading, translating or scribing for somebody else had to be trustworthy, as they were relied upon to be accurate and honest. - As indicated on the notice, the law in operation on Qld gold fields in 1873 was the 'Gold Fields Act', a New South Wales Act dating from 1857, and its accompanying regulations. - In 1873 the official in charge of administering the Act and regulations at Charters Towers was Commissioner J G McDonald and, as the image shows, he ordered that this notice be prepared. - The 'Anglo-Chinese Linguist' who prepared this notice was James McHenley who, after graduating from a Scottish university, had studied Canton dialects and the written Chinese language at a college in China for three years. Source: fusecontent.education.vic.gov.au/d15f22e5-8ec2-4747-9c55-...

This is really great.

It's interesting that they use the now somewhat archaic term 'Ruthenian' to refer to Ukrainian. The Chinese characters are (in my bad Romanization) 'Gung tzu ye su sing daan'. Also odd that they refer to 'christian hebrew' as a language.

I noticed Christian Hebrew also. Very interesting. I am impressed by the quality of the Chinese characters and I love that Esperanto is the main central language at the top of the page--as if lots of New Yorkers were speaking it!

"Christian Hebrew" probably because a simple "Hebrew" would most likely be taken as "Jewish Hebrew" which is incompatible for "Merry Christmas".....

There is a small mistake in Czech greetings, the whole Polish text is wrong, too - there should be "wesolych swiat" (wesołych świąt) :)

September 1915, according to this version - www.irishbrigade.eu/other-men/gaffney/gaffney.html

beachcomber australia I will update the date.

beachcomber australia I'm confused. It says (September 1915) under the photo in that Gaffney piece, but the text that follows says...

1915 Aug 24 The "celebrated" Lunch in Munich at which Gaffney was the host and Casement a guest. Gaffey was later dismissed by the US governemnt as Consul because of this.

Rough and ready translation: "The well-known (lit. oft-mentioned) Irish MP, Sir Roger Casement, against whom the British envoy, Lord Findlay, eho is still in office, arranged an murder attempt in Oslo by bribing the Irish leader's servant, with the American consul-general Gaffney in the Preysing Palais restaurant in Munich."

John Spooner BA (German Language and Literature)

Learning to read Frakturschrift in 1976-ish was going to come in handy one day, and today's the day.

John Spooner The right man in the right place at the right time. Absolut fantastisch!!