Tall Timber
Epigraph: According to recent news, a snake which fastened on to a man's leg at Burnie, Tasmania, was much disgusted upon finding that the leg was a wooden one.
That sort o' reminds me of ole days (said Bill)
In the bush at Toolangi, at Switherton's mill —
A sor-mill, you know — an' the sawyer we 'ad
Was ole 'Oppy McClintock, a wooden-legged lad.
'E was walkin' one day for to tighten a peg,
When a tiger snake grabs at 'is ole timber leg;
An' there it 'angs on, till I fetched it a crack,
But ole 'Oppy jist grins as 'e starts to walk back.
An' then, somethink 'appens. We seen 'Oppy stop,
As 'e stumbles a bit, an' looks down at 'is prop
With a dead funny look. Then 'e lets out a yell:
"'Ere, boys! Take it off me! it's startin' to swell!"
Well, we unstraps 'is leg, an' it swole an' it swole.
Snake pisen? Too right! 'Twas a twenty-foot pole
In less than five minutes! Believe me or not.
An' as thick — It's as true as I stand on this spot!
We was 'eavin it out, when the boss starts to roar:
"'Ere? Why waste good wood? Shove it on to the sor!"
So we sors it in two, down the middle, an' then,
Them there slabs swole an' swole; so we sors 'em agen.
An' we sors, an' we sors; an' it swole, an' it swole
Till the end of the day, when the tally, all tole,
Was two thousan' foot super. You doubt it? (said Bill)
You ask any ole 'and up at Switherton's mill!
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1938, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 85 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse