Life in the Cities 115 



isation of a crude sort of secret society. One in- 

 genious Australian writer 1 declares that the code 

 of rules binding one well-known Sydney push 

 prohibits drunkenness and unchastity, and that 

 the common bond among members is one of mur- 

 der. Bach initiate, before being admitted to full 

 membership of the society, must take part in the 

 doing to death of some person who has rendered 

 himself obnoxious to the push, and must after- 

 wards sign a confession admitting the full guilt 

 of the crime, the possession of which document 

 ensures his fidelity to the gang. These startling 

 statements were put forward in apparent serious- 

 ness in Blackwood' s Magazine of July, 1901, but 

 no convincing evidence in support of them was 

 adduced. 



It is very certain, however, that the secrets of 

 the pushes, if they have any, are well kept. 

 Their meetings are quite apparent to any ob- 

 serving person who cares to look for them, and it 

 can be proved from the Australian newspapers 

 that they sometimes deal very roughly with the 

 policeman who concerns himself too actively in 

 their ordinary pursuits. Occasionally a battle 

 between two rival pushes takes place, when sticks 

 and stones fly about freely, and sometimes an in- 

 jured larrikin finds his way to the hospital. He 

 usually professes himself unable to identify his 

 assailants, and in the absence of positive evidence, 

 it is difficult to bring the offenders to justice. I 

 1 Mr. Ambrose Pratt. 



