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confession, Alessandro replied that nobody wanted to lose two weeks on the goldfields
and spend fifteen to eighteen pounds to see a priest in Melboume. The stresses of life
on the goldfields, combined with the difficulties of getting to a church, had lowered the
religious resolve of many Italian speakers. FeeUngs of guilt surfaced for the Pozzis,
however, in December of 1856, when their mother died after a serious illness and it
seemed that God was surely punishing them. ^^
The concluding weeks of 1856 brought another unhappy event to the Pozzis ~
the destmction of the Hepbum store by fire. The blaze, which occurred four days after
Christmas and began in the kitchen behind the store, was first noticed by Alessandro
who had been sitting in his tent playing his piano-accordion. The boys lost everything
in the fire except a horse and cart and an amount of money and stock which Leonardo
had been keeping at a new branch store at Stony Creek (ref figure 9). After being
offered financial assistance by a wealthy English businessman, the Pozzis paid 54
pounds to the Traversi brothers from Cevio to have the store rebuilt. Although they
lost about one month's trade, the Pozzis were pleased with their new store which was
larger ~ measuring about thirteen metres by five metres ~ and provided one-third
space for a warehouse. The shop lay in the centre of the building with, on one side, a
drinking room for customers and, on the other, a bedroom. Behind the store was a
wooden kitchen with a detached oven built to one side.
Business prospered in the new premises and the osteria (drinking pariour)
became a popular meeting place among the Italian speakers for the Festa della
Madonna (Feast of the Assumption), a traditional feast-day celebrated by Roman
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