OLD THAMES DAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 10 (Supplement)

OLD THAMES DAYS.

BIRTH OF THE GOLDFIELD. A MUDDY APPROACH. ROUGH AND READY DIGGERS. (By JOHN A. BEALE.) Owing to a terrible period of depression in the city of Auckland following on the removal of the seat of Government to Wellington (resolved upon by a majority vote of one Auckland member) and the withdrawal from the Colony of the 10,000 British troops, the' Government, about the year 1867, offered a reward of £5000 for the discovery of a payable goldfield. , Certain Auckland citizens had some years previously offered a reward of £1000 for a similar discovery. It was not long after the publication of the Government's that the famous "Shotover" claim was discovered by Mr. Wm. Hunt and party. Hunt was ascending the Ivuranui Creek in search of the precious metal when He was confronted by a waterfall. He stuck his pick into the face whereby to haul himself up, and in so doing he displaced a portion, exposing a rich body of gold-bearing, quartz. Not long after that there were 5000 miners on the field and in the following year the population had increased to 12,000 souls. Within a year of Hunt's discovery as much as £12,000 was paid for a quarter share in the "Shotover," and later on it was said that each of the four original owners of the claim netted £40,000. Other. very rich claims were discovered soon after this lucky find, such as the Long Drive Mine, which paid nearly £90,000 in dividends and in which the Duke of Edinburgh held some shares. I had occasion to visit the Thames in the years '67 and '68. Amongst the boats then running from Auckland to the Thames were the Royal Alfred, Tauranga and the Enterprise, a number of cutters. Occasionally we would arrive at nighttime and anchor a mile from. Shortland. The method ol landing was by the ship's boats, and frequently we got stuck on the mud and had to get out and push. The process of landing generally tool: an hour. On going ashore at the mouth of the Kauaeranga Creek, we had to wade through another species of mud and slush up to our ankles. At this time there was in the way of buildings only Nicholls' store, afterwards converted into the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, and Captain Butt's public house, but there were scores of bell tents. In seeking quarters for my nocturnal repose, I was lucky in obtaining the only vacant stretcher in Captain Butt's attics, approached by a ladder. There I encountered about a dozen diggers, fast asleep, most of them snoring heavily. The and diminuendoes were most effective and as for the tutti and ensemble passages, they could not have been excelled by the best orchestras of the world; they were simply thrilling. No gooner did I fall asleep during a temporary lull, than I was manhandled by a rough, inebriated digger who disputed my right of occupancy of the stretcher, but mine host soon put him to his rightabouts. The bar below was usually thronged with diggers indulging in what was then the universal and popular beverage of porter and sugar. I have seen the late Mr. ~ Justice Gillies, when he was the superintendent of the province, amongst the crowd of diggers enjoying his glass and a well-seasoned clay "nose warmer. To refuse to join in a festive party in having "another" Was to give mortal offence. Change was usually returned to the serving barmaid. , . It was a common sight at Thames in the early days to see amateur miners, consisting largely of ex-fledged and unfledged lawyers, surveyors, navy and army officers and bank and warehouse employees excitedly washing parcels of "dirt" in tin dishes, but the novel operation was usually succeeded by a period of gloom as it was soon realised that the Thames was not an alluvial or poor man's' goldfield. Going Down "a Mine. V A sister of mine on a visit to the Thames expressed a desire to see the workings cf a mine and to take some of her young lady friends down. Accoidingly I made arrangements for the inspection, but on the party assembling at the mine.their courage failed them with the exception of one bolder spirit than the others. In descending in the cage my companion, happening to look up° became very scared owing to the point of entrance assuming the appearance of a vanishing star, and she clung to me for support, but on entering the compartment she was reassured by the miners and her interest was engaged by a graphic description of the workings of a gold mine. The young lady was very much amused at the appearance of the miners' headgear, which consisted of peak-caps surmounted with candles whose grease was streaming'down their noses. But my friend again became hysterical on finding that the small aperture by which we had entered the compartment had been blasted and, for the time being, all means of egress had disappeared. The earnest assurance of the foreman'that, all the debris would speedily be'removed soothed her troubled nerves, but the beat of her heart only regained normality upon regaining the surface and natural daylight. At the period of which I have been writing a certain sanguinary adjective was very much in demand and o\ erworked. As an illustration, I once overheard a tete-a-tete between two miner friends who met in Pollen Street. One was bearing a ~large bundle of soiled linen. Bill said to Tom (bearing the burden), "Where are you bally well off to with that bally heap of clothes, Tom ? "I am bally well off to the bally laundry, Bill." .. , . "Why don't you make your wife take the bally things to the bally laundry, Tom?" "Because she bally well says that she bally well won't do it, and when she says she bally won't, well, she_ bally well don't, and that's all about it."