GOLDFIELDS STORIES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 664, 15 November 1909, Page 4

GOLDFIELDS STORIES.

Bj SfUNDrB,

FROM ttUARTZOPOLIS.

.■..Very fow manual occupations are romanticto- the world! afc largo, still fewer are- ao to those engaged in them, ~--. ', Goldmining is, however, one of the exceptions to bothi rule's. It is romantic'to the outside. world, but perhaps move so to. the gofdmfner himself. This, in alt probability,. arises fvomi the fact'i&atlncß is such, a;large, element.'iii mining lite- Far from- being amere- shperstitlo'h: to the miner, it appeal's a. stern; reality. No old miner wilt ior a moment doubt the assertion that 'one- man- has more tuck than another. , Some poor fellows have■ no luck.-ai-, all; he Vwli.iidd., Can he noi; point'to' dozensof KCtt '■' who., wf,rc? one day: almost-starving, the next day'.veil on- the way to .'fortune'r Bbes he n»t tndic others who hive, time alter time, struck it lich when men working- 'along--' side them have not got so much as a colour f Have not men toiled away in a claim for months;., without result,, .and in : desperation; htt»6..thro-Wn it up for; someone, atsio';to come in, and, in a fow months,'make: a fortune? I; No; such thing as lack?—no man short of a. ?oof would, in'■' the face Of' these facts, say the ;i'r£e. ■ .- .-'-. • ■": >,- '. Allihotfgh- thO: majority of onr older goldmin ing townships are how as quiet as \Vellingtonis; on '.Sunday, they have nevertheless in the/past been tha, scenes-.of. rush and excitement SHCii as ace never witnessed in our largo town.*.; . '~' \ ,; .'■'The'following stories have-been' 1 picked up from the.old-identities at Thames.-. : OHe day, in 186T, a party of four metfr-Hunt, Cobley, Clarkson, and' .'White—were . prospect-mg-rti'-at smaK cveefe af Thames, how'known ■aff.-th'iy Slwtbvei, They got soma very good prospects, and followed .the gold up>-stream. , At fast tftey came.on-a -wall of .rock about i twelve feet, high,-'oyer- which the ereek fell las' a, sffiafl ca«:ade. The rocky.wall proved 'fobe the. outcrop of;.a;;quart* reef, and on closer examination, was found to be.rich in gold..' The ground-was pegged out, and soon ■ many men wereon the scene. The gold being alloyed' wiffr a fair ; proporticn 'of, silver was ! paler fhan sold usually is. Doubfs*were cast ion■ its being gold at all.-- ffome.said it was ■ mica, and.-thought it *as; 6<ime said, it was '■ mica r but thought it .was not, .The latter . worthies w'ei?. wanting for a chance: to jump ! thet-'claii&. iit: ea&r> it. should be abandanea. 'Proof was fortheflming:;that it was gold, and ia wild, rash set m to peg out- the adjoining ; ground, . The course of , the reef was traced '■ and-i'laims; pegged.put.by candle-light, . :, ; ..''. fhe Vuclty ■finder's of the Shotover each made ;XK>,O(M- in :a very short space,; of time. The i Shotprer find; gave the Thames a good 6tart, : and .was followed by. finds even ■ more sensational than that' of. the Shotover, . i nifght have explained that' at, the Thames the; gold is found in, shoots of patches. A reef might ;be ,proclically./worthless'; one point, but a .little furtherv'on -be fabulously rich. The runs of gold are small-in extent, but they more-', than .make apMfor that .deficiency in rfchnesSr Not even -the most experienced miner can say'for certain When he may or may not drop'on a fun !of goW or patch. : tven, more than'' the Shotover. was the finding of the ilfamikaa patch.' i party including Jones, : O'Bnghlien, and Inomas hartbeen 'sinking to.; cut a leader (leaders are: small. quartx- veins; varying from an inch or.less to, a foot in width, which ultimately join with, or load up to the larger • «rs;,badjes or reefs). --They had met.with very poor luck,-and were nearly-throwing the whole thing up as-they were about-.!played out—the tuckeT bill was high and luck seemed against tne , m v'- Tn °y decided is) put in another day, and they cnt,tho leader. Instead of being solid quartz it was hrohen 'up 'and mixed with yellow mud. They hauled up some buckets of tne material and threw it on the ground and went to; crib.' While they Were away a heavy shower came on,'' When they came back they found, .instead: 'of .a/muddy; mess, i» he4p of fjuarte .pebbles, which; were glistening all orej 'Alth polo. Their escitcment know; no boniids, •and.j instead;of remaining poof men, in a. few months each worth ;over £13,000. ' ...Oneroid friend of mine, who hid never made anything big, but still hail always managed to strike a liltle at the right time, was never tired ortelHno: of a great sti-oko of Inck ho hadJono day., He;was walking'home fd dinner, and-noticed ins mate kick over a stone while cfossiiig the' mouth' of'tJie Shotover niato; 'passtSrl- it'iby, but ; my oldNftiend ; 'piekcd ; it found that it wS? rich: in' gold. B« realised oyer ■ J6ICO • from*that nio'co of curiosity.: -There is a-motto-with -wealth—'T3asy< come. easy, go.' ~ Some of the ;me« ! who mado their {n.oney; easily Kfuok:\to,it, others allowed it 1 to go almost at the same rat* l a.V they made it' : ;Pcor.fellow!i! 'iTiey, suffered from the delusion (which is not confined to lucky minors) that monay mahei?. a; gentleman, and' that the only way to show- that, one possesses money is by wasting- iti X : ■■; '■■■'■. . - • , -; ..Obo raanwho iroade l wEIO.OOO lived ,lik© a mil'-' liensire for a couple- of yaa'rs. and was a power man than when he started.: ;;Ho was no wiser; however,, for he .declared: often that he . wonld do.jnstthft mim if .be,had the eamo amount of. money again. '•':::.;.,. : .;..'•, . ; : An6lber:. had his; ,carriager wheels .';set' with ..stiver, and/the Inside of his stable finished in codav. He was not with the weight of his money for very Ion&'. : ;..,.. ; It ;was :a, commoit thing for lrickr diners when half:dronk; to light their.pipes with a burning- bank-note. • .■..;., : On« old identity, told ' mer,that when vlii£ mate used to'came home after a few drtnkV' on :Saturday hi: wonld..throw; all his small change^down .the -Bill. My. .remembrance ol the m«e is lircited to it time when- he would' have; been- glad to have orily small cliangeii ' howerßr.little ,i!if-it.;- -.■"••■-.■ ~"' ■ .- ■-.-i-

Speculation Wiis, responsible for ninny 6i thb'< poor fellows Ixrißgrftheved.of their gold.'Their ■most disinterested '■ financial advisors caiao: in for riiora than tho lion's share.of the: money.: Th*« shrewd gentlemen' U9*d to lay 'them on' te likely speculaiie>ns, from their own point or view, tmt vefy-nnlikcly, as ; far :as'- the unfortunate speculators wer» concerned. ■ i \. I. 1 remember one ofvmy schoolmates poinding out a rather miserable baking man, work-, ins hard with pick and shovel, and'saying irs : an awestracfc u whisper that that man had £M,(XX> once.. Poor fellow! he had been relieved of it all fay rash sjleculation, and was then blest with 4 large family of daughters. I think ho died of a broken heart.. •'■ One man who had lost all his money by rash speculation declared that he becamo' so unlucky that if he fell down on.the back of his head hc> would breat his nose. .-: . Saltingiclaima.'Was,.not,practised to;a very' great extent at,lliam€B.; Perhaps,tha reason for that is that Very few, wore caught at it. Salting, as;might be expected, dots/not mean putting salt in the ground at' all; It really means so fixing up theground: that if appears rich in gold; whon it is teally not sp. Perhaps the term obme* by analogy from that nursery, method of catching ; birds by salting their, tails . : Thi9 last :■ observation 6eeni"; to, be borne- out'by tho fact that thoso who nava had the misfortnno to be duped by salting arc known aa gulls.,■■'.■:■: ; . ■:■:. : . ...