WEST COAST OLD-TIMER

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 7

WEST COAST OLD-TIMER

HARDSHIPS AND BUSHRANGERS

The revival of the gold mining industry brought about by the increased value of gold has interested hundreds of persons in mining during recent years, but it is doubtful whether any present-day miners have had experiences similar to those of the late ifix. Robert George Palmer, who mined on the West Coast seventy-two years ago. ■Mr. Palmer wrote down his experiences, and the following details have been taken from" his manuscript, which w,as recently lent to "The Post":--

It was in the year 1865 (he wrote) that he decided to make his own way in the world, and left Nelson on the paddle-steamer Lyttelton for the West Coast goldfields. Although he does not refer to "jumped" claims later, he had his cabin "jumped" shortly -fter leaving port, and had to make the voyage in odd corners without the comfort of blankets. As the voyage to the Grey River occupied three days, the experience could not have been very encouraging to a youngjnan, but when he wrote his reminiscences of his venture in goldmining over thirty years later his recollection of the trip was of .glorious views of the mountainous seaboard. A MINING TOWN. ■ Greymouth was in its infancy at that time: "A long series of calico and iron buildings and tents built along the river bank and backed by the primeval forest. At the back of the town wasa low range of hills serrated like a pitsaw and heavily timbered. Through a narrow gorge the Grey River ran on its way to the sea. Dozens of small vessels and steamers lay alongside the river bank; there were no wharves at that time. Nearly every second building was a hotel or grog shanty; a few general stores and restaurants made up,the rest." At that' time, the manuscript continues, the beach-gold deposits had not been discovered and the mining was all up the river at the Twelve Mile, No Town, Nelson Creek, Ahauru, and numerous other creeks and gullies. goods had to be "swagged" or taken up the swift river in boats, canoes, or prahus, most of the boatmen being Greeks, Norwegians, or Maoris, who led a rough and risky life. Development work on the coal fields had commenced, and coal was brought to -he town in boats arid barges. A few weeks after Mr. Palmer arrived at Greymouth the presence of gold in the black sand of the beaches was revealed. Three or four ■ men had been working near Blaketown not far from the South Spit, and they had stated that they were not getting much gold because it was difficult to remove the fine gold from the sand. -Mr. Palmer visited their claim and collected a sample of sand. This showed traces of gold but he decided that it was too difficult to get, until he heard later that the miners.'who had been on the beach for a few weeks, had shipped approximately lewt of amalgam (gold and quicksilver) to Melbourne. As soon as this news, spread there w-s a great rush to the South Beach, the whole area between the Grey and Hokitika Rivers being pegged off. A COOK'S DISCOVERY. Later,- the.cook on. the steamer' Nelson went for a walk along the N th Beach, and,- while stooping to get a drink of water from a small .stream, ne saw-^ .quantity of. gold in the sand. Another rush started, and led 'to the discovery of the famous "Darkies' Terrace," and "Dufty's," the latter claim being named after Harry Dufty a pugilist. The Ross, Okarito, Bruce Bay, Gillespie's, and Jackson's Bay rushes followed in quick succession, and there were, also rushes to the northward in the vicinity of the Buller and Karamea Rivers. "It was about this time that the Maungatapu bushrangers caused so much excitement, but fortunately they had a short career," Mr. Palmer wrote.; "I remember seeing and speaking to poor young Dobson a few days before he was found murdered by these fiends." . The next g-Keat rush-was to the Little Grey and Inangahua Saddle, which afterwards became famous for its reefs at Reef ton. This- rush was marked by great hardships, as there was incessant rain, and provisions were scarce and prices high. The cost of carrying goods was £80 a ton, and-consequently flour was £100 a ton, and everything else was in proportion. For the majority of the miners the rush was a failure, as the district was not rich in alluvial gold. A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE. A year after Mr. Palmer has arrived at Greymouth the town had commenced to take permanent form, and was comfortable to live in, but good gold was found at the Fox River and Charleston in the terraces or raised beaches, and there was a great exodus of . miners from Greymoutl. Mr. Palmer, who had been working in Greymouth, was transferred to the Buller, and journeyed there in the steamship Kennedy. His new headquarters proved to be another town in the making, the settlement consisting of three stores ;_ and a : few shanties. There was no goldmining of any importance nearer than Charleston, and most of the miners had gone there or to the Fox. Apparently the place was too much of a "deserted village for Mr. Palmer, for he writes that, he left and went to the Waimangaroa, where a i rtz reef had been opened up. There he took charge of a bush store and a ferry at the mouth of the river about ten miles north of Westport, his employer having a branch "shanty" up the river near the reefs. "I had some exciting experiences here," he wrote, "especially when anybig rush was on to the Karamea, Mokihinui, or other places along the coast." Addison's Flat was opened about this time, and the discovery of Caledonian, Giles, and German Terraces followed. Westport' went ahead rapidly, and showed signs of becoming a prosperous town. A big flood washed the original township and its cemetery out to sea, and more permanent buildings were pushed ahead. A great deal of capital was expended to develop the reef at Wflimangaroa, but it was a failure, and a rush set in to Mokih'inui, where a large number of buildings were erected only to be deserted a few months later when the diggings proved a failure. ■ BUSHRANGER ENCOUNTERED. "About this time," the manuscript continues, "a gang of bushrangers—a remnant of the Burgess and Sullivan lot—stuck up a pl.ice a few'miles from Waimangaroa. They were soon caught and imprisoned, but one of them —Tom' Cane —escaped and was supposed to >c hiding in my locality. Being alone. I always kept a double-barrelled gun ready for contingencies. One Sunday morning, Jack . Temperley, the storekeeper at Ngakawau, sixteen miles up north, accompanied by two other men, ; called in for rest and refreshment. One i of these men caught sight of my gun t beside my couch, and saying, 'Are you c afraid of being stuck up that you keep f this beside you?' took up the gun to c examine it. In a moment the pleasant i smile on his face changed to a fierce t scowl, and he said, 'Now clear out, of this, every man of you. I'll shoot the s first man that touches me.' Thinking J he was only joking I attempted to takeA'

A GOLDMINER'S REMINISCENCES

the gun away, but he pushed me violently to one side, and as I coijld l-9 he was in earnest I left the premises With the other two." Mr. Palmer writes that he found lhat this man was Tom Cane and' that the storekeeper and the other man were taking him to Westport. Mr. Palmer went to where two men were camped to see if he could secure a revolver, so that he could regain possession of the store and his gun. He could not get firearms of any description and had to return to the store unarmed. When he reached it he found that Jack Temperley had persuaded the bushranger to give up the gun Cane was not unprepossessing in appearance, being dark and gipsy-like He said he had been wandering about the bush half-starved and had gone to the tent of the man accompanying Temperley. This man made a pretence of going to the store to get food, but betrayed the bushranger to the storekeeper. Cane claimed that his betrayer was a member of the gang, and, judging by appearances, Cane was the more trustworthy.- He had taken the gun because of this man's presence, and had no intention of harming Mr. Palmer. The storekeeper and the other man continued on their way to Westport with Cane. Mr Palmer writes that he was not sorry to see the last of his visitors, as before Cane was taken away he took possession of a sheath-knife and made dangerous demonstrations before it was taken from him. GOLD-SEEKING IN EARNEST. In 1868 Mr. Palmer gave up shantykeeping to try his fortune at golddigging on the beach north of Waimangaroa. He. built a hut with fern trees and kiekie on a small islet in a lagoon, "a very pleasant and picturesque locality where there was plenty of game, wild duck, pigeon, kaka, and eels." The gold was in th» black sand between high and low water mark, and he, moved quantities of this sand up the beach while the tide was out. Having secured,a supply, he put it through, a cradle, in which the gold was collected on a copper plate treated with quicksilver. Cradling for gold was not hard work, he writes, and some miners made good money by this method, but he was not very fortunate. He was joined by a man named Weetman, but their-luck was so bad that they became completely "broke" and decided to try the old workings at Waimangaroa. The other miners there, with the true hospitality of old-time diggers, advised them where to look for 'gold, but their luck did not change, and Weetman left for the Buller. Mr. Palmer went to the Caledonian Terrace, where he worked a tailings claim with indifferent success;- then to. the Ballarat Terrace, where he took up a claim with Jack Wagstaff. They got good prospects, but decided that they would have to drive a shaft to get to the best gold. After working through some very dangerous ground they discovered that the claim was a "dufler," and Mr. Palmer went to Hatter's Terrace, where he bought a tailings claim for £15. iA good tailings claim, was the easiest mining that could be imagined, h» ■wrote. His claim was below several tunnel claims, where all the gold could' not be collected because it was cemented in the standstone. As this lost gold went down, stream the sandstone broke up, and' a tailings claim consisted of a sluice-box with plush or blanket mats, arranged to catch the gold released from the standstone by the action of the water. He.made £12 a week for some months, but the tunnel claims ran into poor ground and the tailings claim suffered with them From Hatter's Terrace Mr. Palmer set out to walk to Karamea and arrived there safely. . His manuscript ends with the statement that he went with Jim and Alfred Waller on a prospecting expedition to the country north of Karamea. /.