GOLD-MINING, &c., AT THE THAMES.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 35, 1 October 1869, Page 3

GOLD-MINING, &c., AT THE THAMES.

Trie following remarks are extracted from a letter in a recent number of the ' Lyttelton Times \— Has it never struck you that the goddess Fortune's blindness is all a saam—that she keeps one eve shut and the other very knowingly half open? Try the experiment of attaining wealth quickly, by following a. path 'of your own choosing, and you will almost invariably find yourself going the wronf way. Miss Fortune has that one bright eye upon you, and means mischief. She quietly removes the treasure, and htys it at the feet of some one who is not in search of it and probably | does not want it. As Mrs. G-amp would I say, it comes quite " unbeknown." j Take a man in possession of the moderate comforts of life, enjoying a quiet, happy life, who suddenly becomes discontented with his lot, a,nd goes into speculation, at first perhaps mildly ; a first success leads to bolder ventures, and there he is at last rolling in an unmanageable sea, in which he can neither float or swim. What are the odds he sinks? Why, 1000 to 1. I can mention several instances of the wonderful vagaries of fortune connected with gold here; but bear hi mind that these instances are very, very rare, and form the most daugf-rous bait that the "wideawake"" goddess trims her iron hook with. Once swallow the bait and you are lost. Our mutual friend M. was, but a very few months since sitting in his counting room-—nut not counting out his money, as he had but very little to count—when two Individuals entered. One came to plead the cause of the other, and to endeavor to persuade our friend to purchase a half-share in a claim on the Thames for ten pounds, to relieve his absolute necessities, putting it as an exceeding great favor. Our friend greatly demurred to this, pointing out that ten pounds was in these days of depression, a sum of almost fabulous magnitude. The per- , suasive eloquence of the advocate be- j came so touching that the warm, kind, heart of our friend was reached, and he gave the ten pounds for the halt-share, but went about without delay to dispose of it. again, the bare mention of ten pounds sterling to be paid by any one in those days produced such alarm, that he was obliged to give up the idea of selling. Again tins good man was

sought and entice J by tender appeals out of the inconceivable sum of thirty pounds for another half-share in the same ,£ duffing " claim. This could not last, and believing that more shares would be offered, and more money paid, and that not even bread would be left for himself and child, he determined to leave at the earliest possible moment for England, and prepared to depart, hoping that some very fine day the claim would perhaps pay part of his expenses t) the mother country. Now was the time when Fortune' with arogueish twinkle in that bright halfopened eye played one of her usual little games, and turned the two halfshares of our friend iufco one Golden Crown, valued at £48,000, and fitted it neatly upon his head.- She played exactly the same joke with four or five otuers, giving them all (Golden Crowns for the smallest consideration, but she cruelly cheated some others whom she evidently had a il down " upon. One poor fellow she persuaded- to sell his ■Golden Crowii for five pound.s, and was equally cruel to several others. ILR.H. | tue jbuke of Edinburgh and Lord | Beresford pitreh&ssed 50 shares between [ them in the JUoug Drive Company, for £SO per share. Within 47 days they had a dividend of £lO per share placed to their credit. The shares are now worth £lB5, so that what cost them £2t>oo worth £9250. Many instances could be named of men suddenly rising in a few weeks, or even days, fmmJ ; comparatively (some actual) poverty to wealth and position, but you and I might go and live on the spot and never gain a fraction of gold. It is the old story, of one having luck and thousands being ruined. My advice to those 'about to speculate in gold mining is, don't! but if you roust go with the stream be very careful, and play a waiting game, watching your opportunities narrowly. There are more sunken rociva in the sea of speculation than iu any other, and unless you have a cautious experienced pilot on board, your frail barque will surely be wrecked. I suppose there is nothing so speculative, uncertain, and fluctuating, or so liable to fake representation and fraud, as gold mining ventures. Many people rush into ..si: area without proper consideration, and as a rule lose their money...- I must acknowledge to a slight attack of irold fever, but I have upon a principle. The first object is to ascertain that the persons connected with the company are respectable, then as to its prospects, its situation with regard to rich known reel's, and then that there is reasonable prospect of the company returning in one year, with good interest, whatever you pay. If the promoters have received too much in scrip, or the capital is too high, with the prospect of future calls, I have nothing to do with it. Tae modus operandi appears to be this: Men go out prospecting and when they come to likely looking ground, they peg out, say ten men's ground, each man being allowed 300 by 50ft., they then sell, say eight shares to capitalist*, reserving two shares to themselves : these are called promoters' shares, for which a small sum is paid. These pronotars sometimes work the ground, paying wa<_res, and if. a* in the case of the Golden Crown, a rich reef struck, large fortunes arc made. This, how-; ever, is seldom the case. As a rule, j the promoters put a high nominal value j upon the whole claim, and form it into j a company, issuing the shares to the I public, with a liability for calls, for the purpose of working the claims. All ; claims have to be carefully registered, j and every original claimholder must hold a miner's right. It is not necessary for a shareholder in a company, holding a lease, to hold a miner's right, but I believe the manager must. Companies are being launched upon this principle in great numbers, and many of them will never pay a dividend. I anticipate that you will have plenty of scrip offered to you in Christchurchfor sale, but, before purchasing, consult some experienced friend, or act upon the principle I have laid down. There are many good companies to invest in, biit there are also such things as salted claims, pretended leases, &«., &c.