"TRAGEDY TRACK"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

"TRAGEDY TRACK"

ROMANCE OF THE GRANITES If the recent short-lived rush of eager gold-seekers to tlio Granites—that ill-starred region in the Northern Territory of Australia—did not fulfil their dreams of fortuno, it lias given to lovers of stories of adventure a welcome addition to this class of literature. Those who derive a thrill —and who does not—in reading tales of laborious travel and stern undaunted striving with obstacles innumerable, will need go no further than " Tragedy Track," in which the story of the Granites its high hopes and dismal failure—is graphically told by Mr. F. E. Bauinq, an ex-Aucklander now engaged in journalism in Sydney. He was a member of the Madigan expedition, which was despatched to the Granites 111 October last by Associated Newspapers, Limited, of Sydney, and tlio Melbourne Herald to furnish. an authoritative report on the field. The report of Mr. C. T. Madigan, the geologist of the expedition, was to the effect that there was nothing to be found at the Granites to warrant a boom, and that as a result of the unwarrented rush the ivhole Northern Territory had received an undeserved setback in regard to prospecting from which it may tako years to recover. The rush, perforce, collapsed forthwith, and for a few weeks a stream of prospectors who had staked their all to reach the supposed new El Dorado were hurrying back along the " Tragedy Track " of peril? and pitfalls to Alice Springs, the rail-head and connecting link with civilisation. The goings and comings, and the vicissitudes of the none too brief life at the Granites, have received faithful treatment at the hands of Mr. Baumo. A number of his articles which are incorporated in the book were published in the New Zealand Herald in November, but a wealth of new matter has been added, and tlio entire .narrative is told in tho crisp and vigorous style that characterised the preliminary instalments. The hardships and suffering, the terrors of sickness, hunger and thirst, and withal, the fortitude and philosophy that stamped the grim adventure, are all vividly portrayed. There is real-life romance for the fireside reader as well as what should prove a salutary warning to the inexperienced not to lightly embark on the perils of high adventure in " The Back of Beyond." The interest of " Tragedy Track " is enhanced by a profusion of excellent photographs. " Tragedy Track, the Story of the Granites," by F. E. Baume. (Frank C. Johnson, Sydney).