THE UNCHANGING QUEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 4

THE UNCHANGING QUEST

GOLD-SEEKING IN AUSTRALIAN / TERRITORY " Gold-Dust and Ashes: the Romantic Story of the New Guinea Goldfields.” By lon h. Idriess. Illustrated, with Maps. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. (6s net.) "Tragedy Track: the Story of the Granites. By V. E. Baiunc. Illustrated. Sydney: i’rank C. Johnson. , New Guinea Mr lon Idriess, now that he has become engaged in authorship, is writing books almost as fast as one can read them —and they are readable —almost faster, one would imagine, than they can be turned out of the presses. He must be by far the most prolific author in Australia. Therein lies to some extent the interest in hi s books—they are the product of a man who, having lived rudely and vigorously, turns that gift of physical expression into words. . But there is little of transmutation in the process. His writing is robust and dashing: it owes little to art. At first this may appear an advantage, as giving it authenticity, but now that he has turned to telling of adventures gained mainly at second-hand one might wish for more polish. Idriess remains a rough-and-ready journalist, with the journalist’s facility in presenting incident in startling but compelling language, but the journalist’s aptitude to elaborate facts when they lack drama, and to aim at arresting the reader s attention with a hit-or-miss technique. His new book deals with the history of gold in New Guinea. It is a romantic story which he relates with his accustomed gusto, but not, as he tells it. worth the 280 pages it receives. While the territory was under the German administration the goldfields were not exploited. Indeed, it seems doubtful whether there was any realisation of the extent of hidden wealth. There were, however, pioneers in New Guinea who had a good idea of its auriferous possibilities, and after the territory was occupied by Australian forces in wartime exploitation commenced. But the rich fields at Bulolo were terribly difficult of access. Every ounce of food, every necessary piece of gear, had to be carried by natives. Fever and other, ills assailed the prospectors, and the administration, in its humanity, had taken steps to assure that the black men were not unreasonably exploited by. the. white. Mi Idriess gives us an imaginative portrait of late . Cecil Jolin Levien . regarding a sleeping carrier and pondering upon the problem which this form of transport involved: — !

This man sleeping before him had cost hia master £25 in a recruiter s fee. Added to that came ’ Government dues and the man’s own few shillings per week, and probably £2 to keep him, even before he had carried a single pack. On top of that, the miner had to sign papers and be responsible, under a heavy fine, for this man’s health and wellbeing, had to care for him; doctor him; had to look after him as he might a prize stallion. In return the carrier did—what? Briefly, he carried, say, a 50lb pack of rice, bought for an exorbitant price, and ate 151 b of it before he got to the field. If the supervisee were not vigilant he would throw away another 101 b on the track. He would be spelled at ,thc field for a week at bis masters expense, then sent back to tbe coast for another load, .being provided for' on the way. Ike rice which the miner would retain for his own use and that of the boys working the claim might amount to 201 b if he were Levien was the first man to conceive the use to which aeroplanes might be put in developing the goldfields. Owing mainly to his initial eflort an air transport service was; worked up. The first aeroplane to reach the field did the work of 250 carriers* who would have cost £1 a week to maintain, apart from other expenses, and it was able to accomplish in a tew hours the journey on which native carriers required three weeks. Moreover, as heavy aeroplanes came to- be employed it became possible to convey over the jungle machinery that could only with the greatest difficulty have been transported through it. An eloquent photograph - m “Gold-Dust and Ashes” shows a baby car being hoist into a big aeroplane which transported two tons of rice in addition. The later history of Bulolo is more sedate although Mr Idriess, extracts from it all the more vivid chapters. Bulolo valley has yielded £200,000; Levien’s foresight was rewarded with a fortune, and when he died his ashes were scattered over the rich territory he' had helped to discover.

The Granite* The story of a gold rush that succeeded may make more heartening reading than that of one which failed. It need not, however, be more exciting, and it may well be less so if the tale of the unsuccessful adventure is in the diands_ of so competent a writer as Mr F. E. Baume. Mr Baume, a former New Zealand newspaper man, writes, if the distinction be allowed, with more restraint than the author mentioned above, and consequently liis narrative gains in intensity. He was a member of the Madigan expedition which was sent last year to explore the possibilities of the Granites, that legendary goldfield in the Central Australian wilderness, 380 miles west of Alice Springs. A photograph titled “Typical Granites Country,” will 'give the New Zealand reader, unfamiliar With the and Australian desert, an idea of .the nature of the land in which gold was sought. It cannot,! however, convey the desolation' of space through which the goldseekers, many of them -pitifully equipped in knowledge and provisions, toiled. Mr Baume says:—

The trip'to the Granites is a hardship even to well-equipped parties. How much more terrible must it have been for the hard old prospectors,, who drove their eamels till they perished them, summer or wintex*,2to what is actually the loneliest gold mine in the world? Every ounce of sold- earned out here is earned in sweat and flies and sickness. Let the rigours of the journey alone warn inexperienced men from attempting the desert crossing, out, far out, from the overland telegraph line and civilisation. Mr Baume describes fully the life at the Granites, and gives an informal introduction to many of the “characters whose health and enthusiasm have not been broken under the hard conditions of life. “The men of the Northern Territory are magnificent Australians,” he says. “ The Granites tragedy merely filed their spirit to sharper courage. Though the rest of Australia may lose faith in their great spaces because of wliat shrewd company promotion failed to .achieve, the men of the Centre are sure that somewhere, some day, they will find enough gold to end Australia’s financial troubles.” This book is very fully illustrated. A. L. F.