OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2268, 19 August 1897, Page 21

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

(FfcOH OUB OWn"OO3OIKBPOND«NT."> Westland, Jaly 28. SIX TEARS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Mr John Maher, a returned Weit Coaster of some note, gave me a two hour*' audience the other night, daring which he kindly vouchsafed the following interesting data respecting Western Australia, its Government and people : When I went to Perth,4;he c*pital of Western Australia, in September of 1891, its total population, added to that of Fremantle, the port, was in round number! 14,000, and that mostly composed of the old identity class ; when I left, two months ago, Perth bad 14,000 and Frc- i mantle 9000. This, ef course, was irrespective • of the many thousands in the interior — of capitalists and speculators, prospectors, and operatives of all descriptions — who have long transformed the erstwhile dreary wastes of Southern Cross, Blackflag, White Feather, Menzies, Goolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and other places into busy human hives of activity, and prosperity. I saw the influx of English capital booming the fields where blazed the wealth of B&yley's Reward, the Londonderry, and the Great Boulder claim. The last-named had up till the time I left yielded to its lucky possessors only three tons of pure gold. Its capital is £175,000, in £1 shares, on which it is paying as high as 4s a month per share. It employs 200 men at £4 a week per man, with water worth 5a added ; and it is, without doubt, the most wonderful mine in the whole 'of the Westralias. In 1894 Coolgardie's population was, roughly, 1000 ; now 20,000 of a good class form the town, but, notwithstanding' that, I think Kalgoorlie is to be the town. Besides rich alluvial finds, there are, so far, 25 different quartz reefs, and most of them goldbearing. Machinery in arriving there as fast as*' it can, and the field will be a roaring Ballarat in no time. Both these neighbouring towns are well laid off — the main streets, intended only for business places, are three ' chains wide, and the side streets, in which only residences exist, are, of course, very much I narrower. The houses are built of wood, iron, and hessUn. Living can be obtained from 25s to £3 per week ; water, which is condensed 75 per cent, at a cost of Id per gallon, is retailed j at 5d per gallon; but, of course, when j the water scheme is made a reality that > invaluable commodity will cheapen. I should say that the present amount of English capital invested in the Westralian fields- is £20,000,000. The railway from Perth to Coolgardie was finished, and the traffic on it is something enormous. It was the quickest made and cheapest-constructed line on record, a mile a 1 day having been made at a cost of £500. * ¥<ra mtnfcioned to me iußts cow about the •

water scheme. Did yon not initiate the prs* posal yourself to the Westralian Government ?-— Yes.

Have you any objection to giving me a shorft account of the proposal ? — On the contrary, I shall be delighted. After my discovery at ths Ai-raa River, which is a tributary of the Swan River and a distance of 200 miles from Coolgardie, I immediately saw what en advantage it would be could a supply be sent from this source to the western fields, and making up my estimates I found that I could deliver a good supply at a total cost of £1,000,000, and went, to work in the ordinary way to ceonre a line of w&ter-rxca grant, but X found that the mining laws were obdurate, as the goldftalds warden had no jurisdiction whatever iv the matter of application. Full of hope for ultimate success, I got no less than three bills prepared for presentation to Parliament ; but the Speaker, whose power is absolute, threw them all out, and I was informed that I had not gone to work in the manner prescribed by the Mining Act, whiob, by the way. has bsen framed on the London Board o£ Works Act — statutes most unsuitable for Westralian mining. For instance, before I could have ensured the presentation of my third bill to Parliament I should have required to have expended something like £900 over descriptions of the race to each borough along the line; then I should, have required to have given them detailed plain and specifications of my scheme, nnd thcu after all Parliament might have refused to give me the grant. My soheme was this : to lift the water to reservoirs and run it down to Coolgardie by steel pipe-, and charge the inhabitants water rates to be fixed by Parliament ; but of course the whole thing was refused, and tbe Government are now taking in h*nd themselves the very scheme. Parliament ba3 passed a million and a-half for it, and senfc the engineer-in-ohief (Mr O. Y. O'Connor) Home to London in connection therewith.

Had your proposals been accepted, what difference would it now have made to the country P—lP — I have already mentioned that there are 25 known distinct lines of auriferous reefs, many of which cannot be profitably worked for want of washing water, and such a supply oE course would obviate matters ; besides this a fresh water supply for culinary purposes would have bsen available all along the railway line, and the race would have besn completed within two ysars.

Can you give me a brief deicription of the modus operandi to be pursued by persons desirous of taking up, say, licensed holdings or special claims P — Yes. Under a 10« miner's right one may peg off from one to 100 acres of land, paying for every such acre as application deposit £1. The area is described as an ordinary grant, which you can only hold after a grant from the Minister of Mines by being manued, one man to each aore ; and should you not do so after your application eas been so granted, forty-night hours of such neglect cancels all right thereto, and the warden has no discretionary power in giving any relief. Do you mean to say, then, that were I, for instance, to take up, say, 50 acres of land, which could not be for valid reasons worked within a month of the grant, that it would become abandoned P You know in New Zealand a grantee may come to' the warden and get pro* tcction, or he may have a nominal fine inflicted orf him iv lieu cf abandonment or forfeiture* ' and that, in capes of the larger areas, afford* him .opportunity of raising the necessary capital for working the claim on the basis set forth in the schedule. — Yes, you would lose yopr area even if you proved that you had paid employees to represent it and they neglected to work there 1

Does that not have a 'deterrent effect upon the investment of foreign capital, and so retard the mining industry ? — Yes ; but there are two sides to the question. If you allowed tha country to be locked up for even one short; month it would debar thousands of gold-seekers from earning good livings on the fields, and the, great object of the Westralian Government is to give every possible encouragement to individual gold minicg, and so populate the great stretch of country of Wettralia. On the other hand, as tbe easier gold-placers and surface reefs become worked and gouged out by tha individual miner, the more difficult workings of tha deeper mines and complex ores will require oombined capital, expensive machinery, and highly paid science; so that Government; might exert its wisdom by simplifying the mining law with the addition of one or more liberal regulations such as thoie now obtaining in New Zealand. To that end several influential members of the new Parliament intend introducing this session certain amendments, but I may say that I am against monopoly myself, a thing that has killed many of your New Zealand mines.

A word on syndicates. Suppose that I and other New Zealanders wish to have a shot nt Westralian mining ventures by sending prospectors over there, how would you oounsel us to proceed in suph a manner as to secure us against fraud and humbug, too often begotten of sensation and the gold fever of the finder ?—? — The matter is simple. On tho arrival of your prospectors at Perth have an agent there, who is also a shareholder in your syndicate, and to him your prospectors shall give periodical reports, and if he be a sharp mam there is little chance of the prospector turning dog on yon. Will you tell me something about public works and how they are carried out ? — Weil, Western Australia has not got quite so far advanced as has the colony of New Zealand in the matter of doing its works on the co-operative principle. The Government are doing most of their public works by day labour, the ruling wage being from 7s to 10s per day. At present the harbour works at Fremantle are being so constructed, although the railways were built by public tender, and I suspect that the water scheme will be constructed by day operative* under the supervision of the engineer-in-chief, the material, of course, for the same having; been procured in the best markets of the old country. I should now like to learn something aboufc the Westralian climate. — Judging from my sir yeara' experience in Western Australia, I should say, comparatively speaking, the climate there is as good as that of New Zealand. For instance, I have endured llOdeg in the shade in Western Australia with much less distress than I have withstood 95deg in New Zealand. There ure no miasmatic influences, and tho prevalent fever (typhoid) occurring through the summer months is attributable, to the use of bad water. The heat being a dry heat, is of course less distressing than the humidity of New Zealand, end in most places New Zealanders maintain their health. Perhaps th« most disagreeable part of climate and country are the sand sterms which frequently rise up and, darkening the whole face of the sky, sweep acrossthe countryat race-horse spfeed, sowing everywhere theit red showers of sand, the particles of which are. 60 me as to penetrate everywhere.

How are newcomers received P — The marked line between old identities and the immigrants is fast fading away, and as tbe former continue rubbing shoulders with the latter a general spirit of freemasonry and goodfellowship ha* superseded warped , conservatism. Only sue years ago the cry of "Another 'tothersider ! •*> vu as frequent ■■ daydawn, but I am happy to war that) the society o£ Wutoca Austral

ia now, generally speaking, as good as you will fiudit in any of the colonies.

In answer to farther questions my friend said : Wcstralicn hospitals are well managed, capacious, cleao, and comfortable. I have gone through several of the larger ones, spoken frequently with many of the patients thereiu, but they have only one story to tell — i c, : "We are kindly, carefully looked after, have nearly everything that we require, and we cannos speak too highly of the staff who attend to us." Nothing can be more satisfactory than this. In conclusion I may remark that these institutions are wlely maintained by the Government.

Mr C. Y. O'Connor, the engineer-in-chief of Western Australia, so well and favourably kcown in New Zealand, still maintains his ic--tegrity as & man of matvellous resources. Having the full confidence of his Government he yet maintains his dignity without fear or favour, and his whole endeavour appears to be the advancement of the large colony over which he has control. All the work 3 under his supervision have been attended with success. Although be has been frequently accused of a leaning towards New Zealacders in the matter ot appointments to public positions and the giving of work on public works, yet I feel certain that these assertions are groundless, became when an inquiry was made by Parliament as to the number of New Zealand operatives employed on the Fremantle harbour works the peccantage was found to be minimised.

We»ta-alia pays miners from £3 IQi to £4- per week ; labourers from 7s to 10s per day ; carpenters from 10s to 12a per day ; mine manager* from €30D to £1000 a year*. Sir John Forrest is- a far-aee'ng politician a long way ahead of his time, whose chief anxiety is to advance his cokmy socially, politically, and financially. Rejoiciog in the confidence cf Parliament and people, he succeeds io cur j ing his progressive policy through session after session. He is a Liberal Comervative, can give and take, and will not completely flatten, out hi* adversary simply because be may happen to hold opposite opinions. Hit immigration proposals, which take the form of free land grants, will settle and populate the country with wonderful rapidity. His whole policy appears to be one of It «c and letlive. The members of the Cabinet each receive enly some £600 a year, but the members of Parliament wittingly render their services to a grateful country who sent them there free. The telegrsph and mail services are improving daily. Time was when I have seen as much as £50 freely given to a cyclist for delivering a wire from Coolgardie to Perth. Now this is all done avir with, and wires may be sent from Coolgar die to any of the r astern colooies at tbe following rates :— For first 10 words (exclusive of address). 3s ; to New Zealand, 5s 4d. Sines the completion of tbe Pertb-CooJgardie railway cf curie the mail service has bees: capi'a! ; the stiff appears to be very efficient, as there are few complaints from the pubic.

•The natural resources of Western Australia, consist of coal, gold, silver, asbestos, &c. Th» timbers moit used are j&rrah and karris, for public works, and sindalwood appears to be very much prized by the Chioege for the josa house. The grasses of the colony are as good in many parts as those in New Zealand, and I have seen cattle and sheep thrive on them amazingly. The kangsreo appears to be the only animal of any aote indigenous to the

> lii conclnrioc. I have &ra»U hesitation ia reconQßaendiDg Western Australia as one of the grandest fields in the world foe legitircateenteipriae, either in mining industry or agricultural porsnits,snd jonag New Zealand might choose many woree piaeet ia the world wherein to hew 9, borne, make a. spoon, or spoil a horn.

snss r.rr.MAS' petrib's production of "iola^the"

■' For the past vrerk little else hat been talked of u£ and down the ccast but Miss Lilifan Fetria's triumph as conductress of Gilbert and Su?livau'» great satirical opera " lolanthe," which was liberally mounted and most successfolly reproduced for the two successive nights of last Wednesday and Thuxsdaj in the Poblic Hall at Greymouth by the amateurs under the s**ge management of Mr B. Wicks, and leadership of Mrs Hirsital as queen of the fairies, Mr Dacgan as SCrephdn, Mr* Jones as Phyllis, and Me*srs Gafcnerie as Lord High Chancellor, and G. Moss snd Brook as Earls Mounburarat *nd Tolloller, Sfceefe at Private Willis; Miss Ida Perkins as lolanthe, with the Misse* E. Easson, Mfston, and Hildebrand ss 'leading fairies. Special trains were laid on from the different centres, "so that =the house was pecked ta overflowing on bo'.h nights. The andieace loudly applauded the picturesque groups of satirised peers ' and bright fairies as tfcey huddled and marched, Hi fete (J, tang, and danced. Novelties were interpolated in the shape of graceful minuets and skirt dancing by Mils Clesry, Mies Hildebrand, end Miss Maricn Petrie v and the gavotte by Mr 3 Jones »nd Mr Doogan. Beautified by rhe limelights of Measxj Rae and Bell, (he everchanging living pictures of the opera appeared t6 best advantage, s,nd coastal press and psople all join in one acclaim lh*t " lo'xnthft" a» reproduced is the best thing ever staged by am&tems here. At th« conclusion of each performance Mr R'chard N*ncarrow, oae of the moit popular leading meu of the Coss*-, hearti'y thanked tbe amateurs, and had his call of three cheers for Miss Pet'io responded to rigbd heartily, for "lolanthe" was chic, xeehercne, and very realistic.