Coolgardie.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 226, 12 November 1894, Page 3

Coolgardie.

Mr Harry Gardiner, of Wanganui, who has just returned from Coolgardie, during a conversation with a representative of this journal, gives the following account of the field :

“ Like ethers, I was gulled by the glowing accounts I read in newspapers, and decided to go and try my luck. The trip to Perth was very enjoyable, and in that eity I felt extremely hopeful of success when I beheld the magnificent specimens of pure gold and quartz, brought from the field. After considerable diffi culty, I managed to Becure lodgings for wife and self, in Perth, at 80s a week each, till ready to go to Coolgardie. Hearing deplorable accounts of the journey thereto, and the scarcity of water, my wife decided to remain in Perth till I returned from the field. The journey to the field, in company with thirteen other gold-seekers, was enough to damp the ardour of the most enthusiastic man ; nevertheless, I journeyed on with the rest, meeting hundreds of disappointed men returning, and stopping occasionally for a short spell to listen to their tale of woe. Camels, horses, carts, wheelbarrows, handcarts, and all sorts of conveyances were heavily loaded, and going to and from the gold district. At last Coolgardie came in aflght, and my heart gladdened, to think I had journeyed so far. over such a sultry country, and encountering periodical clouds of hot, rod sand, the whole distance. The povertystricken appearance of the crowded streets of Coolgardie, did not impr ss me much with the prosperity I hithcnrto imagin'd reigned in this mushroom towh, and I felt very disappointed a*d down on my luck, when I dDcevered carpenter** — for I am a carpenter—vere working for 5s a day, and that condensed water wt« that day worth ds lOd a gallon, which price I paid. Next day the water had risen to 9s a gallon, and a water famine seemed imminent. Great excitement prevailed in the township, and curses loud and deep ware heard from the semiI tried to get an odd job, even at 5s a day, but failed. One man accepted an offer of ten shillings, to build a two-roomed corrugated iron shanty, to be used as a public bar, and stated that he had to accept the work, in order to get sufficient food to keep him from starving, The second day in Coolgardie, was terribly hot, and my water, owing to my continual thirst, soon vanished. Strolling down the principal street, with a few acquaintances I had picked up on the road to Coolgardie, we espied a horseman galloping towards us, at full speed, and he stopped within a few yards. Calling londlv to someone in a shanty close by, he startea to take off r leather bag that was buckled to his saddle. His friend in the shanty, was soon by his side, and led the foaming horse to a tether p*g. Being anxious to know where the stranger hnd come from, and curious as to the contents of his bag. one of my acquaintances asked, and the stranger showed u» fully two hundred specimens he had prospected for in the neighborhood of White Feather. Like wild-fire, the news spread, and immediately small parties set out in the direction from whence the specimens came, my party among tha number. With great difficulty, and at the ruling rate, ‘Js a gallon, wo obtained as much water and food as re could carry, and that journey to White Feather, i j < '• highway robbery were reported to us as having occurred, and it is no unusual thing | to meet a party armed to the teeth with bu t°one*inch*ha nd* HoweTer!°a! our I only possessed a small supply of water, | and little money, wore we not mo 1 letted, although, at times, wo w-ra confronted with parties who* facial frontispieces bore the imprint of criminality. So j our journey continued to \\ hffo Feather, where we- arrived hungry, thirsty, and j knocked up. Two days’ rest, and after J partaking of a small quantity of food and j water, for which we paid a fabulous price ! to another party, we started prospecting, but no sign of gold could be found. Two lays passed, and we journeyed over miles ; of likely country, but with no luck, j Broken hearted, we retraced our >t< back j to Coolgardie, but whether we should get | there Providence only knew. It was a fearful tramp. No food, bo water, yet ! possessed of suff eient co : n to bur plenty. . Not till more than half the distance of 1 that dreary seventy-five miff** had been traversed did v/e succeed in obtaining iood and water, end tnen only from a party who, guided by <he reports this had reached them, were return «g to Coolgardie. Back again, I did e tour reend th- various mince, which are blocker! for want of water to work them. The Wealth of N-tionais not likely to turn out so profitable after all, * s fully twenty small shafts hav. boon ennk for 1000 yards yet the team is lost. The other mine* are forced in, at d no one knows their wealth. However, nothing can pos*>d-: /be done tiil next March. v.h'-n winter sets in. and it is useless for pjopie to g > there dgw, for stervetion, un.r.-s they possess considerable wealth, stares them in the face. In Coolgardie it is reported that the mine owners will have to go some 300 miles inland to a river for <t water supply, and, if so, that the work will cost a mint of money. Cabbages, which we New Zealanders would begrudge giving a penny for, here fetched D each there three weeks ago, and food of all kinds is extortion - atelv dear. In Perth it Is freely suited that the Government intend during the s’lmm* r months prohibiting poor people from going on the Iff Id. The trip to ttool-

gurdieand back,extending over some three months, H : me CLO, and f *in back in New Zealand a sadder but wiser man. However, if accounts are favorable, and w • eshigh, perhaps in a few years to come I might be tempted to return and partici ] pate, but now, i-*-ver. Let me tell von i'. j U no poor man’s field, and it is sheer madness for poor men to go. I should like to j from 'iVith meet with their just reward— ! T t ' ; ,vor*b|»* f»ne in Mi Oard'H- ' know he says, ‘ for all the gold Ukon from the im«u ; up till now, there has been • pent fully CUjO per ounce by others seekit. L emu-., i Ido not’believe it pour hie population of *' •• >’ /* rdM district is now said to be ov**r ‘20,000/ ”