GOLD BUBBLE BURSTS

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1932, Page 9

GOLD BUBBLE BURSTS

QRANTTES held failure ,7 jnOTONMENT. OF MINERS. MUCK HARDSHIP AND SICKNESS, p Sydney,. Nov. 24. The boom associated with the Granites goldfield in Central Australia is over definitely over—and several of the . more influential syndicates interested in expensive options have withdrawn. Independent geologists have published reports that are distinctly unfavourable, and when the history of the boom comes to be written it will involve the linking together of a sad story of scores of disillusioned prospectors who lost all they possessed and were ruined in health.. < Then again,.. speculative losses on the • Stock Exchange probably run into £300,000. . - ' • The Granites market was controlled mainly from Melbourne . and Adelaide, and there were some spectacular rises in the shares of companies reputed to have the best opti~-u. In all the. public subscribed £a_4, j tJ ...ese undertakings At one time most of the shares were ' at a substantial premium. Granites . ■ Gold, a Melbourne company, enjoyed the most spectacular market. From a comparatively small premium at £l2 in September, they rose to £45 in a few days and continued their rise to £B5 on September 30. They are now changing hand* . round about . £5. PITIFUL STORIES TOLD. ; ' _ I " ' . : . ’, ■ ■ .. . . '4 pitiful stories are reaching civilisation of the plight of the misguided men who went to the Granites. Men who have • travelled all over the world agree that the 375 miles from the railhead at. Alice Springs to the' field is the worst trip ;; it' is possible to imagine. There. is a serious • shortage of water, and that which is obtainable is ' infected, and those who drink it without taking many precautions suffer terribly, notably from dysentery. The heat at this time of the year is more than the average man : ran bear, ‘arid the millions of flies constitute an aggravating menace. .There are various other animal pests to be contended with, and only the stoutest constitution can be expeu.— to survive ■ the privations.' Unfortunately, there has been no check on the constitution of the men who were anxious io try their luck, - and they went-intotthis dangerous country ill-equipped and unprepared, and • are suffering terribly' accordingly. APPEAL MADE TO GOVERNMENT. Following on the circulation of reports that various companies would operate on a large scale a number of men were attracted to Alice Springs in the hope that they would find employment at the Granites. Now hundreds of them are stranded, and an appeal; is being made f to the Federal Government to come to their aid. Scores of- men are camped close to Alice Springs, a town which can barely support its own meagre popu- < lation. and the suffering of these men is growing more serious every day. It cannot be long before the Government takes some action and arranges for their return to Adelaide. In certain quarters the Government has been severely criticised for not placing some check on the men who were anxious to tsy their luck at the Granites. •/ -, f * j Some men who will not listen to the advicd of experts are still pushing on. to the Granites, and this-has'led Mr. C. M. Yeomans, a. . miningengineer with world-wide experience, to issue a grave warning.. - ' DESERT TRAGEDY FEARED. “Unless something happens,” he said the other day, “the Granites will be the scene of a great desert tragedy before Christmas. The track from Alice Springs will be strewn with the bones of foolhardy men if they persist in making this journey. The field is like the famous Death Valley of California. In a shade temperature that hovers between 115 and 120 degrees during the day, typhoid fever stares these men in the face. Men without even camel transport, with just the clothes they wear, and neither money nor a week’s food, are pushing i. on toward the Granites. These men are walking into a land of horror. They will not listen to reason, so they should be stopped by law. Not only will' they throw away their own lives, but the lives of others who will have to go out and search for them.” 7 Mr. C. T. Madigan, lecturer in geology at the Adelaide ’ University, who has ; just returned from the Granites field* tells a vivid story ,of the privations of ; the miners, half of whom are laid up with illness. Because of lack of equip- ' ment and capable miners, development work was at a standstill. It was unfortunate that the boom should- have A occurred at this time of the year, for V conditions would become' worse -as the summer advanced. Vegetables and 1 fresh 'meat were- unknown. Beer was -,4s 6d a bottle, and everything else was proportionately dear. Somewhat, belatedly the Federal Gov-, ernment announced oh- Monday that an inquiry would be* held into the plight of the men stranded at AlicS Springs, and at the Granites. <lt is expected that, as a result, definite action will be taken to control the traffic out’ of 7 Alice Springs so as to avoid unnecessary risk of life.