The Mercury 21 September 1880.
A VISIT TO NINE-MILE SPRINGS.
[From our Special Correspondent.]
Last week the opportunity presented itself of paying a visit to one of the great Northern gold-fields, which "Your Own" was not slow to take advantage of. A friend kindly arranged all the preliminaries, and 3 p.m. last Thursday found me mounted on a good-looking steed, ready for the ride to Nine-Mile Springs.
My first adventure was not very encouraging for, no sooner was I fairly in the saddle, than my fiery steed took it in his head to go, and go he did, full gallop down Brisbane Street, with your humble servant hanging on like "grim death" to the iron mouth of the beast. After reaching nearly the bottom of Brisbane Street, and narrowly escaping collision with two or three cabs on the way, his wayward career was, by dint of main strength, checked, and turning him again, he pranced gaily back, where I joined my companions, who could not forbear having a little joke at my expense, saying, "We thought you were off to Beaconsfield, and didn't expect to see you again for a week or two." We now got on the George Town road, and my horse soon settled down to his work. Mr. White, the manager of the New Chum, one of the lucky discoverers of the mine, was the leader of the party, and being a man of pluck and well mounted kept us moving. The afternoon was beautifully fine, and the road to Mount Direction was in capital order, so that the ride along the banks of the Tamar and through the avenue of wattles, which made the air fragrant with the scent from their bloom, was quite exhilarating. The country one passed through does not appear fit for agricultural purposes, and in many places is very heavily timbered.
When about eight miles from town we alighted and partook of light refreshment at the public house, and were then treated to an exhibition of coal discoveries, which the Hibernian spouse had been trying to develop on his own land. One of the party – fond of a joke – suggested that I was one of the Melbourne Commissioners who was interested in developing the mineral resources of the colony, upon which the worthy dame immediately despatched a messenger in quest of "the old man," who was away in in the bush, to give me all information; but seeing that my ignorance on the clay-like substance which represented coal, would be betrayed on the arrival of "mine host," I suggested that we had but short time to reach our destination by dusk, and must hurry our departure, which wa hastened accordingly. It is to be hoped that my old friend's rest was not disturbed that night by the thought that his prospects in life were much blighted through missing the visit of that "confounded commissioner." Another eight miles through undulating country brought us to the Mount Direction "Sentiment House" - so called by me from only dispensing teetotal drinks. The edifice is not very imposing, and it is a wonder to me, that, considering it is made a place of stoppage by teams as half-way house, some attempt is not made to improve it. The good road ends here; that is, for vehicles ; as the bridle track is good all through, at least, as far as I could judge; although some of the new roads are fearfully boggy and rotten, and will take some time to settle properly. The country for the next six or seven miles, in fact to the "Ram's horns," the mark for turning off to the Springs, looks like a big marsh, and anything but inviting. It seem a riddle to many why the new medico, Dr. Aspinall, has built such a fine structure, apparently in the middle of the swamp; but it is presumed he intends to drain it, and try to utilise the land. I wish him luck. A further ride of about six miles brought us to the Springs. Half-a-mile from the present diggings are situated the old Springs workings, which were to have enriched many, who returned sadder and wiser men. It was nearly 7 o'clock when we reached the top of the hill overlooking the new settlement, and in the moonlight the effect was very pretty.
The Springs are situated eleven miles north-east of George Town, and appear like an immense basin, with very thickly timbered country at the buck. In the distance to the east, about five miles, one, can see the Bluff which overlooks Bass' Strait. The population of the place is variously estimated at from six to seven hundred souls–of which a fourth are children –a fact which furnishes good evidence of the prolific nature of the country which is said to be very healthy; and to judge from the ruddy appearance of the children is entitled to be so considered. There is a school, presided over by Mr. Miles, whose rolls show nearly one hundred children as attendants, and this speaks volumes for the success of the teaching powers of the worthy preceptor who is very popular amongst the people. The same gentleman has charge of the telegraph office, and himself and wife have their time well occupied in attending to the calls of speculators. The post office is separated from the telegraph office, and occupiesa somewhat insignificant position in a butcher's shop – a blunder which it is to be hoped the Government will soon correct, and place all the Government offices under one roof. The buildings, of course, are all of wood, two or three of the fortunate miners having built very pretty cottages. There are two hotels, pre-sided over by Messrs. Cook and Ward respectively. At the former I took up my quarters, and have every reason to be well pleased with the kindness and attcntion of the worthy host and hostess. There is good accommodation in both places; but the growing demands will soon require additional buildings, There are billiard rooms, skittle alleys and other objects of amusement for the residents. The schoolhouse acts also as theatre and church.
There are several stores, the principal ones being kept by Messrs. Taylor and McCarron, Fletcher, Davis, etc., and two good butchering establishments, the first being carried on by Mr. Cowan. Most of tho married men have cottages, while board-ing-houses accommodate the single men, who, of course, predominate. Only about twenty Chinaman are found here, and these can boast of a "Joss House." Their energy is displayed in two nicely kept vegetable gardens. The place presents a busy appearance. Knots of two or three persons are to be seen about tho place, talking over their prospects and, presumably, advising one another, but as I was not made a confidant I can't speak from experience. Standing on the top of the hill, to the right one sees the memorable City of Launceston works in which over £5,000 were sunk. All that represents that amount now is a formidable heap of rubbish. Below this is the claim of the ill-named Hit-or-Miss Co, which is not being worked now. Away to the left are the silent works of the Golden Point Co., and others who tried to fall in with that famous reef which gave 10oz. to the ton. This reef, I hear, was just formed like a wine-glass, and pinched right out at the bottom. At the foot of the hill are the fine works of the New Native Youth Co, with a splendid dam of water. The battery, which was at work crushing for the New Chum, is in first-elan order, and the manager deserves great credit for the excellent way in which he has kept the plant. Close to the battery is the claim of the company which is being worked at a great depth, and along-side this is the City of Launceston Co., now worked on tribute by the Native Youth Co. On the opposite side of the dam a death-like silence prevails, and the immense mounds of earth and stone tell of the failure of the Old Excelsior works and the Morning Star line of reef.
From the New Native Youth battery a tramway nearly a mile in length has been put down to the New Chum Co.The New Chum and the West New Chum mines were located at Lefroy., and on one of these I started to look over the famous Chum reef. It was very fortunate that I had no false teeth, otherwise I'm afraid that they would have been shaken out on the journey. Arrived at the Chum Co's. works we were accompanied by Mr. Petrie, the oldest resident in the district, and, I'm happy to say, one of the lucky finders of this great reef, and with him we went below in tho cage. The shaft is 120ft. deep, and comparatively very dry. Here we found our companion of the previous day, Mr. White, who was most courteous and obliging, and showed us all through the mine, which seems to be excellently managed. Your readers have from time to time had such glowing reports of the working of this mine, that any remarks now would be superfluous. I can only state that the worthy manager, who is himself the largest shareholder, seems most assiduous in his attentions to the mine, and that his thorough knowledge enables him to use all the but means to carry out his work; and as money is no object – of course everything that is required is obtained. The machinery is in first-class order, and the arrangements for raising the stone and running the waggons along an elevated platform are very good, and very considerably expedite the loading of the trucks from a shoot. The crushing is now going on, and from the weekly returns of amalgam something very handsome may be expected. I should state that the mine was very cool below, and the air surprisingly pure. I saw all the big faces of quartz, and got a little initiated into some of the mysterious vagaries of quartz reefs. On arriving on terra firma, we partook of the hospitality of the manager, and having wished him success proceeded on our tour. Close to Mr. White's new cottage Mr. Petrie, one of the original finders, showed us in the creek where they got the first indication of the reef. How many people had often walked over this mine of wealth, it would be difficult to calculate; but I'm sure no one will grudge the well-merited reward Messrs. White, Tregurtha, Petrie and others have reaped from their indomitable perseverance. The good their energy and good fortune has done to the colony will be invalualable, as by these means, so much will have been done to develop our mineral resource. I owe a debt of thanks to Mr. Petrie for his kindness in showing me all about the mine and from his hands I have also a nice specimen of the Chum roof as a momento of my visit there. The shares in this company are now worth £9 to £10.
After completing our tour of inspection of the New Chum, we crossed the creek to the West Chum, where at the first level such splendid stone was got out. Here we found a large number of men at work erecting the new battery for the company. All the machinery had been delivered and expedition will be used in putting up the plant. Very promising stone was being got out, and Mr. Kitto was expecting to cut the reel in a few days. The local people have very great faith in this mine, and there can be very little doubt that the reef will be got at the lower level, more especially as the next company beyond this – the West Extended – have the continuation of the Chum reef running through their property. There has been a bit of a panic over the West Chum shares. A couple of weeks ago they were sold at £8 6s. to £8 7s. 6d.; and then, because the reef was not as expected, some holders cleared out at 35s. They are now worth £2 5s and gradually rising again and, in the course of ten days, I expect to see them up beyond the old figure. There is some very good machinery in this claim, and everything seems to be carried on in a business-like manner. The great objection the shareholders have is the large and premature expense incurred in the purchase and erection of a crushing plant; but no doubt experience will eventually show that such expenditure was necessary, besides being useful adjoining claim-holders who will take advantage of this plant to crush their stone, instead of incurring the extra expense of carting to the New Native Youth battery. A prospecting shaft is put down on the next claim, the West Chum Extended, with capital prospects, and though the mine has yet to be developed, there should not be much doubt of its being a good payable claim. The shares in this company are worth about 12s. 6d., and are in good demand. Beyond this, several new claims have been taken up and, in fact, the ground all about has been pegged off so that, in the course of a few months a very busy scene will be presented to the eye, as each new section begins to be opened out. I may say that the West Chum has a very fine dam for their battery, so that there should be no scarcity of water.
Our next visit, retracing our steps, was over the East Chum property, which is next to the Chum. This is the most economically worked mine in the district and a great amount of work has been done, and machinery erected, at a small cost, The prospects of this mine are extremely good and few new ventures are more in favour. The manager is a very careful man and I found him most obliging and courteous. This remark, I may here state, will apply to all the manngers I came in contact with, for they were very ready to give information concerning their works. I should also mention that the claims on the Chum line of reef are all close together, and that the shafts of the four mines are almost in a straight line, a little over a hundred yardss dividing the four. The East Chum shares are moving steadily upwards, being variously quoted at from 17s. 6d. to 20s.,the close proximity to the New Chum giving them prominence. The shaft is down about 120ft, and sinking is rather slow, but in the course of a week or two the manager will commence to drive for tho reef. After dinner we went to inspect the newly-opened claim of the Prince of Wales Company, and certainly the prospect seems very good; but as I noticed an account of this and several other mines in The Mercury and Tasmanian Mail from "your own" correspondent, I need not stay to dilate upon them. I wish, however, to state that the shares in the Prince of Wales Company have been in good request and have been sold from 10s. to. 15s., with an upward tendency.
The good prospects in this mine have led to some speculation in the adjoining claim - the Duke of Argyle, which has only just been opened np. On the hill beyond these claims is the Queen's Birthday Company, which is now having a trial crushing at the Native Youth's battery. There is a large amount of speculation amongst the local people and this has resulted in a broker's office being opened, which is now in full swing and I should think will well repay Mr. Hacket, the proprietor, for his venture.
One thing I must not overlook, as I had great reason to remember it. My quiet slumbers were much disturbed at night by fearful grunting and looting which, upon enquiry, I found emanated from the pigs of the settlement which roam at large all over the place and live on the fat of the diggings. I believe they belong to everybody and those in want of a porker "catch and kill" but, as the food is not very choice, I should not care to partake of the savoury joint.
Having had a general look round, I had to prepare for the return journey to Launceston and, in a gentle rain, at 3 p.m. made a homeward start alone. The rain had made the ground rather slippery, so that my progress was not so quick as I had intended; but I made good headway. After passing Dr. Aspinall's, I came across one of Gamble's waggons, bogged right up to the axles. Eight horses could make no impression on it. I left the driver cutting down trees to try and make a fulcrum to lift the waggon but, if he did not unload, I should take "e;small odds" that he is in statu quo. Soon after leaving this friend in distress, I made up my mind to walk up one of the ascents, about three miles from Mount Direction hostelry, and I had no sooner alighted than my beautiful steed took it into his head to try a scramble through the bush, and I had a nice treat as I went in hot pursuit. No sooner did I get within " coo-e-e" of him, than he, in most determined manner, threw up his extremities and away he went. This game continued till within a half mile of the Mount, when tho nag turned down a by-road and, unfortunately for me, took to the bush. I had dreams of being frozen in the bush or starved and lost, so I decided to let him go, and came on to the house thinking, perchance, the runaway might have passed; but I was glad to find he hadn't, so I arranged with a young fellow on horseback to try and capture the miscreant. At 5 p.m. he started and, after an hour's absence, returned with the horse. I certainly thought he looked handsomer then than when prancing about with his head and flag erect, and I admiring him, oh, so much, 50 or 100 yards off. However, I had to make up for lost time and, leaving a little after 6, was in my hotel at Launceston at 7:30 p.m. - very sore, but thoroughly pleased with my trip to the Springs, where I got a large amount of information as to the general working of mines.
I must not close, however, without stating that living at the mines is actually cheaper in some respects than at Hobart. Meat is 5d. and 6d. a lb, and bread, 3½d. Drapery is slightly dearer, but other things very reasonable. There is a bi-weekly mail, which is badly arranged, and a conveyance goes to and from Launceston once or twice a week.