Wonderful Mines of Ballarat and the Millions They Produce
(Copyright, 1901, by lYunk a. Carpenter 1
BAU.AU AT. Australln, April 22
(Special Correspondence) of Tho
Heo.) In the heart of one of the
ehlif mining districts of Australia,
within a stone's throw of where
the "Weloonio" nugget, n lump of gold
ns big :ia a foot ball, wan found, surrounded
by the smokestacks of quartz mills, I write
of the gold of Australia. Under the very
Moor of my hotel rleh deposits of gold have
been mined, every bit of earth In sight
has been run again and again through a
sieve to wash out the proirous mist It con
tained, and the valley for miles above and
below me has been honeycombed with
diggings. Today thousands of men are bur
rowing hete through the bowels of the
earth, the best of modern machinery Is
inking out and hoisting the ore to the sur
face, and It Is even said that the water In
some of the deepest mines contains gold.
One story Is told of how several barrels of
water were hermetically sealed nnd sent
awny to Paris. They were kept there for
years, and when opened were discovered to
have precipitated several gold nuggets. Ah
to the truth of this I do not vouch.
Itlu (inlil Nlluui'tN il' ViihIiiiIIii.
There is no doubt, however, about Aus
tralia's production of enormous gold nug
gets The greatest of them was found
shortly after the dlscocry of gold, nwny
back in the T0s. It had long been known
that there was gold In Australln, but It
was not until 1S51 when Hargravcs, an
Australian, who had visited California, an
nounced that there was gold hero In pay
ing quantities. The first of It was dis
covered III n water hole In New South
Wales, and a month later It was shown
that every creek for seventy miles hnd
gold Later on tho placer mines were 131 nur cent on their paid up capital stock of men being 1 iii.l.i,t d
opened up at Hallarat and fro.n them came i these mines only fS per cent of the gold twenty-four hours.
some of these enormous nuggets. found Is spent In getting It out and paying
One of tho first nuggets weighed 101 tho cost of management, etc. Over CO per
pounds, mint her ninety-eight pounds and tho cent of the gold produced goes to the dlvl-
"Welcomo" IS I pounds 0 ounces, or (lends.
as much as a good-sized man. There aro Sumo of ihe most remai kiblc ml.ies of
models of these nuggets In the various mln- this state are at I'endig , or Sandhurst,
Ing museums of tho Australian capitals. I about ion miles fn in M lbourne, where
have seen them In Queensland, In New the gold Ileitis yield about $1,000.(100 a ear
in. I would seem in me to be llttetl to the
Idaho. Washington anil others of our gold
Otitis It Is u-cl for all -tots of free null
tg gold. 1 "-.i" ot e 1 11 In d 10 .1 iiwdi r
tod run throtmh a h. 11 whnh h.t.l i i.Oit
'10! s o the squu.o Inch, holes so small 'ha
l.'U ."ill, I not pit I, 1 1 1 1 1- hand wlih .1 , l
hiiMiiiU tin m The dust was run throm h
In f hub - ,iinl m er the plalis. with the
iv n't or 11 .nltiu nf lis per cent of II, e v I
1 ' 1 lute .i -crihed
Uti'ing tot itay in Mtlhtrat I hate l i 1
itiino of the mln They are very .art'
'ullt managed, tut med to me ihruti
ban tho big nuail mines of our count rt
Tin t Iml t't inn Is t 01 so well done ami mm
of the ttmi hlnory Is .1111 iiiuatetl.
Hit I In rn ( In Itltll.
The Hallarat of today Is not like Hie II l
iirat of tlfty yenrs ago. Then It was a city
of tents. Now II has pi rhaps Itss n oplo
fr lis population is onlv 10,1110 but it I
as well built as anv ell of Its sl.o anv
where. It Is typically MM rail ,11. The
Ireets are as wide and well pate. I as ihoao
if Washington 'Ihe thief one m Imud with
marble statins, and there are statues m at
tered throughout tho huge pink 111 its sub
m l s It IniH good slo.es. I auks mid public
buildings II has a iheiiei which will mat
t. nut) people, tin art gallo t .oiitalntng hoiiic
fault gootl paintings, a Himk ochango and
1 mi .hanks' Institute with u library of
.",000 toluiiies It has four other free II
I'lailm and churches of otor.t Christian do
iiominailoii miller the sun It has Hour
mills, woolen mills and iron foundries It
ha gootl public scho Ih ami many tor rum
foiiable homes Its hotels charge $2 a day
and art- good (in one edge of the town is
a l.il. i' of rani ai res, ami anoilor fentuin Is
tlie horse tars, which Jolt ton to pities as
the) take ton about It
Hallarat Is stirroundi d by a roll pastoral
ami agilciilliiral region It Is seventy live
vs.. t, 111 Mi-irnlu paid him m ionic oui mil,.., fim .Mclliouiue by lull ami on the
and pit sped there. It lias hIii.c paid oilier niatii mail fioin Melbourne in Adelaide,
prospitlii's and similar actions have been nMv They Cnlii linlil in 11ntrnll11,
umlcllal.cn b the other colonies. Speaking of the gold pioductlon of Aus
Mlnlim iIhmi:n hi ii-1 1 11 1 lii. ttaliii, I win! tliioagh the mini Hi Mel
Nearly etery one of the Australian col bourne, wlielo lor llility yearn they havu
miles has its mining si ho"l and minium been turning tho dual ami bullion Into
tiiitsi urns ll of them hai Mini ucnb sovereign Alieady inoiu (hall -CS2.000.000
gUts ami geolt gi.iil mil tit- whi.li git. Imto been mined, an amount equal to more
places where gold was not known to exist n p uts 1.11 mines ami otlnr Mlih matters than loti.ouo.ouo gobl dollars. The mint
SCKNH IN THIS I1A1.LAUAT DMiOINCS
o llll oui llle
A list ill I Ill's lllu (illlll I'l'llll lll'l ion.
A steady growth Is citing mi n Aus
tralla's gold luoilucllou. livery state Is
luci easing its product and new mines are
being discovered In all patts of the coun
try. Some of the largest mines today aro
In Queensland ami western Australia, In
South Wales nnd Victoria, and also In the The mines are very deep The I.ansell mine Ulll n fovN years ago. Mount Mm gnu, tho The people are looking out for new things timers from our iiiIuih In that It coins only
mining scnoois nere. Trie "welcome nug
get measured twenty Inches In length,
twelve Indus in breadth nnd seven Inchrs
In thickness. It was sold In Melbourne for
$50,000. l.'lve months after It was discovered
another nugget was dug up which wis sold
for $20,000, and Intir on came the "Welcome
Stranger," which weighed ISO pounds and
was valued at $."0,000. In IS.'.S a lump of
gold worth $20,000 was found In New South
Wales, ami early In tho '80s n number of
nuggets were discovered, some of gren'
value. So far California has the recottl of
producing the lnrgest nugget. It weighed
195 pounds ami was taken out of n mine In
Calaveras county. The "Welcome" nugget
was found at a d pth of ISO feet, but most
of tho others tv?re nearer tho surface.
I'lneer tllnos Amiliiit U11111I7.
Altogether $350,000,000 worth of gold has
been taken from the earth about Hallarat,
and It Is estimated that out of this stntc of
Victoria nlone the product has been $1,250,
000,000. At llrst all of the gold was nl
luvlal. At present the most of the mining
is quart, mining, and some of it Is very
deep. There are a number of mines that
aro below 2,000 ieet, and tho South Star Is
I Idlest gold nine of I he woild, Is III
Queensland Ii is a imiuntaln uf iron and
gold which lias tast fortunes In sight
New South Wales produced Min.OOO ouiuos
of gold in lVHi and Western Australia
t n 111 1 I out D.uie than 1,500,000 ounces in
loon. Indeed, Queensland and Western Aus-
I I nl 11 ate now tlie leading gold prt durers
In 1000 I hey produced more than 2,500.000
ounces of gold, or more than llnee-IUths
of nil of tlie gold mined that year in Aus
tin la-la The pioduction of tho whole con
tinent and New Zealand In loon was more
than $70.0110 000 ami in lS'.O more than $80,
000.000, or almost Mine timet, as much as
it was in 1S90.
Indeed, It Is hard to appreciate the enor
niotis extent of the undeveloped gold coun
try in this part of the world. I havo talked
with miners from western Australia. They
tell me that the most of that vast terrl
tory has not been touched. Said one mining
export:
'The gold we know of extends over nn
area of more than (',00,000 square tulles
You can take dirt from the road at any
point along a thot.sand tulles, wash it ami
Hud color. Many of the camps are so far
MKI.TINC TIIH (iOU)
MOULDING THE IiAKS.
mining nt a depth of ?,r,00 feet. Thoro are is alieady down 3, 3.. 2 feet and it is going in tho interior Mint camels have to be used and they nurstie the mining industry unlit
twenty mines here which havo paid nut lower. There aro eleven other mines more to carry the supplies. I'rospectors tiavel nu Intelligently as we tin.
more than $15,000,000 In dividends on nn thnn 2,100 feet deep and of these llvo have on camels and the ore Is taken out upon One of tho best mining schools of Aus-
orlglnnl Investment of less thnn $2,500,000. a depth of over 3,000 feet. They are being camels. Ther nro parts of the country iralla Is in Hallarat. It has 100 students
The mines in Victoria aro economically worked at n profit nnd It is thought that tvhero you can travel for hundreds of miles ami Is, I vunture. as well equipped as any
mannged. In some of them the ore runs tho heat will not bo too great at a depth nmi seo nothing but sand and rock, but the mining college ol thu United States. I had
less man tiirce pennywotgnts to tne ton. or 4,000 root, iientngo tins already pio- san,i nn(i rock aro mixed with gold." letters to Us superintendent from the dl-
goltl, no Hilt or or copper being handled.
The gold .nines lure itoui dillereiil paris
of A ut.t mini ami after coining Is shipped
thlully to I. melon. A few $10 gnhl plot oa
aro ma le for tho In. II, in uijahs, hut the
greater pan of the metal gocH Into inner
t igns ami half sovereigns, worth $. ami
$2 aO eat h
It was with tlie dli odor i went through
the money mill. Wo llrst watched thu gold
ih it latin in. Much of It was in the shape
if tht 1 1 1 1 1 dull yellow grains which have
be- 11 uat Inil out of the streams and ninth
in tin bill I Inn bricks ft mil tho smelteiH
it was handed over Ihe counter the
It rim wiighcil It, using scales so linn that
'u will accurately weigh a lump of gold
if lug as our lu-ntl or one as small as the
I'i'iiit of a pin. After weighing a memo
ramliim of the amount Is given to the de
pMHltor Tlie gobl Is assayed ami later on
la gets Just what It is worth.
tie IIhk lln- liitlil.
It at Ing tills 11 0111 we went on to see
1 die s lung was dune. The gold Is
a. 1 li'd in 1 1111 ibles or puis of lite clay
ami plumbago, a material which will stand
.111 mil use heal. Km Ii pot has a capacity.
I should ihlnk. of perhaps hall 11 gallon of
liquid gold. If Is lltled Into a little furnace
not unlike tin- forgo of a country black-
it 'mil .inn il
Klglltll I'.lge )
Thoro Is one mlno In Victorln which aver- duccd about $300,000,000 worth of gold and
nged only an ounco of gold to every six and nt tho present time 5,000 miners aro work-
ono-half tons of ore Inst year, and nottvlth- Ing there. Tho men nro paid $12.f.0 a week,
standing this paid $11,000 in dividends. They work eight hours a day with a half
Among tho Incidents ot economical manage- holiday every Wednesday. Most ot the
tuent nro seven mines which have netted mines have day nnd night sh'fts three sots
'The chief trouble," continued the
) miner, rector of tho mint at Melbourne nnd its
siblo to president, I'rof. Kred Martell, very klndl
got enough to wnsh tho gold out and wo showed tue through It during my stay In
have fanning mills thrittgh which thu dust Hallarat. Tho college Is built right oei
is run. Tlie fans blow thu sand nway, and a gold mine whit h belongs to It. It operates
as tho gold Is heavier it drops to tlie hot- this mine dilolly to teach its students. The
torn. Of course, a great deal of gold goea mine has lis shafts ami Its workings. It
oil' with I lie sand, but enough remnlns to u a paying properly, and the boys go down 1
make it pay." into it ami do tlie mining, thus learning
In such pi.. 1 h water Is worth money. In practically Just how gold should bo gotten 1
thu Ooolgardle Ileitis It bus brought as out of the earlli. Connected with the I
much as 2."i cents a gallon, tin I there Is u school are all soils of reduction works 1
regular business of tailing salt water from operatetl by the students. It litis cyanide
the lakes and wells ami running it through plants, a clilorluatlnii plant ami all the '
condensers to make it fretdi. various means of extracting thu precious ,
The government does all it can to help metal from the ore. Tin re are largo ehuinl-;
the miners. In Western Australia an up- en! laboratories, many assay furnaces, anil,
proprlation of $12,500,000 for water works In shori, etery thing needed fur such a
for one district was recently voted. The college.
government Is laying 200 tulles of water .-r I'titolilnu I'lour (ittltl.
in pes inere. tuioiigii vuncu 11 wu. pump In tills si hool t saw a new ivtisl rnttnn In.
5,000,000 gallons of water pet day. It has
Bet aside $1,0(10,000 for reservoirs and ar-
ventlon for catching the lliimt of gold dust
W'tiii'li mil-lit tin nf vii 1 1 1 r In llin iiliimir
tesinn wells, and It has Its engineers ,,,, . , ,, ,. ,,,
prospet t it.g fm water with diamond drills
It, the ('unlgartlin district nineteen tanks
and resetvolrs have been built with a ca
pacity of tin, 11(10,000 gallons. Arteslnu wells
have been 1 ui down anil there are groat
tho gold sands of Alaska and the Pa c I lie
coast. We hnve a great ileal of Pour gold
in our western rivets, gnhl so light that ii
llnals away on the suiface ot tho wn or,
so light that tlie most of it cannot lie siv d.
Londenslni; machines of various kinds. ... . .. .
: ," , ,,, , , ., , niinoiign an t-oris 01 iron sses nave men
Coolgardle has .!.,. .11 people and it U ,.,.,, , 811VI. Tlu, ,,. Ulml ()f
connected with Perth, the capital, by rail- ,.,,, ,H ,,, , N,.H 3, ,,,, ,, ,,, ,
TatTetci
Etons . .
$875
road,
caught there by the plush-covered tables
Kx.n lit like 1 HI
Mad. nt I! I Id ink t.ill'i t.i silk tucked
nil hoi ilk 1 1 Mill ..idei's prmiiptl.t
III', I - .il,-l 11 ll.11 u 1 il'. 111I1 d
. .ire "li.111, 1 . 1 o.i rl able values u
lull" r in id- -nil- atnl -kills and tlress
lliaki r 11 111 1 1 1 ttal-ts Take u look.
IM NCIIINO SONHItUKJNS NINIVI'V A MINUTK
Ihe government or .New south Wales has f wr, 1 ,,,. in a former letter. lit
offered a reward of $10,000 for the discovery Mils new Invention Mie ore dust Is lloat' d
of payable quart or alluvial gold at a Ver Inclined Iron plates, which have Hill
depth of 1,500 feet, and promises to pay ddgos upon them, so rained that the gold I-
$15,000 if such material be found ns far cauglit as It go s ovor Mioin. Prof. Mart I
down ns S.niin rent. '1 he nilnes or Mini state told me that OS per cent of tho gold wa
aro now i nly about l.coo ftet, but the pave.l by Mils means. Tho gold dust fell I,
pooplo believe that the gobl exists nt a to the Iron, while the Ik-hier dust Is 1111
lower level ami the government Is willing 1 (.i (m i,y the watei. At Intertills tin
to reward the successful experimenter. plates are turned up. a hose is applied and
The Victorian government pnld Mar- tho gold washed off The machine eon!.'
graves for his discovery ol gold, and be built. I should Judge, for less thnn $lm. 50 Douglas Street, Omaha.
mfSCQflELD
U IXCLOAK&SUITCO.
i.lii 1 .1. I .i ll. It. .i.ly to-wear
( 1 lit r ( iiiriuciitn