WESTPORT COAL.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16157, 11 March 1918, Page 4

WESTPORT COAL.

WHAT GERMANY KNOWS OF IT. THE 3JEN OF MYSTERY. (By "The Glng" in the "Sydney Sun.' - ) Not manv years ago came to port a gallant Hu«ar captain from a Berlin crack regiment —mounted always on a handsome charger, he fairly startled the natives, and cmainly was something unusually splendid to behold. A sleek civilian, also from the Rhinoland accompanied him, and they told the wondering Glug. of Gosh that they were looking tor gold. Money was no objcct, aU ch a display of affluence and splendour had never betore struck the villas mining operations of the most fantasti,- order were indulged in. A the gold they got cost them easily £10 an ounce. It «as a short lilc and a merry one. . . The Hussar captain « ;ts a mining cumnocr so he said). The s leek civilian jwsed as a chemist or metallurgist the Aint« lie dropped of mysterious methods of gold saving p;U_ every glug on the tip-toe of expectation. I lospontj rtsplendant, refulgent, glorious just round the corner, and the meretricious glories of the early days weie promptly to return. How many oi. us know of refractory reefs and oxidised, cements that contained incredible wealth if capable of being cheaply treated. And so we brought tho stones, old men and voung, gold minors, barber*, drapers,' bute'hei", publicans, and s.nnen all brought them stones and sand and cements. Much close and courteous attention was paid to and and to his ground, but aber nicht, "nodings diddings," or word, to that pffpf't • 1 Meantime, the stalwart cai»taur ga - loped round the counlrv, the joy of all beholders, and the sleek civilian wrote and wrote: T. stayed m the same pub, and for an old man his attention, to his desk was marvellous. Hie refractory ores, however, were beyond the skill or the wizard, and. hey, presto! the policy was changed. Three hundred men and as manv lrore as could be got were soon employed looking for nuggets, tho pure, unadulterated metal, on the mountain side and in a tew months a huge excavation a hundred yards deep, yawned four hundred feet above sea. level, and made a feature of the landscape that the bold Tasman could not _har© failed to notice if he had passed it ten miles distant.

THE MILK IX THE COCOANUT. Then the two men from the Lindensfrasse departed as suddenly as they came, but not before they had got hold of a young Glug who 'old them that their hunt for gold in lumps was the veriest midsummer madness. "Coal!" said the Glug. "is the gold inine." "Ach! Likewise Nein! But what do vou know about itasked the chemist. * The Glug who know, told the tale of the fragment of the colossal coalfield , whose product in steam trials on' British warships had always equalled, and sometimes excelled, the best Admiralty specials mined in- Wale=. The haughty captain scorned the suggestion, but the chemist lav low and said; — • -'Tell me", write it down, give me maps and particulars, and when I return to Berlin we will arrange all the capital, and you will be our Joseph. Meantime, what salary do you want; we have plenty of men, you will explore, l you will xise them and search, and then send us complete report of all the land that contains coal. You will be a made man, aud your country will prosper." Then they went away. Some cables, exhorting and encouraging, arrived in due course, and the ypung Glug put his shouider to the wheel, and ultimately a full and complete report of "The Fragment of the Colossal Coalfield"' found its way into. the Doomsday Book at Berlin.* And all the young Glug knows is, that immediately, after receipt in Berlin of his magnum opus. "Wind up and liquidate" was the next instruction, and the young Glug received a nice letter from the board thanking him for his zeal, and offering him emplovment in other portions of the British Empire where the Ogs wrre operating, British Guiana and British Vancouver being specially mentioned, and so the dream passed* away. The only permanent record dtf the invasion of the Hussar Cnntain is the great scar visible ten miles to seaward on the mountain side, and it is immediately above the main and only railroad that brings the coal from the Fragment of the great coalfield to the port. THINGS WE'LL KNOW LATER. At the outbreak of the war we were without supplies in the' vicinity of the German islands. The wild rush of collier transports might have been nullified by one well-placed shell aimed from sea by the help of the beacon on tho mountain side. The German cruisers a couple of knots to. the good by their forethought in securing our best fuel, might have made things quite exciting around our coasts. New Zealand's Premier announced that the German squadron was within a day's sail of the New Zealand coast —why they didn't make a dash and settle the coal base is one of the. things we may also know after the war. There is a movement on foot to put some life into the Sydney Navy League. Maybe this recital will help' illustrate how the German Navy League operates. nnrl may also give a line on some phases of our Empire struggle that are worthy of much closer attention. We all know now, a little extra turn of speed is an important • factor in' warfare on the high seas. Stories of German espionage, exaggerated often, no doubt, find fairly roadv acceptance with the writer, for. in his brief account, the half of which has not been told; he happened to be tho Glug.