Palmer River Goldfield.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 261, 29 September 1874, Page 7

Palmer River Goldfield.

thf > During,-, ‘jfyW' mfcrt ; W-’W * rived or less 'gold* and since i the Boomempg.Uft the banks h‘a Vte bought Considerable quantities, m *ll that have conqe from it pay that, (l with cheap rations j»u4 , 1 the Palmerwoplcl opened in Queensland. Wc nave, several letters frte successful men, who .speak in glowing tjerras of the palmer as a goldfield ; but, in order that ho higkly-cblOuml statementscshall gh forth to the public- as to tremendous yields we publish the following a letter-received by a gentle.-, man in town, -the writer of which is .well known, and in,whose veracity we place implicit cbrifidimce' - ! “Mitchell Falls, July 26.

“ Tbere is no doubt but that the Palmer it a fide goldfield, and it will take years,, in my opinion, to thoroughly develop it. Every .creek and ravine; contains gold in and exceptional ones, such as McLeod’s and Jessop's, the enormous richness of which you have heard of lately. Independent of these there i|s a large extent of country yielding an average of half an ounce per day to hundreds of; men, .to my own knowledge. The fact is, the country is only half prospected, and depend; upon it, the result will be right.” Another, arrival in town, Miv ; Thomas Jones, who has been storekeeping,on the Palmer for Some- time, and who is well known as a mah to give a correct report, and,.. coming from him in a rough and ready form', we give it as he says : —“I heard a month ago that some men were working near Mount Mulgrave about 14 miles from the’lower camp, towards the Mitchell, and that they had got from odwt to an ounce to the dish. How I heard of it—the men came into the upper camp, foi rations;and went away at night time. Since that I hear they have been found out, and a rush lias set in. The diggings are at present very scattered, and there is no settled township, and I believe that if there is a permanent settlement’it will be on the Mitchell, which is apparently in the centre of the gold. Ido not however know how far the diggings extend, but I hear 15 miles from Cleveland Bay side of the Mitchell, where the men are all getting u little gold but not sufficient to pay, rations being so high, diggers not being satisfied at from sdwt. to Bdwt, a day. I believe, however, every person on the diggings is getting a little gold, but it is no use to have a shallow idea that with labour ®nly gold is got: without horses it is useless; they must be got to carry rations, otherwise if men have to depend on humping food for such long distances they will be half their time laid up sick, swallowing physic. At the present Sandy Creek is nearly worked out, but I believe that •after the wet season, that Oakey, Jessop’s, and M'Leod’s will be turned over, and good gold got in them. I thoroughly believe in the Palmer as a goldfield over all Queensland diggings, if cheap rations could be’ got. Again, there is no police protec tion to afford security to diggers and storekeepers, there being but Sergeant Redman, and Constable M‘Carthy, and another at the upper camp, to protect 6000 souls. Constable O’Leary is postmaster, and Mr Commissioner Dorsey has but one orderly; consequently there are only three policemen to watch over all the Mitchell and Upper Camps. The blacks on the Palmer are getting very dangerous, and no later than 10 days ago a digger was speared through the heart and instantly killed. There was a party of six men 35 miles up the river prospecting, and one morning between 10 and 11 they were attacked by, between 30 and 40 blacks, who although the diggers were well armed kept them fighting the whole day long, until the man in question was killed. The other men at once made for their horses and were off, the blacks pursuing them, and every time they got into intricate ground or hollow, would send a volley of spears into the party, but happily without further damage done.”

The special reporter of the above paper, writing from the Palmer under date August" 2nd, says:—“ The rush to Sandy Creek is over, that is to say men are still doing well, but nothing to warrant any excitement has taken place 1 recently. I hear Jessop is en route with 160oz, as his share ; Others I have heard of haying more, but of course I cannot vouch for the truth. I reserve all comments upon the rush for a future letter, and in my next' will endeavour td’give a; faithful account of Sandy Greek doings, pist and present. Men are repeatedly coming in to Palmervjlle with a few ftopuds weight of gold, so that isa sign •f general well doing.' Men who wilj work

can get £1 a-day,—rough jbushccarpenterr —r here in Palmerville,, J Chinamen i working at the rale of 200oz. per week j there are ’! howifjvjer, a large number of ihernht work, i anti'.t mention this as hearsay only, and i /cannot Vouch for the ttfuthpf iV-, ;v 1 (Prom the Cou 'v'r, August 15.) 1 A gentleman in whose veracity we have 1 every confidence, and who left the Palmer i at the end of last week, reports : '( virl- I MOUNT MULGRA.VE. ' This is the last rush on the tapis. It is sitiiated about 30 miles south of the Lower 1 Townbhip, and about ap equal distance : wrest frqijp Sandy Creek. ' This new rush is supposed to have been opened by Messrs 1 Mulligan and party, who were known to be out in that direction. At the time our informant left, it was reported that there was 30ft. made grounds—^that is to say, 30ft. sinking—and that those indefatigable prospectors, Messrs Mulligan and party, had taken a 4oz, piece and other gold off the bottom of the first hole put down. This news, as might have been expected, caused great excitement amongst those wandering mortals, the diggers, on the Palmer, and a'general stampede was the consequence. All who had horses, and all who could buy them,- left forthwith, Whether this rush has proved a-“ sbicer,” or whether it has turned -out right, our informant could mot say, but certain it is that several diggers who have since arrived state that it was. well .spoken of .at the time they left the Palmer, and that large‘numbers were still leaving for it. ■> : ’ :: ! ' MITCHELL FALLS, Here men are making, with the dish, i from sdwi to |pz. per day; with the : cradle, from |oz. upwards, in some cases s falling on heavy patches, ■> There is a large ; population on. this rush, and few are f grumbling. They all say they are making tucker, with the prospect of a rise. Here the diggings, as on Sandy Creek arid the 1 creeks adjacent to it, are merely “ gully ; ratings, ’’ The gold is easily got, and the i creeks and ravines easily worked out —ini deed it is nothing wonderful for a party of I men to work out a claim in three or four i days or a week, arid in this way the couur try is soon run over. [ On Sandy Creek, Pine Creek, Stoney, f M‘Leod’s, and Butcher Creek the men l are making from first-class wages (say from , 2oz. per day) to barely tucker. On M‘Leod’s j Greek (the best creek mentioned) the dirt f has to be carried from 300 yards to half a i mile ; the other ravines and gullies will be s payable, our informant says, when the rain i falls. t The population on all the rushes may be - roughly calculated at 5000 souls, including i some 500 Chinamen, on the Palmer proper. f Great fears are entertained of a famine - during the rain, and rations at the time onr c informant writes were selling at most ext orbitant prices.