THE LATE MR. T. DONNELLY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1018, 6 January 1911, Page 6

THE LATE MR. T. DONNELLY.

• OBJECT OF HIS QUEST. . The lata Mr. Tom Donnelly, as he was familiarly known, who was missing' since April 12, and whoso body was found this week near the Mount Houldswor.th track, had many personal friends in Masterton, where he lived for niauy years. He was of a' very retiring disposition,. and was averso to talking much of tho subject in which he was most keenly interested— namely, that of mining .and valuable minerals, which, he was convinced,.existed in the Taravua Ranges. This led him to take many trips into the hills, where ho sometimes camped for months, searching and prospecting, and hoping eventually to "strike, it rich." Latterly his friends liad frequently, endeavoured to persuade him to give up these periodical trips, as ho was very lame, and not active enough to travel the rough country by himself with safety. Ho persisted, however, and evidently mot.his death in the manner indicated.

Mr. A. Hathaway, of Masterton, was in old friend of Mr. Donnelly's, and was associated with him in many prospecting expeditions. Ho states that the substance that Mr. Donnelly most frequently sought was. jranadiura, a silvery, brittle-metal of rare occurrence, first 'discovered in 1830 in Swedish iron, and used and highly valued in the process of making stcei. The prospector discovered largo quantities of rock, in which he proved the presenco of vanadium, and after'lengthy analysis by European scientists, he entered into negotiations with a largo firm of steel manufacturers in' Hamburg. The latter, after due inquiry, seemed ready to mako ,-v,contract with Mr. Donnelly for a regular supply of the rock, aiid negotiations were proceeding when the latter, unfortunately, disappeared. Mr. Donnelly, as a result of diligent fossicking in tho lonely gorges of tho Tararua mountains, ascertained the existence of gold and silver ore, and of certain rare and valuable minerals. Among other substances, ho found one that is tho matrix of radium. Mr; Donnelly had prospected in tho Tararuas for a great many years, and, had he been given another ten or twenty years of life, his knowledge of the mountains was so intimate that lie must, sooner or later have discovered soino of their stores of valuable minerals.