GOLD MINING, &c., AT THE THAMES.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1978, 7 September 1869, Page 3

GOLD MINING, &c., AT THE THAMES.

The following remarks are extracted from a letter in a recent number of the Lyttelton Times: —

Has it never struck you that the goddess Fortune’s blindness is all a sham —that she keeps one eye shut, and the other very knowingly half open 1 Try the experiment of attaining wealth quickly, by following a path of your own choosing, and you will almost invariably find yourself going the wrong way. Miss Fortune has that one bright eye upon you, and means mischief. She quietly removes the treasure, and lays it at the feet of some one who is not in search of it, and probably does not want it. As Mrs Gamp would say, it comes quite “unbeknown.” Take a man in possession of the moderate comforts of life, enjoying a quiet happy life, who suddenly becomes discontented with his lot, and goes into speculation, at first perhaps mildly ; a first success leads to bolder ventures, and there he is at last rolling in an unmanageable sea, in which he can neither float nor swim. "What are the odds he sinks 1 Why, 1000 to 1, I can mention several instances of the wonderful vagaries of fortune connected with gold here ; but bear in mind that these instances are very, very rare, and form the most dangerous bait that the “ wide-awake ” goddess trims her iron hook with. Once swallow the bait, and you are lost. Our mutual friend M. was, but a very few months since, sitting in his counting-room—but not counting out his money, as he had but very little to count when two individuals entered. One came to plead the cause of the other, and to endeavor to persuade our friend to purchase a half-share in a claim on' the Thames for ten pounds, to relieve his absolute necessities, putting it as an exceeding great favor. Our friend greatly demurred to this, pointing out that ten pounds was, in these days of depi’ession, a sum of almost fabulous magnitude. The persuasive eloquence of the advocate became so touching that the warm, kind heart of our friend was reached, and he gave the ton pounds for the hall-share, but went about without delay to dispose of it again the bare mention of ten pound Sterling to be paid by any one in those

days produced such alarm, that he was obliged to give up the idea of selling. Again this good man was sought and enticed by tender appeals out of the inconceivable sum of thirty pounds for another half-share in the same “ duffing ” claim. This could not last, and believing that more shares would be offered, and more money paid and that not even bread would be left for himself and child, he determined to leave at the earliest possible moment for England, and prepared to depart, hoping that some very fine day, the claim" would perhaps pay part of his expenses to the mother country. Now was the time when fortune, with a rogueish twinkle in that bright halfopened eye, played one of her usual little games, and turned the two halfshares of our friend into one Golden Crown, valued at L 48,000, and fitted it neatly upon his head. She played exactly the same joke with four or five others, giving them all Golden Crowns for the smallest coiasideration, but she cruelly cheated some others whom she evidently had a “ down ” upon. One poor fellow she persuaded to sell his Golden Crown for five pounds, and was equally cruel to several others, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and Lord Beresford purchased 50 shares between them in the Long Drive Company, for LSO per share. Within 47 days they had a dividend of LlO per share placed to their credit. The shares are now worth LI 85, so that what cost them L 2500 is now worth L 9250. Many instances could be named of men suddenly rising in a few weeks, or even days, from comparatively {some actual) poverty to wealth and position, but you and I might go and live on the spot, and never gain a fraction of gold. It is the old story, of one having luck, and thousands being ruined. My advice to those about to speculate in gold mining is, don’t' but if you must go with the stream, be very careful, and play a waiting game, watching your opportunities narrowly. There are more sunken rocks in the troubled sea of speculation than in any other, and unless you have a cautious experienced pilot on board, your frail barque will surely be wrecked. 1 suppose there is nothing so speculative, uncertain, and fluctuating, or so liable to false representation and fraud, as gold mining ventures. Many people rush into shares without proper consideration, and as a rule, lose their money. I must acknowledge to a slight attack of gold fever, but I have acted upon a principle. The first object is to ascertain that the persons connected with the company are respectable, then as to its prospects, its situation with regard to known rich reefs, and then that there is reasonable prospect of the company returning in one year, with good interest, whatever you pay. If the promoters have received too much in scrip, or the capital is too high, with the prospect of future calls, I have nothing to do with it. The modus operandi appears to be this: Men go out prospecting, and when they come to likelylooking ground, they peg out, say, ten men’s ground, each man being allowed 300 ft by 50ft, they then sell, say, 8 shares to capitalists, reserving 2 shares for themselves ; these are called promoters shares, for which a small sum is paid. These promoters sometimes work the ground, paying wages, and if, as in the case of the Golden Crown, a rich reef is struck, large fortunes are made. This, however, is seldom the case. As a rule, the promoters put a high nominal value upon the whole claim, and form it into a company, issuing the shares to the public, with a liability for calls, for the purpose of working the claim. All claims have to be carefully registered, and every original claim-holder must hold a miner’s right. It is not necessary for a shareholder in a company, holding a lease, to hold a miner’s right, but I believe the manager must. Companies are being launched upon this principle in great numbers, and many of them will never pay a dividend. I anticipate that you will have plenty of scrip offered to you in Christchurch for sale, but before purchasing,consult some experienced friend, or act upon the principle I have laid down. There are many good companies to invest in, but there are also such thing as salted claims, pretended leases, &c., ike.