EXTRAORDINARY FIND OF KAURI GUM.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 19 April 1901, Page 4

EXTRAORDINARY FIND OF KAURI GUM.

Tha Biggest On Record.

A record patch of kauri gum, tho biggest ever heard of in tho colony, was struck a few weeks ago in tho most unlikely of all spots, tho centre of tho city of Auckland (says an Exchange.) Kauri gum always has a way of concealing itself when one digs for it scientifically, and suddenly turning up when one is not dreaming of it. There have been several mild sensations before now, A party of diggers once singled out from their number a man whoso ignorance of this particular industry was too marked to pass, and they made him cook, but when that party broke up, it was the cook who had made his little pile; while making a track to the nearest water, he had inadvertently stumbled upon a patch worth £3OO. Another time a ton of it was unearthed by some boys, who wore trying to rout out a rabbit. One farmer turned up a considerable treasure while ploughing, and another while digging a hole for a post. But all these incidents are nothing compared to the “ And ” last month. In February one of the historical conflagrations of the colony broke out in Customs street, and reduced to ashes the big warehouse of Messrs L. D. Nathan, where there was stored kauri gum, valued at £IB,OOO, For weeks afterwards tho scent of burnt kauri gum was wafted through tho streets, and the citizens generally concluded that the whole stock was destroyed Nothing visible remained but a mass of blackened bricks, charred timber, heaps of burnt debris. These heaps were put up to auction, and bought by the firm of Messrs Les and Sons for £3OO. When their workmen began to dig among the rubbish, they came upon reefs and seams of gum. It had boon melted by the heat of the fire, had collected in the cavatics of the ruins and afterwards solidified. Some of tho masses dug up were two feet thick and yards square. Some of the gum had been scarcely touched by the flames; some had been molted by tho heat and the steam caused by pouring water on the heated walls. In all about 470 tons have been recovered, and although the fire has injured its quality, its value is still reckoned at £2O a ton, so that the speculators have made over .C9OCO by their vesture.