LIFE IN NEW GUINEA

Hokitika Guardian, 27 December 1929, Page 2

LIFE IN NEW GUINEA

IN QUEST OF GOLD. “Miners working on their own account in the New Guinea goldfields are not doing too well, and many have returned disappointed,” says Mr James Delaney, a New Zealand miner, well known in Wailii, who has returned to the Dominion for three months’ rest after two years’ prospecting in the Fdie Creek district. An expert prospector, Air Delaney is under contiact to the Russia Asiatic Gold Mining Company, a British organisation, registered iii Sydney. Under the terms of contract Mr Delaney is forbidden to disclose for publication the results of Iris labours, but in an interview to-day he gave some interesting details concerning tbe work that' is being carried on in New Guinea. Ihe cost of living is tremendously high. Mr Delaney says a miner cannot live for less than £l2 to £l4 a month, without luxuries, so that men who go to New Guinea must have plenty of capital if they are to succeed. Everything is expensive because of the cost of transportation. The nearest port to the field which Mr Delaney is prospecting is Salamoa, a township with only a few hundred inhabitants, and not more than twenty shops. Since the rush for gold set in the town has developed raidly, having sprung up from practically nothing in two years.

SUPPLIES BY AEROPLANE. Two aeroplanes carry passengers and supplies into the interior. They fly high over rugged, mountainous country to a village called Whan, 59 miles distant hv air. Prior to the establishment of the air service the journey occupied about ten days, all supplies being packed on mules. Lying within an almost impregnable basin of mountains tbe pioneers met with most disheartening difficulties, hut to-day conditions are much more tolerable. On arrival at Wlistu. passengers alight and set on the four hours’ climb to the mining settlement, which is situated at a height of 7000 ft, on Mount Edie. About one hunderd people .live at Whan, and at the summit there are some fifty men engaged in the industry. Freight is charged at the rate ol 9d per Ibon all goods carried by aeroplane. For the exhausting climb up the slopes a charge of 3d a lb is made by those who conduct tbe mule transport. Supplies are expensive to purchase, and the additional charge.,of Is per lb for transportation makes living a problem. Luxuries are out of the question. Whisky, for instance, is £1 a bottle, and even at that price the quality often leaves much to he desired. Peer is sold at the impossible price of fis a bottle. “And it is a thirsty climate,” observed Mr Delaney, who added that life on the Mount Edie field was all work and no play. His only diversion in two yearss had been a small bet on the Melbourne Cup! MINING ON A BTG SCALE. The Bulolo River, into which runs the Edie Creek, lias been surveyed for t.lic purpose of establishing a plant to generate electricity. Mr Delaney says that this company intends to do things on a log scale if the results justify the expenditure. The company, which lias over Lo.ono.nnn capital at its command will carry on mining by the most modern scientific methods. At present the svstem employed by those operating the field is the rather antiquated one of boxes and nozzles. However, some beautiful specimens of gold have been found, many of the nuggets having hands of gold a quarter of an inch thick, together with a fair amount of». silver. The soil and sandstone on the hilltops is loose and broken, as though it has been greatly agitated by seismic disturbances. Air Delaney felt half a dozen earthquakes during his residence on Mount Edie. They were earthquakes of a severity unknown in New Zealand, one, about four months ago,

being particularly strong. Most of Mr Delaney’s prospecting is carried on in difficult circumstances, on the densely wooded slopes ami tops of hills. the trees are not tall, but they grow close together, and their shallow roots are so near to the surface that they interlace a few inches below the covering of thick springy moss, drench digging in his country is difficult as the roots have been to be cut through. r i rees frequently fall because they have no tap roots. recruiting of Papuans. Mr Delaney employs a gang of Papuans to do the labouring work. These boys have been gathered by European recruiters, who move about among the villages, trading axes, Jews harps and tobacco to lului, or headman of each village, for a group of Papuan boys. The hoys are taken away by the recruiter, who in turn is paid from £lO to £25 for each labourer. The transfer effected, the boy must work for his master for tw.o years, at the rate of 10s per month. His boss must, of course, niantain him and supply Ifree tobacco. .Mr Delaney says some of the hoys are happy. Those who have to work at an altitude of 7000 ft find the salubrious climate of Mount Edie a trifle chilly, and they complain a good deal. They are willing enough workers under supervision. GOLD WORTH £2 6s AN OUNCE. Several lodes have been discovered In- Mr Delaney. The work is arduous, since it entails endless climbing over rugged, broken country, all hills and boulder strewn valleys. The gold (found is not of a high quality. Its market price-is about £2 6s an ounce. A miner would need to win three ounces a day to pay expenses. The goldfield is in the seventh degree of latitude south. “On Mount Edie it is very pleasant,” said Mr Delaney. “I could compare the climate to a perpetual Auckland summer, except that it rains for a time every day.”