FIFTY YEARS AGO.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5372, 9 January 1929, Page 2

FIFTY YEARS AGO.

A GOLDEN CHRISTMAS BOX. BIG PATCH AT THAMES. Just fifty years ago tills last Christ- • mas Eve, one of the greatest finds in tjje history of the Thames goldfield took place when the; golden patch of the Alburnia was struck (says the Thames Star). Two of the four men who. struck it are still alive —Messrs J. Jobe, of Thames, and James Carr, of Coromandel.

In Mr Jobe’s own words, the story of that memorable Christmas Eve runs thus:—

“I was standing one Christmas Eve on the fo.otpath just outside the Lady Bowen Hotel (Mr W. Mahoney was the proprietor at that time) when the manager (Mr Radford) came to me and said, ‘Jim, I want you to get three men with yourself (I was promoted to a boss of a shift) to go to ’the;mine to-night and get out what gold you can, as I want to give the company a Christmas present.’ /“■What, to-night?’ I said. ‘And Christmas Eve, too!’ . “ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘only just for. this once.’ • “I found three men. They were; the late James Geary, the late Thomas Leach, and James Carr (no.w of Coro-, mandel), and your humble servant. The, four of us, got v.p to the mine about 12 o’clock that night. We picked up all the bags we could find, with some empty candle boxes, and after, placing them aboard the trucks we lit our candles and started for underground. It was getting on then for about one o’clock on Christmas morning. After we had got- in to the old pump at the Whau level we took the bags and c.andle boxes out of the trucks and got them down in the stopqs below. 3000 CZ OF GOLD IN SIX HOURS. The men asked me, as I was boss, and had my orders from the manager, what they were to do. I looked around at the reef to se;? the likeliest place to get the most gold. I started the men to drill two 'holes in the Sons of Freedom reef. While thq meh werq engaged at this w'ork I took a pick and started to strip the footwall leader. I stripped about 2ft in and about 6ft higih, it being easy ground to work. After the men had fired their holes we went to crib. This was about 3 o’clock in the morning. We ate our crib hurriealy and went to see the result of the holes. I soon saw by the, old reef that we were going to, have a haul of specimens. “Thq men. 'started to pick the specimen ore out of the quartz, and before they had finished they had secured 17 hundred pounds of rich stone. While the men were engaged at this I took down the lepder, which was 3in wide, and secured two candle boxes of the richest stone I ever saw, although I have seen some very raejh stone; in the Eclipse mine, Tararu Creek. The manager crushed this amount of stone by itsejf, and out of the 17cwt. he get 2000 oz of gold, and o.ut of the two. candle boxes .IOOOqz, sp we took out the 3000 oz of. gold in six hours. We started at 1 o’clock and we were at the surface at 7 o’clock in the morning.

“This patch of gold was; 65ft long and 35ft in hejght, and out of this small piece- of ground - the manag.er, with the men, secured 75,0000 z of the pi’ecious m&tal for the company. Sojng of the men, with the manager, who helped to Work out this patch of gold have gone o.ver to the; big majority, but I have; no hesitation in saying that I would like again, if. it were possible, to stand by the side of the same; men to help work out from the bowels o.f the earth such a rich patch of gold as.- we did in the famous old Alburnia mine.”