WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?

Kumara Times, Issue 1111, 22 April 1880, Page 3

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?

[to the editor.]

Sir—Yes, ,that is the question surely : all e&rgy and vitality, is not yet crushed out of our townsmen. Awake from your slumbers! the present semieose state of affairs.will never do. Arise to the occasion, and, like men, shoulder to shoulder, and fight against having the place depopulated, your property worthless,- and your-

selves, wives, and families forced to seek fresh homes—nr, in digging parlance, forced to make a fresh start in life! If this should be the case, who have you to blame but yourselves 1 ? What have you ' done for this last twelve months towards further developing this gold tie Id 1 Echo answers, Nil. To continue this course would be to cruelly wrong those dependent on you for their daily bread. Speak to either ; business; men> or miners and ninety-nine out of every hundred will tell you that the gold already- discovered did not drop from the clouds ; that in the geographical formation of the country ahead of Larrikins nothing is so certain but that the lead, exist, and only await looking for; and in this lays the whole secret—looking for—who is to do it; for the miner and I speak feelingly, it is impossible for us. Many like myself are willing enough,’ and would give our time and labor; but alack a day, how are we to live 1 It will be argued ; Oh, yes; but all the diggers are not hard up, and that one ought to help the other. Granted; and I have no doubt they will do so, when asked; but they have less at stake, and in the case of those who have tail-races an actual gain would result if many miners who are now, Macawber like, “ waiting for something to turn up,” would clear out, thus giving them a larger scope for operation. On the other hand, with business people who have their all invested and who cannot realise to keep thepresent population is all importent • and more especially at the present juncture, seeing it will take some time before the sludge-channel will be completed. Pending that event, sooner than leave the place, many miners would only be too glad to join prospecting parties provided tucker was forthcoming. With a view of providing that for them, let our Prospecting Association be reorganised, and a thorough canvass made of the district for subscriptions. With the fact before them that the seat of operations would be ahead of present workings, I feel satisfied that the people of Dillraan’s would liberally subscribe. • Also, let the same plan be adopted hdre as in Hokitika : each subscriber has signed a deed legally binding thenvto subscribe weekly, or monthly, as the case may be, a certain sum, if ihhly sixpence per week. When guarantee is given, the question of ways and means are smooth for the. committee to deal with ; they will have an amount subscribed, pound for pound, from the Government and five shillings on each pound from the County Council. Eor this last we have to thank the irrepressible “ Dick,” though it was as little as he could do for us, seeing through his folly of resigning, many of us got a good soaking in going to vote to send him back. To proceed. Having ascertained the amounts forthcoming the committee will see how many parties they could equip. After all preliminaries arranged, let a series of shafts be sank on a given line, say commencing from Blake’s saw mill to the Kapifcea Creek. If water was struck in any of the shafts whilst going down, it would be easy to double-bank, and we svould then have a problem solved that has puzzled many, namely— Where has the Kumara gold come from? In certain cases, the question of going a given distance from any known workings has been relaxed, and 1 feel sure that on the matter being explained to the Warden, no objection could be taken to waving that condition in this case. In conclusion, I advise first, a meeting ot the old committee; then two public meetings, one at Dillman’s and the other at Kumara. Let the whole scheme be submitted and new blood infused with the old committee ; let canvassers be appointed ; and I feel sure the people would liberally respond—not aloue the people of Kumara and Dillman’s, but the people of Greymouth and Hokitika. To both the latter places it is of the greatest benefit that Kumara should go ahead, seeing without that their principal market would be gone. lam sorry, Mr Editor, for troubling you at such length ; but the matter is very important, and though at the risk of having an article written differing perhaps with the scheme propounded, yet the more discussion takes place, the better it would be for prospecting.— Yours tkc. Supple Jack. Kumara, April 21, 1880.