The Kumara Times Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1886.

Kumara Times, Issue 2988, 1 June 1886, Page 2

The Kumara Times Published Every Evening. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1886.

“Distance lends enchantment to the view.” So it is with respect to the rush to Kimberley. The glowing accounts we have lately published concerning this new goldfie'd have been well seasoned with words of caution; but bold and adventurous men are often too apt to make mistakes, looking only at the bright side of the picture; and it seems as if special warning were necessary to deter, if possible, the stream of migration which is evidently commencing towards the far-off new mining field. It may be safely asserted that not one in every three who proceed to Cambridge Gulf or King Sound will ever reach the Kimberley diggings; the cost of outfit and the difficulties of traveling are but vaguely conceived, and many will be compelled to turn back before they are ha f way on the road; and to drag out a miserable existence in one or other of those feverstricken townships will lie the lot of many a hard-working and deserving son of toil, who is at present fir better off. We are indebted to Mr Martin Kjoiler, formerly of Kutuara, for a copy of the Rydney Evening News of the ITrh nlr., in which we find the following! editorial on the, subject, specially maiked by Mr Kjbller, whose expen- i ence as a miner is we!! known in this i locality, and who evidently thoroughly endorses the views of the writer. According to an o’d saving “ Far-off fields look gie l n.” That, we are afraid, is the aspect on winch tire new gold- . fie d reported in exist at Kimberh-v, I Wcs.ern Australia, is presented to the) inin.i s eve of many people in the i colony, Beta little culm ooutemjda-|

tion and consideration reveals the fact that, so far as present information goes, the field is neither so green nor so rich as it has in some quarters been represented to be. That there is gold in the neighbourhood referred to seems to be an established fact. But that circumstance is in itself unimportant. Auriferous deposits are found over a wide tract of country, and in every possible direction in Australia. But the question is, Are the finds at Kimberley sufficient to establish the locality as a permanent goldfield, where the results are worth the trouble, the hardship, and the risks 1 We submit that there is not sufficient information on that head at present to warrant men rushing off to this place, the dangers of which are as unknown as its prospects are unceitain. On Friday last we published a statement by Mr E. W. Morgan, who had just returned from the new diggings. On the natural assumption that many will attempt to reach the field who are quite unprepared for what is before them, he raises a warning voice, and it ought to be a potential one. He says that no one should attempt to go there who cannot take £250 with him. He would require four horses to carry provisions and supplies for two or three months. The gold already obtained has been found in gullies on the watershed of Elvire, Panton, and Mary Rivers, in which there is no water except in the wet season, which ends in March and begins in December. The water supp’y must be failing now. Then he says: “The accounts in the papers have been greatly exaggerated as to the quantity of gold obtained, which is about 400 ounces in all !” He furthermore states that there is “no road to follow,” “ that the traveller must be prepared for blacks, and armed against a far more insidious and dangerous foe—fever and ague, or scurvy.” When Mr Morgan left Derby there were thirty or forty men working on (ho roads for “their tucker,” having been put on by the Resident to prevent them starving. They were bound for the diggings, but could go no farther. This in itself ought to be sufficient to make men pause before risking life or health in the rush for the alleged new Eldorado. But a later telegram tells us that sandy blight prevails on the field, and that most of the people are nearly blind. We would earnestly warn goldminers of the risks they run, how little there is to warrant them, and what meagre and conflicting accounts have as yet been received. Our advice to people about to go to Kimberley is, Don’t—for the present, at all events. Fuller and more reliable information as to the prospects of the field, and the way of getting there, may be reported shortly. With this certainty before them, intending travelers should wait a little longer. Peter Smith, whilst at work in his claim yesterday, was taken unwell, and brought down to the Hospital in an express at one o’clock in the afternoon. The Wardsman and matron applied restoratives. At 11 p.m., the patient began to exhibit signs of having broken a bloodvessel. He died at 3.30 a.m,, retaining consciousness to the last. He was a native of Denmark, 63 years of age, unmarried, and has been 20 years in New Zealand. It is probable an inquest will be held. The poll for the election of two auditors for the borough is being taken to-day, and will close at 6 p.m. The candidates are Messrs Hamill, Weisner, Spyer, and Toms. The ordinary meeting of the Hospital Committee will be held in the Town Hall this evening, at eight o’clock. Owing to important business at the Hospital Trustee meeting this evening the public meeting to consider the advisability of urging on the Government the necessity of connecting Kumara by a loopline with the Hokitika and Greymouth and East and West Coast Railways, is postponed till Friday evening. The St. Leons’ Circus will open in the Recreation Ground, off Main street, tomorrow evening. A meeting of miners intending to sluice into tiie No. 2 sludge-channel will be held in the Public Hall, Diliman’s Town, on Thursday evening next, at eight o’clock, to elect a committee of management, and to consider rules and any other subject connected with the taking over of the No. 2 channel. The Dillman Town quadrille assembly will meet at the Empire Rooms to-morrow evening, at eight o’clock. We acknowledge receipt from the Government Printer of copies of a number of bills introduced to Parliament during the present session. Owing to the circus performing in j Kumara on Wednesday, the Original J

Quadrille Assembly at Dillman’s Town will not be held this week. This is announced to be the last week of the monster sale of drapery, clothing, Ac., at the establishment of Messrs H. Goulston and Co., in Seddon street, as the premises positively close on Saturday next, the sth inst. M. Earnest Renan has issued a fervent appeal for subscriptions to enable M. Maspero to prosecute his labours in clearing away the soil by which the plinth of the Sphinx of Ghizeh is hidden. This is a vast mass of chiselled rock, upwards of 200 yards in length. Pliny believed it to be a tomb in which would be found a crypt, a sepulchre, and a chapel. Mariette was of the same opinion. This vast monument is believed to be 6000 years old, and 3300 years are known to have elapsed since complaints were first made of its being gradually buried by the sand drift. A Wise Deacon. —“ Deacon Wilder, I want you to tell me how you kept yourself and family so well the past season, when all the rest of ns have been sick so much, and have had the doctors running to us so often.” Brother Taylor, the answer is very easy. I used Hop Bitters in time, and kept my family well, and saved large doctor’s bills. Pour shillings’ worth of it kept us all well and able to work all the time, and I will warrant it has cost you and most of your neighbours £lO to £IOO apiece to keep sick all the time. I fancy you will take my medicine hereafter.” See