THE KUMARA RUSH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4862, 21 October 1876, Page 2

THE KUMARA RUSH

BY TELEGRAPH. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Kdmara, Friday. “Burnt children dread the fire." So runs the old adage; but there are always a large number of children that have not been burnt, and if these are attracted by every garish flame, some must, and. will, have their_fingers scorched. , Happy for them if it be no worse. The rush to the Kumara still goes on, and it is to be supposed will go'on, in spite of all the warnings which may be issued through the columns of the Press. It is useless to tell people that the place is overdone ; overstocked both with artisans and diggers, and a nondescript crowd of new chums and loafers. Not that there is any intention to class the last two mentioned together as necessarily allied, but it is a fact that those who do not want to work, and those who do not know how to work, help to swell the throng. The corner opposite Schultz’ Hotel is the well-known resort and meetingplace of the unemployed portion of the community. Here it is that prospecting parties are made up, the news of the day retailed, the latest finds discussed, the coaches start and stop, public meetings are . held, and all the public business of the diggings transacted! It is very necessary and a good thing to have such a place no doubt; but it is not gratifying, nor does it say much for the richness of the field, to find'this place haunted day after day by the same faces ; listless, eager, smiling, or sad,' as the case may be ; still it is a good thing to know that amongst the crowds that are daily coming and going (and it may fairly be said that the arrivals and departures are at present about equal), a goodly number of the new arrivals, and of the new chums too, have tufaed-to manfully and faced the difficulty. This is as it should be, and is infinitely more sensible than railing at fortune, or wasting valuable time in useless inquiries about other peoples’ luck, and in complaining and gossip- at idle corner. It-was stated in my l previous communication that the line of digging seemed to strike off in a somewhat southerly direction to. the east of the township, and this is undoubtedly the case, for since then the claims have extended for a considerable distance in that direction, and prospects are being tried at intervals the entire way to what is known as the loop-line- in the neighborhood of the Christchurch and Hokitika road. ' Many of these prospects are favorable, and there seems little doubt that the lead runs, as was previously suggested, to the reefs about the head of the Taipojbut besides this well known and defined direction of the lead, it has been so to sneak tried backward, namely, in the direction of the Tereraakau- river, somewhere, as I should fancy, about the junction of the Greenstone. Along this line several shafts- are being sunk with fair prospects, and mainly by- newcomers. The field keeps up- the character.l gave it in my former communication, and I see no reason for altering the opinion I then formed,—based as it was on a careful and dis-. interested examination,—namely, that it was an extensive one, containing a vast; quantity, of payable wash, but that the working was heavy and dangerous, and the remuneration at the best but small wages—say £3. per week may be got; on 1 some claims perhaps, and at odd times like tbe last few days, iyhenr,there have been heavy rains, a good deal inofei-but onljp by

dint of perseverance and hard work. Thecountry is pretty much the same all over—a crust of alluvial soil over a thick layer of heavy shingle and huge boulders imbedded in loose earth; and hence the danger, for there is no knowing when one or more of these gigantic boulders may become detached and fall, smashing everything it strikes, and bringing down with it a mass of loose earth and shingle. After the shingle comes a layer of washdirt, more or less .thick, varying from 4 t0,12ft., and in one claim on the flat 15ft, thick, then more shingle, more washdirt, and so on, until thebottom of blue slatey clay is gained. The bottom is rather the ’ false bottom; for I ques-_ tion if the real bottom has .ever yet been reached in New Zealand; and in,this bold supposition I am supported by more than one practical authority. To go over a list of the claims and what they are doing would merely be a repetition to, a great extent of myprevious letter; but I may be permitted to say generally that although no new holes, so far as I can leam,. have bottomed, a few of those in existence at the date of my last letter have done so, and are on gold. Some of the new ones, too, have got on payable wash, and the original ones keep■to about the standard. 1 So far there is little news to report beyond the fact that, as may be gleaned from the foregoing, the field is rapidly extending both'north and south, and , new ground is being, taken up and new shafts opened daily. This is encouraging, for inasmuch as the population, notwithstanding the great influx, remains at about the same, it ;shoyvs.that there must be, as indeed there is, a sensible diminution in the number of loungers, and those who wait, like Mr. Micawber, for “something to turn up." Still, these waiters on providence show in large if not goodly array,andcould easily be dispensed with in order to make room for some of the bronzed-faced, broad-shoul-dered fellows I saw lately, both at Hokitika and Greymouth, swag on shoulder and billy at back; men of the right grit, prepared to do. battle with the earth and wrest the golden treasures from her lap. These are the men for the Kumara rush. None of those such as 1 saw with these' eyes, or by my faith I would not have credited it—a man camped by the side of Sneddon, chopping at a log in a hopeless kind of manner with a full-sized American axe, and, shade of my old mate Bill Duke, hear it and tremble, wearing a black cloth coat. It is to such as these I, speak when I say come , not to the Kumara; but if you do come, and I *

n.uuvr you will come many of you,- fir Heaven’s name come prepared for what you will have to put up with. This is no feather-be 4 diggings, no pile-making: diggings either. I know you have the heart and thepluck, but pray count the cost before you start. Have you the physical strength to,face- ‘ the laborious occupation of . .mining such as this, as I have the physical power to endure the hardship of a tent life in the New Zealand', bush? Have you the means to carry yon on for two 6r three months, Or perhaps- Ibngef, until you get. to washdirt; or to buy -into an established claim ; and if the latter, have you the skill and knowledge to detect ;a paying claim from a shioer ? If you have all these, are you prepared to toil from morn to night with the bare hope of making wages ? If you havenot all these, don’t go to the Kumara ; if you have them and are in a situation at all, or if you can make a living any other way, don’t goto the Kumara. As for those whom I hear of as throwing’ up their billets aud rushing up away to these their heads be it. They have been warned, and if they come to grief, have only themselves to blame. The Kumara: goldfield, although extensive, is generally not even a profitable one, with a great scarcity of water, both for mining and domestic purposes, and that for the latter being of indifferent quality as well as quantity. Buildings, 'however, - are still” going oh in the township, and stores and hotels springing up in all unoccupied parts of the main streets. 1 There is a theatrical company,, under the management-of Mr. G. Collier, and' Comprising Mr. Verner, the Gardner Bros,, and. others, 1 performing at a : newly-erected store in' the town; and a new theatre is talked of.. One thing more, and I have done. There is tobe a hospital at the Kumura,- and from the dangerous character of the workings nowhereis one more greatly ’needed. The getting up of the hospital was splendidly, managed!. In a week the preliminary meeting was held, acommittee and officers appointed, a capital site of about three acres given by the Government,: and subscriptions were pouring in. I flatter myself that : was; smartly done, for you; mustknow that I was on the committee. I was elected the day I landed, why I don’t exactly know, except that I have a dim idea that my extraordinary method- of arriving- at Kumara had something to do with it.' ; I arrived dripping wet through, after an incontinent swim in the river Teremakam You may have heard of my singular and unpleasant exploit. However, the hospital will soon -be erected, and those who take any interest in the Kumara,, or whether-they do on not,, and .are blessed with a superfluity, of coin,-be it a- pound or be it a shilling,, might do-much, worse than send a donation to the worthy and energetic-secre-tary, Mr. Wylde* Kumara, in aid of thehospital funcL