Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/474

 448 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mine-Superintendem H. R. Hancock wht'ii th<j mine was once more brought into full working order. The operations at Wallaroo once threatened with extinction— have thus been continued up to the present time, notwithstanding that copper teni|K)rarily receded considerably in value from the halcyon early days of the industry in South Australia. As the vein stuff, year after year, became poorer and poorer, it became necessary to use special mechanical apparatus at both Wallaroo and Moonta ; and here Captain Hancock's inventive talent came into use, and proved of great service. Had it not been for the judicious use of his improved rock-drill and other mechanical a))pliances, the copper-mining mdustry would have suffered a severe blow. His jigging apparatus has proved very valuable. The benefits of the jiggers are not confined to South Australia, for they have been utilised on the silver mines of Broken Hill, where they helped to solve the difficult sulphide problem by completing the process of concentration, and returning ore of a cjuality fit for the smelters. There are nine companies engaged in concentrating work on the Barrier, and six out of this number use Captain Hancock's patent jigs. The machinery which he invented is pronounced by experts, and proved by experience, to be amongst the best in the world ; and his jigging apparatus forms the subject of an interesting article in Dr. Ure's well-known " Dictionary of the Arts and .Sciences." A leading .South Australian journal, in spe;aking of these jigs, said: — "The feasibleness of his (Captain Hancock's) device for making the screens not only rise and fall, but also throw the ore laterally, and thus produce a separation of the good from the bad, has been fully demonstrated in other places than the Peninsula." How important was the industry Captain Hancock controlled can be gathered from the fact that, during his superintendency of the Wallaroo and Moonta Mines, the enormous sum of ^5,500,000 was paid away chiefiy in wages. The total amount paid by the mines in wages since their inception has been estimated at ^7,000,000, and the profits distributed at one and three-quarter million pounds. The dividends in relation to wages, therefore, have averaged about 25 per cent. The mines employ annually, on an average, 1,600 men. Ill-health compelled Captain Hancock to resign his position in connection with these copper mines. During his long residence on Yorke Peninsula he was largely identified with all its leading institutions. He was one of the founders of the Point Pearce Mission Station, which was established at Boorkoyana in 1865, and has been one of the most successful institutions of its kind in South Australia. He was for 16 years Chairman of the Moonta Agricultural .Society, and was one of the moving spirits in the establishment of the Moonta School of Mines, bein<r afterwards connected with its governing committee. Captain Hancock was one of the founders of the Moonta Mines Institute, and one of the promoters of the Moonta Gas Company. An earnest worker in the Church, he for many years was Superintendent of the Moonta Mines Sunday-school. He also devoted many years of labor to education as Chairman of the School Board of Advice. He is a P'reemason ; and all l)ranches of manly sport have received his cordial co-operation. The various religious and philanthropic organisations of his district have had in him a sincere worker and well-wisher.