Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/545

 Mr. c. Rasp ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 519 taken up, and Messrs. George McCulloch, George Urc[iihart, James Lind, and Phillip Charley became partners with the three above-named. There were now seven blocks ]K>gged out, each of about 40 acres, and probably no richer argentiferous group has ever before been selected by one party of men. In Australia it has its i)arallel only in th(selection by the Brookman party of the Great Boulder group of gold mines at Kalgoorlie. After a certain amount of work was done, the properties were taken over by a company in Melbourne. As often occurs in the case of immensely wealthy mines, some time elapsed before the public would or could believe in the Broken Hill field. Developmental work proceeded ; but experts, as in the Kalgoorlie episode, reported unfavorably of the prospects. The chlorides and other good species of metal, however, enabled the group to pay its way and to actually force itself into the confidence of investors. Hitherto kw people in Australia knew anything about silver mines, and they had not been aware that within easy access was an investment with few parallels in the history of argentiferous mining. But when the initial stages were over, and the richne.ss of the new find could no longer be denied, an enormous " boom " was started. Men invested in almost anything at Broken Hill ; mines are even said to have been floated into largely capitali.sed companies, which possessed not even the indications of metal. The excitement was universal in Australia. From half a score of people in 1883, the population of Broken Hill rose to upwards of 20,000 in 1890 and enormous quantities of metal were won every week from the Proprietary group of mines. Mr. Ras|) was prominently connected with Broken Hill for some years ; and the circumstances of his find in 1883, and his great confidence in its wealth, led him to amass a fortune. He was the owner of a large number of shares in the Com]:)any, and when the dividend stage arrived he removed to .Adelaide to reside, and at " Willyama," in the suburb of Medindie, he possesses what might be termed an ideal home, tastelully furnished, and with well-laid-out grounds. Mr. Rasp has since been prominently identified with mining in Western Australia, and is a Director of the Kalgoorlie Bank of Enoland Company, the Princess Royal, and the West Collie Coalfield Company, besides being a shareholder in a number of others. As founder of perhaps the most celebrated silver mine in the world, Mr. Rasp is a man of mark and interest. His present comfortable circumstances are well deserved ; for, by his faith and that of his original companions, .South Australia and New South Wales, as well as Australia as a whole, have gained very substantial advantages. Mr. Arthur Lindsay MR. ./RTHUR LINDSAY was born in the west of Ireland in 1828, and in 1863 he came to this Pro'ince. In 1 cS66 he became clerk to the Destitute I'oor Board, and since that time 32 years— his energies have been devoted to the philanthropic cause. In 1869 he became Superintendent of the Destitute Asylum and Secretary to the Destitute Board; and in January, 1889, was appointed Chairman of the Board. He has the responsibility of the destitute people throughout the Province of South Au.stralia.