Page:History of West Australia.djvu/380

 328

data has been gathered concerning the Coolgardie Water-Supply Scheme. Reports have been obtained from English experts, and the projection of the enormous work has been consequently held in abeyance. In the meantime the Government has expended large sums of money in supplying water to the various centres, and the old cry has lost its vitality. In the principal mines sufficient water has been generally obtained in the deep shafts for crushing purposes.

The mining developments in 1896 were eminently satisfactory. Slight consideration of the enormous difficulties in water-supply and transport is convincing on this point. The total output of the colony reached 281,265 ozs. 6 dwts. 12 grs., valued at £1,068,808 4s. 8d., and this from a nucleus of 302 ozs., valued at £1,147 12s. in 1886! The returns for the various Coolgardie Goldfields totalled 175,696 ozs.; for Yilgarn, 16,565 ozs. 5 dwts.; for Dundas, 4,350 ozs. 6 dwts.; 6 grs.; for Murchison, 71,282 ozs. 13 dwts. 17 grs.; for Ashburton, 669 ozs. 3 dwts. 9 grs.; for Pilbarra, 11,810 ozs. 2 dwts. 4 grs.; and for Kimberley, 891 ozs. 17 dwts. 6 grs. The output of the East Coolgardie Goldfield was considerably above that of any other eastern field; from May to December inclusive the production amounted to 85,287 ozs. 1 dwt. 7 grs. By far the largest portion of this total was obtained at Kalgoorlie, where the mines were proving of phenomenal richness in depth. The amount of capital invested in this district was greater than that in others, and development work was furthered with more pertinacity. Menzies received renewed attention, and the reefs were exploited with excellent results. Some excitement was caused at Mount Magnet when it was known that large parcels of gold had been dollied from the stone. The North-East Coolgardie Goldfield was proclaimed on 19th February, 1896. The developments at Pilbarra led to the proclamation of a new goldfield—West Pilbarra—in that territory. New reefs were discovered by prospectors in various places in the eastern and Murchison fields, and it is highly probable, owing to the great extent of the goldbearing country, and the impossibility of rapidly exploiting it, that many more rich gold districts will be established in the future. In 1896 quartz-crushing machinery to the value of £364,706 was imported into Western Australia. During the year great interest was aroused in the report of gold discoveries on the Darling Ranges. It was announced that Mr. G. H. Lovett, in conjunction with Mr. L. R. Menzie, was possessed of a rich reef showing free gold at Dandalup. There was a temporary rush to the district, and a report from Mr. T. Fowler, Senior Inspector of Mines, was obtained by the Government. As a result a small goldfield was proclaimed. The district has since been disappointing.

Numbers of Western Australian companies were registered in England in 1896 ("in February," says one report, "forty-one companies were capitalised up to £7,432,500") but the intensity of the "boom" was spent in later months, and it became difficult to obtain money for local mining on the London market. This was to be expected. The price of Western Australian stocks fell to quite an alarming extent on the Australian and London exchanges, and considerable sums of money were lost by speculators. The quick cessation of the inflow of capital crippled the goldfields resources. Happily, except that many deserving new claims have to go begging for purchasers, the mining industry has not been seriously hampered by the stoppage, and the anomaly of a falling market side by side with a gratifying increase of gold output has been observed. There is no doubt that the new temerity of capitalists in investing in Western Australian stocks induced the mining people to bestir themselves more than ever; the results have been abundantly shown in 1897. The torpor in the money market was regrettable and inevitable, but not insuperable. While it protracted the opening up of new mines, it did not affect those already in operation, and upon the latter has been cast the onus of proving to the world that Western Australia is, beyond comparison, rich in gold. And, because of their assured wealth, the goldfields have risen superior to the temporary depression.

Clause XI. of the Goldfields Act 1895 was energetically condemned by the goldfields people in 1896. They asserted that the necessity to refer the issue of transfers and leases to Perth caused needless delay, inconvenience and expense. Time, they said, was the chief factor in a contract; and delay in getting a lease transferred might cause a transaction to fall through owing to some change in the market. In January, a deputation composed of prominent mining men, placed these views before Mr. Wittenoom. Several meetings were held at Coolgardie and elsewhere, and another delegation waited on Mr. Wittenoom in March. Strong exception was taken to the labour covenants attached to leases. It was declared that these were unnecessarily stringent. The cry in this regard was not confined to Western Australia. Capitalists in London interested in local ventures also agitated. Amendments to the Act and regulations were made in 1896-7, and gave satisfaction to the agitators.

The opening of the Coolgardie Railway on 23rd March, 1896, was calculated to appreciably affect the destinies of the goldfields by reducing the cost of living an production. The ceremony was performed by the new Governor, Sir Gerald Smith, attended by members of the Ministry and of Parliament, and by the chief people of the colony. The occasion was made almost a national one, and Coolgardie residents were profuse in their hospitality. Banquets and other festivities were tendered, and important speeches were delivered by the Governor, the Premier, and other gentlemen. On 8th September the line from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie was declared open by the Governor, and the occasion was celebrated amid demonstrations similar to those at Coolgardie in March. The railway from Mullewa to Cue was rapidly creeping nearer to its destination. The Government carried in 1896 bills authorising the construction of railways from Kalgoorlie to Menzies, from Kalgoorlie to Kanowna, and from Cue to Nannine. Residents of Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Dundas and Esperance advocated with considerable energy the projection of a railway from Esperance via Dundas to Kalgoorlie or Coolgardie. It was declared that Esperance Bay was the nearest, and therefore the natural, port to the eastern gold region. The mines at Dundas were opening up so satisfactorily that the district was considered to have superior claims to a railway. The town of Esperance had become active, and steamers regularly traded thither. Teams carried supplies north to Dundas. The Government has not yet deemed this railway advisable.

In 1897 the iron rails were laid over old tracks of prospectors. The eastern goldfields began to be cut out in every direction, and the stillness of the desert is now awakened by the shriek of the steam engine. Railway connection is extending from Kalgoorlie to Kanowna and from Kalgoorlie to Menzies. By such energy and determined enterprise the goldfields will be thoroughly tested. The railway from Mullewa to Cue was opened to traffic by Sir John Forrest on 20th April, 1897, and the whole system is being extended as the year progresses.

Every month of 1897 in the mines has been a history in itself. Mine after mine is being brought into active crushing operations, and the growth of the output has astonished even those who know most about the industry. More advance has been made each four weeks than previously took place in as many months. The best of the companies so easily floated have been erecting machinery, and in very few instances have the results been