The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-15 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH IN
AUSTRALIA.
(From the Mdbourne Argus, Dec. 27.)

THE PRINCE IN A MINE.
The Duke of Edinburgh entered Ballarat—the
largest gold-field town in the world—at six o'clock in
the evening, and met with one of the most magnificent
receptions accorded in the Australian colonies. Every-
thing contributed to make the reception grand and
imposing —the weather was brilliant, the decorations
were numerous, varied, and effective, and great crowds
of people lined all the streets through which the Royal
procession passed. The metropolitan gold.field never
before looked KO
.resplendent, or so completely aban-
doned itself to rejoicing and festivity. A vast
crowd thronged the streets, and the procession
which conducted the Prince from the confines of
the borough through the town was one of the
largest and most picturesque which we have
ever witnessed. At Scarsdale and Smythesdale, two
subsidiary gold-fields, fifteen miles from Ballarat,
the houses were almost lost in the masses of shrubs
with which they were adorned, and there were many
fine triumphal arches. But approaching Ballarat was
something like the Royal entry into Melbourne, so
dense were the crowds, and Bo gorgeous the arches
under which the Prince was to pass, and the decora.
tions of the houses on each side. Twenty thousand
people filled the streets, the balconies, and the house.
tops, and as the Prince went in procession through
Ballarat and Ballarat East, each corner revealed some
new and splendid thing done in honour of the occa-
sion. The chief of these was the welcome of the
Chinamen, who burst into barbaric splendour with
banners, and mandarins, and halberdiers, and a pyra-
mid representing the gold obtained in the district up
to the end of last year, and which amounted to
31,721,3440 z., or 1:126.225,376. The evening closed
with a magnificent illumination and torchlight pro-
cessh n, and his Royal Highness, who resided during
his stay at Craig's Royal Hotel, visited the local theatre.
Next morning the Prince held a levee in an immense
hail erected to his honour in the short space of six
weeks, and called the Alfred Hall. It is certainly
handsome enough to deserve such a designation.
Numerous addresses were presented, and a large body
of the residents paid their respects, and then the Duke
started to visit the mines. The first claim be went to
was that of the Band of Hope Company, and the largest
on Ballarat On entering the brace, the directors of
the company received his Royal Highness, and, under
the guidance of the manager, he proceeded to inspect
the puddling machines, the operations of the buddies,
and other parts of the surface works. party then
entered a small room prepared for the occasion, and en-
robed themselves in garments impervious to damp.
Advancing to the mouth of the principal, or No. 2
shaft, the Duke took his place in the cage, and the
signal having been given, he dropped slowly down
the shaft amid the loud cheers of the spectators. The
mine was fully lighted up, and a crown and occasional
stars lit up along the course of the mine, increased the
general effect. The Duke went along the whole ex-
tent of the drives—nearly two miles in length—some-
times walking and sometimes seated on a truck. He
used the pick freely, and knocked off several very
fine specimens of gold. To use the expression of the
miners he " fossicked " about in true digger
style, and was evidently delighted with the novelty
of the scene and the situation. It was twenty minutes
to three when the Duke descended the mine, and he
did not appear on the surface again till twenty-five
minutes past four. He and his party next proceeded
to witness the washing out of some buckets of wash-
dirt, and entered with manifest zest into the opera-
tions. Along with Lord Newry, Mr. Yorke, and
others, he puddled about the dirt, and picked up
several fine lumps of gold. To see a Royal Duke
working, with his sleeves up, in a trough of wash-
dirt even although gold dirt—was a novel sight, and
the crowd of people which filled the brace watched
the operations of the Royal party with great interest.
The washing was unusually rich. The gold could be
seen in lumps in the dirt, and almost every member of
the party bore away a substantial memento of his
visit to this great mine. This portion of the pro-
ceedings over, some bottles of champagne were un-
corked, and Mr. Casselli, the chairman of the com-
pany, presented the Duke with a magnificent nugget,
enclosed in a handsome morocco case. The nugget
weighs 220 z., and is one of the finest specimens of
gold ever found in the colony. The Prince in a few
words, acknowledged the gift, and expressed the plea-
sure which he had derived from his visit to the Band
of Hope mine.
THE visa TO SANDHURBT.-SAD ACCIDENT.
The reception given to the Duke of Edinburgh to-dar
by the second great gold-field town of the colony was
worthy of the reputation of ancient Beudigo. The
pageant was not expected to be as imposing as that
of Ballarat, the first inland town in Australia ; but
Sandhurst showed what the inhabitants of a diggings
township can do when their hearts are really in the

business, and a spectacle was witnessed such as the
town, in its long and chequred history, has scarcely
ever before exhibited. The people of the whole district
made a great holiday of the occasion, and visitors came
from far and near—mostly dust•garbed miners—to
witness the ceremonial. The streets, shortly before
the procession passed, were densely crowded, and even
outside the town the throng stopped up the way. The
people came out to honour and welcome the Prince,
and the houses seemed to participate in the prevailing
feeling, for the business marts closed their shutters
against work, and flags nodded gaily from the windows
to the crowds below.

The Prince arrived shortly after noon, and we need
net repeat the story of his reception, which differed in
no way from that at other towns, save that the loyalty
was a thought more pronounced, and the display more
gorgeous. When it was over he was entertained
at a handsome luncheon at the Town Hall, and then,
having opened a new volunteer orderly-room, held a
levee, and received addresses. In the evening there
was a splendid display of illuminations, and not only
was the town lit up, but the gardens at View Point
were hung from end to end with lanterns, and in-
numerable fireworks turned the night into a sort of
lurid, artificial and, but forth,- coloured Bengal fires,
ghastly day. But in its torchlight procession Sandhurst
outdid all competition, and the ring of miners waving
their torches as the band played martial music, the in-
termitting flashes of the fireworks and Bengal fires the
cloud of smoke lurid with the reflected light, the blaze
a the bonfire into which the expiring torches were
cast, the wild cheers with which the Prince was re.
ceived, the thousands of upturned faces, the other
lights beyond and around, and all the noises of a huge
assemblage, will dwell for many long years in the
recollection of the spectators. Unfortunately, a sad
accident threw a gloom over the proceedings. While
the festivities were at their height, a model Galatea,
manned by boys, was drawn on wheels down the street.
Somebody threw some lighted crackers into it, and as
the fireworks which had been kept to serve the purpose
of a mimic broadside exploded, the ship took tire, and
three of the boys were so burnt that they died next
day. It was a very sad affair, and the Prince evinced
his sympathy to the utmost.
On Friday, the l'rince made a tour among the
quartz reefs, sisiting Latham and Watson's claim at
Hustler's Reef, Koch's Pionetr Crushing Winks at
Long Gully, and the Catherine Beef Company's
mine. He descended the first and 1 Ist mentioned
claims, and there studied the art and mystery of
quartz-mining, being presented with several interesting
and valuable memorials of the occasion in the shape of
rich nuggets and a trophy of quartz specimens. He
lunched --but it was a poor meal—at Eagleliawk, and
upon the whole must have stored his mind with an
immense amount of novel information, although his
chief experience was that of a hot wind, the first he
had fairly encountered.