Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-05-01
THE BROKEN HILL.

Which Read Lila Romance.
At the end of 1887 a passing trav-
eler, knowing nothing about the colo
MES except what he learned from the
conversation he had heard in railway
carriages and dinner tables, might
have come to the conclusion that
nearly the whole of the prosperity of
Australia was derived from it's gold
and silver mines. Men were telling
stories about Broken Hill, which were
wilder than the stories of
There was a young man, for exam
pie, on a station In South Australia,
who, three Or four years before I heard
the tale, was receiving twenty shil.
lings a week and his tucker" as a
boundary rider. He was playing
euchre with a friend, who, after he
had lost all his ready money, staked
an original share, which he had just
purchased for f1OO or f12O, in a ley
silver mine. The boundary rider won.
A few months later he and an.
other friend went up to the mine to see
how it was going on. AS they were
returning to Adelaide they caught a
dangerous fever, and they we're nursed
by a stranger. The friend died; the
successful euchre-player recovered.
When he was better he said to the
stranger:
"You have rendered me the greatest
service n man can render another;
for you have saved my life. You ought
to have a share Of my luck. [ will
divide with you. Here's a. check for
Els, 1000. My share in Broken Hill is
worth ESQ, O00."
| was telling this story at the table
of a friend of mine in London q few
months after my return to England.
There was only one guest besides my
self, and he was u well-known stock
broker from Melbourne. When | had
finished he said:
Eyes; | know the boundary rider
very we'll and did business with him.
The story is quite true. He held his
share for a time. and sold out at an
enormous price, but if he had held till
now he would have been worth f6OO,-
OO0."
People talked about Broken Hill as
we in England used to talk about the
T~ichborne trial. It was on every
body's lips. They quoted the last price
of shares as we quote yesterdays re-
turns during a general election. Re-
ports founded or private information
from a sure hand about the wonderful
yield of a new ''lode" we're as common,
and were listened to with as much in
terest, as reports in a London club
about divisions in the Cabinet when a
ministry is in trouble.
Not only was every body talking
about Broken Hill; an extraordinary
number of quiet people. who, in En-
gland, would never touch speculations
of the sort, held shares in it. The ex-
element was sufficiently intense when
| vas in Adelaide. After [ left, so the
correspondent wrote to me, it became
more intense still. One professional
gentleman, who usually leaves the city
for two or three weeks during the heat
Of Christmas, spent his holiday at the
OOl HCi WIot0 Vic DEOhCIS Ik0CG, huU
chained to have made f8, 600.
You remember" writes my friend,
*"sitting next to Mr. - at Mrs
luncheon. He had held a very good
position, but had been very ~unfortu-
nate; just before you had met him at
luncheon he had been obliged 10 call
his creditors together. He has gone
into Broken Hill. and is now worth
El50. 900"
l lunched with this fortunate unfort-
GHate gentleman in September, the
letter was written, I think, in Febru-
ary-
The seven fo~rty-acre blocks which
are included in Broken Hill proper
were purchased in 1883 by seven .'sta-
ton" hands, who each contributed E70
to buy a mineral lease of the land. and
to start the mine and work it for tin.
The capital was sOon exhausted and
no tim was found. Some of the men,
bers of the little syndicate lost heart
and retired, and then it was deter
mined to enlarge the company from
seven to fourteen.
In 1854 a fourteenth section could
have been purchased for G1203 a share
was actually offered to a friend of
mine at that price; some of the shares
were sold for less. The whole value
Of the mine was therefore less than
fl, 700.
On January 1, 1888, the shares were
worth In the market So, 000, 600. They
rose still higher. I i believe. for a time,
but have declined. Whether they
have quite recovered I do not know
Contemporary Review.
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Plaque of TirnrS m lava