The morning news., 1897-08-29
THE LUST FOR GOLD
shown In the Mad Rush for the Bal
Iarnt Mines.
From The Washington Star.


those in the famous Australian fields in
Victoria. The fevered excitement and
mad rush to the Klondike god fields re-
calls the scenes and human picl ures OF
the Ballarat and Bendigo (sandhursl.' gold
fields Of Australia. Ballarat and Bent igo
proved TO be the richest finds, and II. o
richest auriferous bed the world has ever
seen. For more than three years after
the first dcovery Of gold on the field toe
pick miners" walked the valleys and the
ravnes hunting for nuggets on the sur
face; perhaps on 40 hundred fields in the
world were so many and valuable nuggets
ever found tnan on these neighboring
fields of Ballarat and Bendigo, in the col
ony Of Victoria
"Toe-pick miners" were those without
tool or pan. who simply walked about the
field and picked up the yellow pebbles
as they could find them among the sand
and stones which they scattered with the
toes of their shoes. They kicked for gold;
strange TO say, they were highly reward
Cd for their silly effOTt-silly from min
ers standpoint A singular example of
The luck of these "tOe-picks" was young
lover who had heard the marvellous stories
of gold at Ballarat. He was a new
chum,' but ne had a sweetheart one
morning he bade her fearful face good
bye, picked up a big lemonade bottle, and
left Geelong for the fields sixty miles up
in the Black Hills, promising her that he
would return and marry her as soon as he
had picked up the lemonade bottle full of
nuggets, which, he assured her, wouldn't
be much longer than it would take him to
walk there and back.
Reaching Baliarat the young enthusiast
began kicking the stones and dirt about in
search of his treasure No more earnest
or persistent miner "dished" under the rod
of Mt. Buningyong, where the rich fnd
was first made. He had no tent so he
slept in the open with his bottle in his
clutch Week passed In and out on the
sixth Sunday he wa ked into the home of
his sweetheart and handed her yellow
lemonade bottle The virgin nugget made
it yellow. 1t was fun Of gold $4,000 worth.
The couple married and upon this fOunda-
tion built their fortunes in Geelong, where
they now live. unless he old 'home yearn-
ing" has drawn them back to their native
heath in England. Facts ike these set the
public mind mad
In less than eighteen months from the
sensational find a Buningyong, J0000 peo-
pie tented on the Ballarat field, picking,
dishing and kicking for gold From that
day, in 1854. until now there have never
been less than 10000 miners on the field.
There are now nearly 100000 people in the
city of Ballarat living on the hundreds of
miles of drives beneath it, the Band and
Albion claims alone having nearly 100
miles of drives, and shafts nearly 5000
feet deep. So mad was the rush and 50
eager the crowd that no one thought of
taking time to build a house. For years
until the alluvial country was immeasur-
ably turned over or pegged into fixed
claims and the Bendigo rush" diverted
the stream-the city of Ballarat was a
camp of white tents. The first brick
/, me. % rtVfp saff1
The gold escorts which brought the fab
uious treasure into Melbourne gave that
100 miles of country the aspect Of a mill
tary patrol. Every tongue told of the new
Elodrado but no one told of the suffering
and the chagrn of the unlucky ones, and
no one found his head cool enough to
figure out the loss an aluvial field was 10
the country. Men fooishly sold their
farms. stock stores, boats, jewels, or
whatever. and rushed pen nell to this eX-
cited canvas city half prepared. and
either ate and tramped out their gold in
search of more gold, or had 1t mercilessly
taken from them.
The cost of living in such an inaccessi-
Bile place was. all told. about $40 per day.
Thus 10000 miners were putting $1,000 900
a day in the ground and taking out less
than $4,000 But no one thought of that.
Men everywhere were making rich finds.
and the gold escorts were carrying away
large amounts of gold. These were in
hammabe facts, which luTed a new batch
and painted new yellow hope to the erst-
while unlucky digger. Bendigo was seven
ty-fiVe miles away. and was as rich nearly
as Ballarat, while nuggety patches chained
the road between al Maryboro'. Cluneo.
Cuswick and other places. You could al
most speak from man to man along the
Who4e distance, for men tramped back and
forth, excited by each new sensational
find, passing the news along Every hill
and dale was alive with men in search Of
the craved metal.
When the whole country had been turned
over and 'dished." the real mining com
menced on the reefs, and there the real
fortunes and the genuine prosperity from
the mining Industry set in. From 1854 to
1890 Ga period of thirty-siX years. the colo
ny of Victoria has produced 56S7O574
ounces OF gold worth 81 1874 4S0. This
was, virtually. all mined from the Ballarat
and Bendigo lodes, or reefs as they are
called there This gives an average Of
over SO,000,OOO per year. After working
these two great reefs. on which set two
cities Of nearly 10000 people each, for over
a generation, there were taken from the
drives beneath them in 1850 over 81 900. 600
of gold
A new impetus was given to the mining
industry at this low ebb when the Band
anu Alhluh went uoNn another l.tlO feet
in Ballarat. and George I.andseu sent the
the $50 Victoria NORTH in Bendigo. down
below its 5000 foot level. Fosslcking
ceased on both fields more than twenty
years ago. Until this day the old alluvlal
fats look as II they had been rooted over
by hogs looking for potatoes. These great
fields produced one sensation aftcr am
other The riches seemed inexhaustible.
While some lucky diggers celebrated their
sudden fortune by lighting cigars with SlO1
Q2D notes. others, filled with a measure
of disgust. left for other parts.
miner, after spending his all. foot
sore. ragged and penniless, threw his pick
violently TO the ground, with an oath.
I'm chuck the whole 49, thin" he NUT
tered, hearlsick with disgust az his utter
failure 10 hud even the Color" The
sharp tool struck hard substance aud
bounded away. The incident aneerod the
unlucky digger Gripping the pick with
fierce determination. he sent it into the
same place with terrific force. Il bounded
further away. In its wild jump be- noe
tced a yellow streak the point traced 100
tho air. Examining the point hc saw
specks Of gold.
Then his Joyous heart over loaped che
hIsnt of his anger and Dc was soon on
bus knees. proddlug the dirt about the
naughty nfInt which resisted IIa afr.rufb