The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-25

When the Government Helps Men Who
Are Down.

NEW ZEALAND GUNDIGGERS
When the Government Helps Men Who
are Down.
On his head was set awry with care
less grace a wide-brimmed sombrero;
his ample calf was tightly gir with q
pigskin Logging that had seen better
days; across his shoulder was thrown
a gunny-sack concealiag q weapon
whose handle alone ~protruded: in his
right hand ne carried a crusty spear,
as he marched with slow and meas
ured tread from the confines of the
city toward the brush and thicket
This nomad Of the isles was o a
brigand, but simply a New Zealander
who had fallen on i'll luck, and was
striving to make a stake again.
No downcast spirit was his. either.
for he knew that in that workmaa's
paradise he could obtain employment
al any time.
Yet, strange TO say, says the Phila-
deiphia Record, no work in his parric-
ular trade was to be had just then, 50
he had applied to the are govern
ment Office for employment on a fall
back job. Hence his peculiar equip
ment and his jaunty air as he started
out for the gum field. Arriving at the
railroad station-all the railroads in
e Zealand save one are owned by
the government-he presented his pass
and unC CSSan an his v~a - rhn 1f--
trict north of the Thames peninsula.
having received from the government
a noutft transportation and a months
the gum fields.
Ages ago, when great trees grew be
side which the towering kauris Of to-
day would have seemed Insignificant,
the volcanic isle was even more lux
uriant in its vegetation than it is now.
Fire ravaged the principal forests
again and again, and the sizzling pines
and irOn-wOOds gave up their sap,
much of which in a molten state ran
to the ground and then h loose top
soil as if seeking refuge from the rag
ing elements above. Great fields of
this gum are found here and there
throughout the North island, and in
some parts of the south.
The gumdigger selects a likely SPOT,
prOds into the earth for about eight
inches or so with the spear until The
point of the blade strikes something
brittle; then down comes the gunny-
sack, the spade is taken out, and the
gum is laid bare. 1t lies in cakes,
about two to five inches thick, and
these are shoveled up, broken off and
dumped into the sack.
No foreman is there, no whistle or
bell calls the laborer to his daily
toll; it is piecework for every n
and the longer one works the more he
earns. The price of the Kauri gum is
fixed by the government, and averages
9 to 10 cents a pound e~vOirdupiOs.
Long continuance on the gumfleld
is discouraged; the man who goes
there does so solely to regain a social
and industrial footing, and if he keeps
sober he never fails to accomplish his
end.
In spite of the fact that a gumdig
ger as such, is looked down upon by
the islanders, the freedom of the life
appeals to a number of bohemian spir-
it's from England and one a find a
1SiCSoIC, Ill ALL" "h1AiSAN1,
and more than one clerk in holy Or
ders digging up the Kauri gum for
their eXiStenSe.
Gum-digging is not the only fall
back occupation in New Zealand
During the season wOll-running IS ID
vogue, and any man who can push a
w~heelbarrow may earn his $3.50 to SIS
per day running wool from the wharf
sheds to the ships and dumping it
into the hold, a bale at a time.
In New South Wales and Victoria
there are mines which are not rich
enough in gold to tempt capitalists,
mines that have been partly worked
out, and the claims of which have re-
verified to the government. Such claims
are a gOdsend to the unfortunate city
man Of Sydney or Melbourne who has
really come down to hard pan" He
can obtain from the government SINH
lar concessions to the gumdiggers OF
New Zealand, and in a few weeks can
always pan out enough gold TO set him
on his feet again. No need IS there
for his remaining on these abandoned
reefs. A month at gold digging on a
fall-back reef is not exactly a luxury,
but it is better than poverty, and 1t
preserves % the individual that IN
dependence of spirit that characterizes
the colonial.
These are not the only, but the prin-
cipal. fall-backs of the southern islands
Thus is pauperism prevented and the
freedom of the subject assured. The
government of the Federal States OF
Australia, as we'll as that of New Zea-
land, stands direct sponsor for a num-
Der of these undertakings and is indl-
rectly concerned in many others,
among which may be mentioned a pub
lie restaurant in Sydney, n. S. ",
where you may eat a really hrst-cfass
dinner or supper and yet be dead broke
This is but one of the anomalies Of the
land where Christmas is the hottest
day of the year.
Woke up in Bureau Drawer.
(From the Detroit News)