Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-06-04
A GREAT GOLD SCARE
When the Yellow Metal Was
First Found In Australia.
AFRAID OF THE CONVICTS.
The English Government Tried to and
Did For a Time Suppress the News
Because 1t Feared a General Upris-
ing In the Colony of Criminals.

ing In the Colony of Criminals.
Gold in Australia was discovered
one might almost be pardoned for say
ing first discovered-many times. But
the news of the earliest discoveries was
tealously kept from spreading. The Sc
cret of this reticence lay in the pres
ence of the army of convicts which
then composed the balance of the pop
ulation. Had a gold panic broken out
it was feared that general uprising
of the prisoners would take place.
Nevertheless the first gold found in
Australia was by convicts, in 1914,
near Bathurst, New South Wales, The
discoverers gathered together guam
tity quite sufficient to lead them to be-
lieye that they had found a gold mine,
but when they reported what they con-
sidercd their good fortune to the keep
er he, instead of undertaking to rec
ommcud them for pardon or easing
their hard labors in any way, threat
ened to give them all a sound flogging
if they ventured again to say Il word
about the matter or TO spend any more
time picking up gold. The next find
was made on the Fish river in 1928,
not far from the spot where the con
victs had come across it nine years be-
fore This news, being reported to the
authorities, was also ordered sup
pressed. Within the course of the next
two years finds were so frequent that
the London government began to take
great interest in the affair But the
fact that another region of the yellow
metal might be Mt the disposal Of such
as might seek was kept rigidly secret
until I'm 1925 n dramatic incident pre-
cluded an possibility of further Sc
crecy.
\ convict was discovered with a mug
get of gold in his possession. When
asked how he had come by the metal
he said that he had picked it up in the
bush. He was cautioned and told that
the authorities had no doubt that he
had stolen the gold, but the prisoner
Stoutly held to his original tale. At
length he was taken out and severely
tlogged in public as a thief. There is
now no doubt that the man told the
truth. After this, although the public
was every now and then keyed up to
great expectations by some reported
find, no further veins were discovered
until 1899, when a Russian nobleman
found rich deposit in the Blue noun
tains. The British government again
became fearful of the consequence of
such news upon colony of convicts
and ordered the matter suppressed.
Yet sufficient people had heard of it to
keep the story alive and give credencc
to such rumors as arose from time to
time. So matters driftcd on Time
ana time again bushmen, shepherds,
convicts and surveyors picked up small
nuggets and brought them to the cen
tcrs of population, but at that day peo-
pie were nothing like so keen on gold
mining as they subsequently became,
and the subject of gold in Australia
was not pursued as one would expect
it TO be.
The discovery of gold in California
changed all that. Those rich fields,
panning out their golden store and fill
ing the Golfers Of lucky individuals
and governments at rate never
dreamed Of, awakened Il thirst for
prospecting all the world over. In
every part of the earth men went out
with pick and pan, hoping to come
across the precious metal
When the news of CALIFORNIA; for
tune reached Australia, many took
ship to Americas shores, and among
these was Hammond largreaves, an
Englishman, native Of Gosport who
had emigrated to New South Wales in
ISL In Australia he engaged in
farming without much profit and was
among the first to rush for California.
On reaching the auriterous region the
HEst thing That struck him was the
similarity OF the geological formation
III CailIurhla ana bathurst Australia
ana there and then he made up his
lAlhd TO inquire INTO the subject should
ne ever return TO Australia. lie work
ed 1or something Ike couple of years
IN CaIllorhla and then set sail for New
south Wales. returning, he Of course
perhaps there might be gold in Bath