Saturday Afternoon at Kanowna
CHAPTER XIX
Kanowna—The Great Alluvial Rush—Big Nuggets—“The Joker”—Father Long’s Golden Sickle—Nobility Represented—Bulong.
Looking at the town of Kanowna, White Feather, at the present time, one can hardly believe that two years ago there were 20,000 people there. It is now a quiet settled little town, the outskirts riddled with holes, like an immense rabbit warren. Even what was once the large cemetery is now dug up in all directions, with just a little plot fenced in where burials had really taken place. The other portion, which, owing to the richness of the surrounding ground, was thrown open for digging, had, of course, not been used for burial purposes. I first went to Kanowna in November 1897, at the commencement of the great rush. I wanted to see a rush on the spot, and accordingly started one morning by coach from Kalgoorlie. On arrival at Kanowna, quite a stranger, I had to carry my own portmanteau around and look for a hotel to stay at. There was no sign of a man about the little town. I afterwards found that all the men were up at the Lead, as it was called. At this time there were only three hotels in the town, now there are more than twelve. I was fortunate enough to secure the only vacant room in Donnelon’s Hotel; so, after getting off some of the red dust of the 12-mile coach ride I started for the said Lead, about half a mile from the hotel. When I first saw it I was amazed, not only at the number of tents and bough-houses, the thousands of windlasses at work, the thousands of men with tin dishes washing the ore for gold, the thousands of cradles (not babies’) being rocked for the same purpose, but at the thousands of men rushing about in all directions in a state of wild excitement. People at that time came from all directions to see the wonderful alluvial field—miners to take up claims, speculators to buy out claims, men to buy gold, men to buy ore, and plenty of people only as spectators, who wanted to see the gold as it was washed off. In this, however, they did not always succeed, for those men who had time to do it had made bough-sheds and pitched tents, and had their cradles inside, where they could wash their ore in privacy, and not let everybody know how many ounces would go to the dish. It was my good fortune to make friends with many of the mining-parties and to see the gold washed off, often 8 and 10 ounces to the tin dish. Many nice little slugs were given me by those kindly miners as a souvenir of my visit. Many days in succession I visited the Lead, as it was called; much kindness did I receive, and many a billy of tea was boiled for my refreshment.
At the beginning of the Lead the first claim was held by Sim and Gresson; the latter joined the second Australian Contingent, and has since been fighting for our Queen in Africa. George Sim, the original finder of the rich cement ore, told me that he had worked there for 18 months, with very poor results, and yet felt sure of ultimate success, so that he was not surprised when one day he “struck it rich,” as the miners’ saying goes, and since then he and his partners have been taking out cement, full of rich gold, as fast as pick and shovel can dig, and have taken over £10,000 worth of gold out of their ground. The next claim, held by Morris, Long, and party, also turned out very rich. From 60 tons of cement they obtained 555 ounces of gold, 200 ounces of this being taken from the dish, that is, obtained merely by washing the stuff in the dish and picking out the gold; the rest was treated at the battery. The cement is a greenish-looking stuff, more like pipeclay than anything I have ever seen. Most of it crumbles up in the hand when touched, and the gold is plainly visible, but there are occasionally some hard lumps as well. There were hundreds of other claims around here, notably that of P. McManus, Huntington, and party. Poor Paddy McManus has since joined the great majority. He was one of the best and kindliest of men on the field and was regretted by all. This claim yielded an enormous quantity of gold. Then Tassy O’Connor, Doyle, and party’s claims, called the Arctic Circle and Klondyke, yielded the partners a fortune each. Ninety tons crushed for Jackson and party yielded the handsome return of 497 ounces of gold. At Casey’s Claim, the day I was there, they had just washed off some wonderfully rich coarse gold. They had about 40 ounces of the precious metal in a frying-pan, no other article being available to hold it since all the tin dishes were required for gold washing purposes. Some nice pieces of gold, running to about 27 dwts., are often found in these dishes.
Deep Lead, Kanowna
These claims, with numbers of others just as rich, were on the Main, or Fitzroy Lead; on the right, and to the north, was the North Lead, where more riches have been found. Eaton and party refused a large sum for a ninth interest in their claim; they were making hundreds a week, and none of them felt disposed to sell out. Close to this claim was the famous Donegal. While I was there four buckets of ore were brought to the surface thick with gold, and when washed were found to contain nearly 300 ounces. There was great excitement on the Lead that day, although the miners keep things of that sort as much as possible to themselves. It is reckoned that £12,000 worth of gold has been obtained from this claim alone. The Red, White and Blue Company have also taken phenomenal quantities of gold from their claim near the Donegal, about £600 or £700 worth of gold having been taken from the earth every week. Many of these men who had now struck such wonderful good luck had previously worked for years for what in mining parlance is called “tucker” (food). No doubt pluck and perseverance are the two essentials required, and if everybody could see the 12,000 miners on Kanowna field as I saw them, and could hear of all the hardships that the majority of them had endured prior to striking this rich field, no one would deny that their good fortune was deserved. Another very rich lead was called the Golden Valley. Here the ore chiefly obtained was that called “pug”; it proved very rich, but there was great difficulty in extracting the gold from it until a special process was discovered. The Death Valley and Cemetery Claims also proved to be very rich. Enormous quantities of gold were taken from Kanowna in 12 months; but it is difficult to obtain really accurate returns of an alluvial field, as many miners keep quantities of their gold, while others carry it away and sell it at different places; but I saw with my own eyes the enormous richness of the field, and, if I never see another alluvial rush, shall consider I was in luck when I saw Kanowna, not only because of the information I received, the money I made by being advised in what to speculate, but for the mere sake of seeing the place as it was in the full tide of its golden glory. There were no very large nuggets at this rush, but about two years before, at a place called Black Flag, one weighing 303 ounces was found; it was called “The Joker.” In company with it were four other nuggets and a piece of quartz containing 60 ounces of gold. The Joker was an exceptionally bright piece of gold, three-cornered in shape, with a bit out of one base. The other nuggets weighed 73 ounces, 51 ounces, 37 ounces, and a little over 10 ounces respectively. All of this gold was found at a depth of 6 feet, and in the course of one week’s work, the total weight being 537 ounces. One day all Kanowna and the surrounding country were roused to a state of tremendous excitement by the report spread by Father Long, the parish priest, that an enormous nugget, weighing 1636 ounces, valued at £6500, had been found close by, and had been named the Sacred Nugget, or the “Golden Sickle.” When the news reached Koolgarlie and Coolgardie, parties were organised, horses and buggies, cabs, carts, bicycles, and every other available vehicle taken possession of, and thousands of persons started for Kanowna field. In the meantime no authentic information could be obtained in Kanowna as to the place from which this tremendous lump of gold had come, the lucky finders keeping that a profound secret. However, search-parties were organised, and set off to look for the spot whence the nugget came, some one having given the slight clue: “It was near the Dry Lake.” Off the parties went to the neighbourhood indicated, and a very lively drive they had. It took an hour to reach the Lake, and there a consultation took place. It was decided to skirt along the Lake, but nothing came in sight except a boundless track of low bush. Another halt took place, when a journalist among the search-party, more venturesome than the rest, climbed a steep hill, and at once gave a loud “Hullo!” Every one thought the object of the journey had been attained. The spy had discovered tents some distance away. Off went the horses and vehicles at a hard gallop. The tents were all a dream, however. There were no tents, and there was nothing in sight. It was resolved to turn round and try in another direction. At another likely spot a halt was again made, and here occurred the most amusing incident. One of the vehicles had been left by all its occupants except a lady. Everybody was engaged in individual searching when a loud cry from the lady recalled every one to the drag. Perhaps she had been more fortunate. “Look there!” said she; “look at all these men running and shouting;” and lo and behold, about 200 men were seen rushing down an adjacent hill toward the party, each with a branch of a tree. It appeared, however, that the newcomers had only been following the conveyances. Off went the vehicles again, down the Lake, up the Lake, and round the Lake. Everywhere did these parties go, but no gold or signs of habitation were seen. Father Long was besieged by people, over 300 visiting his camp to find out where the lucky spot was, but the priest said it was told to him under the seal, and he could not divulge the spot. After searching all over the country near to Kanowna no discoveries were made, and the searchers returned sadder but wiser men. You may be sure Father Long came in for no small share of abuse from thousands of disappointed people. The truth of this remarkable story has never come to light, but it is quite certain that no such nugget was ever found, no official notice of it having been recorded, and no bank ever having had charge of it. Father Long has since passed away from earth and nuggets, dying of typhoid fever in Perth Hospital in May 1899, and what was his share in reporting the find will never now be known. Many people are inclined to think that Father Long really thought he did see the nugget, and therefore spoke of it in good faith. A version of the affair given me by a good authority at Kanowna, after it had all blown over, was that a certain party of men, who owned one of the richest claims in the neighbourhood, had all the gold they had collected for some time at one of the hotels and that one of the partners, an Irishman, placed all the lumps and pieces of gold together in the form of a sickle, and called it the “Golden Sickle,” the collection of pieces looking exactly like a huge lump of gold. Father Long, being near at hand, was invited to see the splendid specimen, which he immediately blessed and called the “Sacred Nugget.” The partners did not undeceive him, but bound him to secrecy concerning the names of the party who found it and the alleged locality from whence it came. This promise poor Father Long faithfully kept, thereby gaining for himself the condemnation of the multitude. None of the partners were brave enough to own what they had done, and Father Long had to bear the burden to the last.