Charters Towers — Mines — Chinese — ‘The Only’ Smith — Gilberton — Georgetown — Etheridge and Croydon Gold Fields

FOR various reasons we were particularly anxious to see the famous Charters Towers Gold Fields. Accordingly, at 7.30 on the morning following our ‘dining out,’ we paid our bill, caught the early train for the Towers, and plunged inland, bidding ‘goodbye’ to old Father Ocean, hitherto so much associated with our wanderings.

The line over which we journeyed is an excellent piece of workmanship, solid and enduring, while the scenery along the route is picturesque and thoroughly Australian. Now and again we halted at tiny roadside stations, not like stations in the East, or even at Cairns, but generally galvanised iron abominations, built some distance from the line, and partaking more of the nature of wayside grog shanties than anything else. One by one we dropped all evidences of civilisation behind us, and began to think that at last we were becoming immersed in the fascinations of that mysterious region, the Australian bush. Every time the train came to a standstill, brown lanky urchins, unmistakably bush children, sauntered out from among the cluster of habitations to stare at us. Strange little products these, differing entirely from the children of the towns, being quiet and self-contained, as if they have absorbed something of the silence of the regions in which they live. We tried our wit on them in vain; nothing — not even our brilliant satire on ‘The Ends and Aims of Imperial Federation’ — astonished them.

Leaving Townsville behind us, we wound round the base of Mount Elliot, an imposing elevation, from which a fine view of the surrounding country may be obtained, and proceeded for many miles in an almost due southerly direction. About half way to the Towers, in a galaxy of romantic scenery, we threw off a branch line to Ravenswood, a small but important mining township to the southward, boasting its own banks, hospital, etc., and a population of 1,167 souls. A little later the line crossed the Burdekin River, by means of what seemed to us a most dangerous bridge, technically termed a ‘jump up.’ The bridge itself is a stout wooden construction, placed for the sake of floods very little above water level. The descent on one side, and the ascent on the other, are very steep; so steep, in fact, that on approaching it steam is shut off altogether, and the impetus the train gathers on the descent is quite sufficient to carry it up to the level country on the other side. The river itself is a dull, muddy-looking stream, with thickly timbered mangrove banks, suggestive of mosquitoes and innumerable horrors. Shortly after crossing it we sighted Charters Towers ahead, and at the end of a most enjoyable journey, brought up in a neat, well-built, commodious station, wearing quite a metropolitan air. So we were not out of civilisation after all!

Charters Towers is a name of world-wide fame, a name to conjure with. As far as scenic beauty goes, however, the town appeared to us disappointing. It is situated on a vast, almost treeless plain, upon which the sun glares for twelve hours out of every twenty-four with all his might, majesty, dominion, and power. Somehow the inhabitants do not seem to mind it at all. And here let me unburden myself of some facts. The population of the municipality itself is 4,597, and that of the district something like 18,825 — all believers in Charters Towers.

Leaving the railway station and passing into the street, the fact was undeniably borne in upon us that we were in a place where men were pushing and alive, a place where everything was working at high pressure.

On all sides we could see evidences of the go-a-head nature of the town. As evidence, let me instance three daily newspapers and one weekly, the latter — ‘The North Queensland Register’ — a bright, sparkling production quite up to date, five churches, eight banks, numerous schools, and a commodious hospital.

Rising above the housetops on every hand are innumerable poppet heads of mines; in fact, everything is mining, even the children in the streets talk and play it. Whereas, in other places, the boys and girls amuse themselves burning their fathers and mothers in effigy, or kindred sports, the Charters Towers kiddies work bogus claims and ‘rig the market.’ They must find it very useful when they come to man’s estate.

The roar of five hundred stampers, grinding quartz, assails the ear continually, shifts of miners thread the streets, and if you see two men talking at a corner, it’s half-a-crown to a farthing that their conversation has something to do with the interminable industry of the place.

In 1892 no less than 211,605 ounces of gold were obtained from this field, and as the best results have been obtained at the lowest levels, a still greater future may be looked forward to.

Certainly the chief mine at Charters Towers, if not one of the greatest in the world, is the famous ‘Day Dawn,’ which in 1889 was sold to an English company for no less a sum than 640,000l. It is a marvel of engineering, digging, and carpentering skill. The stopes and tunnelling strike one as being endless, and the wealth of the mine itself is only exceeded by the courtesy of the folk connected with it.

Among the 113 mines in the district the most notable are the Victory, Mills United, Brilliant, Brilliant and St. George, Craven’s Caledonia, Victoria, Golden Gate, Mosman Company’s, Brilliant Block, and No. 7 N.E. Queen, each of which turned out more than 400 ounces of gold in January last. The January yield of 1892 (entire field) for 14,902 tons of quartz was 16,675 ounces of gold, making an increase for 1893 of 224 tons for 2,726 ounces of gold: a remarkable and verified fact.

The following were the dividends paid by different mines for the month of January, 1893:
    ￡     s.     d.
Mills United, 2 of 3d.     7,500     0     0
Victory, 2s.     5,000     0     0
Golden Gate, 6d. .     3,750     0     0
Victoria, 6d.     3,600     0     0
Brilliant, 3d.     3,125     0     0
Mosman G. M. Co., 2d.     2,312     10     0
Brilliant and St. George United, 3d.     1,800     0     0
Craven’s Caledonia, 3d.     1,250     0     0
28,337     10     0

In 1891 no less than 2,800 miners were employed on the fields. The amount of quartz crushed was 174,486 tons, yielding 222,882 ounces of gold. At present the number of distinct reefs proved to be gold bearing is over 450, while the extent of auriferous ground worked is 120 square miles.

The following are the returns from some of the reefs within the past year:

The Brilliant has crushed 21,328 tons, yielding 26,605 ounces, and paid in dividends 75,000l.; the Day Dawn P.O. has crushed 27,416 tons, yielding 27,479 ounces, and paid in dividends 37,500l.; Mills United has crushed 24,002 tons, yielding 21,611 ounces, and paid in dividends 26,250l.; Day Dawn Block has crushed 13,635 tons, yielding 20,414 ounces, and paid in dividends 24,920l,; Golden Gate has crushed 10,169 tons, yielding 16,059 ounces, and paid in dividends 18,600l.

The value of the machinery alone is estimated at no less a figure than 199,381l.

It is strange how mere association with wealth gives one a feeling of affluence. We were in a place of gigantic fortunes, where men no longer talked in hundreds, but in thousands, tens of thousands — nay, even in millions. This was catching; we developed all the symptoms of the millionaire disease ourselves. We began to feel a wild desire to spend our money, to endow churches, hospitals, etc., to do something to alleviate distress (none of which we saw around us), to make this great world better and purer by our noble actions, to prove that to possess money is not merely a distinction or an honour, but that on the other hand —— But here the reflection that with us money was worse than scarce dawned upon us, and we decided to withhold our ideas on this subject until we were better able to carry them out. It behoved us to devote our attention to the consideration of what we were going to do next!

We wanted to reach Normanton, but we had not the very remotest idea how to manage it. We did not like asking strangers, because we had an objection to being taken for new chums. So biding our opportunity, we put the question to a poor unoffending Chinaman whom we caught loafing about. We said politely: ‘John, you will excuse the liberty we are taking, but we are desirous of reaching Normanton, a town of which you may probably have heard mention made. It has many advantages, and is situated on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria.’ John simply answered, ‘Eugh.’ We repeated the question, struggling with our politeness. ‘Pardon my not making it sufficiently clear to you; I say we are desirous of transporting ourselves to the town of Normanton, situated, so we are led to believe, on the Norman River, which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria. You, being an itinerant rogue and vagabond of the first water, will probably have journeyed that way; we therefore pray you with accelerated despatch to —’

But that ‘accelerated despatch’ was too much for John; he quivered like an aspen leaf, shook his head violently, snorted, and then, blurting out ‘No savee,’ departed quickly in the direction of the nearest hen-roost.

Talking of hen-roosts and Chinamen brings me to vigorous journalism. I clip the following from the ‘North Queensland Register’:

There is no false pride about a Chinaman. If he offends against the law, and has the misfortune to be found out, he does not consider that his punishment lowers him in the social scale, and he is even more affable than ever. The present Warden of Charters Towers was once the recipient of a little delicate explanation, for which he was grateful. A gardener, named Ah Chong, was brought up, charged with stealing fowls from the hospital, and as he was caught in the fowl-house with his booty in a bag, the well-meant exertions of an interpreter and half a dozen of his countrymen were unavailing, and Ah Chong was sent up for six months’ hard labour. Some twelve months after, an important Chinese case came on, a............