[Editor: This article, regarding an exploring expedition, was published in The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA), 28 July 1920.]
Sheep and gold
Explorer’s discoveries.
Trouble with wild blacks.
Chased for miles.
Kalgoorlie, July 28.
The importance of opening up the pastoral and auriferous country along the route of the trans-Australian railway line is generally recognised but no systematic effort appears to have been made to do anything in this direction. That there are vast pastoral and mining possibilities in the country a few hundred miles north of the South Australian section of the line has frequently been asserted.
Mr. W. E. Jones, an experienced bushman, has arrived in Kalgoorlie, after an exploring trip with two companions, Messrs. Henry Manuel and J. McLeod. They extended over a period of five months.
The party started from Ooldea, on the South Australian side of the border, and journeyed for about 400 miles north. They had only three camels, and were not very fully equipped, but after reaching the mountainous country in the neighborhood of the Musgrave Ranges they had no anxiety on the score of food or water.
Mr. Jones states that there was an abundance of game and numerous fresh water creeks and lakes. One lake north of the ranges had an area of several square miles. Buffaloes, which have penetrated from Northern Territory, were fairly numerous in the neighborhood of the ranges.
There are hundreds of miles of splendid grazing country, which would probably be found to extend towards Western Australian border, but the natives are numerous and treacherous, and eventually the party had to fly for their lives. They abandoned every surplus ounce of baggage in order to lighten their camels. The niggers are big, upstanding fellows, and one camp alone contained 300 natives.
Mr. Jones states that much auriferous country was passed over between the ranges and the Western Australian border, and he produced a photograph showing a big quartz outcrop, which, he says, was gold bearing. His companions, who on reaching the railway line went east to the South Australian opal fields, brought a few gold specimens, but the bulk of the stone had to be abandoned when the niggers became troublesome.
Mr. Jones, who is a returned soldier, will remain in Kalgoorlie for a few weeks in the hope of being able to form a party to prospect the country near the Musgrave Ranges on systematic lines. He suggests that the Federal Government, which would benefit through the railway line if the country were opened up, might be able to assist through the Repatriation Department.
There would be no difficulty, he thinks, in getting a party of 20 returned men to go out if the Government provided the necessary funds. He would also select a few good bushmen capable of handling camels. The returned soldiers could be selected chiefly from ranks of the prospectors, many of whom no doubt would be glad to take part in the expedition. The party would require promise of pastoral and mining concessions from the South Australian Government, which, no doubt, would be readily granted.
Source:
The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA), 28 July 1920, p. 1 (5 o’clock edition)
Also published in:
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), 29 July 1920, p. 9
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 30 July 1920, p. 3
The Chronicle (Adelaide, SA), 31 July 1920, p. 32
The Recorder (Port Pirie, SA), 30 July 1920, p. 2 [abridged version]
The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 31 July 1920, p. 5
The Western Star and Roma Advertiser (Roma, Qld.), 7 August 1920, p. 5
Editor’s notes:
auriferous = containing gold; gold-bearing; producing or yielding gold
bushman = a man from the bush; someone who lives out in the country
bushmen = plural of “bushman” [see: bushman]
Messrs. = an abbreviation of “messieurs” (French), being the plural of “monsieur”; used in English as the plural of “Mister” (which is abbreviated as “Mr.”); the title is used in English prior to the names of two or more men (often used regarding a company, e.g. “the firm of Messrs. Bagot, Shakes, & Lewis”, “the firm of Messrs. Hogue, Davidson, & Co.”)
native = (in the context of Australia) an Australian Aborigine; can also refer to: a native-born Australian, an Australian-born person, (in an historical context) an Australian-born white person
Repatriation Department = a department created by the Australian government to provide support for disabled military veterans, as well as their widows and dependents; the Repatriation Department helped returned military veterans with medical services, resettlement, development of their vocational skills, finding employment, and the provision of pensions and loans
See: 1) “First World War: Repatriation of veterans”, National Archives of Australia
2) Philip Payton, ‘Repat’: A Concise History of Repatriation in Australia, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, 2018
3) “Repatriation Department”, Wikipedia
returned = a reference to military personnel who have returned to their country after participating in a government-sanctioned military conflict or war (especially used to refer to returned soldiers)
[Editor: Changed “towards Western Australian borber” to “towards the Western Australian border”.]
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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