The Kawarau Case.

After remarking that some of the big finds in the early days were made by men who had had no previous experience in mining, Mr. A. H. Kimbell (Under-Secretary of Mines) mentioned the case of Messrs. Bell and Kilgour, who drew 156oz. of gold from a bank of the Kawarau River in three months (October, November and December last year). Through no fault of their own they lacked work. They knew nothing much about mining, but they decided to prospect for gold along the banks of the Kawarau, a river which has been under keen scrutiny during the past few years. They had a little help from the Unemployment Board and they had plenty of grit—the real fighting spirit of the old-ttme diggers. They used brain as well as brawn, and their perseverance in testing and tunnelling had a worthy reward.

Others of the “unemployed” have battled on with similar determination in the gold country, with the result that they have developed into employers.