death-rate was still high. This was caused by miners who sickened in the remote places entering Coolgardie for medical attendance. A public, and several private hospitals were established. The Government erected public buildings in the main streets, and early in the year the Union, Commercial, and West Australian Banks opened branches in Coolgardie. In February thirty-one town lots were sold at an average of £200. One of these blocks was resold in August for over £2,000. Exemptions in the leases were granted in December, and the population decreased for a time.
At Kalgoorlie similar conditions existed, but the population was smaller. A Progress Committee was elected to subserve the interests of the inhabitants. The town was surveyed, and declared on 7th September, 1894, and numerous buildings of a substantial nature were erected. In the laying-out of the town, and in the public spiritedness of the inhabitants, Kalgoorlie resembled Coolgardie in its history. Mr. John Wilson, in May, 1895, became the first mayor. The centres of the other important districts were already developing into towns, and as the circumstances demanded, one and another appointed Progress Committees. Indeed, the goldfields people, from beginning to end, have shown a singular aptitude to manage their own affairs and to obtain a just recognition of their rights. The town site of Kanowna was declared on 14th December, 1894.
On 10th November, 1894, the Geraldton-Mullewa Railway line was completed. The length of the line was fifty-seven miles; the contract was let to Mr. Neil McNeil on 19th March, 1893, for £98,902 8s. 7d. The formation was heavier than the average of railway construction in Western Australia, and included several deep and long cuttings. On 1st September surveys were begun for an extension of this line to Cue, and the Mullewa-Cue (197 miles) Railway Bill was carried in November, 1894. Telegraphic connection was already established. On 2nd March the town of Bundawadra (Day Dawn) was declared, and on the 13th July the town of Mullewa.
During 1895 the mineral area of the goldfields became still larger. For hundreds of miles north and south, and for hundreds of miles east and west, gold was found in quartz and cement and sand. As far as prospectors could carefully search in the deserts eastwards, indications of gold were found, and as far as spinifex deserts would allow them to go northwards there was the same promise. No masses of gold such as those at Bayley's, Londonderry, or Wealth of Nations were come upon, but the finds were not of less value because of it. In January, 1895, there were between two and three thousand men at Kalgoorlie working the alluvial with dry-blowers. Even at so recent a date that district was still the alluvial centre, and when matters were quiet elsewhere, when no remarkable finds were announced from other places, the diggers would gradually return to Kalgoorlie as to their homes. Then when new discoveries were noised abroad, Kalgoorlie alluvial was practically abandoned. Nuggets of considerable weight were picked up here and there in the several districts, while new reefs were found which yielded valuable gold from the dollying process. In February Messrs. Northmore and Doolette obtained gold at a place north-east of Menzies, which received the name of Niagara. In January and in October rich stone was broken between Goongarrie and Siberia, and also south of Siberia. In January, also, discoveries were made near the Twenty-five Mile, on the Hands Across the Sea Reef, as well as at a place north of Kanowna. Hayes Brothers and party were the prospectors of the latter, and they conveyed to Kalgoorlie some 300 lbs. of quartz, estimated to be worth £3,000 sterling. A huge outcrop showing gold was discovered at Mount Catherine, almost midway between Menzies and Mount Margaret. A native difficulty was experienced at this place, and two of the prospectors were arraigned for murder and were acquitted. In June there was a rush to work alluvial near the Forty-Five Mile Tank. Lake Darlot, exploited in 1894, attracted considerable attention early in 1895, and many men went up over the deserts from Coolgardie to this place. One small party, so the report goes, dollied 2,000 ozs. of gold in eight weeks. A few large nuggets were picked up. In March there about 400 men in the district, and in April a train of several score of camels went thither from Coolgardie carrying the equipments of men, some of whom followed on foot. To reach this eastern part of the Murchison fields they had to traverse three dry stages—one of ninety-two, one of fifty-four, and one of sixty miles. Numbers of the camels refused to carry their loads, and had to be turned adrift. Several horses were lost in these stages. The alluvial at McCaffrey's was worked out.
In June reports were circulated of a discovery of importance at Lake Cowan, about seventy-five miles south-east of Coolgardie. It was said that 6,000 ozs. of gold had been obtained in a few weeks. Hundreds of men proceeded to the locality, but after a trying journey they were unable to discover any metal. Upon the return of some of them to Coolgardie a disturbance took place. The populace was enraged, and gathered to the number of nearly a thousand outside the office of the newspaper which had been the principal cause of the stampede and the consequent disappointment. Stones were thrown at the building, windows were broken, and it seemed as if the whole structure would be wrecked. Warden Finnerty addressed the miners, pointing out the futility of a riot, and the men dispersed.
But the most significant items in 1895 had to do with the successful working of reefs, the extraordinary number of mines that were floated in Australia and England, the alterations in the mining regulations, and the general inflation of the colony. Reefs were now more consistently prospected all over the eastern and Murchison fields. At Kalgoorlie the best returns were obtained, and at Cue and Day Dawn the chief machinery was engaged. The Murchison Goldfields became so active that the southern portion was separated from the northern, and named the Yalgoo Goldfield. The mining population of this district was about 750. In 1895 there were seventeen batteries at work around Cue, nine around Nannine, and two at Mt. Magnet. The machinery was valued at £128,111. The East Murchison Goldfield, including Lake Darlot, Mt. Sir Samuel, and certain places on the road from Cue to Lake Carey, was also proclaimed, and a warden was stationed at Lawler, the most central station. The reefs at Mount Sir Samuel were reported to be exceedingly rich. The towns of Austin (31st May) and Mount Magnet (18th January) were declared in 1895. The number of miners engaged on the Murchison Goldfield in 1895 was 2,200. On the Yilgarn Goldfield some excellent development work was carried out. A battery was erected at Parker's Range, and another at Mount Jackson, where about 60 persons had congregated. Of all the goldfields towns, Coolgardie was the centre of attraction. Newcomers, mining agents, professional men, and tradesmen merged there because of its central position. In 1895 there were eleven batteries, a cyanide plant, and twelve other mills at work in the Coolgardie Goldfields district. On the East Coolgardie Goldfield, within a few miles of Kalgoorlie, 700 leases were applied for in
