probable that before long the example of the Colorado mines will be followed, and the ore be first roasted, and then cyanided or chlorinated. Smelting works are to be erected shortly at Fremantle, where no doubt a large proportion of the rich ores now exported will be treated at far cheaper rates than those now prevailing. A very important development in regard to the economic extraction of gold has taken place at Northam, a small town in the chief agricultural district of the colony. In pursuance of a scheme formulated by Mr. E. Vanzetti, a battery of eighty heads of stamps has been erected, the stone being conveyed by train to the mill from Southern Cross, Coolgardie, and Kalgoorlie. So far, the great bulk of the material crushed has come from Coolgardie mines, to which, in the absence of sufficient local water supply for milling purposes, the new works have become a great boon. Mr. Richard Speight, the former Victorian Commissioner for Railways, is manager of the new works, which afford every augury of a successful career. In many parts of the colony exist immense areas of ground, which have been worked for gold by the early diggers with the most primitive dry blowing appliances. These stretches of country are known to contain gold in large quantities, but have not hitherto been systematically worked for lack of machinery devised to efficiently cope with the special necessities of such work. This difficulty has now been overcome by the recent invention of a species of puddling machine, patented by Mr. John Jerger, of Coolgardie, which has been proved by test to be capable of treating ten tons of dirt per day, at an expenditure of not more than 400 gallons of water. The introduction of this invention will probably result in a greater share of attention being devoted to these alluvial areas than they have hitherto received.
THE MINING LAWS.
A fertile source of argument and acrimony, to say nothing of material loss, has been the condition of the law relating to mining. For some years past it has been contended by those of all classes interested in the mining industry that the laws were confused and erroneous, both in principle and application, and several efforts have been made by Parliament to provide a remedy. The absence, up to the time of the last general elections, of any direct representatives of the mining population negatived their efforts, and although many amendments were passed, the sole result seems to have been increased dissatisfaction. A very handy epitome of the existing laws has been issued by Mr. E. O. McDevitt, an ex-Attorney-General of Queensland, now resident in the colony, which will serve as a guide to the existing state of the law. Quite recently, however, the administration decided upon altering the labour covenants in favour of leaseholders. Formerly, it was necessary to employ one man to every three acres held under lease. The number has now been altered to one man to every six acres, and in the early stages, or prior to the application being approved by the minister, only one man to twelve acres is needed. The Government have lately expressed their intention of appointing a Royal Commission to investigate the whole of the problems connected with mining legislation, and as the outcome of the labours of the Commission will probably be a complete revision and radical amendment of the law, it would manifestly be useless for the writer to give a synopsis of legal provisions, the term of the operation of which is likely to be so limited.
THE WATER PROBLEM.
Everyone interested in Western Australia has heard much of the "water difficulty," and, in fact, the whole bibliography of the country teems with references to it. The old bugbear of want of water is gradually disappearing. Almost without exception, as depth is attained in the mines, the water supply becomes greater. In addition to this, the people of the fields are turning to account the great aqueous resources contained in the large salt lakes of the interior. The bulk of the water used for crushing at Kalgoorlie, Bulong, and Menzies is already derived from the lacustrine areas in their vicinity, and as time goes on there is little reason for doubting that the huge supplies stored up in these natural reservoirs will be more and more availed of. Everyone familiar with the name of the colony is cognisant of the proposals of the Right Hon. Sir John Forrest and Mr. C. Y. O'Connor to bring water from the coastal watersheds to Coolgardie by means of pumps, stretching over nearly 400 miles of country. Whether this gigantic project will ever be carried out is problematical, but even should the scheme be permitted to die the progress of ordinary mining and special aqueous development is slowly but surely affording a remedy for the evils with which the fields have been afflicted. Another five years will, in the writer's opinion, see a period put to all difficulty on the score of insufficiency of water, and in one case, at least, the next outcry will be concerning the want of large pumps. In connection with the water question, it should be mentioned that Coolgardie is the centre of the only really dry district on the gold fields. All the outlying places in the south can be supplied from their respective lakes, and in very few instances has the search for subterranean water been unavailing. Throughout North-East and North Coolgardie the supplies of the latter are abundant, and North Coolgardie shares with the Murchison, and the northern fields generally, the advantage of possessing large supplies of fresh water at from 60 to 150 feet below the surface, as well as a superior rainfall, which, if properly conserved, could probably be made to supply the whole of the goldfields. Coolgardie proper possesses one unique advantage in the matter of water. Thanks to the skill and enterprise of Mr. Martin Walsh, a bed of decomposed granite was discovered in the very centre of the town, which contains an abundant supply of fresh potable water sufficient to meet almost all the domestic requirements of the town. Fifteen or twenty wells have now been sunk on this bed of rock, and large sums of money been realised by the sale of water therefrom, but it is melancholy to reflect that Mr. Walsh has shared the usual fate of discoverers, and derived very scanty benefit from the great work he accomplished for the infant city.
THE FUTURE OF THE FIELDS.
It is difficult for the writer, who has lived for five years upon the various goldfields of the colony, and knows them thoroughly, to write of the future in a sufficiently moderate vein. No one can travel over the vast auriferous belts of Western Australia, and see the results of the comparatively meagre developments which have already taken place, without becoming enthusiastic, and having his imagination fired to a considerable degree. The enormous extent of country over which the reefs and lodes are spread, the indications above ground and the revelations below, and the magnificent results already accruing from insufficient and ofttimes ill-applied work carried out in a new country, the greater
