Northmore, through representatives in London, had their varied properties placed on the English market, where they were floated for a large sum. Mr. Doolette seems to have a faculty for getting on to new places, and his last field of operations was at Red Hill, where he secured a number of valuable leases, all of which promise remarkably well. Though not a new place in the strictest sense of the word, very little was heard of Red Hill till March, 1897, when Mr. Doolette and Mr. Northmore took up leases there. This turned out a very good "spec." on their behalf, and their Red Hill leases should eventually develop into big properties.
Mr. Doolette is retiring rather than obtrusive, and he carries himself with effective reserve. He is a shrewd business man, but in his moments of relaxation is entertaining and companionable. When he can be induced to strike the reminiscent key of early goldfields' experiences, one cannot help thinking that the vigour of his youth has been well spent, and that he has been fortunate enough to reap his reward while yet young in years.
JAMES SHAW, J.P.
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Photo by JAMES SHAW, J.P. Greenham & Evans. |
POPULARITY is an end for which many strive, but which few attain. This much-envied and far-off sphere is solidly possessed by heroes and demigods whose achievements have drawn to each possessor the harmonious chords of universal affection. The results of effort must be immortally great to elicit this feeling of respect. Seldom has one huge stroke given it birth; it is rather the offspring of an increasing series of felicitous results culminating in a maximum point.
The sudden transference of one who is obscure to this cherished niche in history may cause him to so glory in his new-found greatness that his popularity will diminish, and he will he coldly viewed except for that one brilliant ray of human sunshine. But there are men of quiet deeds and homely goodwill, unselfish spirit, and constant personal sacrifice, who unconsciously rise in glorified gradations to the apex of their country's affection. Then their sunshine is a long day, lasting throughout that generation, and, mayhap, to others. And when their deeds are in the country's service their greatness may extend to centuries. No mere error in judgment, no single false step, shall dim the eyes of centuries to come, and man's worth shall be appraised on the basis of its specific value to contemporary civilisation.
Permanent popularity is not to be obtained by conscious effort, by insidious and mathematically regulated deportment. It is a spontaneous afflatus, a subtle inherent force, which must be obeyed. The kindness that is carefully thought out, and administered according to definite principles, loses in effect. It often grates upon the heart-strings, and is denied the reward of true affection. Popularity is best gained by those thousand unremembered acts that Wordsworth spoke of. The responsive chord of goodwill is only struck by spontaneity.
Perhaps no better example of popularity won by quiet deeds, disinterested charity, and unselfish goodwill, could be found in Australia to-day than that supplied in the career of James Shaw, J.P. In the sister colony of South Australia Mr. Shaw achieved popularity by his charitable works, and when force of circumstances brought him to Western Australia, no amount of false report, insidious detraction, or personal misfortune, could possibly diminish or deny the human flame of kindness which shed its rays over all he met. His popularity is not that of great writers or renowned statesmen, of whom Carlyle says it is difficult to believe when meeting them daily that they are made of better clay than ourselves; his popularity is that of Hugo's bishop.
James Shaw was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 1846, in which nursery of scientific men his father, Hugh Shaw, was an engineer. Even in those days Belfast was a thriving commercial town, and sought to rival the Clyde in engineering skill. Under such happy conditions James spent his boyhood. The sanguine period of youth instilled in him that fondness for daring and adventure so characteristic of Britain's children, and he determined to leave his father's home and seek a fortune in Australia. When but eighteen years old, in 1864, he left the old country, and sailed to Auckland, New Zealand. Eager to win his reward, he opened in business as a contractor. It is said that foresight, level-headedness, and a power to calculate to a mathematical nicety the pros and cons, are indispensable to a contractor. We might go further, and extend the same connotations to the whole sphere of successful speculation in commerce or mining; but iron rule and stubborn law meet occasionally with an exception, and though the sage and world-wise men reserve success to furrow-marked brains, the youthful optimism and enterprise often wrest prizes out of their hands. In New Zealand Mr. Shaw soon obtained a large business connection, and monuments
