GOLD IN THE ARCTIC.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3330, 23 September 1911, Page 4

GOLD IN THE ARCTIC.

CLERCYMAN’S FIND" IN FROZEN

SLOITUDES.

WEALTH AND DEAD MEN’S BONES.

Toiieslrunt d’Arcy, a quiet little village ini Essex (England), is the centre freon -which has been engineered a scheme having for its object nothing le-ss tlban. the exploitation of an Arctic goldfield and coalfield, the latter of which may supply Europe with fuel when its own coal has been exhausted.

There are- three principal- characters in this- new “Treasure Island” story- of real life. One is the Rev. Mr Gardner, rector of Goldlbanger, a sleepy little village of Essex, whose greatest excitements hitherto have been, a wedding, a birth, and a death. The second *is Dr. Salter, of Tol-leshunt d’Arcy, three miles from- the rectory of Gbldhanger. The third is Mr Erniest Mansfield, a musician, a. man of letters, a great traveller, and a- mining engineer, who is the neighbor and friend of the rector and the doctor.

After their day’s work it was the habit of these three cronies to meet in on© o-r other of their -houses and to- talk of their experiences over a glass of wine. Both Mr Mansfield and Dr. Salter are men who have Hunted and explored in wild places, and the conversation of Mr Mansfield was especially intehresting, -because, as a mining engineer and one -of the early pioneers of Klondyke, he had searched for gold in l many parts-. Always his conversation came back to gold, gold,, gold', and the possibility of new discoveries. He held firmly to the theory that there were great gold deposits in the Arctic regions at present untouched by men. The Rev Mr Gardner was secretly fired by his words, and one day he said, “I am going to Spitsbergen. Perhaps while I am there I may put your theory to the tost.”

SANDS OF GOLD. It was the clergyman who was the cause of the discovery which led these three friends in Essex to share an amazing secret. It seems strange enough that the rector of a rural parish, should travel into- the Arctic regions for a summer holiday, but stranger tilings than that were to follow. The Rev. Mr Gardner, acting upon the expert advice of liis engineering friend, brought back from his voyage pieces of quartz and rocks, and: specimens of sand and mud and shingle, from the Arctic coast. To him they were' meaningless. He smiled as he thought of his strange baggage. But one night there was a thrilling sense of mystery and excitement when the three friends gathered round these little heaps of rubbish in the sittingroom of tlie rectory. Mr Mansfield pored -over these pebbles and bits of rock, held them up to the light, and examined them closely. “Well?” said his friends. “Gold,” he said, “or I’m a Dutchman.” Gold! It seemed incredible. Here in this little Essex parlor was a secret of amazing possibilities and importance. The specimens were sent to London to be tested. The report that came confirmed Mr Mansfield’s opinion. The sand brought back bv the clergyman was what is known as “pay gravel,” the washing down of a gold deposit. The three friends formed a private syndicate, and Mr Mansfield went out to Spitsbergen to prospect- more closely and take out a claim. He found that a party of Americans were in advance of him, but they entered into friendly relations, and the Americans went further up t-lic desolate coast, where they have pegged out their own claim and have now established a small township engaged in coal-digging with good results.

The details of -what Mr Mansfield found must still be kept secret, although it can no longer be hidden, that there are the most astonishing indications of gold and an inexhaustible coal supply in this unexplored territory of the Frozen North.

One great difficulty now faced the village pioneers. From whom were they to get the full right to take possession of minerals in this region ? No flag of any nation flies over its barren rock. It is “No Man’s Land.”

FOREIGN OFFICE ADVISES. Dr. Salter approached the Foreign Office and obtained certain advice, upon which he isi now acting. Upon Mr Mansfield’s return money was raised with the ; help of private friends in the neighborhood pledged to keep the secret. The doctor, the clergyman, and the engineer have become “merchant venturers.” They have fitted out* several ships, .which have already mad© their way* to the Arctic regions, and .only last week am ironbuilt vessel steamed out of the Thames bound for Spitsbergen, with a crew of English. Scottish and Norwegian sailors and miners.

“We have now a very flourishing little mining colony . on Our Arctic claim,” said Mr Salter, “strong enough to defend themselves in case of need, and ready to enforce that mining law which means death to anybody who tries to ‘jump’ a, claim. “The ships have taken, out a great supply o,f provisions, and much is required to sustain the body of men utterly isolated from the world and depending for their lives upon what they have carried with them. They have built houses taken out in pieces, and under the strict discipline of mining engineers and officers they are leading a hard, lonely life, with plenty of toil, and no other society but their own. Around them they, hear the barking voices of the seals who lie upon the rock ledges, polar bears prowl over the: barren region, and no human being outside their own camp disturbs the utter solitude. They keep close to their huts, for the Norwegians, especially are superstitious, and are afriad of the ghosts'which they believe haunt these desert regions.” One day these pioneers in search of Arctic gold made a gruesome discovery. There oin; the naked rocks lay three skeletons. Their bones were bleached and stripped clean of flesh. There was no sign to show the race or character or history of the men who, had perished in this Arctic solitude.