Adventure Magazine Cover — page 192: what you’re looking at

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190 3. What is the fare from Sydney to Port Darwin? Who are the agents for the ships and the average cost of living there? 4, Is it considered healthy or not for the aver- “age white man?’—H. G. L., Sydney, N. S. W., Australia. Reply, by Mr. Norman -—I am nowina position to reply seriatim to your queries. First, meet Mr. Nel- son, M.P. for the Northern Territory, who has the rare distinction of possessing the status and all the emoluments of a member of the Federal Legislature and endowed with the right to talk, but is prevented by am anachronistic enactment from recording a note on any subject relating to his constituency. I submitted your queries to Mr. Nelson. The re- plies are mainly his: 1. What tin mines are there in the vicinity of Port Darwin? Answer:—All kinds of minerals occur in the Ter- titory. Ihe only reason for their not being exploited is lack of transportation facilities. The biggest tin_ field in Australia lies about fifty miles from the pres-~ ent railway from Port Darwin to Katharine River (the Marranboy field). Values range from four to five percent. The tin-bearing area covers hundreds of square miles. he railway will be in course of con- struction withim eighteen months which will run within ten miles of Marranboy, and should be com- pleted in two years. The mining area of the terri- tory covers the whole of the North and Central por- tions of the area, and comprehends approximately 250,000 square miles of territory, much of which has never been exploited. Many huge base-metal lodes are known to exist, but are not worked owing. to ‘their isolation. 2. Re wages, etc., Mr. Nelsen wititee on this point :— **As much as I desire to see the Territory popu- lated, I would not advise any wage-earner to go there. The type of men required in the N. T. is the seli-reliamt prospector or settler. Hundreds of un- employed, émbracing every known trade, are, and have been out of work for over twelve months.” (This is due to strikes, I. W. Wism and doddering political incapacity—P. N.). 3. Fares from Sydney to Darwin are: First-class single 425, second-class £16. Agents, Burns, Philp & Co., Bridge Street, Sydney. Climate. Stefannson, the Arctic explorer, de- scribes it ag a ‘‘tonic climate.” The native-born residents are thé best type of Australian the conti- nent produces. For pastoral purposes—horse, cattle, sheep or pig- faising—the Territory has no equal in Australia. The chief drawback to settlement is lack of cheap transportation. With the advent of the N. T. Rail- way, this difficulty will be considerably overcome. So, sir, don’t, on any account, migrate to the N. T. unless you will fill the bill as a self-reliant pros- pector.”’ ITH many of Mr. Nelson’s glowing statements I am incomplete discord. The N. T. has been prospected and exploited for thirty years, and has never produced any wonderful results. It was said of Kalgoorlie—as Mr. Nelson says of the N. T.— that the mineral-bearing area covered thousands of square miles. To-day, Kalgoorlie is practically worked out, and the richly-impregnated composite , Adventure ore-bodies occurred within-a longtudinal length of less than one statute mile. Otherwise, the N. T. offers incomparable facul- ties for pastoral promotion. And although the Fed- eral Government proposes squanderifig many mil- lions of pounds on an unnecessary railway hundreds of miles long, mainly for the transport of cheap and nasty politicians, its construction will no more stimulate the progress of the distressful area than a fly-blister will remove a carbuncle from a wooden leg. “Ask Adventure’’ service costs you nothing whatever but reply postage and self-addressed envelop. Hunting in the Everglades THE alligators are growing searee, but there’s*still lots of game to be found: Request: —“‘A party of three of us intend to go to Florida from here by auto, for the purpose ef hunt- ing and fishing in the Everglades and vicinity. Kindly inform me as to kind of game in that vicinity? I have a .38-.55 caliber Winchester car- bine, and a .38 Smith and Wesson Special. Do you think these big and heavy enough for game there? Can you hunt at night with a jack light? What kind of fishing tackle is best? Size of lines, hooks, length of rod, flies, bait, etc.? How about hunting alligators? Can you hunt them, and how, at night? All information will be highly appreciated.2— FRANK J. SMITH, JR., Hamilton, Ohio. Reply, by Mr. Liebe :—The game to be found in the vicinity of the ’Glades—rather than iz the ’Glades— is deer, turkey, bobcat,.a few panther and small black bear, fox, squirrel, quail, snipe, etc. The weapons you name are big enough, surely. I’d use soft-nose bullets in the rifle. Carrying a revol- ver in Florida is unlawful. Hunting regular game at night, I think, is barred by law. Write the Florida State Game Warden, at Tallahassee, for pamphlet copy ef game laws. Your non-resident hunting license will come high, oy me way—about $25 per county per hunter, Fishing-tackle? If you cast, use a short 'rod, twenty-four pound test black silk line, level-winding reel, and for baits light-colored—running to red, white and yellow—wooden minnows. ‘The best minnow I know is Pflueger’s “‘Surprize,” with Hed- don’s ‘“‘Zaragossa” and ‘“‘Head-On Basser,” and South Bend’s ‘‘Bass-oreno,” next in lime. Of course, you can use live minnows, if you can get them, in place of the artificial ones. This, you understand, is for bass, the only fish you are likely to find in the "Glades country. Flies are not well-liked here. Hunting alligators? They’re pretty scarce now. Usually hunted at night by “shining” their eyes with a light, shot, and the spot marked; next day one can go back with a long hook on a long pole and find them—if he has really killed them. There is little in it, commercially. So far as I know, there is no law against killing ’gatorse I believe this answers your questions. I’m wish- ing you good luck. Gomicbooks.com