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The high rear wall of the Town Hall, then being built, collapsed in a heap of 800,000 bricks. It
was rebuilt and ceremoniously opened in September, eleven weeks after the Town Hall at
Boulder, whose population now numbered about 11,000. The festivities surrounding these
grand openings in each case lasted a week.
Dame Nellie Melba sang in the Boulder Town Hall in 1908. She was 47 then. Attended by her
manager, maid and with two baby grands, she was touring Australia. Before the Boulder
concert she stood on the Town Hall balcony overlooking Burt St and sang 'Home Sweet
Home' especially for the crowd, mainly home-going miners, outside. Her last visit to the area
was to Kalgoorlie in 1914, during a heatwave; she spent the afternoon keeping cool in the local
ice factory.
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We hear from John in July 1909, a fortnight before Jane Mountjoy, in far-off Geelong, dictated
her letter to Willie's wife Esther, and said of John: 'I dont think he Will trune yeat, so he says.'
She may well have heard from him earlier that year.
On 6 July 1909, John wrote to his eldest son, Willie, who was now 30 and working as a cane-
carter near Ayr in Queensland. John gave his address as 'PO Kalgoorlie". He writes well and
neatly, with a confident, flowing hand.
'My Dear Son. I received your last letter of 28th May all right. I am glad to hear you all were
well. So you will have gone down to the Cane Country I suppose by this. I hope it proves a
more payable job for you than the work you have been engaged on for some time past anyway
it can hardly be worse. Can it? Can you tell me anything about the Battery slimes that lie about
the mills at the Towers? Has anyone up there taken on the treatment of the slimes by Cyaniding
them? Of course I know all the sand have been treated by that process long ago, but I should
like to know if the people have up there taken up the treatment of the slimes, it is a good paying
thing if any are obtained. It only struck me quite lately to ask you this. They are difficult to treat
so I thought it quite possible the Towers people had not gone into the treatment problem. And I
have a friend here who I may say is quite an expert at the game and who would be very glad of
an opening to treat any siimes that were payable.'
The cyanide process used to recover gold from the sandy refuse of crushed ore dumped in
creeks had been introduced in Charters Towers in 1892. From 200 tons of such sand a profit
of 400 dollars might be made. Seven years later over 90 cyanide works were in operation, and
more fortunes were won and for the most part lost.
John's letter continues: 'I may tell you they must at least be worth at least 3 cwts per ton
anything over that would make them highly profitable. But I fear the Towers people are already
acquainted with the knowledge of treating all the slimes that are payable, still if you hear of any
you might let me know in your next, for you may depend there is good money to be made for all
of us. If I knew of anything like that to come back for I would soon be there, but I dread the
thought of returning to the Towers to seek for work which I must do if I come back at any time.
I have not got into any steady job yet, only a few weeks in and out, but I have the promise of a
good job soon by a friend who is manager of a good mine near Menzies, but it may be a few
weeks yet before it is available. I hope you and Laurie will have good luck in your new
undertaking [this was cane-cutting and carting]. I suppose I will be better to address this letter
to that part. Well I think I have no more to say now trusting this will find you all well, with love
to you and Esther love and kisses to all the little ones from your affectionate Father, J
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