What to Do.

Suppose that a man, unavoidably displaced from his usual employment and now at a “loose end,” perusing this article, feels that he would like to win some of the gold which lurks in beds or banks of streams or on beaches or elsewhere. What is his best course of action?

The right answer to that question is: “Get in touch with the Mines Department.” It has representatives in the principal gold-mining areas, but in any case a letter to the head office in Wellington will open up a trail to a promising locality. The names of leaflets issued recently by the Department indicate the kind of help which it offers to gold-seekers. Here are the titles: “Aids to Prospecting,” “Fossicking and Prospecting for Gold,” “Notes on the Taking of Samples of Mineral Deposits (Procedure under the Mining Act. 1926) and notes for the guidance of miners, and the Valuation of Mining Prospects.” In plain, clean-cut English the Department's experts have set out the case for the “handy man” willing to persevere in the search. Drawings show how simple equipment is made, and the working of it is clearly explained. These publications are obtainable free, and other guidance is gladly given. The activities of “new chums” are supervised by practical miners, and in the principal districts the Department has mining engineers who devote the whole of their time to this gold-winning work.