Melbourne
30 January 1888
My dear Chris
I have your telegram this morning advising purchase of eight hundred Queens NL. You don’t say price but I take it as you wired before at 8/-. If I had the command of money here I would have sent on a few hundred more to invest at your discretion, but I cannot without borrowing and won’t do that.
I surmise from what you have said that you have no right of lease over these claims that you have in hand, and may have them taken out of your hands. I hope you will guard against risk of this sort – both for yourself and so far as it may concern me. Should you think there is risk of forfeiture sell them in time and begin again when the leases are allotted.
I hope your wet season will now be over, plenty of water saved in ponds for
the summer, and a railway made to the port, when this is done I will come and see you. Should I manage to arrange my affairs at home I may come in July and take my chance of getting up from Normanton without a railway.
The Howards of Bedford are making and selling lay etc. a portable system of rails to lay down over a flat country. Why don’t they adopt this? It would serve your purposes for years to come.
The extent to which the mining share mania has focused the minds of men both here and in England (for large sums of money have been wired from home) to invest, is in my opinion likely to end in sad disaster to thousands before long. The impetus carries men on to start numerous other enterprises, financial associations, banks, coffee palaces by the dozen and etc. I am afraid when the crash comes it will affect you in distant Croydon, so bear in mind that this is inevitable. It is but a matter of time. Should a war break out in Europe the whole mining interests in Australia will suffer immensely while it lasts, to spurt up again after it ends.
M R Wilson and his brother bear a high character here as straight honorable men. He showed me the ore and told me all about the method of treatment.
Be sure to secure yourself with some reserve cash so soon as you can spare some from your business, as a something to fall back upon in case of a break down.
I have not time to write much, but will write often while here.
I hope you will keep in good health, and with much love
I am, your affectionate Father
Jas A Elmslie
Slade has been making money he has a good share of the business going on.
PS
I hope the partner who has joined you is a good business man and straight in his character.
I hope you will take Alec back soon – he will find some bent for his genius. Without going in for Physics he is a slow creature but will make his mark in some line before long. Get him into the way of writing and make him study mine engineering in his spare time. He may invent something which would bring him a fortune.
JAE