After several days steady march he reached the locality of the far-booming rush, and he was not a little happy when he disengaged himself from the rather cumbrous swag, whose weight seemed to increase with the march of time. No rest or respite was calmly indulged in on his arrival; with full mining armoury, and sanguine expectations, he assumed the new role of the dry blower on the flat. His first experience could not be termed the unskilful efforts of "new chum," for his success compared favourably with the most fortunate. The flats and their specious contents were hurriedly disembowelled, and the young prospector abandoned operations on this now heap and hole area. Bayley's Reward was already possessed of its first instalment of machinery, and Mr. McCormack engaged to work on the battery when the first five-head were set merrily agoing.
Gradually Coolgardie emerged from dust and lowpitched tents to streets and pretentious edifices. The scene was rapid, the transformation a pleasant spectacle, and the daring prospector gazed amazingly on the kaleidoscopic change of germ, bud, and bloom. Enterprising individuals started business and profession; the bustle and activity of town life prevailed, and everything augured well.
Mr. McCormack's first step was a stride. He became managing clerk in the large legal firm of Horgan, Moorhead, and Harvey. His power of adaptation was decidedly phenomenal. He now amassed valuable insight into the intricate legal machinery of mining, and learnt lessons which were attended with advantageous results.
At such a period of excitement few men of pluck and energy remain long in subservience to the commands and wishes of others. They strike out on ventures of their own. Mr. McCormack set up as a mining agent, and enthusiastic and vigorous capabilities soon attracted an enviable clientele. The very atmosphere at this time was thick with flotations, as infectious as it was necessary. Mr. McCormack co-operated with others in bringing these formations into the realm of existence. His name is closely connected with the flotation of the Mackenzie, Kaniva, Armidale, Dorothy, and Golden Rose mines. Early in 1896 he was appointed to the responsible position of secretary of the Chamber of Mines. The duties of the office demand concentrated attention and intelligence. As secretary of this important institution he has won the respect of its members and of interested adherents without.
At the mining conference, held in Perth in January, 1897, Mr. McCormack was secretary. He was, in fact, the prime mover and instigator of this important assemblage, the results of whose deliberations created a strong impression on mining authorities, both in the colony and abroad. It was categorised by the West Australian as the most successful mining conference ever held in Western Australia. His labours in connection with it were immense, but the awards and praises they necessarily elicited were co-extensive with their arduousness.
Mr. MeCormack's readiness to assist in any public movement has been extensively utilised in Coolgardie. He was appointed hon. secretary of the Railway Opening Committee at Coolgardie in 1896. In athletics, he was captain of the champion junior team of Victoria, and had the enviable honour of being one of the intercolonial rowers.
Caricaturing with Mr. McCormack is a happy pastime. His sketches have often appeared in the Bulletin, and he is a regular contributor in this respect to the Coolgardie Pioneer. He is the fortunate possessor of much real estate in Coolgardie. He married Miss Gertrude Langfield, an English lady, a few years ago in Geelong. Mr. McCormack is a highly popular personage in Coolgardie. He is frank and open-hearted. His numerous manifestations of kindness and public spiritedness have won for him a crowd of sympathetic admirers, whose sincerity is marked by their willingness to requite their many obligations. He is a true colonial, who spurns affectation and cant.
JOHN RICHARD ARTHUR CONOLLY, J.P., M.L.A.
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Photo by J.R.A CONOLLY, J.P., M.L.A. Greenham & Evans. |
OF the many strong advocates who have championed the cause of the Esperance, Norseman, and Dundas districts not one has stood to his guns more tenaciously than Mr. Conolly. From his first entering this colony he seems to have had that bright optimistic foresight which enables one to view through the ever-widening glass of futurity the embyro city heralded by the advent of commerce. Such an eye follows the River of Time, till— "Gone is the calm of the earlier shore, Now bordered by cities, and hoarse With a thousand cries ..... "
James Richard Arthur Conolly is a native of West Meath, Ireland, and was born in 1866. He is a son of a distinguished soldier, Colonel Conolly, V.C., of the Goldstream Guards. The gallant colonel won his distinction in the Crimea. Mr. Conolly's mother was the sister of the late Colonel Fred Burnaby, the dashing soldier, and author of the famous "Ride to Khiva," who was lost to the British Army in the battle of Abou-Klea. The subject of
