(no subject)
Apr. 30th, 2006 08:14 pmBecause I'm feeling cranky...
This past week, the local media has been occupied by a drama unfolding in a little town up north a bit. An old, story heard many times before.
Beaconsfield is a small town, about half an hour drive up the Tamar. It grew up in the 1870s after a gold-rich vein of quartz was on the hill. There was a, short-lived, influx of men hoping to dig some up for themselves, but it soon became the domain of the large companies. Still, the town boomed. It was one of the largest towns on the island in the 1880s. They had problems with water though, and the mine shafts were continually flooding. Eventually, the costs of extracting the gold became too much and the mine closed in 1914. The town faded.
In the 1980s, attempts were made to reopen it. They hoped that better technology would enable them to overcome the earlier problems. It didn't turn out to be quite that easy and it wasn't until 1999 that the mine started producing gold again. It has rarely been in the news since then.
On Tuesday, a small earthquake (mag 2.2) caused part of the gold mine to collapse, trapping three of the miners. One was a man who lived in the town, one from the nearby riverside town of Beauty Point, and the third from Launceston. It was the Launceston man whose body was brought out on Thursday.
To try and reach the other men, rescuers started digging a tunnel about the unstable area towards where the missing men had last been found. It's a slow process. On last night's news, they said it would take about two days to reach the area they were aiming for. They also said that there were more volunteers to help with the rescue attempt than there was room for.
I think that's why it makes a good news story. Slow progress, so even newspaper can keep up to date. Lots of 'human interest' angles.
A closeknit community rocked by tragedy, but hopeful. Then hope fading, but not quite dying as long as there is still a chance, however slim.
The Examiner, the local newspaper, is doing 2-3 pages in front of the paper coverage. Interviews, background stories, who's to blame. When I went over to the ABC site just now to check what was on TV tonight, Beaconsfield was at the top of the 'Just In' news too
Just to up the suspense a bit.
This past week, the local media has been occupied by a drama unfolding in a little town up north a bit. An old, story heard many times before.
Beaconsfield is a small town, about half an hour drive up the Tamar. It grew up in the 1870s after a gold-rich vein of quartz was on the hill. There was a, short-lived, influx of men hoping to dig some up for themselves, but it soon became the domain of the large companies. Still, the town boomed. It was one of the largest towns on the island in the 1880s. They had problems with water though, and the mine shafts were continually flooding. Eventually, the costs of extracting the gold became too much and the mine closed in 1914. The town faded.
In the 1980s, attempts were made to reopen it. They hoped that better technology would enable them to overcome the earlier problems. It didn't turn out to be quite that easy and it wasn't until 1999 that the mine started producing gold again. It has rarely been in the news since then.
On Tuesday, a small earthquake (mag 2.2) caused part of the gold mine to collapse, trapping three of the miners. One was a man who lived in the town, one from the nearby riverside town of Beauty Point, and the third from Launceston. It was the Launceston man whose body was brought out on Thursday.
To try and reach the other men, rescuers started digging a tunnel about the unstable area towards where the missing men had last been found. It's a slow process. On last night's news, they said it would take about two days to reach the area they were aiming for. They also said that there were more volunteers to help with the rescue attempt than there was room for.
I think that's why it makes a good news story. Slow progress, so even newspaper can keep up to date. Lots of 'human interest' angles.
A closeknit community rocked by tragedy, but hopeful. Then hope fading, but not quite dying as long as there is still a chance, however slim.
The Examiner, the local newspaper, is doing 2-3 pages in front of the paper coverage. Interviews, background stories, who's to blame. When I went over to the ABC site just now to check what was on TV tonight, Beaconsfield was at the top of the 'Just In' news too
Just to up the suspense a bit.
