Little Wonder Gold Mine, Menzies, Menzies Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Little Wonder Gold Mine	Mine
Menzies	- not defined -
Menzies Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Little Wonder Gold Mine was about 2 kilometres south of Menzies, with the Menzies Alpha lease bordering to the north, Golden Age to the north-west and Maori Chief to the south-east.

It was active from 1904 to 1909 by H. Gourley. 14 acres. The initial rich crushing in 1904 led to a land pegging rush surrounding his lease. The 3 inch leader on the surface had been followed down to 80 feet, where a large lode was discovered.

But Gourley had loftier ambitions than just being a miner. This often brought him into conflict with others who were also trying to build their own mini empires. He was secretary of the Menzies and Woolgar branch of the Federated Miners Union, but the chairman Buzzacott refused to attend the meetings due to his dislike of Gourley.

He was a member of the Menzies branch of the Leaseholders and Prospectors Association, Menzies councillor, and member/chairman of the North Coolgardie Road Board.

A member called Cooper of this last entity had verbally resigned, but then changed his mind. Chairman Gourley refused to accept him still as part of the board. 'A heated exchange of anything but compliments took place between Mr. Cooper and the chairman, personalities being indulged in, when the chairman said to the secretary to bring in the police.'

The secretary duly left to fetch the police. Meanwhile Cooper remained, haranguing Gourley for his ignorance and poor knowledge of the law. 'This caused another scene'. The police arrive. Then a letter from the Solicitor General is produced stating any resignation must be in writing to take effect. So Cooper remained, but the meeting was adjourned. Cooper had his revenge later when he booted Gourley off the board for non attendance due to his state parliament responsibilities.

Gourley sought pre-selection for the Labour party for the seat of Menzies, but was beaten by twelve votes by Buzzacott. He then obtained pre-selection and won the Leonora seat, making him a state parliamentarian in mid 1909.

It did not start well when he accidently sat in the opposition part of the chamber on his first sitting, the members congratulating him for switching sides. Several local constituents accused him of shady land deals, leaving them out of pocket.

In September 1909, he received a commission from Alfred Thomas, a miner at Mount Ida, to purchase for him a gun to shoot kangaroos. Gourley attended the Austral Cycle Agency for this purpose, the shop in the middle of a salvage sale after stock had been damaged by a flood. Gourley purchased a gun creatively described in the source as 'a murderous weapon warranted to destroy an army corps at first sight', and ' a Belgian breech loading gas pipe guaranteed to spread death and devastation at the slightest provocation.' It cannot be denied however that on Thomas' first shot the gun exploded tearing a great gash in his arm.

Too much baggage had been accumulated, and after one term Gourley dis-appears from public life.

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