Flying Officer W. J. Bone, son of Mrs. M. Bone, of 119, Washbrook-road, Rushden, who is a flying instructor serving in South Africa, has written home to describe a visit to a gold mine.

He says: "I spent a whole day being shown around. I arrived at 8.0 a.m., and was provided with a complete change of clothing—€”gum-boots, hat, etc.—and then, along with nine others, started the tour underground. Some of the shafts were 8,800 feet deep, and the tunnels in the various gold mines of that area have a total length of nearly 300 miles.

"It was terrifically hot when we were 6,000 feet below surface, and perspiration just ran from us in rivers. The guide told us that each worker who goes down on an eight-hour shift loses five pounds in perspiration by the end of the shift, but this is made up again overnight.

"The colossal machinery taken a mile underground is amazing, and needs seeing to be believed. The native (black man) does the actual drilling with pneumatic drills which they hold with their feet as they work in a crevice only about two feet high. They crawl in on their 'tummies' and lie full length to work. They reminded me of a lot of rats crawling about in the darkness.

"This part of the tour lasted until lunch-time, after which we were shown the surface workings. Here we were shown gold in bricks the same size as house bricks. It took every bit of my strength to lift one. Each is worth £8,000. I should have liked a couple! As a souvenir we were given a lump of gold-bearing rock and a plaque showing a miner at work—€”a lovely ornament."