A Curious Jewish Ceremony.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 7, 9 January 1886, Page 5

A Curious Jewish Ceremony.

A solemn and interesting ceremony was (the "Ballarat Star" states) performed on Friday lust at Hard Hills, Buninyoog, by Mr H. J. Desoza, the well-known owner of the land on which the Desoza Freehold Company struck such a rich reef as paid Rome £50,000 in dividends. Mr Desoza has lately purchased the whole of the Company's interest in the machinery, &c, and has let the land on tribute to Messrs Webb Brothers. The ceremony was the naming of tho new shaft just started by the tributore. The following was the form of proce dure :—At the appointed time, noon, Mr Desoza proceeded to the ground, and had two large handsome flags hoisted, one on each side of the shaft. As this was done, he robed himself in an ancient and appropriate costume, and stood on the top of the shaft, with his face to the east, and turned the sod; this being done, he spread a handsome white damask coyer (emblem of peace) over the hole, in which he placed a valuable oak casket which contained the Jewish cosher bread, Passover cake, with 50 sovereigns, and valuable jewellery made from Desoza gold. He then read the following prayer, still standing in the same position, with a golden wreath (Desoza gold } in his left hand, and a sheaf of wheat in his right (emblem of plenty) :—"Tho Lord gave and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord God of Israel. I have asked the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the God of my people, to give you knowledge and right understanding in the management of those walls of gold. I name this shaft the Mary Desoza, in memory of a poor girl's dying prayer for a sailor boy serving under tho British flag. Amen." The men then went to work at the shaft, and they have since discovered, at a depth of about 10ft. from the surface, a goldbearing vertical reef, which will, it is thought, when opened out, prove as rich as the old reef mentioned above. The present discovery is some 500 ft. east of the old Desoza shaft, and should it prove equal to anticipations, it will cause great excitement amongst the mining men in thia and other districts. Some thirty miners and some of the loading townspeople witnessed the ceremony.