BOOM DAYS INDTHE GOLDEN STATE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 25

BOOM DAYS INDTHE GOLDEN STATE

■■'■ The: centenary of recalls the i rise and productivity of- the historic gol.afl.eids of; the .State,'wMeh'haye produced, over £300,000,000 -worth : of the precious ' metalr •ml littleMnore than eighty years. f This epoch in / the cen-tury-old !Staie provides'one of the most absorbing chapters; not only of Australian .life, but,- also -of.- world history, for, unlike many other spectacular and famous gold rushes, the main Victorian .fields: .were not of glittering short-lived splendour, says the, "Sydney Morning Herald." '..' : ,- , : : ■ r .The story.;of Victoria's early gold rushes,-and of the hectic days when the then colony was the mecca of adventurous spirits from; all parts of the world, is one of romance and tragedy; of meteoric rises from ; poverty to wealth,. figuratively overnight, and of fthe disappointments that. so often attend those who seek Nature 's elusive treasure..' ~• .:. . ■ ■ : ' Prom other colonies, and from across the world, adventurous, hopeful spirits flocked into Victoria in their countless thousands and joined in the early gold rushes. Many won!the wealth which has been mankind's chief lure back into , the mists-of time. Many, again, in Victoria's roaring days of the fifties, gambled with chance, and. lost. . - The" great majority, of the goldseekers, however, if they, suffered, disr appointment, settled down in Victoria, associated themselves with its primary production.,and Mother, industries, and assisted in its steady growth and development along more permanent lines than .those-'of trying' to win from Mother Earth its hidden gold and to make themselves rich-overnight. ■ ", ?. -It was-as .a-.result of the gold discoveries and the subsequent extensive rushes; that many new towns sprang iip like mushrooms in Victoria. Some^of them today aTe; merely names. Others have .maintained 'permanently the foothold they thus obtained. ■ > .'.'• .. .-; Ballarat and Bendigd, as striking ex;

amples,. owe their proud and;distinctive positions today as two of the largest and most progressive provincial cities in Australia, to the impetus given' to them by the discovery of gold and its development in Victoria. Ballarat,' indeed, has' witnessed a novel transition from the feverish, materialism of its early gold rushes to a position of fame for its cultural and artistic development. '■'.■ ■' i -■ ■ : ■•■■.'■

The discovery of gold in Victoria had a magical 'effect on adventurous spirits that is not surprising when one ..recalls some'of the finds-at the height of the rushes. Two men, for example, washed out £3000 worth of; gold in two brief days. Another fortunate digger picked up £1800 worth of coarse gold in four days. Not a few.others found "gold pockets" that yielded up to £1000 for a day's work. The Mount Alexander (Castlemajne) district-provided .even richer fields, temporarily,-..-while : two casks of wash .dirt at Bendigo yielded £5000 worth of/goldr;/--, ; Although: gold was obtained in 1849 in the Pyranees-rang.es;'the mining history of Victoria dates;from 1851 3 when substantial rewards 'were offered for the discovery of :fc goldfield: within 200 'miles of Melbourne.;; /- ; .( ,,_:.' :

i";-The results made -talked _of across the se^en seas.' During: 1851, Clunes was discovered, abbut.^Tuly: 1; Anderson's Creek,.on July 5; Hiscocks, iear'Bunihyong; on August v 8; Ballarat,- on September 8; arid Bendigo, on December 10. -The discovery of other fields quickly,ifollpwsd. A year later, 40,000 men were: camped at ~!Ballarat, 25,000 at Mount .Alexander, and 40,000 at Bendigoi J ?' '." ''■■■-.;':-■" The prpcluction of gold in Victoria in 1852 amounted to 2.286,5350z, aiid in the ten ,years?'th'at followed, it-totalled morei;than:/25ib00.a00qz» >;The, largest quantity; produced in* any orie year was 3.053,74402;, in'iß's6.';:JThfe;yield of gold frpm~a,lluyial an4:quartz minine.in'Viciorid; Sfrom I§sl/ tbi 1913>was ,73,^83,1^8 oz, valued at £293,550,927.