OLD COLDFIELD DAYS.

Evening Star, Issue 22249, 29 January 1936, Page 10

OLD COLDFIELD DAYS.

i .. Naseby in days gone by was one of the most important towns in midOtago. Its glory, if that is not too high-sounding a word, has departed. The building of the Central Otago Railway decided its fate. It is. ten miles away from the line, picturesquely situated under the shadow of Mount Ida. As a result Ranfurly, called after the Governor of the day, sprang up. It is placed in the middle of the Maniototo Plain, and before the extension to Clyde was the terminus of the Central Railway. Gradually but inevitably business gravitated to Ranfurly, and banks and offices transferred their quarters, to the new town. The latest to be affected is, the office of the Maniototo County Council. Last week a poll of ratepayers was taken on a proposal to raise a loan of £2,000 in order to build new offices in Ranfurly, and the result was a decision in favour of raising the money. When gold was discovered at Naseby the field was known in the first days of the rush as Parker’s. Then it became one of the numerous , “ burns ” on the plain Hogburn—a harsh-sounding name suggested, perhaps, by the fact that wild pigs were abundant in the district. Later officialdom, instead of adopting one of tbe liquid Maori words available, called it Naseby, and so .it remains. Once a scene of bustling activity, with from twenty to thirty hotels ministering to the wants of the thirsty and prosperous diggers, it is now a deserted village. Its chief attractions are a fine, dry climate, and facilities for winter sports, large dams for skating and curling being available to visitors, with abundant opportunities for skl-ing, a sport of comparatively recent introduction. In tbe ’sixties rich gold was discovered at Hamiltons, which is known as Pukepouri, at the extreme southern end of the Maniototo Plain. Thither eager miners flocked, on foot mostly, by way of Outram, Deep Stream, and Middlemarch, and pitched their tents on the newly-found field. Much gold was won, but the gold-bearing area was limited. Its rich pockets were soon picked, and most of the miners, made their way across to Naseby as soon as it became evident that more extensive deposits of gold were available there. Scarcity of water, in the dry climate, was the chief hindrance to extensive operations, and the more enterprising of the miners built dams near the town, and conveyed water to them by means of races leading from the mountain slopes. Much gold was won, and for years Naseby was a prosperous town. The early arrivals scratched the surface, and quickly secured the gold that lay there, but sluicing and hydraulic elevating continued to bring in substantial returns. The old miners believe in the existence of a “ deep lead,” but so far the attempts to discover such a source of further wealth have been unavailing. Mining is still carried on, here and there, the high price of gold proving an incentive to full exploration of the possibilities. The romance of the “ easy-come, easy-go ” days of the adventurous early digger has gone. The metal that gave him brief prosperity is hard to find, but the Maniototo Plain contains potential riches of another , kind. These are to be found in its■ fertile soil.- If the plans to impound the head waters of the Taieri River in a great storage dam come to fruition, it is confidently expected that the money thus spent for irrigation purposes will be, amply justified, in which case Ranfurly (once known as Eweburn) will be an important agricultural and pastoral centre.