OTAGO’S MINING DAYS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19311, 24 October 1924, Page 11

OTAGO’S MINING DAYS.

SOME INTERESTING RELICS. There are few exhibits in the Otago Early Settlers’ Museum which can rival in interest the collection of relics of the mining days of Naseby and Kyeburn which hag recently been given to the association by Mr Philip George, of Naseby, The articles have now been classified by Mr W. Paterson, secretary of the association. The exhibit may convey but little to the young people of the present day, but to those early settlers whose memory can carry them back 50 or 60 years it has a wealth of meaning. It will conjure up in their minds reminiscences of the days when the announcement that gold had been found in Central Otago attracted huge numbers of people there and when Naseby and many other what are now small towns could boast big populations There are stories of men who were washing six ounces to the pan, and nearby were others who toiled at their claims day after day for, a reward which hardly brought, them their food. Men who have felt the call of gold tell how they dug huge pits, and, though they could soo the gold shimmering in the candle light, were poorly repaid lor their labours. .the largest of tho exhibits is a sluice box, through which tho water ran, leaving the gold behind. In the bottom of tho box is a number of holes, and through those the gold dropped and was caught on matting underneath. The mats wore washed, and tho gold was collected. To remove magnetic iron sand magnets were used, and then the motal was put in blowers, and, the lino sand thus being removed, the process was complete. Tho collection includes a knife and steel which were used by the first butcher on tho Kyeburn field, c-arrmel Hornby, and a palm used by John Brown, an old sailor, to protect his hands while sewing canvas on the Hogburn field. Were it not for the cards attached to tho articles it would bo difficult to tell to what use many of thorn were put. There aro scrapers, used in removing gold bearing gravel from the crevices of roclcs or reefs, and rakes for scraping stones from the faces of reefs out of reach of the falling earth.

Among the most interesting articles are some of Chinese origin. The most conspicuous are an opium tin, in which the drug was imported, bowls of opium pipes, and jars for carrying small quantities. There is also a set of Chinese weighing scales and two carved chop-sticks. The cooking utensils used by the Celestials would be a puzzle to most Englishmen. Behind one exhibit is a story. William Smith, who had his home at Little Kyoburn, was thrown from his horse and killed while returning from a visit to Hogburn. r l he riderless horse was caught by MiWaiter George on its arrival at Mr Smith’s home, and a stirrup was taken from the" saddle by him and placed over the bough of a young alder tree. The tree grew for 30 years and tho stirrup became a fixture. The fork of the tree with the stirrup embedded in if has been sawed off and included in thp collection.

The days of mining, however, are not over, as the damming of the Kawarau River will mean a revival of the search for gold in Otago.