OTAGO'S JUBILEE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2300, 31 March 1898, Page 44

OTAGO' S JUBILEE.

(Daily Times, March 24.) --* Most of the young and unencumbered men left th« old vessel without delay and with stout hearts and heavy knapsacks made their toilsome way to Dunedin through the surveyor's track. The weather was serene and warm for a time, so that the taste of their new life was all that could be depicted by z Defoe. Captain Caegill and his friends came up by a boat and pitched their tents on the beach line. Captair Cakgill's was a very conspicuous affair, giving life to the beach, its bell shape and scarlet bindings marking him oui as the leader of the camp. The women and children remained on board foi some weeks, and were then pulled up to Dunedin Yt'ith their belongings by boatloads, where they entered the shelters prepared for them by their male relations." In these words does Dr Hooken record the actual settlement of Dunedin *in 1848. Yesterday-the scanty remnant . of the gallant band and their synrpa- * thisers celebrated the .jubilee of that ■momentous event. The elementswere in sympathy with the rejoicings. Never ' did a New Zealand sun shine more . brightly, never did the sky look so cloudless and blue, as the vast procession wended its endless way through the city. Never in Dunedin before have such crowds assembled. Never was a concourse of people more plentifully endowed with the appearance of health, wealth, and happiness. Said liev. Mr Gibb yesterday morning at the historic service : " The pioneers of Otago were far-seeing and purposeful men." They resolved to emancipate themselves from ecclesiastical and industrial conditions that were "well nigh intolerable to men whose history is a record of resistance against oppression, and the display of yesterday •was the evidence that the path they chose was a wise one. Dr Hocksk tells us that in the early days of New Zealand emigration it was a not unusual custom to speed a departing emigrant vessel by means of some function —a breakfast, ball, fete, or religious service. " The sober Scotch chose no such frivolous way to bid fare;well. When nearly ready for sea a large party assembled on the vessel. A portion of the appropriate 72nd psalm "was read, followed by" singing and prayer. The hymn chosen was the 3:ooth in the Presbyterian collection composed by Dr Doddbidgb." Who "with ordinary human sensibilities could listen unmoved yesterday morning while the immense congregation unitedly sang the self-same words ?—? — O God of Bethel, by whose hand Thy people still are fed, Who through this weary pilgrimage Has all our fathers led. That onlooker must have been a Btoic indeed who saw no sentiment in the honour done to the venerable men and women who surrounded the pulpit and formed the link connecting the present with the past. And when the exulting strains of the " Old Hundreth," that patriotic hymn of Scotland, ascended to the fretted roof of first Church —the church which has continuously represented the settlement from its foundation for half a century, —it gave the note of rejoicing and of recognition of the blessings which Providence has bestowed on the people of Otago. The same note of rejoicing, the same mingling of the sentimental and the practical characterised the whole proceedings of the celebration. It was matter of common observation that Dunedin had fairly excelled itself. All previous displays must yield pride of place to that of yesterday. The friendly societies may always be relied upon to add attractiveness to a public display. Their tableaux yesterday were typical of the fraternity which "unites them, and of the beneficent motives that characterise their actions. The trades also made a splendid display. There is nothing base nor vulgarly ostentatious in the representation of those industries which make for prosperity. The handicraftsman plying his vocation fills a place in the community not second to any. The time has gone past when it was permitted to sneer at honest toil, and in a commemoration of the Jubilee of Otago the representation of labour is especially appropriate. It was only by arduous toil that the way was cleared for the resident of to-day; it is only by arduous toil that the position of Otago can be maintained. The Jubilee season Has n'at77r-> I]yl]y been rich in reminiscences, many are now familiar ■with -' appearance of Dunedin nearly 50 years ago. Those who are now surrounded by the comforts and conveniences of civilisation should remember that the way was paved for them by the early settlers whose golden wedding, with the soil of New Zealand

| -was celebrated yesterday. Therefore j let no Otagan decry work nor refuse tc t ' recognise the sentiment that underlay yesterday's trades demonstrations. Ii many respectsthe procession was unique i It was embellished by tine presence oJ the Maoris, the descendants of those s j who peacefully and honourably sole ' ! the Ofcago Block to Colonel Wakhitielb "' j Says Dr Hocken : " The final act was 1 J that of payment, and this was accom- ' \ plished in the most orderly and satisL factory manner. This time no blankets. 1 ; no pipes, or tomahawks formed any part i j of the quid pro quo • it consisted oi - • bank notes, gold, and silver only. Foi ' his share as the largest proprietoi 1 Toawhaiki received .£9OO, together • with £300 for division among his 1 ! Taieri and JVlolyneux friends. Taiaroa ■ j and Kaeetai received £300, and the re1 ! maining £600 was divided amongst the • ; other Otago Natives/* Thus, honour- ■ ably, though indeed cheaply, was Otago ; originally acquired. And rh<-» .l-jrfc- ' i eyed wahines who graced the procession yesterday could nob taunt the applauding crowds with robbing them of their I patrimony. The Natives have evinced j the most friendly feelings from the ' first. They welcomed the settlers as ' friends, and their representation in the ; proceedings was therefore no anomaly. i Equally interesting was the display ; made by the " diggers " of 1861. They j were pioneers in another sense. They j penetrated to the interior and wrested ' the precious metal from mountain fastness and the beds of rapid and treacherous rivers. It is futile now ,to conjecture what the position of ' Obago would have been had gold not been discovered. Unquestionably the discovery accelerated the progress ■of the province. But it would be a mistake to suppose that no advance had been made prior to that event. On the contrary, the settlers were very enterprising. They had introduced steam vessels, had regular communication J along the coast and with Melbourne, i had outlined a water supply, had surveyed the province, and had, in fact, laid the foundation of many institutions that flourish to-day. They may have resented the intrusion of the " new iniquity,"' but it can be said in j extenuation' that the latter were a little 1 difficult to understand at first. Men who ! are accustomed to take what food they require, with or without the owner's consent, however willing they may be to pay for it, do not always remember that the owner may have transported it many weary miles, nor do they always , give due credit to that peculiar inde- '■ pendence of spirit which expects tho | same independence in others. The misunderstanding was of short duration. Each communicated some desirable qualifications to the others. Many of | the diggers have remained, and have ! become prosperous residents, many of j the early settlers became diggers and | prospered exceedingly. The treacherous rivers claimed their toll of victims, as ; the cemeteries of the goldfields too ! surely attest, but they were itnparI tial in their choice of them, and I now that the fiftieth anniversary has I come and gone the distinction has ! almost disappeared. When the jubilee j of the discovery of gold in Otago is ! celebrated none will more cordially 1 join in the celebrations than those who | were residents anterior to the event, j for none are so well qualified to estir mate its importance. The presence. of . the early diggers with their picturesque ■ illustrations of life in the early sixties, ; and that of the Maoris, attired in their I native habiliments, lent colour and .; variety to the scene, and imparted ito it a novelty that will long be ■ remembered. Of the touching scenes ' of the evening we shall say nothing. I When hand silently seeks hand and jby its mute pressure conveys the ; message that the tongue refuses to de- ! liver, how can any observer realise I the natura of the greeting ? Ties that were formed in the days of privation and hardship acquire a character that j is almost sacred; and it redounds to the credit of the promoters of the exhibition that they have made the 1 reunion of old friends the central ! attraction of the enterprise. It only ! needed this to put the copestone on a , most memorable celebration. i ___, ti i , , n The barquentine St. Kilcla, which went ashore outside the Wang&nui Heads lagfe week, was successfully floated off on Thursday. Mr Murrell, manager oi the Huduarb- Parker Company, hns received advice of the death at Melbourne of Mr Ernest J Parker, managing ! director of tho firm. Mr Parker bad been '' ailing for months, but was able to attend to business, and his death was sudden. Think it over, ladies ; clo nob buy miserable imitations when the genuine is procurable. No medicine introduced to the New Zealand public has ever deserved eaccess bo much as Bonnins- • ton's Caebageen Ihish Moss. It does all that is claimed for ib, and gives satisfaction*