PALMERSTON SOUTH

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 87

PALMERSTON SOUTH

Bt A. J- Hbighwat

THE STORY. -OF ITS PAST

II.— THE DUNSTAN DISCOVERIES. On the Monday moaning after that instoric S&turday when- the news of the -'depositing' of 871b weight of gold was 'published, the Otago Daily Tunes devoted over a column to the consideration of the news and a discussion of the details. The paper had been established about 10 months previously — in the latter months of 1861- — 40 issues being" produced before the New Year. Mr (after Sir /Julius) Vogel, who baoanne its 'editor, had been attracted .to . tbo colony from Victoria at the tune of the Gabriel's Gully, rush, and shortly ,a£ter his arrival ho said, , with characteristic progressiveness, that Dunedin should, .have.* daily morning paper. It was in all probability his hand _ that penned some .of the writings from which, extracts will be made. On that Monday, morning the Otago^ Paily Times, after referring ■ to th© intenset excitement occasioned , ;by the news,. ; and stating that eoaie of the people weore .scep^ tical and believed that the whole tbi|igwas a sham, .proceeded to give additional details which set all doubt at rest. The gold, it wrote, was onclosad in a .aumJSer of -different bag-s, evidently made -in. th© bush under circumstances of difficulty. Som-e were of old canvas and others .were composed of mo^-eskin trousers, ami all were roughly sewn . with twine. It> .was further said that the -lucky owners tver© Americans with Califernian experience, and- that they described the 'ooality as " most promising." On the Tuesday morning- the full momeiitousncss of th© find began to be more .adequately realised. On the Saturday ocd the Monday the discoverers were conducting negotiations -with the Provincial Council .with regard to a reward for the disclosure of the site,. Arrangements were completed on the ( vMonday. and tba next day's paper gave , full particulars of the arrangement, ..together with a full statement by the men as. to their experiences. .The conditions with regard to the reward were that the discoverers were to receive the sum of £2000 on receipt within 'three months of .16,000 ounces, the . produce of the locality, _ ,i»jid both man were to .gfive every assistance to the Government apd go with a Gjovernonent party to point out the site. " 'As th© export duty of gold was 2s 6cl 'an ounce it will bY observed that the , Vjro•vincial Council could not possibly' 'be a loser. In his " History of the Early Gold Dls- " coveries in Otago" the 'ate Mr Vinbent Pyke, Commissioner of Goldfields, 'gives an interesting account of his infceTview with thesa two men with regard \6 the - reward. On seeing the gold Mr' \Prke noticed that it ! was thiri, worn; and' 'scaly, and ho at once • came to the Cohclusiotr that it 'had been subjected to the?^prolonged action of water amongst pebbles and boulders, and that- therefono tnf - site ' must be further inland than Mount Wat--kin. where it ha)d 'been suggested tha^ the find was made. Mr Pyke had ■ further ■ground for this belief by reason- 'of' the' ' reports »of the prospectors whio!r\the Government was employing. One of- 'these parties, under- Mr Stebbiug, exploded -the • country north of Tuapeka. In July* they returned to that township and reported to Mr Commissioner Croker that they 'had found payable country in the neighbourhood of' the Knobby • Ranges. Mr iSteb'bing, however, on tJie plea that- he> did not wish to raise false hopes wifcYwut+r a sufficient basis of fact, obtained an'extension of time of one month from the-vCom-missioner and returned to further jnv*sfci» gate. Ho came back from this journey on August 18, two days after Hartley ami Reilly got to Dunedin with their swag, and report-ad to the warden at Tuapeka " that he had found a payable goldfield extending from the head of the Teviot stream, *to the junction of the Clutha and Mamiherikia Rivers." Mr Pykfi's comment is : " However, by his injudicious and questionable- suppression of information in his first communication with Major Croker, Stebbing very properly lost the. reward which otherwise would have . been his." It turned out later that Hartley and Reilly had seen Stebbing's party at wbrk, and so made a bolt for Dunedin in order to be first with the news. • Air Pyke's account of this interview with the discoverers is as follows : — " Hartley was very cool and circumspect, but Reilly was in a very excited state. By way of testing' the accuracy of my notion as to -the locality, I incidentally remarked : ' Th« place where you got that gold was not' far from Lake Wanaka.' Immediately Reilly jumped up and cried' cut: 'Oh, we didn't come here to have our brains sucked. Com« away. Hartley,' and he made for the door. Hartley got up, but hesitated. 'Sit down, Mr Hartley,' said I. ' I have no desire to suck your brains; but Mr Reilly's conduct convinces me that I am right, and if you go out of the room before the agreement fa signed. I will go straight to the -place wheve you got the gold, and you shall never have one penny of the reward.' Hartley sat down again silently; so did Reilly. and the business was quickly coni eluded." • - ■ ' [ In the issue of the paper of August 19 ' there was given a full account by the men of their trip and experiences. From this account Ihe following sentences, graphic in their simplicity, are extracted:— 1 " We started on a prospecting trip about February 1 last, crossing the Molyneux- at Oliver's, and striking it again about 20 miles above Pinkerton'e. We here . obtained sufficient prospects from the banks, of the river to justify U3 in believing that we should find rich diggings higher :up . the stream. . . About 12 or 15 . .miles below the junction of the Manuherikia we first obtained payable prospects. < . . . The rich part of the river is between the Manuherikia and the Upper Clutha Valleys. By ths time we s>rrived here our provisions wore exhausted, nnd our tin dish broken by a fall on the hillside. . . Vfe bought a little flour and borrowed a tin dish, and panned out' 40oz a week. We then went up as far as E&wartu . Satisfied ourselves there was plenty of £old, , .. . and started. for Dunedin to prepare.,, for it .winter. campaign. We returned by way x>f Waikouaiti and the Shag ' Valley.. .We wished to avoid the people. . . . and to - work only the richest spots. For the first month 'or six weeks we were «atfl)fi<^j ifith two or three ounces .a day each, -but jlrfer yre did not wash anything unless 'we thought it would pay about & pound-weight a day. . . . We had nothing to do bufc to set the cradle at the edge of the river

„ -, And keep it going from morning till night. From one crevice we took over 12oz in- a! few hputf-f ] J'lFhd l "men were, they stated, vt^jked by a Victorian miner to the very spot where *"they were getting their richest" yields ' on- one 7 of the* river bars; but so ignorant was he of th© system of working that- they succeeded, by dole/ul statements of disappointment and by saying that thoyiwei*e only just making "tucker,'* in disarming the suspicions of the man, and he teft them without suspecting ths richness <rfi the place. This- justifies Hartley and Jjejlly's statement* that " the* ordinary system, qf. mining by Viotorian -miners is no good.y '} Then they ■ became eloquent in homely language, and declared •" an old womaoi .could scratch gold out with her fingers than all th© ' miners of the province could get elsewhere." THE EFFECT IN DUNEDIN. With : the - circulation ' 6f statements like these, iV may "be imagined ' that the populace Would ' become incrfeasingly excited, mor© especially as the speedy fortunes made in the > Gabriel's Gully 'rush were fresh in their ■ minds. On August '20 the Daily Times rleoord?d: "The' excitement yesterday -waS immense. 'Frc-m ' early morning until dark ' crowds of nien/ equipped with •"*" swags- or* leading packhoraes, were to be seen taking the West -Taierz or Blueskin roads. Many that went away are very ill provide*!', and we cannot too urgently impress 'tipon- those who propose going that there : is a" total absence 'of stores in the neighbourhood, and that; from tke natur© of the country; it will "be some time before any qiiAntfty can be sent there. The prospectors ' came down the 'West Taieri road. . . The- Waikouaiti road will be found the most -available— at least, lor drays — at present' . . A third road by Oamaru and Lindls could bs used." Full paort'eulars were then given as to the distance, th© field being estimated to be 110 miles from Waikouaiti. Already the rush had started in very earnest. So great Was the demand for th© news contained in the issue of the 19th that all could not be Supplied, and "th© editor reprinted in its entirety the news in th© succeeding day's paper. Each day that passed added to the excitement. The journalists of th© Daily Times watched in amazement th© effects of that startling news. On th© 21st they wrote: "The' who!© population . . „ has been in a perfect ferment Yesterday th© streets of Dunedin presented a. scene of continuous activity, and it was evident from th© conversations heard on every side, and th© unwonted bustle prevailing, that th© Hartley diggings were th© subject of th© deepest interest to everybody. Already a large number of people have set but for the jiew Dorado. Th© Samson and Lady Berfcly steamers took above 100 miners yes- - terday.- ." . . Bakers' shops were literally besieged by anxious purchasers of bis J ouits and other' portable goods, and th© tent-makers, saddlers, and, in fact, tradesmen of every branch connected with a digger's outfit, were doing a roaring trade. The various stables and hotels presented a most ■exciting aspect. Her© were pack-horses . there were diggers with countenances of intense excitement rushing to, and fro adjusting their swag or leading • the horses to- th© loading place. As might have been expected, numbers of -men smitten with th© gold fever have left; their -occupations, and wages as a consequence ar© on th© rise." The paper went on to predict that there would ensue from Australia a big rush, and concluded by giving wise hints and directions to prospective miners. In the next issue it was notified that the price of th© paper for the future would ba 6d a single copy, ox 203 per quarter, owing to the excessive rie© in wages necessa.ry to retain th© compositors <rom fleeing to th© goldfields, and also owing to the high cost ot. materials. Su>bEcribers wer© also requested to submit to any trifling irregularity with as good a grace as possible owing to th© rapidly increasing circulation taxing the attention of the staff. . , Then it was found that th© wind was becoming a whirlwind, and the paper emphasised its " go-steady policy '—the line, it had taken all along. Same straight words wee© said, but how unavailingly ! 'We are to think that th© excitement concerning ■ the newly reported Dunstan diggings is' assuming extravagant dimensions. If w© are to believe what w© aT© tjold, men ar© throwing up . lucrative situations and comfortable positions for the sak© of rushing to th© as yet but little known locahtyv Again, 'we ar© assured that at Tuapeka miners ar© mad enough (we can use no other expression)' to abandon claims paying far mor© than ordinary wages in order to venture th© Dunstan field." Th© paper then went on to say : "W© had no option but to publish in plain language th©-parti-culars of th© discovery. Whilst doing so, and giving every information in ' our power, our readers will bear us out that we took particular car© not to 'gild refined gold, paint the lily, or throw perfume on th© violet.' ' We might have indulged in bright ,a,nd glowing comments. . . However, -we abstained from all word painting. In plain words, the people bay© gone mad without the assistance of the press. But th© stream was too, strong to be so easily stemmed. On th© 2{tb, it is written that "the boats that leave Dunedin for Waikouaiti— th© favourite rout© — are orammed to the water's, edge, .and such, we understand, is th© eagerness of the paseesagers that, although they arrive at the township; onlyjate m th© day, they at one© proceed several miles upon their road. At Waikouaiti th© Maori settlement did a thriving trad© by carrying ashore on the spit th©> eager gold -seekers. - Th© stalwart Maori maidens waded into-th© surf, and for the sum of one shilling per head carried th© passengers ashore." Each vessel was estimated •to b© worth £1 . to each Maori engaged fcr the work. Over. 600 -passengers were landed in one day; - A gentleman coming ' towards Waikouaiti -stated th«t_ ho m©t over' 4 1000 diggers on foot, besides numbers of horsemen and -waggons. Th© population of Dunedin was reported as being "sensibly thinned," while Tuapeka diggings had lost 65 per cent, of thefr occupants. • On the 28ih th© first parcels of newly-won gold arrived 'in town, th© weight© being 4}b anS 51b respectively^ On Septfetobex 1 there was received from the diggings an official fepors from 'the Government parfV ' seriV otrf, "eiui 'oh' 'September Vj 23f I #»c ' _3Setrift - -was" 'legally ' proclaimed a'-g'oTdfleta, and Mr-K«ddelf was, on "Odfcoba?"!,' aippointed • ooroimseioner. Mr Kedn^fl, afterwards became Major KedcJtaU, »n<l "w«s~ for long stipendiary magistrate for, Oamaru. Sir Jfeufts' Hector, for th© perpetuation- of whose memory a morement is vfcffr in progress, hid. arrived in th© col<«i, a' few months previously, his

title- them being -Br- Hector, F.G.S., and early m -September ihe was kind enough to contribute to- th© Otogo .Dajly Timies an articde descriptive of tibe geological features of the auriferous country as he had observed them a' little tini© previously in the course of a. hurriied visit. Early in S©ptean>ber, too, there began a series of articles from " Our Special Reporter " d'sscriptiv©. of the fields and th© hardships " ©xp-eiriesiced in reaching them. • The " West Taie'ri rout© was followed' by 'the journalist, and he speaks graphically in the very first article of th© difficulties encountered in pushing his way, eyed on. horseback, over the rough •teae'r. The diggings were now in ful] working order, and wei-e largely occupied before the very heavy rush set in from Australia. (To be continued.)