POHUTU GEYSER ACTIVE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19137, 5 October 1936, Page 4

POHUTU GEYSER ACTIVE

During September Pohutu geyser in the Government reserve at Whakarewarewa, established something of a record by playing on 135 occasions. Records which have been kept over a period of years indicate that the geyser was more active during "the past month than it has been for a considerable time. The geyser played on 20 days, its longest sustained display being four hours and a-half. The other smaller geysers in the reserve also have been particularly active.

Reporting the robbery to settlers some miles away, she had the satisfaction hearing later that the police, with the' aid of .black trackers, had located the bushrangers at some distance from the point at which the pack-line had been held up, and that their booty had been recovered from the place selected for its burial by the robbers. Bushrangers were frequently heard of in the district, but though they were of a, type whicn regarded life cheaply, they were not as much feared as the blacks, who were an ever-present danger. Settlers who did not molest the bushrangers, and who treated them as inevitable visitants, usually got off lightly enough, but the vengeance taken on those who betrayed the whereabouts of a wanted gang, without actually securing their arrest, was terrible. GOLD-RUSH HISTORY The gold rushes contributed a colourful chapter to Australia's vivid history, and Mrs. Sutton remembered many incidents connected with the gold industry. One of the shareholders in the WalhaJJa mine was an elderly man named Pearson, who packed in goods to the field, and who regularly used a paddock placed at his disposal by Mrs. Sutton's father, for the grazing of his 1 horses overnight. Mr. Pearson received regular calls on his shares, and on one occasion had almost decided to throw in his holding. However, he drew straws to decide the matter, apd then went back and sold his pack-horses to meet the latest call. That was the step which led him to fortune, for soon after the mine boomed, and in later years he enjoyed an income of £30,000 a year from his holding. There were many similar stories to be heard during the days of the mining boom, and they stimulated the anxiety of every newcomer to try liis hand on the fields. Mrs. Sutton's husband was one of those bitten by the gold fever, and he left a job in one of the ports to try his fortune. Ho was in the rush to the Rallarat field, and participated in the Eureka Stockade fight with the miners who were opposed to the Government's policy. Mr. Sutton died in 1905, at the age of 74, and following this loss Mrs. Sutton came to New Zealand to settle with her sons in Gisborne.

A woman of deeply religious feeling, the late Mrs. Sutton had never entered a dance-hall or a picture theatre, and felt strongly on many social questions of the day. She retained the full command of her faculties until the final stages of her illness, and enjoyed the deep respect and affection of all who knew her well. She is survived by five sons, Mr. William Sutton, Wellington, Mr. Henry Sutton, Australia, Messrs. George, Jack and Allan Sutton, of Gisborne. Much sympathy will be extended to the bereaved family. The funeral will take place to-morrow afternoon at Taruheru cemetery.