Gold at Bendigo.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 October 1922, Page 4

Gold at Bendigo.

SEVENTY YEARS’ PRODUCTION

OVER GOO TONS OF GOLD

To commemorate the discovery ol gold in Bendigo in October, 1851, an obelisk lias been erected at a spot known as The ltocks. Bendigo’s gold production lias won for it a place amongst the'greatest goldhelds ot the world, declares the -Melbourne "Age, and the finest monument to the pioneers is the city itself and its magnificent contribution to the countij s wealth. Seventy-one years ago, the area on which the city is now built was a sheep run with no special eliaiactcristics to distinguish it from ‘he vast fertile reaches m the noitti ri P! Towa, t ds C tt^TcAd of 1851, gold was found in a locality called by Nation bands "The Rocks,” a spot about 200 yards to the west, of the junction of Golden Gully with the B.endigo Creck at Golden Square. Two shepherds ad stopped to spell their horses, "lule sitting chatting on the hank of a water hole their attention was attracted something glistening amongst the roots of a large tussock of grass which flood waters had laid hare. kjiuhnig the dirt into a hat, they washed it, and obtained about an ounce of gold This, as far as the records shew, marked the birth of the Bendigo Goldfield. Xews of the “find” quickly leached Forest Creek, where gold prospecting was going on/and there was a rush ot diggers to Bendigo. The fust batch o prospectors was unsuccessful arid most of them left the district. A few remained, and were soon rewarded for their perseverance fi.v the discovery <> a large pocket of gold. There followed what may be aptly termed stirring times, which have left their impress the history of the district. The gold fever spread torrent-like tar and wide, and the erstwhile peaceful bush was transformed into a scene of intense industry—a mass of eager, vigorous tortune hunters vicing f,or the Possession <-f the precious metal. Ihe populatior of the district fastlv multiplied, and a colony of sturdy pioneers sprang up; men 'full of energy, possessed with a spirit of enterprise and a determin.tion that withstood the hardships and difficulties incident to life in the goldflcld in those adventurous days, boon there were unmistakable evidences of prosperity —the rewards of industry me ' hindino- together the foundations of the .mlden°cit V of the south. Tnc population of the district grew by leaps and hounds, and, as a result, Melbourne and Geelong were, almost deserted by their male populations The yield from the Bendigo field m ISol is officially stated to have been SOO.OOOo/.. Enormously rich finds 'continued to he unearthed. Gold was dug up almost m bucketfuls on the Bendigo Hat, while the area known as Ironbark proved so rich that many holes in the gully wore aopropriately called “jewellers’ shops Fortunes were lreing rapidly won by prospetoers all along the route lrom Bendigo to Eaglehawk, Sailors’ Gully, ami other loalities in the vicinity. With hum and hustle everywhere, nature was soon robbed of her charms. Peaceful, pieturesqueiiess gave place to poppet heads and towering chimney stacks ; the languid stillness to tnc eontimiai thud of thousands of stampers as the battery and other machinery superseded the more primitive methods of treating the stone. By IPo.l the area being worked had increased enormously. Reports of the fabulous wealth awaiting the prospector spread overseas, and hundreds of immigrants were attracted from the Old Country. It was estimated that, in this year, there were 100,000 diggers on the Benand stirpnnding goldfields. ,tl! the increasing demand for better transport facilities to and from the field, Cobh and Go’s coach service was instituted, and memories of exciting incidents’ associated with the carriage of geld to Melbourne owing to the. operations of bushrangers, still live in the minds of surviving pioneers. Tn Bus war the Bendigo Hospital was founded. and the first newspaper published: Gradually the canvas town was replaced

I,V buildings of a more. proton turns miturc. A census taken in in 135! shou'•d the population of the town to he 15 000. From then onward there were growing signs of the pooulntmn sealing down and tho goldfield assuming permanency. Some magnificent nuggets were iouud in the alluvium ill shallow gullies near the Bendigo Creek. One of those was found encrusted with quartz, al \\ lute Horse Gullv. It weighed 5730 z, ami was valued at 02100. In the same gully the Victorian nugget was discovered, ft was bought bv the colonial Legislature for 01050, or (M 17s per oz, and was presented to the late Queen V ittc.ria. A third nugget from the same locality turned the scales at .JJhoz 1 7dwt! Another rich spot was Robinson' Crusoe Gully. Here a nugget weighing 3770 z (idwt was unearthed in an old pillar of earth in a deserted claim. The Dnscmnbe nugget, which

was bright and free from quartz, was found In White Horse Gully in the ('ravel about a foot from the surface, its weight was 300 oz lodwt, and it was sold in Lo'ndon for £ISOO. From the time gold was discovered in Bendigo in 1851 till the end of last year the field had produced 20,403,3670* of gold, which, at an average value of £4 per oz, represents £81,613,468. Dividends disbursed by public companies during that period totalled C 10,582,052. and calls for the same period amounted to £0,848,587, leaving the profit won £3,733,465. In the first ten vears of the field’s history 4,519,5 |3oz of gold was won, the principal contribution being in 1853, when the production reached 661,7-l9oz. A temporary decline in yields took place from 1801 to 1865, but ill 1872 the field was again credited with the magnificent record of 346,9920 z. Another particularly rich period was from 1882 to 1885, hut" a falling-off again occurred till 1903, when, for 4 years, over 200,000uz was won annually. It was not until 1910 that the yield, owing to various causes, principally arising out of the war, dropped below the six-figure mark, and the depression that has followed is common throughout Australia. The industry has lapsed into a precarious position, and various efforts are now being made to revive it. Confident hopes are entertained that the prosperity of the Bendigo field will be restored, at any rate to a substantial degree, and that Bendigo will assist materially in resuscitating the industry ■which lias been an important factor in the development and progress of Australia.