YESTERDAY'S CENTURY

Lake County Mail, Issue 42, 24 March 1948, Page 1

YESTERDAY'S CENTURY

II achievement in industry- production, and culture mean anything, then Otago has been justified in outlaying roughly £IOO,OOO to celebrate its 100 th birthday. It has survived a century of European settlement, and is regarded with esteem as the father of the provinces. It is appropriate, therefore, that we should glance back over the 100 years of which the celebrations are the culminating point, and, in doing so, we find that we would be justified in claiming that in no pari of New Zealand is there a story as interesting as that which Central Otago can boast.

The peace of Central Otago was torn asunder as men rushed to Gabriel's Gully following the discovery of gold there in 1861. Within a month £20,000 worth of gold was taken out by the gold escort. Every gully in the vicinity was found to contain the mineral. The following year, Hartley and Reilly, old Californian diggers, went prospecting up the Molyneux or Clutha between what is now Alexandra and Cromwell. In four months, 70,000 ounces of gold were obtained, and so commenced the Dunstan Rush, in which at least 10,000 men took part. At the same time, three parties of men worked secretly in the gorge of the Arrow River behind the town, and before their discovery became known they had won 3321b of gold. It was estimated that the average return for each of these parties was over £IOO per day. The Arrow Rush was settling down when Thomas Arthur with a mate took 200 ounces from the Shotover- River close to where the Nurse Cavell bridge now stands. In memory of the man whose good fortune made him wealthy the place is now known as Arthur s Point. The whole length of the Shotover and its tributaries, Moonlight and Moke, were found io be rich in gold. Over 3500

miners were estimated to be working the Shotover, Moke, and Arrow Rivers by the end of 1863. Expensive dredging methods superseded shovel and pan as free gold petered out, and the golden age disappeared, just as had the golden age of whale pil. Many prospectors then turned to the land for a living and became industrious citizens who were the foundation in building up the pastoral and agricultural potentialities which the district offered. To-day, Central Otago is a region of lovely orchards producing all kinds of fruits, and because of its warm valleys, attracts thousands of people during the holidays. Many of these orchards have sprung up from what were once waste spaces of land, because they are now serviced with water brought in by ingenious irrigation schemes. With Government support in developing irrigation, thousands of acres of productive land could be utilised, and it is hoped that they will soon see their way clear to undertake such a project. Herein lies the prosperous future of Cromwell. Many towns in Central Otago can boast of having had two or more names, one given by the diggers or settlers and the other by the surveyors. Teviot became Roxburgh. Dunstan became Hartley and finally Clyde. Alexandra yas first the " lower township"

(Lower Dunstan), then The function, then Manuherikia, and, finally, Alexandra. The Junction was also given to Cromwell because of its situation at the junction of the Kawarpu and Clutha Rivers. Arrowtown was known as Fox's. Beautiful lakes, great forests and rugged mountain beauty place Central Otago second to none in the world for scenry. Its potentialities for deevloping the tourist industry are unlimited. Central Otago can look back with pride on its achievement. The people of Otago can begin their second hundred years full of hope and confidence and on sound foundations.