Before their find was made public they had brought down about £4000 worth of gold to Dunedin, and in reward for making known the source from which they had won this gold they received another £2000 from the Provincial Government of Otago.
What did they do with their wealth?
It is not easy to speak with detailed exactness after this lapse of time, but, at any rate, strange as it may seem, it is certain that neither of them went back to the scene of their success for any length of time.
Hartley took up land in Canterbury, and seems subsequently, like so many of the old miners, to have disappeared from view. Riley became possessed of the idea that the Clutha River could be made navigable up to Clyde, and was so confident of success that he interviewed the Provincial Government and undertook to take a boat up himself. The Government arranged to let him make the attempt, and he brought the boat up as far as the falls below the Beaumont without much difficulty, but there his troubles began.
Certainly, he brought the boat up to Clyde, but it had to be carried for no inconsiderable portion of the journey. Shortly afterwards Riley crossed over to Australia, and there, some years later, he died a poor man.
Reference to the navigation of the Clutha recalls the fact that there was a time in the very early days when provisions were taken 10 or 12 miles down the river from Alexandra, the return journey being made by sail, as there was always a breeze upstream that could be counted upon at nightfall.
• The St Kilda Municipal Band gave one of its popular open-air concerts at the St Kilda rotunda last evening.
In spite of the bleak wind that was blowing, a large crowd assembled to hear the music, and the various items were heartily applauded.
Conductor Smith had gone to considerable trouble to give a popular programme, which included the following: March, "The Howitzer"; waltz, "Fairy Love"; selection, "Minstrel Melodies"; march, "Under the Union Jack" (in which the five trombones were heard to advantage); selection, "Echoes of England"; march, "Duty's Call".
The concert given was the first of a series of 10 arranged by the St Kilda Borough Council, and it is the intention of the band to give a concert each Wednesday evening through the summer months, unless the holidays interfere.
• Motorists using the Riverton road had exciting encounters on the flat approaching the iron bridge . Each car that came along was charged by an excited cow, which singled out motors as fitting objects upon which to vent the fury of its midsummer madness. The dexterity of the chauffeurs retarded the gaining of bovine satisfaction for most of the afternoon, but persistency was a prominent feature in that cow's composition. As one car approached she waited with lowered head in the centre of the road, regardless of the much-tooted motor horn. As the car began to slow down she came at it full tilt. A solid collision resulted. The radiator of the car was twisted badly and one of the lamps was broken. The cow, when extricated, was found to be dead.- ODT, 21.11.1912.
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
