Christmas approaching............

Christmas is approaching, and Cassilis Recreation Reserve has found itself with a little extra cheer.

The idea of Christmas is everywhere, and the spirit of Christmas will follow, but not last as long as one might hope.

In autumn, the colours of Christmas will be displayed in the leaves, but for now it will have to shown with tinsel on this tree.

Welcome

What is History - Really?

This place and what it suggests, is history even as each word hits the screen.

Suggesting, as some have, that history is an accurate, objective recording of events in the distant or very recent past is credible only, when there is an event which has a time and date recorded against it. Or heaven forbid, when someone erects a statue.

In reality compiling such a record impossible of course and in most cases it's not even attempted, and neither is it attempted here. Who would put themselves through the mill of gathering information and trying to get it right from every eye that saw it, ear that heard it, whispers that inferred it and every point of view built from what could only possibly be a personal interpretation?

Voltaire was right in this attributed to him: “Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.” ....Voltaire

There are many concepts of history, and each who have information declare and argue they are correct. Much like religion, there is only one religion and yet there are many who propose theirs is the one, even though different from the others. History is tales of the past of even recorded events that are interpreted and told differently by each individual. We are fortunate to be so blessed.

Various versions of events even from their own lives from observers with photographs, means that there is nothing that can be cast in iron and set in stone. Different angles and interpretation of major events and general occurrences are the norm and the meat of those who would like to know more. So what of accuracy one might ask? There is a saying attributed to Erich Fromm: “The quest for certainty blocks the quest for meaning.” The quest for objective accuracy is for the court of law, in life it may be a hindrance and an opportunity lost for interesting speculation and extrapolation.

However, a general idea which is the only possible result and usually achievable and adequate for us to fill any gaps with imagination. Accurate history is an assortment of stories about the same thing from different people. Each story/experience biased in some way by the teller of the tale, even about what many call “important” events.

Milestone events do exist. The miles themselves are the stories of everyday life from people, and the stones are how an event was seen or experienced by them and their telling, and of course what audience feedback is forthcoming. Milestones like fame and notoriety are manufactured by people who find other things more interesting than those of their own lives. Not everyone remembers the moon landing or the rise of communism. These markers are created by the interested prejudiced audience.

As we know, if more than one person sees an event being played out, each will see something different, tell the tale with a different slant and be amazed when hearing others tell of the same event and discover how different it was from their own experience or wonder how they missed something another noted. Then above and beyond all that, there is the interpretation of events and what was seen, as well as the passing of time and the way memory erodes or embellishes and highlights what has been observed or felt, changed by that factor alone.

Quoting The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906) of Ambrose Beirce:

HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.

Possibly the above is all that needs to be said about history, about life within and outside our own milieu upon which each individual places a certain importance. There are many who say Australia was built by the mining and agricultural industry. Exporting what others wanted and bringing in monetary wealth into the country. It is also good to consider how Australia would have been built had it been settled by people who were not so obsessed with monetary wealth and were more caring of their environment? Much like our first nation people.

However, the time has slipped away to make history like that.

Timeline Mining Cassilis Author: Keith Streames - 74/02291/T - 1979

1890 Robert Howard discovered a reef of gold.

Within the Schistose sedimentary rock of extremely complex sulphides seven major reefs of gold were found. A 400 foot reef found in Cassilis was the most extensive and in that day and age an easy, uncomplicated extraction of the gold was not available from the heavy mineralised ore.

1894 The discovery of gold instigated the installation of a 5 head stamp battery and chlorination plant Installation of a 5—head stamp battery and chlorination plant. Main shaft at 174!

1895 Plant closed due to installation of larger chlorination plant.

1896 Perplexities of Cassilis ores could not be overcome and mine was closed.

1897 Formation of Cassilis Gold Mining Company. Worked on Homeward Bound lease. Intensive exploration work undertaken. Chlorination plant improved.

1898 Takeover of Cassilis North Mining Company, Shamrock and Sons of Freedom leases. Sons of Freedom thought to be poor producer but after takeover proved the richest reef in Cassilis.

1899 Obtaining 1000 oz./350 tons of ore. Halley table and Berdan pan increased values of extractable concentrates.

1900 Mt. Hepburn company closed. Cassilis Gold Mining Company purchased 20—head stamper battery.

Completion of gravity tram line.

Jacques rock breaker purchased l9 cwt/ton from crusher and 8 cwt/ton from chlorination. Furnace proving incapable of handling ore quantity.

1902/03 Enlarged and improved equipment slowly introduced. Mine closed, shortage of water and backlog of residues waiting to be treated by furnace. New compressor installed. Negotiations to buy Brave George Battery and secure water rights of Swifts Creek.

Dam built in Powers Gully with 800,000 gal. capacity.

Foundry furnace converted to oil fired. Inclusion of cyanide plant.

200 men employed directly by Cassilis Gold Mining Company and 100 more indirectly in the town.

1903 Wood shortages - boilers required 9 cords of wood/day for continuous operation cord = (l28 cubic Feet) or a stack - 5' x 5' x 5'.

Plant was under powered due to inferior wood being burnt. Estimated that only 2 years supply of wood was in sight.

1905 Company purchased Consols mine. Fuel was conserved by installation of 20 h.p. fuel engine. Hydro electric scheme suggested to operate from Victoria River. Scheme planned and given go—ahead.

Increase capacity boiler purchased.

5 week output — 1075 tons of ore extracted for 1,214 ozs. of gold (selling at £4/oz.) 916 ozs. from battery 114 ozs. cyanide plant 184 ozs. concentrates.

Hydro electric scheme, based on dynamo at Victoria Falls driven by water turbine. Water was brought 3.5 miles around a hill then down pipe way for over 300' to the power station . Power produced was transmitted 15 miles to battery site in Powers Gully.

1907 Final change to electrical power completed in 1909. Plant was reckoned to be the most modern and efficient in Victoria.

1909 150 men employed in mine and 50 in battery. Tonnage of stone mined began to decline. New electric motors replaced all engines.

1910 Chlorination plant abolished — wet slimes plant installed. Very dry season.

Mine closed for 6 months due to water shortages. Mass exodus of miners from Cassilis and Tongio West began.

July 1910 57 men employed at mine. Slimes plant a failure due to ore material being contaminated with arsenic dust.

1912 6 miners employed.

1913 Mine closed again due to water shortage. Grandiose schemes mooted but nothing attempted due to lack of water in Victoria River.

1914 Tunnel from Cassilis mine pushed through to Ceresa. Outbreak of war - loss of men due to enlistments.

1915 30 men employed to build dam above generating station to circumvent the recurring water shortage problem. Ore extracted from mine reduced by 50%. Main shaft to be sunk another 400'.

1916 Heavy rain washed out dam. Mine ceased production August 1916.

The Cassilis Gold Mining Company produced 3½ tons of gold from 1898 until it closed in 1916. However, the huge recurring costs of machinery, coupled with errors in management and the fickle weather sapped her profitability.

The difficult nature of the Cassilis ores were not initially understood, making drastic changes in plant necessary as knowledge of them increased.

A total of 93,572 ozs. of gold was returned from the Cassilis mine, making it the highest gold producer on the Omeo goldfields.

Mount Hepburn — King Cassilis Mine

1888 Work commenced and ore was crushed at Brave George Battery. Values proved to be low but lode was largest in area.

1893 Installation of Otis_crusher (a ball mill) and completion of tramways from mine to mill. 6 months produced 1000 tons of ore.

Efficiency of crusher was low — 58%. No ancillary appliances were used with crusher, though separators or vanners could have increased gold recovered to 80%.

1894 Throughput of 140 tons of ore/week. 6000 tons of ore had been treated.

1897 Otis mill discarded as being not suitable for the complex Cassilis ores.

1896 Australian Gold Recovery Company installed cyanide plant. 60 men employed at mine.

1897 20-head stamp battery installed though poor results obtained.

1898 Mining ceased - 30 men laid off.

1900 Mining company wound up. King Cassilis founded to work Mt. Hepburn leases.

1902 New plant installed, Krupp dry crusher, new furnaces and rock breaker.

1905 28-men employed but mine closed due to shortage of capital.

1907 Company wound up.

Lost Things, Yet to be Found...

The Cassilis cemetery is a special place for many. It is also in flux. Possibly visited more by people who had loved ones and acquaintances buried in that ground when Cassilis was thriving because gold was being ripped from the ground in any way possible. Processed to make money for individuals that sat in fancy restaurants and boardrooms all over Australia. The trustees have working bees to keep it reasonably maintained while they also try to go about their own lives and attempt to discover more about the people who lived in the area during those days on enterprise, which destroyed much of the landscape.

The people who buried family and friends in the cemetery were not people who lived in the Cassilis region because it was a great place to be, or marvellous for their children. It was because they were trying to make money, and as much money as they could while the gold was coming out of the earth. Once the gold ran out, so did the people, leaving much of what they had built. Also what they destroyed and buried.

So how terrible was the destruction of the cemetery once the people had left, really. It appears to be sacrilegious, and yet, it was just ground where people had left the remains of people who died in varying circumstances. There were gravestones that told a very short story, pardon the pun, the bare bones about a life. These physical markers for people to visit on occasion and remember, for a little while, the person who could no longer be touched in any other way.

Today, in this day and age, the cemetery is a point of interest to try to get a grasp on what life was like in the area known, in this instance, as Cassilis, a mining area. Much has been lost with the theft and/or destruction of the grave stones and any surrounds that have gone missing. This is to be lamented and is like burning the only copy of a book that few people have read, and even fewer alive who remember, even parts of it.

This is also the reason that the Cassilis Cemetery Trustees attempt to learn more and maintain what is left of the site. Truly it is just ground, it is the cover of the book, enticing the reader who, upon opening it, finds it mostly devoid of any material, turning enticement to a tease. There is information still around. However, it's in the wind in the main, ephemeral, or lost or soon lost if not collected, blown away and scattered widely. Spread into far reaches where it may have been caught up in corners and means nothing on it's own, just a thread separated from the tapestry in which it belongs and completes.

It becomes a challenge for any who wonders why information was lost? In the case of the burial records of Cassilis cemetery, in a fire. Henry David Thoreau asks, “how important is something that can be forgotten?” We ask ourselves, how important is something, not protected and so easily destroyed?

Natures Helpers..........

Something which most visitors to the Cassilis recreation reserve and cemetery are unaware, is the grass during the autumn, winter and early spring period, is usually kept in check and nicely trimmed by the many kangaroos who feed on it and live in the forested areas round about. This is the way nature works and we who manage the reserve and cemetery, are pleased they do so. It means not having to use blades, and fuel to drive them to cut the grass. Something that's never as good for the grass as the natural way of the kangaroo.

The grass itself is fuel, for kangaroos and other wildlife that frequent these two public places. An added bonus is that the animals who feed on the grass also fertilise it and over the years it has grown richer and more dense.

Conversely, the feral grazers and browsers also feed on the grass and would feed on the larger trees if they weren't protected. However, they to fertilise the ground. They do not want anything without some payment made either. We are learning to live with these, as we must, because they are now naturalised wildlife. They have been introduced into the country the same as the white settlers, convicts and their keepers before them, and like these they are now part of our landscape.

During the late spring and summer months, the wildlife are generally unable to keep the grass of these public areas neatly trimmed, so we have to assist with a mower. However, the wildlife save us a considerable amount of money all year round, and assist by keeping the grass trimmed and in good health.

Cemetery Comfort

The DELWP workers putting in place some comfort for visitors to the Cassilis cemetery.

The picnic table in this position to take advantage of shade and shelter.

In the shade of the beautiful Algerian Oak that has been providing a cooling influence over the Cassilis Cemetery, in the hottest of summer days, for a considerable time.

It may be fanciful. However this tree has been here for so many years, who would gainsay that it was not brought back with a returned soldier from a conflict of which he was a part?

A little fantasy can be entertaining and might be very close to the truth. One assumes these trees in the Cassilis cemetery were deliberately planted, as there are no other like them in the area.

There is an Algerian oak in the gardens of Parliament House in Melbourne:

http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/5241/download-report

[quote]
In February 1890, an Algerian Oak (Quercus canariensis) was planted in Melbourne's Parliament House gardens, by the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes. The planting commemorated the Australasian Federal Convention, which was then underway in Parliament House. The convention was a breakthrough in the move towards federation, in that the colonies actually agreed to federate and to hold a national convention to consider drafting a constitution. The tree is now known as the Federal Oak.

Henry Parkes is an important and colourful figure in Australian political history. He initiated numerous reforms during his time in politics in New South Wales parliament, and from 1889 was a key figure in the federation movement. He is popularly regarded as one of the 'Fathers of Federation'.

Heritage Victoria is currently undertaking a national survey of heritage places associated with federation. The Federal Oak is just one of many places that have already been identified and included in a database of federation places.
[end quote]

The Cassilis cemetery oak does not have a trunk as thick as the one mentioned above, but if it was from an acorn carried in the pocket of a soldier interested in trees or flora in general and grown to size that could be planted here. it would be about the right age.

Regardless of where the trees came from, and what far sighted individual saw how they might be appreciated by future generations. There is now a place to sit and contemplate whatever takes the fancy of the visitor.

Preparing for more visitors.

With the assistance of grant money from the Department of Social Services, Community Grants Hub which paid for the materials. The DELWP staff constructed two picnic tables with benches attached and are installing them on site.

This is government and community working together. A synergistic cooperation that benefits all community members and visitors to the area alike.

Attracting people of all ages to participate in the enjoyment of the outdoors. The Cassilis recreation reserve benefits the community and it's visitors through open air experience of the natural world environment and flora and fauna discovery.

There is much for which to be thankful.

The Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee of Management has a good relationship with the Swifts Creek DELWP.

The committee hopes that when the baits for foxes and feral dogs are dropped. The DELWP are mindful of the fact that many local people as well as visitors take their companion dogs to the Recreation Reserve for a run and play.

People have asked about the baiting of animals, and if it is distant from the reserve, and it is not certain, but should be, that the baits are not a danger to companion animals that accompany their owners to the Cassilis reserve area.

Next Task...

These small apple trees at the recreation reserve already produced apples. They were being pillaged, probably by possums, and the committee of management always knew they would have to be protected not only from the possums but birds as well. So tree guards and netting frames will need to be developed. The latter to make it easy to slide the net over the fruit trees as the fruit is ripening.

The netting should have been done earlier and more fruit would have been served, but there is always something else that needs doing. But we have a chance to see some of these apples ripen, as they are vegetative material taken from sports that grew in the Omeo area [Dwarf Apple Wild Granny] the have a connection to the place. It will also be interesting to see how they develop.