Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/509

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 4H3 Mr. David Moody THE pretty South Australian town of Ka[)uncla possesses a hy no means uninteresting history. Upon the surrounding district, some haU" a centLiry ago, depended the immediate prosperity— almost success — of the whole Province. L'ntil the arrival of the late Captain Grey (afterwards Sir George Grey), who brought the community out of the teeth of insoKency. little developmental work had been done, and there were few realisable assets, (jovernor (jrey sought to drive the population out of Adelaide into the rural districts. He succeeded ; but their struggles in endeavoring to cultivate the wilderness were often disheartening. New hope arc^se, however, when it was announced, in the by-gone day, that copper had been dis- covered at Kapunda. Cieneral attention was at once directed to that district, and then, for two or three years, anxiety as to the value of the deposit was keen. The Kapunda Copper Mines were ecjual to the occasion, and they practically inaugurated a prosperous era in South Australia. They drew population and capital to the Province, whose history accordinelv at once took a brighter tc^ne. Although the high prosperity of these copper mines did not last more than 25 years (authorities maintain that they are not half worked out, if only the inflow of water could be coped with), they fulfilled a most important purpose. Kapunda became a pretentious country centre, and that position it has since retained because of the wealth of the surrounding land resources. At one time the District of Light raised one-third of the entire wheat supply of the I'rovince. The subsequent career of the town has been quiet, but not unprosperous. The district has produced some useful legislators, and, among the number. Sir Jenkin Coles and Mr. David Moody are not the least. The latter has served the district for over 40 years. He was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in November, 1834, Hammer & Co., Photo