Bottled Mysteries

During the February 22 earthquake which struck Christchurch, the bronze statue of the city founder, John Robert Godley toppled to the ground. The discovery under Godley’s plinth of two time capsules, one made of glass and the other of metal, has brought an uplifting distraction. Mayor Bob Parker said the capsules would be placed in the care of the local museum, which has survived the quake, so their contents could be carefully removed and preserved. There were two opportunities for the capsules to have been placed under the plinth, the earliest time being when the statue was first erected in 1867, the second when it was moved in 1918 to make way for a tram shelter and toilets. The statue was then returned to its original site in 1933. Museum director Anthony Wright said paper could be seen in the half-smashed glass bottle and the first task would be to preserve it. “The time capsule smells a bit like blue cheese and we can make out two words — ‘by’ and ‘erected’,” Wright said.