1918 was the glass bottle!!!
Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14663, 18 March 1918, page 3
"The statue of John Robert Godley, which, for 50 years stood, in the centre of Cathedral Square, Christchurch, has been placed in position in its new site on the northern grass plot of the Cathedral grounds. There was a small gathering to witness the ceremony of cementing the statue on its base. Before the statue was lowered into its bed of cement, a bottle was inserted in a small hollow under the statue. The bottle contained a parchment bearing the following statement in Indian ink —"This statue of John Robert Godley, executed by Thomas Woolner, R.A., was erected in the west side of Cathedral Square by the Provincial Government of Canterbury, and unveiled by the late Sir Charles Christopher Bowen, K.C.M.G., on August 6, 1867. It was moved to this site in March, 1918." The statement was signed by the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch, the (Mr H. Holland); the Town Clerk, and the City Surveyor."