Peeps into the Past 19 to 25 March 2023
Presented by Mildura & District Historical Society
Compiled by Judi Hyde for Mildura Rural City Council Libraries
100 years ago:
NOTICE: The Old Culverts and Bridges two-year war was ended with the burial of the hatchet between the First Mildura Irrigation Trust and the Mildura Shire Council. The Merbein ratepayers did not realise the position in which they had been placed as a result of the decision of the Shire Council to pay all the cost of their own culverts construction and upkeep through the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission as well as half of the other fellow’s culvert. All will be discussed at a public meeting.
ITEMS: The new “Star” Picture theatre in Eighth Street opened with a flourish of trumpets and an enthralling programme. The public will find themselves in luxury when they visit, with the wonderful lighting and modern projection and comfortable seating. The music will be by special arrangement with Melbourne libraries. The orchestra of four players will give a different programme each week from overtures, selections and suites from favourite operas and revues. “Blood and Sand” featuring Rudolph Valentino, Lyla Lee and Nita Naldi will be screened.
HONOR: A new money extractor is at work. Sylvia’s committee has planted in Deakin Avenue, at Eighth Street, a rather imposing board with two flag poles carrying “amber and jet pennants”. This board gives citizens an opportunity of amiably insulting their best friends and incidentally raising a little money for Sylvia’s Hospital Appeal. On the board are the words “Sylvia says _____ is the meanest man in Sunraysia. Signed on behalf of Sylvia by _______”. The first gentleman honoured was Mr MJ Kelly, president of the Grand Carnival committee.
75 years ago:
AT HOME: Lack of a few bags of cement is preventing a dairyman, Mr J Hunt, Merbein, from adding gallons of milk each week to Sunraysia’s desperately short supply as he needs the cement to build a dairy. He is forced to separate his milk at a loss of about 1/- a gallon. Mr W Scheunemann, Wentworth, is unable to complete his factory to produce mallee-wood smokers’ pipes and souvenirs due a lack of concrete. No. 24 District Board of the RSL decided to request the chairman of the Soldier Settlement Commission to visit and inspect suitable land with a view to the settlement of ex-servicemen in the dairying industry to meet the district’s requirements. It includes land adjacent to Merbein and Lake Cullulleraine and upstream from Red Cliffs. Mr B Collins is shown feeding gum leaves to Tarzan, a young opossum which now resides 36ft up in the “A” piece on Mr Anderson’s barge. Tarzan is fed a breakfast of leaves and bread crusts.
PEOPLE: A man and his wife picked a record 1001 dip tins of grapes in a day while another man from Ballarat has picked 511, 507 and 506 dip tins of grapes on Mr Henderson’s block, all 7.5-hour days. On Sunday 292 cases of fruit left Red Cliffs by goods train. Mr N York is pictured pitching tents near Chaffey’s Bend for the North-Western District Methodist Easter Camp. The 1947 George and WB Chaffey Scholarship was won by Miss Judith Beatrice Lyall, formerly a student at Mildura High School, now at the University of Melbourne. Messrs E Warburton, L Marshman and A Bath are shown constructing a supper room at the Coomealla Hall. Messrs L Gebhart and C Fievill are shown at work on the first house to be built by the First Mildura Co-op Housing Society in Deakin Avenue.
CARS: The Prices commissioner announced the issue of a new order to strengthen controls over the sale of secondhand cars to check black marketeers. British administrators of Stra Reman – the biggest oil company in Russia – have been told to come home at once. The company is in a state of forcible dissolution. A new plant under construction at Dragenham, England, to raise the production rate of a tractor every 3.5 minutes to one every two minutes will assist the Ford Company to meet demands in England and overseas. There are two types of diesel injection systems in common use: the common rail system and the direct injection or pump system.
50 years ago:
VEHICLES: Two of the largest transport companies in Sunraysia, McGlashans and Riverland, will combine operations on April 1. General Motors Holden will release a luxury four-door version of its top-selling Monaro GTS coupe on March 29 in addition to the already-wide HQ Holden range. It will have contrasting colours on its bonnet and boot lid.
ITEMS: A large gumtree branch fell onto the road in front of Mrs Gillespie’s house, Walnut Avenue, after she had made several complaints to Council to lop it. She said someone could have been killed. Pictured and named are nine of the 17 ladies employed as housekeepers by the Mildura City Council for its Home Help service. Assistance is also offered to the aged, expectant and nursing mothers, and incapacitated for post-operative debility or sickness. A Mildura apprentice jeweller Ian Hammerton won three award as top of the state as a second-year apprentice.
HARVEST: Mr B Cox solved the problem of where to find a suitable harvester for handling his crop as many who summer-pruned their crops. He used an old almond cracking machine, removing the hopper and most of the overhead equipment to winnow the fruit, leaving only the top-quality rubbish-free fruit. The only thing that hasn’t struck people up here in talking about the shortage of pickers is the lousy wages they are paid. Only pickers born under the vines can make a decent pay. The average wage is $100 a week yet pickers are expected to be content with less than $50. Growers may have a right to labour but not to slave labour.
25 years ago:
PEOPLE: Two antique trucks, a 1938 Dodge and a 1946 International, once used for carting wood for 25 years in the district were handed over by their owner, Mr Reg Green, to Messrs Don and Steven Bloomfield to be restored. Mildura Base Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, which commenced in 1950, is to have a “Hat and Gloves” night. Their first president was Florence Phayer and the first fundraiser was a cake stall in the foyer of the Ozone Theatre. A wedding in the Casa Loma Ballroom of the Wintersun Hotel was also catered for at a cost of 7 shillings and 6 pence per head. A profit of 28 pounds, 19 shillings and 6 pence was made.
GARDENING: When Sandra Telfer saw the film “The Secret Garden” as a child, the effect of the transformation from black and white to technicolor when the Garden Wall was opened created a lasting image in her mind. This week the Garden Wall celebrates its 10th anniversary and the progress from its beginnings to see the nursery now is stunning. Her secret garden is now a reality.
NEWS: Car parking spaces, pedestrians crossing at roundabouts and one-hour parking restrictions have emerged as the three major concerns in a survey of the Mildura Central Business District carried out by Sunraysia Daily; 128 people were interviewed. The Mildura tip, which has operated since the 1970s with a life expectancy of 15 years, could be forced to close before it reaches full capacity due to the development and the establishment of a new hospital nearby.
