100 YEARS AGO:
CROP: Steele Blayde made a trip through the Birdwoodton and Merbein West soldier settlement in order to make notes that might cheer the Diggers at Red Cliffs. He found the Birdwood Co-operative shed full of what would be classed as good, normal fruit. One settler had taken a dry weight of nearly 1½ ton from an acre of sultanas in their first year – another well-known settler had taken an enormous crop from his sultanas – the heavy fruit running 12 sweats to the ton. At Merbein West, two years after being badly hit by downy mildew, the digger-owner took from four acres of currants in their third year of bearing 8-tons 12 cwt dry weight this season and 4,400 buckets of fresh fruit – 68 vines giving 191 buckets – the fruit went 500 buckets to the ton.
SCHOOL: The public Curlwaa School was opened on November 18, 1917. Classes prior to its opening were held in the Curlwaa Hall prior to numerous times when efforts had been made for school facilities for the children who had been forced to go to Wentworth. Conveyance for them would start at an early hour and pick up along the way then the reverse trip at night – in wet weather, delays were frequent owing to the state of the roads. The 2-rooms each 21ft, 6-in square, school building is of Murray Pine, seating accommodation for 100 pupils – a wide verandah on the North and South sides with plenty of window space helps to temper the Summer heat 116 being the highest recorded on February 23, 1923. The contractor was Mr W Woods, Wentworth – competition done by Mr S Burton. Mr W Marks opened the school in the Hall. Attendance was 61 pupils. Photos show a class in Fancy Dress and pupils on parade in front of the school.
LOCALS: One of the old residents of Mildura, Mr S J H Sherring, is taking a well-earned holiday to England – later this week he will catch the next Orient boat for the Old Country.
MISHAP: A Torrita farmer, Mr J Firth, was in the act of feeding some loose straw into a chaff cutter when his hand slipped and his arm was drawn into the knives. He was hurriedly placed in a vehicle and Dr Barratt was phoned and met them on the road, the patient was placed in Dr Barratt’s car and taken to Dr Thorne’s Private Hospital and operated on.
BLAST: Mr H Paulson was carrying dynamite caps in a kerosene tin for blowing up the ground for post-holes when an explosion was heard. He was taken to “Denvae” Nurse Scott’s private hospital. He is making progress.
WEDDING: Mr S Shilliday left for Melbourne on Friday’s train to be married to Miss Elma Cameron.
75 YEARS AGO
PEOPLE: A list of 157 appointments and recommended promotions – the longest in the history of Victorian Police Department was announced in the Police Gazette – 7 Superintendents, 13 Inspectors and 14 Sub-inspectors – the increase in Superintendents from 12 to 19 was when the State was divided into more police districts.
STUNT: At the Red Cliffs thrilling rodeo, 9700 people saw an exhibition of whip-cracking by Ron Anderson when he cracked a cigarette out of Smokey Dawson Jr’s mouth.
PLEA: Mr W Fenton, Acton, London, wrote to Sunraysia Daily in an appeal as a last resort as he has tried to emigrate to Australia for months but has been unsuccessful because he must have accommodation and employment before he can re-apply so with no relatives he hopes he can be put in touch with a local to assist him – he has a wife and two children and their passage is covered.
NEWS: The Government hopes it will be possible to put into effect a mass migration programme to transfer eventually some millions of people from Britain to this country. In 160 years’ our population has increased from the 1000, who came on the First Fleet in 1788 to approximately 7,500,000.
HOMELESS: Because of lack of accommodation in Sunraysia, at least 300 casual workers must leave the district – there are still between 300 to 400 harvest laborers’ here.
GRAPES: Tipping the scales at 6 ¾lb, a 16-inch long bunch of sultanas is shown from Mr G Dawson’s, Sunnycliffs block.
MACHINERY: Doing the work of 120 men, the Shire Council 70 horsepower angle-dozer is ripping shown ripping out vines on an old Deakin Ave block to provide more playing ground at Mildura High School.
MEDICAL: At the first professional examination held under the Nurses’ Board, Mildura Base Hospital, Florence Bastow, Elva Boehm, Margaret Bollenhagen, Florence Bunion, Margaret Hatcher, Janet Joy, Rita Morriss, Claire Parker, Eileen Petersen, Pauline Piggott, Irene Prott, Elizabeth Sheridan, Joan Sheriff and Mavis Smith graduated.
TB TESTS: About 2000 consent forms will be sent to parents in connection with the preliminary testing of children to ascertain if they need to be included in the mass X-Ray examinations to detect Tuberculosis. About 4000 consent forms have been distributed to schools and centres in connection with the Shire Council’s campaign to eliminate Tuberculosis.
BABY BOOM: Attendances of babies and children up to six years of age at Mildura Baby Health Centre for the past year was 6600, an increase of 801 on the previous year.
50 YEARS AGO
ITEMS: An interstate transport driver was robbed of money, transistor radio and electric razor after he pulled into a parking bay to take a break, 40 miles from Balranald, on the Sturt Highway. The two men and a woman walked over for a chat and then said, “hand over your money or else”, took his South Australian Driver’s Licence, then drove off in a white Cortina towards Balranald.
BAND: A four-man Silver Band which serenades departing ships and liners at Auckland docks with the nostalgic strains of “Now is the Hour” has finally given up because of intimidation. The crunch came when the P & O liner Oriana departed and one of the bandsmen collected a milkshake over his head, the work of irresponsible idiots among the passengers and well-wishers. Bandsmen have been cursed, spat on and hit by missiles including beer cans and air rifle pellets so now is the hour to call it a day.
NEWS: A new rule will come into force in Victoria on June 1. The rule is that vehicles reaching a stop sign must give way to both left and right Deputy City Engineer Mr A Pieraccini described the new rule as a “curly one” as at the intersection of Deakin Avenue and Eighth Street where there are pedestrians crossing as well – as no traffic could move at all or as if there were no stop signs so all traffic will have to have to be closely evaluated.
RISK: Irrigation channels were a constant hazard for young children – they resulted in tragedies almost every year- small children should be watched every minute of the day.
25 YEARS AGO
DAVIS CUP: Mother Nature provided the jewel in the crown for yesterday’s first day of the Mildura Davis Cup with brilliant autumn sunshine belting down on some equally brilliant tennis for the crowd of 5000 fans. Zimbabwe enters its 35th year of competition in the Davis Cup with much relying on talented brothers Byron and Wayne Black – Wayne later on defeated Mark Woodforde and Byron has a world ranking of 67. Mark Philippoussis continued to mend fences as he sat with the Australian players – his unexpected appearance over-shadowed the inclusion of tennis favourite Pat Rafter. Davis Cup patrons were invited to share an “Aussie Bush Dinner” among the gum trees at Psyche Bend Pumps – attendees can cruise there on the paddle boat Rothbury or drive to Psyche Bend. The pumps will be operating for the first time at night since their historic re-opening.
ITEMS: The Easter Regatta will see the Mildura Rowing Club celebrate its 75th Annual Rowing Regatta – the 94 events have attracted rowers form 30 clubs from as far as the Gold Coast. School crews from Chaffey Secondary College, St Joseph’s College, Irymple Secondary College and Coomealla High School attended the “Head of the Wimmera” Regatta at Horsham – results printed April 8 paper.
KARATE: Luke Byrne won a gold medal in the senior black belt Kata team event and a silver medal in the black belt of the Kumite team event. at the Australian National Karate titles in Melbourne.
SHOOTING: A successful ANZAC Day shoot was held by the Pooncarie Gun Club with 39 shooters from Broken Hill, Mildura, Menindie and Maryborough clubs attending – results printed April 4.
FAMILY: In 1923 at Henderson’s Café, for his 80th birthday, Mr T Westcombe met with 12 of his 15 sons and daughters, 127 grandchildren and great-grandchildren a total of 139 offspring still living.
STRIKE: Teachers throughout Mildura walked out of their classrooms in a protest of government cutbacks to the State education budget – they handed out pamphlets to inform the public of their grievances.
REAL ESTATE: If you have placed or are about to place your property on the market for sale your realtor or solicitor will have asked you to prepare a Section 32 statement – this document must be shown to purchasers before they sign a contract and if it is inaccurate in any way, the purchaser may be able to withdraw from the sale or take action against you as vendor.
FARMS: Speaker Janine Shepherd’s talk – Women on Farms – captured and audience of over 200, her story encouraged women to “live the dream”. Women expressed their amazement as to how much these “real” women had endured and done in their lives. There are many workshops and interviews printed – ladies came from Western Australia, York Peninsula, Canberra, Warragul and Gippsland – the Tongan Choir mesmerised the everyone.
NATIVE TITLE: A test case to see if native title has survived on grazing leases in the Western Division of NSW is likely to be sooner rather than later a NSW Farmer’s Assoc. Region 12 Convention was told at Wentworth.
WOOL: NSW wool growers have been urged to register for a two-day course on price risk management to be held at 21 locations around the state.
