100 years ago
SERVICE: The Gol Gol P&C Association held a memorial service to unveil two pictures, titled Heather and A Lonely Road erected in the school to perpetuate the memory of the late Mesdames L Follett and R Dring. Never before has the school held such numbers, many having journeyed miles to be present. Reverend Salisbury, Mildura’s Church of England rector, officiated saying: “These women in whose memory the pictures will be unveiled, thought that effort was the main thing and even if they did not achieve anything great it did not matter, they had tried, and that was all that mattered.”
FIRE: One of the worst fires Mildura has known for many years occurred in the early hours on Monday when the Commercial House, next to the Recreation Club, was burned to the ground. Two boarders were lost. The boarding house had 15 rooms, kitchens, large dining room. Two men noticed a wisp of smoke issuing from the roof, one a member of the fire brigade, so rang the alarm. Mrs Plush, in charge of the house in absence of Mrs Rae, ran from room to room awaking sleeping inmates who grabbed what they could. Within minutes the house was a raging furnace.
CRANE: The unloading of the huge irrigation pipes for the nine-mile irrigation settlement is proceeding slowly in the Merbein station yard. Nineteen of the pipes 25ft long by 5ft 9in in diameter and weighing about 3t 5cwt eac, have arrived. So far about 11 have been unloaded. The pipes were made at Newcastle, NSW, shipped to Melbourne then unloaded into QR trucks. In order to unload the pipes a derrick of 12in by 12in of oregon, well stayed with four guy-ropes, has been erected close to the Aurora siding. They are being unloaded each into a single truck. A crane is needed there. It has been asked for several times and so often refused.
75 years ago
HENLEY: A record crowd of more than 7000 people saw Melbourne Mercantile crews win four events at Mildura Rowing Club’s Silver Jubilee Henley on the Murray. Mildura, Port Adelaide, Berri, Wentworth and University each won two events. The only lightweight event, for maiden fours, was won by Torrens. The two women’s events for open and novice fours were won by Albert Park. Mildura won the junior eight in one of the closest finishes for the day, beating Cardross by half a canvas at the end due to powerful rowing. Crowds watched the Highland dancing and woodchop events. The 300 oarsmen were guests of the Mildura Ozone Theatre at a picnic the next day.
LADIES: The brilliant sunshine was ideal for the Henley girl with her befrilled sunshade and bouffant flounced skirts, but women visitors preferred to be more comfortable and unhampered in light gaily-coloured floral summer frocks with white accessories. Hat fashions varied, most shallow-crowned with wide or turned-back brims softened with veiling or feathers. The highlight of the day was the Queen of the Murray, the girls parading on a decorated platform which extended onto the lawns from the moored Avoca, each girl judged on her appearance and carriage. The winner was Miss Esther Bridley, Red Cliffs.
SOCIAL: A well-attended reunion and smoke social of ex-servicemen from both world wars was held at the Theatre Royal, Merbein, under the auspices of the Merbein RSL. The president of the sSub-branch, Mr K McKay, said the reunion would now be an annual one to bring diggers of the 1914-18 war and the men who served in the last war together. Mr SJ Whiting said the old diggers felt the younger diggers should be allowed to take over.
50 years ago
ROWERS: Last Monday’s “Henley on the Darling” rowing regatta was a most successful one for Wentworth Rowing Club. They finished the day’s competition with five wins, two seconds and two thirds in finals events. On Easter Saturday, competing in the “Henley on the Murray” regatta in Mildura, they finished with four wins, two seconds and three thirds in finals. “It would have to be one of the best, if not the best, Easter rowing regattas result-wise for the Wentworth Rowing Club,” said Mr J Foley. The Murray River was also flowing fast and rowers also had to deal with that.
RESPECTS: People from all walks of life and all parts of Sunraysia gathered in Red Cliffs to pay their last respects to the man who was indisputably the town’s number one citizen, Mr JB Grelis. The nursing staff gathered outside the Red Cliffs Hospital to farewell their benefactor. He served on their committee for 17 years, 16 as honorary treasurer. He organised with Mr H Cramp the building of the first Werrimull Hotel. After World War II they went into the furniture business together. Mr Grelis served in the 2nd AIF and became one of the first members of the RSL. He earned himself the title of “unofficial mayor of Red Cliffs”.
GUN: An anti-aircraft gun more than 6ft high and weighing almost 2.5 tons arrived here bought by the Mildura City Council for $35 from the Army stores near Albury. It will be stored at the council depot until a display site has been chosen. The gun, 18ft long, has been made inoperable and was one of 61 offered to councils, museums and ex-service organisations as war memorials.
25 years ago
INTERVIEW: At Red Cliffs the 60 Minutes reporter Charles Woolly described Mildura as a “lucky regional centre” because of the diverse industry the district has to offer. He interviewed Red Cliffs historian Ern Wolfe at Big Lizzie, saying Mildura had the diversity to withstand a slump in one industry, and a sunny image, and who wouldn’t want to see a tourist attraction like Red Cliff’s Big Lizzie.
EMAIL: Sending confidential information via email was as private as writing on the back of a postcard, warned a legal expert on electronic commerce. Email is a storage forward system. It’s not a secure system in the same way as putting a message into an envelope and sealing it. Few people are aware of legal risks and requirements in relation to email. In effect it’s being stored on a whole lot of computer systems and then forwarded to another one. The information is capable of interception and alteration at every point during its travel over the internet.
RECORD: New apprenticeship numbers at record levels reflect a growing awareness of versatility of career choice, especially for young people. Mr Fairlie, of Sunray Murray Group Training Company, said they had placed 298 apprentices and trainees across many different industries here and were confident the number would grow.
