Peeps into the past

100 years ago

MAIL: Horticulturists of Birdwoodton and South Merbein residing in the vicinity of the Mildura Co-operative Fruit Company’s Birdwoodton shed are being subjected to a considerable amount of inconvenience owing to the closing of the Birdwoodton post office. The office is an ‘allowance’ one and either the allowance has proved unattractive to the official recently in charge or more congenial employment has presented itself. Meanwhile the mail contract is still in existence for the conveyance from the Merbein post office to the branch at Birdwoodton where letters are neither being received nor despatched.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: In convenience of the alternate service of the Methodist Church and the Church of England at South Merbein it has been decided to conduct the Sunday School on nondenominal lines – no doctrinal truths to be taught only Bible studies. The Sunday School opens next Sunday – all children welcome.

NOISE: Appearing before the Mildura Court Mr Praetz was charged with being the driver of a motorcar which failed to pass a place where divine worship was being held with as little noise as possible. Constable Curtis stated that at 6.26pm he was on duty on the corner of Deakin Avenue and Eleventh Street when he heard the car approaching about half a mile away making an excessive noise and stopped it. The Presbyterian Church was out by then, but the Church of England was still proceeding. Sergeant Fleming corroborated Constable Curtis’s evidence adding that the driver could have taken another route. The driver said he had driven up from Melbourne with an open exhaust to relieve the engine, and on seeing the people coming out of the church he thought the service had ended. The bench dismissed the case.

75 years ago

TROPHY: Pupils of Gol Gol School, R Kelly, M Wagenfeller, M Murphy, K Follett, B Campbell and S Francis won trophys’ at the Public Schools Amateur Athletic Association Sports held at Wentworth.

RIVER: The small volume of flow in the Murray is causing concern to the master of the tourist passenger steamer Marion (Captain H MacLean) who’s ship arrived in Mildura from Morgan. He had found the river particularly low between Locks 6 and 7 and if the river keeps dropping snags would have to be removed to keep operating as the usual water from the Darling has not come down this year.

MERBEIN: Parents and scholars at Merbein South School have donated bookshelves, a radio-gramophone system, a daylight projector screen, and a projector stand to the school. The parents are replanting the school garden on a more simple layout, an extra gate is planned and also a concrete floor for the boys shelter. Air circulators will be installed by the Education Department.

50 years ago

BOG: Mildura Shire Council needs at least $50,000 in a hurry so that roads in the Millewa can be made safe for use by buses taking children to school. Rains in the in the past 14 months – the heaviest falls the Millewa has ever known – have turned dips in sandhills into mud tracks on most of the 150 miles of the school bus routes. One new route is now a 9000-acre lake and children are arriving to school as late as 11am after being bogged.

COURT: A man told police he carried a bayonet with him to use whenever he went fishing – however the Judge said that the bayonet was a weapon made for causing injury to human beings – not for cleaning fish – the man was charged with carrying an offensive weapon.

EGGS: An eggshell display shown depicting Little Red Riding Hood has used up hundreds of eggshells. Most of the shells came from the kitchen of the Mildura Base Hospital as well as private donations. The shells were spray-painted before being laid in a sand bed by women who were responsible for some of the colourful floral carpet displays from district schools.

25 years ago

HUT: Set deep in the Murray Sunset National Park lies Mopoke Hut, once an outstation for leasee Alan Henschke, when he had a grazing lease over this area prior to proclamation of the park. Alan built the hut in the early 1960’s to provide water and shelter when he was mustering or checking cattle in the area. The hut has now been restored by 33 adults, 16 children and 3 Parks Victoria staff. The name was given due to the loud nocturnal Mopoke calls of the Boobook owls in the area.

MOSAIC: As a founding figure of the Mildura KODE Campus, the late Peter Clarke was remembered by a commemorative ceremony held at the campus on Benetook Avenue. There was an official unveiling and dedication of a 20 square metre ceramic mosaic artwork named “Punda”. The original design was drawn by Mr Clarke during the period of his hospitalisation before his death. The design was executed by his sister Maree Clarke and Jane Whitwam, the campus art teacher, together with students, school staff and members of the KODE school community.

CLUB: One of Mildura’s basketball’s strongest and long serving clubs, Alcheringa, rewarded two of its hardest working members Sandra Gregg and Nick Alvino with life membership plaques which were presented by the club President, Mr Terry Alderton.