Presented by Mildura & District Historical Society and compiled by Mildura Rural City Council Libraries.
100 YEARS AGO: 1924
THE evolution of Merrinee, the station on the Millewa line from a temporary camp to permanence has begun with the erection of the first house in the vicinity. This is being built by Mr E P Rowe for Mr W F Osmond, of allotment 9.
THE new air-mail service between Adelaide and Sydney began yesterday at noon and up to the time of arrival at the first stopping place – Mildura – at 2.30pm was running strictly to schedule. The Larkin Aircraft Company has the contract for the service, and the machine used for the trial run is a 375 horsepower DH5 aeroplane called the Bowerbird. Although the aerial mail was not timed to reach Mildura before 2.30pm, a great many residents had gathered at the aerodrome ground prior to that hour. Some amusement was caused a few minutes before the aeroplane came into sight by the appearance of a very large pelican, which floated gracefully several thousand feet above the watching crowd, and after circling around for some time disappeared to the east.
ABOUT 50 people assembled at the Gol Gol Lake on Wednesday to cut and cart wood for the Mildura hospital. The New South Wales Forestry Department had granted a free day to transport the wood over the border. Despite the unfavourable weather conditions, over thirty tons of wood was added to the hospital wood stack. The ring of the axes could be heard echoing across the lake and reminded one of the stories of the early lumber camps.
75 YEARS AGO: 1949
ESTABLISHMENT of a koala sanctuary on the island at the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers was strongly advocated by Mr H Bear, of Wentworth yesterday. The strip of land is about 500 yards long and extends from Lock 10 to the first house south along Cadell Street which runs parallel to the river. There is a dirt road from Cadell Street to the riverbank opposite the confluence. The land between the two rivers had a channel about two feet deep, and 12 feet wide cutting through it, this creating an island. This island had been reserved for a public recreation ground for 60 years. Lockmaster at Lock 10 (Mr P Fitzgerald) said that an average of a dozen tourists a week asked at the Lock where the junction was and if there was access to it. “The idea is quite good,” he said. “Much more use could be made of the spot as a tourist attraction.”
A NEW system of cataloguing books at the Carnegie Library will be introduced when the library is reopened, the City Librarian (Miss B Fettell) said yesterday. For the convenience of borrowers, novels and fictional works have been re-arranged on the shelves in alphabetical order of the authors’ names. In the new catalogue, all non-fiction works, or those dealing with factual subjects, will be grouped under their subject headings. A card catalogue has been completed and filed in drawers, which will be accessible to the public so than any borrower wishing to obtain information on any book in the library has only to consult the catalogue to find where the book is shelved.
A REQUEST to motorists not to “panic-buy” petrol following the invalidation of rationing was made last night by the secretary of Mildura Branch of the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (Mr Keith Wood). Mr Wood phoned head office of the VACC in Melbourne last night to check on the reported end of rationing. Afterwards he said: “We can say that petrol rationing is definitely off. Tickets and petrol licences are finished”. At least one Mildura garage sold petrol without tickets yesterday afternoon as soon as the High Court ruling was made known. It was Queripel Brothers in Langtree Avenue. Mr Queripel said the lifting of petrol rationing was long overdue when it was considered that Italy had no rationing and the men who won the war had to put up with it.
50 YEARS AGO: 1974
EARTH moving contractors are working against the clock in a bid to save Riverside Golf Course from flooding. Up 20,000 cubic yards of earth are expected to be shifted by earth moving equipment to build a levee bank around the river frontage of the course. The course went under water last year when a levee bank broke. This year the club is taking few chances. The levee will be built to withstand a flood level of 34 feet. This is a foot higher than the height predicted. A State Government grant of $7500 is being used to finance the construction of the levee.
NEIGHBOURS of Mr Pete Turner have for months been wondering about the giant construction taking shape in the front garden of his Cureton Avenue, Mildura, home. Now all is revealed. The “object” is a ferro-cement hulled boat, inspired by the success of ocean going yachts built from the same material. Mr Turner’s finished article will be driven by a petrol engine and paddlewheels. Work on the boat – it’s named the “Florence Annie” – has reached a tricky stage with the curing of the cement. A team of plasterers and dab hands with concrete were at work on her over the weekend.
THE memories of Red Cliffs’ early blockies could be kept on permanent record in Sunraysia. ABC radio producer, Mr Alex Nichol, is trying to contact soldier-settlers and their wives in Sunraysia with a view to recording some of their pioneering days’ memories. Sunraysia people have asked Mr Ken Wright, MLC for North-Western Province to contact the appropriate Government department about storing tapes, possibly in the national archives. Mr Wright said yesterday he had sent the names of about 12 growers to Mr Nichol. He said there were originally 750 soldier-settlers in the district including one woman but only about 20 were still working blocks.
25 YEARS AGO: 1999
Yesterday marked the end of an era for Mildura’s central business district as internal fittings of the old post office on Deakin Avenue were discarded to make way for the proposed new Irish pub – O’Malley’s Tavern. Owner of the building Brian Gregg yesterday stressed that the building would undergo no structural changes. Mr Gregg said he had bought the site because it was a prominent landmark in Mildura and the investment potential was enormous. “It might have cost me half a million dollars, but I’m looking at a 10 percent return on my investment,” he said. He said the building was in perfect condition and had passed a white ant inspection with flying colours. Mr Gregg estimated it would take “two weeks to gut it out”.
THE Mildura Olympic Torch Relay Working Group is considering ideas for promoting the region to the world when the Olympic Flame passes through Mildura’s streets on August 19, 2000. A television campaign asking for ideas, for example a theme for the day, has been running on Prime Television for the past few months. Working group chairman Eddie Warhurst yesterday said the Group would sit next Wednesday to go over the ideas that are contributed. People still had time to make their contribution, in writing and no longer than 200 words, before then. “We need a theme for the day even the week before the torch arrives,” he said.
MILDURA Private Hospital general manager Peter Darkin has been awarded one of Deakin University’s highest honours – the Brookes Scholar Award. The award recognizes the most outstanding graduating student in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. It is also significant to the Mildura community being named after Sir Wilfred Brookes, a grandson of one on the greatest visionaries in Sunraysia history – Alfred Deakin. The award consists of a citation and a medal bearing the likeness of Alfred Deakin. Mr Darkin is one of Mildura’s longest serving pharmacists and was appointed general manager of the private hospital in December 1998.
