100 YEARS AGO
AQUAPLANE: Many visitors in the river on Sunday afternoon had their first view of a practical exhibition of aquaplaning. Mr Bob Chaffey and friends speeded up their motor-boat to which was attached by rope a board that was used for the aquaplaning stunts. This is not the first time that the sport has been enjoyed on the river in the vicinity of Mildura, but never before has such an exhibition been seen by so many of the public. The men giving the exhibition showed proficiency until a sudden stop or turn of the motor-boat was made.
FANS: The efforts of the High School Council to convince the Education Department to install electric fans throughout the school has been successful. On Tuesday last, an inspector of the Public Works Department visited Mildura and arranged for all tenders to be submitted immediately for the work. The contract provides for eight ceiling fans in cookery and Sloyd centres, as well as in the various classrooms. Work is to begin immediately so the scholars will probably have the benefit of the fans for at least part of their final examinations.
BUNNIES: John Carus Barrow, a farmer of Karadoc, was charged in the Mildura court yesterday morning with having failed to destroy rabbits on his property, comprising 1213 acres, within the shire of Mildura. The defendant pleaded not guilty. Norman Anderson, inspector under the Noxious Weeds and Vermin Act, stated that when he inspected the defendant’s land, he found the property infested with rabbits. Barrow stated that he had done what he could to do away with the pest. He had laid traps and poisoned with strychnine. Barrow was fined 2 pounds with 2 pounds, eight shillings costs.
75 YEARS AGO
CLOSURE: Red Cliffs residents are concerned at the closing a fortnight ago of Tasma Hospital. The hospital was closed when the sisters in charge, Sisters Letcher and Hughes, dissolved the partnership. The three Red Cliffs doctors, (Doctors Zimmer, Barker and Jones) Red Cliffs RSL and Mildura Base Hospital are combining in an endeavour to obtain nurses to staff the hospital to enable it to reopen. “It is a grave reflection, that under present rapid growth of Red Cliffs, this state of affairs has eventuated,” the doctors said. “Excellent facilities have existed in Red Cliffs, but they are in grave danger of being lost to the community, to some extent, due to apathy. “We realise,” they said, “that Tasma Hospital has been run as a private enterprise, and consequently the community probably feels it has to power to help.”
SICKNESS: Percival Henry Attwood (49), of no fixed address, was sentenced to three months gaol when he appeared at Mildura Court yesterday. He was charged that, on November 29, he was an idle and disorderly person in that he had insufficient lawful means of support. He pleaded not guilty. Detective J Killeen, Mildura CIB, said he arrested Attwood at Mildura Base Hospital after receiving complaints from the hospital that Attwood was pestering doctors for treatment for a sickness which apparently did not exist. Constable Barry Moore said he had known Attwood for nine months but had not known him to follow any lawful occupation during that time.
HOTELS: The possibility that the coming year may see an amendment of the licensing laws to enable Mildura to have more licensed hotels is arousing more than a little interest here. At Red Cliffs a syndicate of business and professional men has been formed to investigate the matter of obtaining a licence for a hotel at Irymple. A private survey carried out some months ago showed that five more hotels could be built in the Mildura-Red Cliffs-Merbein area and secure sufficient business to make them attractive investments. We believe that Sunraysia has a big future as a tourist resort. We believe that tourism could become the area’s main industry. But the first move must be the provision of ample accommodation.
50 YEARS AGO
SHOPPING: Tonight, will be the first night Christmas shoppers in Mildura will be able to do their late-night buying to the accompaniment of music. Mildura Chamber of Commerce has arranged a series of free music recitals by district musicians on various shopping days. Performances will include Jazz Unlimited and Peter Shallard and Ian Beasy on the electronic organ.
SKATING: Mildura’s roller rink will open on Saturday week. And one lucky Sunraysia school student will be able to attend the opening with a free pair of skates. A pair of skates is being offered to the student who thinks up a suitable name for the rink. Mr Rodney Brown, a member of the Robinvale firm, which is building the rink, said yesterday the skates being offered were worth $54. The roller-skating rink is 110 feet by 70 feet and will accommodate up to 200 skaters at any one time. A special concrete mix and extra thick reinforcing rods were used on the floor of the rink. The rink will be open at nights during the Summer, while during the other months it will be open in the daytime.
BRIDGE: A punt would be the first step in having a bridge established in the Nangiloc-Karadoc area, Mildura Shire Council has been told. It is council’s desire to have a bridge in the area sometime in the future. Councillor Ryan said that if the punt was used it would demonstrate council’s enthusiasm for the project. Council has also sought to have the new bridge over the Murray River situated in the Nangiloc area, where it could become the main route between Sydney and Adelaide. It is believed the new bridge will now be a continuation of Deakin Avenue and that this central position was the logical place for the bridge.
25 YEARS AGO
ARCHIVES: The Mildura and District Historical Society was yesterday presented with a historical collection of over 1400 pieces of memorabilia, cataloguing the hospital’s 107-year service to the community. Items representative of many periods of medical history are included in the collection, including old nursing uniforms, surgical equipment, records and many other items. Some of the items at the hand-over included an artificial leg made in 1920, surgical tools, a board-meeting minutes book from 1892 and historical photos of the hospital in its formative years. The items are to be kept at the historical society’s headquarters in Deakin Avenue, where it is hoped the items would be put on display for the community.
BLIMP: One of the icons of Australian sport, the Goodyear blimp, made an overnight stop in Mildura on Saturday. The blimp, the nation’s most expensive camera platform, was in the middle of a three-day trip from Sydney to cover the Adelaide test. The blimp’s flight plan was to take two days – Sydney-Mildura and Mildura-Adelaide – but bad weather forced a landing at Hay and an unscheduled over-nighter. Five vehicles, a caravan and 15 ground crew follow the balloon as a self-contained roadshow around Australia.
MINERALS: Work has begun on a major minerals study of the Murray Basin mineral sands province, Industry, Science and Resources Minister Senator Nick Minchin said yesterday. Recent discoveries of beach deposits in the Murray Basin have put a spotlight on the region as a potential major producer of mineral sands. It is conservatively estimated that there are 50 million tonnes of mineral sands in the Murray Basin worth about 13 billion. Funded by the Commonwealth and State Governments and mining companies exploring in the region, the study will identify the infrastructure required to establish a mineral sands industry in the region.
