100 years ago
PLANE: Captain F Roberts, Superintendent of Airways of the Australian Aerial Service Limited visited the Town Clerk, Mr N Wellington on the questions of telephone installation at the hangar to allow a de Haviland plane to be housed permanently at Mildura. The telephone line would run via Riverside Avenue to a point about 200 yards from the hangar by ordinary aerial cable. From that point in the intersection of Flora Avenue the aerial line would be brought to a maximum height of 15 feet above ground level to avoid danger to descending planes. The line then would be laid underground into the hangar.
SCHOOL: The Mildura Convent High School resumed last week after the holidays. Last year the primary school was situated in Walnut Avenue but will be moved to the church grounds in Eleventh Street in a week or two, and as there are now about 200 pupils, it is likely the building will be enlarged. In the meantime, the pupils are receiving instructions in Saint Margaret’s Hall.
CASES: At a special meeting of the Merbein Returned Sailor’s & Soldier’s Imperial League of Australia (RSL), a communication was received from the State Secretary of the League insisting that, in communication with the Royal Commission that has been appointed to inquire into the conditions of the soldier settlement, a conference of soldier settlers had been arranged to be held in Melbourne and the branch should be represented there. Major D Radclyffe urged the branch to take advantage by sending representatives, especially representatives from such seepage areas as Old Birdwoodton, Messrs A J Whitney and S J Whiting, New Birdwoodton, Major J Hopkins and Mr R Rawlings, and Merbein West, Messrs W Forsyth and A E Williams, also self-repatriated settlers Captain C Lock and Messrs R Voullaire and H Sutton. Second-hand hessian was also a topic as it is proved that several dangerous pests including fruit moth were increasing at an alarming rate through the misconception that immersing hessian in hot water would help.
75 years ago
WIN: Merbein won one event and gained several places at the Great Northern Fire Brigade Association’s annual demonstration, conducted at Swan Hill at the weekend. The brigade won the six-men and the reel race. By gaining second place in the five-men hose and ladder, and third in the four-man hose and reel event, Merbein scored enough marks to be second in the grand aggregate for the demonstration. Mildura, which also attended the demonstration, was placed third in the two-man marshal. Mr A Bishop said he intended applying to the Mildura City Council for the use of No.2 Oval next Australia Day in an endeavour to have the demonstration held here.
MILL: The Sunraysia Flour Mill at Mildura which has been idle for more than 12 months is expected to start production again at the end of March. Purchase of the mill by Victorian Wheatgrowers’ Corporation Limited was completed last month and since then a start has been made with refitting it. Fifteen men would be needed to work there, said the Mill manager Mr C Raglind.
RODEO: A two-wheeled chariot race not quite in the Roman style will be a feature of the rodeo to be held at the Wentworth stockyards on March 25. The chariots will be drawn by either two horses or two steers, according to the drivers’ preferences. They will start at one side of the ground and the first to cross a line on the other side will be declared the winner. On Monday, 60 of Gippsland’s wildest horses will be brought to Wentworth – seasoned riders will ride the buckjumpers and 80 steers. At least 5000 people are expected to attend.
50 years ago
HIGHWAY: The proposed North-South Road linking Darwin and Mildura is now a step closer following support from the Darwin end. A Darwin city councillor and a director of a road engineering consultant firm expert, Mr Bob Willing, of Canberra, contacted Councillor Lloyd Beasy. After seeing the satellite pictures, Mr Willing chartered a light plane and flew the proposed route saying the route had exciting possibilities. The Army was also interested, provided the Department of Transport could provide the money.
CROP: Upwards of 500 Aborigines are expected in Dareton for this year’s grape harvest. They have come from Wilcannia, Bourke, Menindee, Brewarrina and other towns. There were reports they had set up camps near the golf course and at shady spots along the river as well as camping in their cars – from bombs to the latest model sedans. Most can be accommodated in picker’s huts; most brought their families. Even though they spend a lot of money in the town, they take home a lot too. Two years ago, we wouldn’t have had a crop except for the work of the Aboriginals from out of town. No one but them would pick the crop, they saved Dareton that year.
SWIM: A Mildura teacher will begin a campaign aimed at making 500 primary schoolchildren “drown proof”. The campaign called “Intensive Swim” will be held by Mr John Sheahan, physical education advisor for the Mildura area. He is asking for the parents help with the program running classes from 10.30am to 3pm daily for two weeks with children split into groups of 15, with each group in the care of a qualified teacher. Children need to at least learn how to float.
25 years ago
TORCH: Ever since the word came through that she will carry the torch through Mildura during the Sydney 2000 Olympic relay, Pat Martin has been in training mode. As an avid line-dancer she has marked out a 500-metre walking circuit from her front gate of her Red Cliffs home to the Spider’s Web using a stopwatch, and her times are getting faster. As part of the nomination process, she was required to indicate roughly how long it would take her to complete the required distance.
HEPBURN: Ida Hepburn was born in a residence behind the butcher’s shop in Irymple in 1912. Her dad, Bill, a Welshman, came to Mildura in 1907. Her mother, Lucy Simmons, came to Mildura in 1908 and joined St Margaret’s Choir. Bill became a chorister, and they married in 1911. He ran the livery stables in Langtree Avene near the corner of Eighth Street and they moved into the house next door. The Hepburn girls were very popular and took part in several productions with the Mildura Musical Society. Ken enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940 and Ida took a position of lever-keeper at the National Bank, normally an all-male domain but due to a shortage of staff during the war women were employed to all positions. After the war they ran two businesses at Albury and returned to Mildura in the early 1950s. Ida spent over 30 years with Meals on Wheels, she was gifted with a fantastic memory and was an invaluable member of the Mildura Historical Society.
REUNION: Former 1955 Mildura Technical School students are being urged to register quickly for a huge reunion to be held next month in Mildura. All classes from Form One to Four who attended the school, are welcome to the activities planned. Registration is at the Technical School Hall from 11am. A photocopy of the original 1955 Vineleaf school magazine will be available to each attending ex-student.
