100 YEARS AGO: 1925
SPEED: An instance of the manner in which district motor-buses are competing with rail-motor, was afforded at Merbein one day last week. At 4.30pm on Thursday, a Merbein trader, in telephonic communication with a Red Cliffs producer, ordered a small consignment of perishables to be forwarded at the earliest possible moment. The consignment was placed on board the Seagull motor-bus the same afternoon, transferred to the Yellow Bus service at Mildura, and reached the Merbein trader shortly before 7pm, within two-and-a-half hours of his having placed the order. The Merbein trader affirms that a previous consignment from the same Red Cliffs supplier, entrusted to the Railway Department took three days to reach its destination at Merbein.
THEFT: When members of the Merbein Football Club and the Merbein Rovers Football Club attended at the Merbein Recreation Reserve on Saturday afternoon last for the purpose of playing a practice match, the discovery was made that the wooden behind posts had been removed from the site they usually occupy and had been carted away, presumably for fire wood. The goal post, of iron piping set in concrete bases, offered no inducement to the vandals. It is regretted that more consideration is not shown for the property of the various clubs that have placed improvements on the reserve. It has been suggested that nothing short of drastic action will teach some persons respect for the property of others.
MOTORCYCLES: New district motor-salesmen in Messrs William Brothers, of Merbein, made a most impressive debut at this year’s show with Indian Chief cycles and sidecars. These powerful 10-horsepower machines “looked the goods” in every way and are finely finished. Attached to the cycle was a Goulding sidecar. The agent will guarantee Indian Chief motorcycles to run 60 miles to the gallon and be able to produce almost unlimited speed. The price of these is only 160 pounds, complete with all equipment.
75 YEARS AGO: 1950
PASSING: The death occurred at her home, Rio Vista, Mildura, yesterday of Mrs Harriet “Hattie” Sexton Chaffey, wife of the late Mr W. B. Chaffey, who, with his brother, Mr George Chaffey, founded Mildura. Closely connected with the function, progress and development of Mildura district, Mrs Chaffey was regarded as Mildura’s “Grand Old Lady.” She was in her 84th year. Born of English parents, Mrs Chaffey came to Mildura from Hamilton, Ohio (USA) in 1891. Most of her life was spent in the well-known Chaffey home, Rio Vista, on the corner of Chaffey Avenue and Cureton Avenue. She took a keen interest in the early development of Mildura and was the Shire President’s Lady when Mr W. B. Chaffey was president of Mildura Shire in 1903. Sunraysia Daily, respecting the wishes of Mrs Chaffey, refrains from publishing her full life story in this obituary. Her son said yesterday that it was Mrs Chaffey’s wish that very little publicity be given to her death.
CARAVAN: Operators of a mobile carpenter’s shop are building caravans on the riverbank at Chaffey’s Bend. Originally designed to assist outback people who could get carpentering work done, the mobile workshop was built by Mr and Mrs S. John of Carrum.
Mr John is a registered builder and engineer. His wife is also a registered builder. With Mr and Mrs John in their mobile workshop are another engineer and carpenter. When making alterations to one of their trucks they were approached by two ex-servicemen who asked them to build two caravans. Since then, two caravans have been completed and another two are under construction. Later a larger one will be built. Equipment in the mobile workshop consists of a wood planning machine, circular and hand saws, a dowling machine and a spray gun outfit. The gear is operated from a generating plant set up in one of the party’s caravans.
AMENITIES: An additional kitchen to provide for 1000 more new Australians at the Mildura Immigration Centre is being built to schedule. This means that the next group of New Australians will probably enter the camp soon after May 6, as was originally planned. The new kitchen is being built on the exact site of a kitchen used by the RAAF during the war when the migrant centre was an air force camp. When Melbourne University took over the camp, the kitchen was demolished because there was, at that time, no further use for it. Lewis and Hudswell, builders of Mildura, are handling the construction and have about 20 men working on it. A row of steam cookers and a nest of six stoves will comprise the greater part of the cooking facilities, while a meat house and a chilling room, constructed within the kitchen, will provide storage space for meat and vegetables. Material for the building was obtained by dismantling one of the buildings already at the camp.
50 YEARS AGO: 1975
SURVEY: Mildura Shire Council has been asked to conduct a survey on the number of road accidents involving kangaroos. Councillor Lance Fraser asked council to conduct the survey at last week’s council meeting. Cr Fraser said people have been complaining about kangaroos on the roads surrounding Sunraysia. “I have heard reports that 15 kangaroos had been hit by motorists in one week,” he said. “I was driving to work near the South Australian border one morning after a shower of rain and there were about seven kangaroos near the Euroa Reserve looking for drinking water. “Once the situation gets out of hand the animals should be placed in national parks or fauna reserves which are fenced and not let to roam across the roads,” he said. Council will look into the matter and a reply is expected within about a month.
LEVEL: A number of river craft travelling downstream from Mildura Weir and Lock 11 are finding navigation tricky. This is because the Murray River is returning to normal after seven months of floods. Sandbars are stretching across the full width of the river in some places. Hidden snags at the water edge are in deeper water and a number of houseboats have become stuck on the sandbars. Downstream of Lock 11 has become so blocked that a sand pump was used to remove 300 yards of sand to open a channel and even then, not all the sand was removed.
DEVELOPMENT: A $1,700,00 project is being carried out by the Mildura firm Keam Constructions Pty Ltd. The project is Kalimna Village, which covers an area of six acres and will include 55 villa units. The Village is being built on land on Deakin Avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. The land was previously a vineyard. Mr John Keam, a director of Keam Constructions said yesterday that included in the 55 villa units would be five large family homes and eight double-storey homes. Mr Keam said inquiries for the villa homes had been received from “far and wide”. The majority of inquiries have been from people who are retired or about to retire and have a liking for Mildura.
25 YEARS AGO: 2000
CONTROVERSY: The community needs to accept the introduction of a heroin injecting room in Mildura as a real possibility according to local general practitioner Dr Arnold Jago. However, Dr Jago yesterday said the preferred option of utilising the old Mildura Base Hospital site for a drug rehabilitation unit was recently described as a reasonable alternative. Although no definite plans or submissions have been made yet, a petition for the proposal has already begun to circulate throughout Mildura. However, Dr Jago said those who attended the recent meeting were unanimous in that the drug problem in Mildura and surrounding areas needed to be addressed. “But that injecting rooms were not the way to go,” he said.
HISTORY: A small piece of history has been restored in Merbein. About 50 people attended a short ceremony on Easter Sunday for the “re-unveiling” of the plaque from the original Merbein Civic Hall which was first opened on April 23, 1958. Merbein Historical Society secretary Lyn Adams said that following the hall’s demolition in the mid-1980s the plaque had disappeared, only to have been discovered recently in the Koorlong landfill. Ms Adams said it was envisaged that the plaque – which had recently been repolished by Mildura Rural City Council – would be shortly positioned on a plain brick wall at the Merbein Apex Civic Park as a permanent reminder of the hall.
VISIT: Visitors from Mildura’s sister city Upland, US, have spent Easter in Sunraysia taking in many of Mildura’s tourist attractions over their five-day visit. The group of 16 Upland residents arrived in Mildura on Thursday. During their stay they have participated in various activities including a river cruise on the Rothbury, a visit to the Botanic Gardens, participation in a Harry Nanya half-day tour and viewing of the Psyche Pumps. Upland Sister City Association president June Cove said the group had been very busy throughout their time in Mildura. The trip is Mrs Cove’s fifth time in Mildura, and she said: “It’s just a wonderful feeling of coming home.” She said despite the obvious differences, such as the mountains in Upland and the river in Mildura, the two towns are very similar. “They both have beautiful scenery and beautiful people.” While in Mildura the visitors stay with local host families and then this courtesy is returned when Sunraysia people wish to travel to Upland.
