PRESENTED by Mildura and District Historical Society and compiled by Judy Hyde for Mildura Rural City Council Libraries
100 YEARS AGO: 1925
GARDENS: During the last month, the Mildura town council employees under the town gardener have been engaged in spraying palms, all of which have been done excepting the large palms in Eleventh Street and Deakin Avenue. They have re-dug the beds at the plot and planted with seeds of different hardy annuals and stock seedlings. Six Thunbergia creepers have been planted on wire fences opposite the town hall. They should do well and make a nice show. On the recreation reserve, men have been engaged cutting off tufts of wire grass and lucerne; also dressing the worst parts of the oval. They have cut, manured, dressed and rolled the turf wicket. It is now looking well.
SANDING: Mildura council employees were able to make a start sanding footpaths and crossings in the town. The town clerk has completed arrangements for the supply of sand which were held up due to the rain preventing motor lorries from carting the sand which will be delivered slowly for a few days until conditions of the roads allow the lorries to operate.
MUD: Three Chevrolet cars, two Chevrolet trucks and an Oldsmobile car, which left Melbourne on Tuesday have arrived in Mildura on Saturday for the Agent Mr J. H. Bayliss. They had been through 400 miles of mud, and returned soldiers on passing where they were lined up in Langtree Avenue recalled the years of the Great War, when they had seen even more muddy spectacles. In parts, the vehicles were axle deep in mud, three inches of rain having fallen at Kerang. They came through without chains, drivers uncertain, twice the cars slid from the high formations near Kerang. One following driver turned back. The only damage was a broken fence a car collided into, one of its wheels slaying a chook. Compensation of 5 and 4 pounds were paid respectively to the owners of the fence and the chook.
75 YEARS AGO: 1950
RIO VISTA: Mildura City Council may acquire Rio Vista, the famous Chaffey home, for use as an art gallery and for historical purposes. The Mayor, Cr A. R. Mansell reported to council last night that it had the first option on the building. The home was built 60 years ago by Mr W. Chaffey, shortly after he and his brother George had founded the Mildura irrigation area. Cr Mansell said that the Chaffey family was anxious that the home be preserved for historical purposes. The town clerk and the city engineer had been through Rio Vista and it was considered that it could be well adapted as an art gallery and museum.
SCOUTS: With the assistance of the 1st Birdwoodton Scouts, a scout troop has been formed at the Mildura Migrant Centre for the new Australians there. Known as the United Nations Troop, it has 26 members who were scouts in Europe. They came from Poland, Yugoslavia, White Russia, Austria, Germany, Estonia and Czechoslovakia – membership is expected to grow to 40 when it all gets properly underway.
REGO: Prosecution may be launched against vehicle owners who do not collect their current registration labels from Mildura police. Mildura police motor registration branch yesterday issued a warning to owners of vehicles on which registration had expired. About 3000 owners of cars, trucks, tractors, trailers and motorcycles had labels at the station which had not been collected. Some of the labels are for registrations paid more than four months ago. Police said they had not enforced the collecting of the labels during the picking season because most of the owners were busy and would have to lose time from their properties to collect them.
50 YEARS AGO: 1975
CARS: Ten gleaming vintage vehicles are now in Mildura. The old cars from Mount Gambier Veteran Vintage Car Club are stopping over here as part of a rally, but the wet weather has created a problem: how to keep the gleaming vehicles clean and spotless. A vintage 1926 Austin Seven Chummy is one of the vehicles currently in Mildura.
BOWLING: A successful Merbein Women’s Bowling Carnival was held under shocking bowling conditions, the final of the women’s pairs was won by a Coomealla team, Eileen Camin and Bonnie Lewin at Merbein. Greens were heavy with water and rain fell throughout the matches but ceased after three ends in the final.
MICE: Carwarp wheat growers and graziers, already suffering from a drought, are weathering the tail end of a mice plague. They say it is the worst for five years; the 4000-acre property of Mr Cleary has been overrun by mice for two months. Since 1973’s wheat crop had caused a lot to fall to the ground and the mice moved in. It was then found that the area had not been declared a plague area so the poison could not be used.
25 YEARS AGO: 2000
DRIVING: Rural Ambulance Victoria is asking motorists to ensure their cars are safe in the interest of road and community safety, and are encouraging drivers to make sure their vehicles are safe for the winter with good tyres, steering, brakes and shock absorbers. The recently dry, warm conditions may have lulled drivers into a false sense of security and a sudden change in weather could result in a spate of accidents as worn tyres fail to maintain their grip.
AEROPLANES: Cobden Air have acquired the series of the world’s fastest twin-piston powered commercial aircraft, an Aerostar 600. Featuring full airline components such as, autopilot, leather trim seating, double glazed tinted windows and ample bag space for six passengers. The plane is capable of making the flight from Mildura to Melbourne in one hour, fifteen minutes, and will be used for tours and various charters.
MEMORIAL: “Most crash sites of RAAF airmen lost in RAAF aircraft over Europe are marked by memorials and plaques and surely we can do the same for our men here,” said former parliamentarian Ken Wright. “The sacrifice of their lives is no less than that of their comrades in operational flying.” He said a marble marker with a bronze plaque giving names and details of the fatal crash could be erected for as little as $200. Mr Wright said as far as he knew there were only two crash sites in the district commemorated. “However, we have been informed of, and visited many other sites, the most recent being that of Flight Officer T. W. Wood in a Kittyhawk aircraft in Thurla.”
