PRESENTED by Mildura & District Historical Society and compiled by Judy Hyde for Mildura Rural City Council Libraries
100 YEARS AGO: 1925
PERFORMANCE: The Maypole display was most spectacular. Thirteen teams marched from the ground into position in the arena. Of these groups Mildura Central School contributed three, Merbein West and Irymple two each and a team each for Irymple South, Nichols Point, the Lake and Red Cliffs. There were 260 schoolgirls in all, and each team wearing their own costume in the colours of their school. Miss Virtue, the physical culture organiser of the Education Department directed assisted by the 13 teachers, listed, in charge of the teams. The Minuet was very gracefully performed; the girls then skipped around the maypoles prior to making the rope for the first figure which is generally known as the Barber’s Pole. It consists of winding ribbons in graceful fashion around the poles which is done with more effect in the second intricate movement known as The Spider’s Web.
SAND: Owing to the rapidly rising river, the arrangements made with the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission by the Mildura town council for the supply of sand from Pinky’s Bend have been temporally terminated as from today. The engineer in charge of the Lock Eleven, Captain R.H. Knight reports that it is expected the water will cover the tram lines and prevent any further supplies of sand taken out.
WHISTLE: The Mildura Urban Water Trust received a letter from the town clerk Mr N. Wellington confirming verbal arrangements made with the secretary, Mr Burrows in regard to taking over the duty of sounding the daily time signals from the power house. As the power house steam whistle is not in good order, he would be pleased if the commissioner would loan to the council the trusted large steam whistle in order to sound the signals. The secretary stated that he had already told Mr Wellington he could use the whistle.
75 YEARS AGO: 1950
NUGGET: I’ve been talking all day until I’m hoarse but there is still plenty of go in me, said Mr Dave Butterick after 1000 people had viewed the gold nugget he had brought from Wedderburn. Also with him was Mr Cole — they brought the famous Wedderburn Bulldog and Golden Retriever nuggets found in the mine in his back yard. They are on display in Stuart and Harrison’s showroom. Mr Butterick said that if anyone can prove they are not the real thing I’ll pay them 1000 pounds. After the 1000 people who saw the two nuggets were a group of kindergarten children. the Mildura Base Hospital will receive about 30 pounds from the display.
SKIPPER: Well known along the Murray as one-time skipper of the paddleboat Elizabeth, Mr H.J. Kelly, died at his home in Seventh Street aged 70. Born in Brunswick, the family moved to Tarcoola Station on the Darling then to Wentworth then Echuca. Until 1913 he worked for Permewan Wright on the Murrumbidgee as skipper for several boats. In 1913, he was appointed skipper of the First Mildura Irrigation Trust’s boat the Elizabeth with her string of barges with which she hauled logs for the FMIT pumping stations.
BUILDER: Mr Samuel James Highmore Sherring, a pioneer Mildura builder, died at the home of his granddaughter at Merbein on Monday night. Mr Sherring was 95 years of age. He had lived in the district for 58 years. He was a building contractor until he retired 40 years ago and constructed St Margaret’s Church, the old Post Office, Merbein Winery, and the Convent school at Wentworth, and Rio Vista with another builder. He was foundation member of the Settlers Club. He leaves three daughters, Mrs W.G. Hellyer, Mrs A.E. Hillier and Mrs A. Thomson of Melbourne.
50 YEARS AGO: 1975
ANNIVERSARY: Ouyen will be 75 years old this week and a full week’s celebration has been organised. An official reception is to be held in the RSL Hall, and there will be golf and evening pictures at the Community Club. Tours will be held around the Hattah Lakes and the Walpeup Research Station. A Back to Ouyen Ball will be held in the Public Hall along with a modern dance in the VRI hall and a sports afternoon at Blackburn Park. A street procession will be led by the Mildura Brass Band and Swan Hill Pipe Band.GUEST: A senior Foreign Affairs Department representative, Mr Neil Truscott will be a guest speaker at this week’s Mildura Lion’s Club meeting, He has been a member of the Australian Foreign Service since 1943 and has served in missions in Wattington, Singapore, Jakarta and Bonn, as Consul-General in San Francisco and Ambassador to Lebanon. During the war he served with the Royal Australian Navy. BUSINESSMAN: Sunraysia lost one of its most respected business leaders with the passing of Mr Frederick William Shilliday — he was 73. He and his brother John ran the family business until their retirement in 1962 having taken over from their father, the late John Heron Shilliday who founded it in 1888. The first store was built in Madden Avenue where the Central Guest House now stands. Later a new store was built on the corner of Madden Avenue – now a service station. In 1919 they moved to the corner of Eighth Street and Langtree Avenue until 1944 when it was destroyed by fire. Frederick returned from New Guinea where he was serving with the RAAF to help rebuild the store. Frederick was a top oarsman with the Mildura Rowing team, winning many trophies and a foundation member of the Mildura Golf Club, he stayed living in Chaffey Avenue. Many will remember the help he gave during the 1956 floods when staff members were directed to various points to stem the rising floodwaters, sending many trucks to Wentworth. He helped people who were suffering great hardship. John moved to Mentone with his family.
25 YEARS AGO: 2000
PROJECT: Students at the Mildura Alternative Education Setting have embarked on a project to shift a rotunda purchased from the Mildura Base Hospital to enhance the garden at the Thirteenth Street centre. The students had poured concrete footings in preparation for the arrival of the rotunda and bolted the sections back together while a large crane was used to lower the crane into position. MAES has been offering local primary and secondary schools a service which caters for children who are not coping very well in the mainstream education setting.WARNING: The onset of winter has brought with it a warning from the Country Fire Authority to be fire conscious when using electrical and combustion heaters. Using the “metre-heater” rule around heaters and open fires was a good start. This means all clothing and furniture should be at least one metre from heaters when in use. Ideally you should have guards in front of heaters especially wood heaters. Clothing can get to ignition temperatures when oil heaters are used to dry clothes on them. EXTRACTION: One of the exciting new industries in the Murray Valley and Sunraysia could eventually be the extraction and value adding of the region’s major curse-Salt. At Lake Tutchewop, a pilot plant has been built there and developed for the Murray Darling Basin and the Natural Resources and Environment Department. They are extracting magnesium hydroxide and other products. As an example, it requires 24 megaliths of saline water, about the amount to fill 24 olympic-sized pools to extract 720 tonnes of magnesium hydroxide, 1400 tonnes of halite (top quality salt used in the food industry), 240 tonnes of gypsum (which could be a bentonite replacement to seal irrigation channels) and 1.5 tonnes of calcium carbonate, a dust suppressant. The magnesium extracted can be used in the next generation of car engines.
