Presented by Mildura & District Historical Society

Compiled by Judi Hyde for Mildura Rural City Council Service

100 years ago

EARLY DAYS: The Bishop of Ballarat on a visit in 1888 wrote "On reaching the Murray on the opposite side to the irrigation colony, I was struck by the beauty of the scene and repented having called Mildura in print before seeing it, 'a frightening wilderness'. On this side of the river was a flat with grand forest trees then came the noble stream swinging its green depths around a gold-coloured sandbank. In Mildura were slopes spotted with picturesque white tents backed by a cliff of some 75-feet high. The riverbank below is hollowed into caves from which the native name 'Mildura' meaning 'red rock' came. Nothing could exceed the welcome at Mr Chaffey's residence, the homestead of the old sheep station." Very soon after the signing of the Chaffeys' agreement the Rev E. De Garis and Mr E. Holloway were deputed by the Wesleyan Methodist Home Mission to report on the establishment of a church and agreed that it was excellent to do so. They selected a site on the corner of Orange Avenue and Ninth Street and a deal for a church was signed. The Rev Trathan was the first minister to come and held the first service under the gum trees near the river in April 1888 before a congregation of 30 persons. The first building was of bark as timber was yet unavailable - they employed a number of blacks to strip the bark and dry it. The seats were made of crooked Mallee carried from the bush on the minister's shoulders, the floor was earth, no windows or pulpit. The structure collapsed in a windstorm. The late Wm Hillier used part of it as a chaff house and Mr Ben Willcock another portion as a workshop.

NEWS: The Ouyen Football Club had a very successful fancy dress ball – names and costumes worn are in S. Daily 3/10. At the meeting of the Mildura Floral Society, Mr Casey stood down as president and Mr Bennett, Merbein, was asked to be a sub-committee member in his place. Mr Anderson said that the river flood this year would not be as high as the 1917 flood when the sawmill was under 6ft of water, flood marks are still on the mill wall. Bricklayers working on the clock tower are now laying the four rings around the clockface, 50 ft from the ground. Above the dials a concrete lintel, which will carry the main cornice and superstructure is to be constructed. Workers are widening Seventh Street between Deakin and Langtree avenues and moving the palm trees another 6ft back from the road. Although the thoroughfares of Ouyen, in their natural state, are the same in any country town, they are dust beds in summer and quagmires in winter. Wentworth's effort to raise money for a memorial like the Workingman's Club in Mildura for their fallen district soldiers' is moving rapidly - enquiries for the figure and pedestal have been made in Adelaide. Almost 80 girls have decided to raise money to build a hostel under the YMCA club for 25,000 pounds after Miss Shilliday's speech where they could get rooms, recreation and meals.

ITEMS: A rather unusual wedding took place on a bridge as neither the bride from Yugoslavia or groom from Hungary had obtained a passport-visa. The borderline is in the middle of the bridge. The story of dehydration is a wonderfully interesting one, even better than refrigeration, as in a glut year, growers' losses are less and their gains more - especially after an abundant crop. The forecast for fashion is picturesque coat wraps in satin or silk lined with bibobs, georgette or floral silks for day or evening wear. There are slip-on coats in shantung, assam, silk poplin, and fine gabardine lined with floral silk. Capes and dolman-like wraps for spring or summer and dust-wraps in Tusmore. The sleeve yoke is new - deep at the front and back and deep armholes finished with a deep collar - there is also a deep brown gaberdine with gold stitching or cream serge coat.

75 years ago

LOCAL NEWS: Red Cliffs Food-for-Britain Appeal sent 2346 parcels - 1512 to Hull for the poor in that city and 724 were forwarded to individual addresses in the United Kingdom. Examinations for female telephonists will be held in Irymple and Merbein - applicants must not have been born earlier than November 3, 1927 or later than 1930 however this does not apply to former members of the forces. An officer of the Lands Department said that the incidence of grasshoppers over the Millewa and Carwarp areas was great. After a loss of several hours, trains on the Quorn and Port Augusta line in SA were able to complete the journey as the train wheels on steep grades were slipping - wheat had been spread across the cow catchers of locomotives to try and keep the hoppers away from the wheels. An unusual combination, radio set, phonograph and bookshelves, designed and built in Hardwood and Queensland Silky Oak at Shillidays, Mildura, for a local client has attracted much attention. The founders of the Merbein South RAOB Lodge No.122 extended a cordial invitation to members of other lodges to be present in the consecration ceremony to be held on Monday next in the Merbein South Hall.

NAZI: The 12 high Nazis who have been condemned to hang are about to perform their good service to humanity, for their execution, with its humiliation, will underline the supreme fact about war today - that it does not pay. If the regime had not been so atavistic, its mentality throwing back to the Middle Ages or beyond, it would have realised that the day of conquering races had gone. The executions will be carried out on October 16 - petitions for clemency from their sentences must be lodged within four days - all will exercise that right said The Times. Three acquitted Nazi's are refusing leave permits, to stay in jail as guests of the Americans. The British hangman, Pierrepont, has arrived at Nuremberg - he will be assisted by two American sergeants - later the only men who did not appeal were Kaltenbrunner, Speer and von Schirach.

NEWS: About 4800 years ago a Chinese ruler, Shen Nung, taught the people to plough in a portion of their crops and to use burnt rubbish as fertilizer. Confucius said: "Those whose ways are different do not make plans together". People of diverse ways had been able to plan together under the stress of war, but whether they could continue to do so under the stress of peace was one of the great problems confronting the world today. One person in every 250 in Australia was insane and 20 per cent suffered some kind of mental distress, said Dr Idris Morgan at the annual conference of district health inspectors. The closing date for the competition for the design of the Peace stamp has been extended to Nov 1. The four members of the Navy Neptune plane Turbulent Turtle who established a non-stop flying record of 11,237 miles were decorated with the DFC by the Secretary of the Navy on their arrival in Washington, USA.

50 years ago

DRIVERS: Driving a motorcycle on a footpath and also without a helmet cost a Mildura man $110 in court. Mr G. Sawyer is now called 'Lucky' as while driving in the Thousand Hills motor rally in SA his car rolled over five times at 70 mph. He and George Kerridge, his navigator, escaped with a few minor injuries thanks to full harness seat belts. Mr B. Power, SM, in the Wentworth Shire gave a man an ultimatum to either continue drinking or continue driving regarding his drinking habits. Police had to ask a motorist who was driving west in Eighth Street to "pull over" five times before he did. He seemed to be driving slumped over the wheel and on doing a U-turn his car moved from side to side then went through a stop sign. On Saturday, 100 vintage motorcycles, some of them almost priceless - will be on show. On Sunday, the vintage and veteran motorcycles will motor through Dareton, Wentworth, Merbein, Birdwoodton to the Warbird Museum to be put on display.

LOCAL: The Clarkes of Fourteenth Street were wondering what has happened to a magpie that befriended them. It came as an orphaned baby after its parents were killed and its sibling died, they fed and protected it from cats for three weeks and it became so tame it rode on the family collie dog's back. They would like it back and will give a puppy as a reward. More than 100 Girl Guides and Brownies from Mildura and Merbein spent two hours collecting roadside rubbish along three miles of Ranfurly Way. A Mildura beekeeper, Mr Emmins, is planning to establish a honey extracting industry here and is looking for sites to build a factory - there are about 5000 hives, the bees are attracted to at least a dozen different blossoms around Hattah.

RED CLIFFS: "That's my Grandfather" has been quite a common statement in Red Cliffs over the past few days - it comes from people visiting the collection of old photographs displayed in the Senior Citizen's Club as part of the Jubilee celebrations. Many of the photos are of the World War I Diggers who came to Red Cliffs as blockies. In the procession today, a 1926 utility which took the town's football team to matches is being vamped up by Barry Walker in the town's black and yellow - the teams of the '20s sat on sweat boxes as they bumped over sand dunes. Also a make-believe paddy wagon will be paraded. It was converted from a van by Alan Mason and will have two cons (aka builders) looking through the bars. Mr H. Goldup will have his 18-ton steam engine in the parade as he has been getting the veteran into apple pie order. People will be decked out in blazers, canes and boaters and old-time garb for the 50th birthday event. Memories of the early days are of Mr Alf Edwards who lived in "canvas town" where a packing shed now is. He sang songs of the early days, he and others, including Rupe Thompson, Mick Skinner, George Riley and Bert Henshall, formed the Red Cliffs Swimming Club. He did a lot of boxing, formed a boxing school, he was a member of the ADFA and the Buffalo Lodge and other institutions, farmed his block for 33 years, retiring in 1953.

25 years ago

ITEMS: A million-dollar marijuana crop of more than 700 cannabis plants was discovered by police concealed in dense scrub on Jojoba station north of Pomona. Mildura clubs are "dragging the chain" when it comes to adequately training their staff for medical emergencies, according to Mildura ambulance station assistant manager Mr Wilkins. The old Carwarp Railway Station building has been re-erected at the Pioneers Settlement in the Millewa and wildflowers are blooming nearby in the Murray Sunset country. Three classes of self-defence workshops for workers at risk, women, the elderly and people with limited ability are to be held at the Sunraysia Community Health Services. Two childhood schoolfriends, Muriel Hopgood, Adelaide, SA, and John Freeman, Wilkurra Station, NSW, caught up with each other at the Pomona Public School Back-To after 80 years. Sunglasses aren't just for the sun glare or for summer anymore - they are fashion accessories, models, film stars like Tom Cruise ... musicians like Elton John who found sunnies more hip than ordinary specs, Michael Jackson in his aviator glasses - the list goes on as famous brands like Oakleys, Blacklys, Anarchy, Exotica, Bausch and Lomb, then Salik who sold 111,000 pairs of Ray Bans, Wayfarers, when Cruise wore them in Risky Business.

LIGHTER SIDE TO LIFE: An elderly New Zealand man accidently pushed his car with his wife inside down a hill and over a 30m bank. When the police arrived, the car was found without a scratch and his wife, still inside, absorbed in her knitting, with only bruising to her arm, both in their 80s. He said the car's battery started to play up and he turned the ignition off and tried to push the car to the side of the road. When Prince Charles and Lady Diana returned to England after their Australian visit they took with them June Bank's-Smith artwork of Historic Melbourne. She has long had a fascination for fairies and elves and her paintings are often adorned with them, drawing them since she was a child of three and is now 69. Dragons are the timeless giants of literature and not all dragons are easily defeatable. Dragonlore formed a part of literature from immemorial times past to future times and other places. Writers and, C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon, J.R.Tolkein's Smaug met Bilbo and then, of course, there was St George and the Dragon and Sigurd and Fafnir, The Arthurian legends so they say you will be all right unless you look directly into the dragon's eye for then you will be lost.

MEN: There has been a freak shift in the wall of the Lake Hume Dam near Albury. Experts are trying to work out if it was caused by stabilisation work when fill was forced into part of the wall in remedial works costing the commission $6 million, its planned to drain 900,000 megalitres of water from the dam over two weeks into the Murray and its tributaries. An all-men's grade will be a feature of the Sunraysia twilight netball competition - it will allow men to compete under netball rules and show the ability and skills of males without the limitations of playing in a mixed grade. Two men pleaded guilty in the Mildura court in relation to Soda Bomb blasts, mostly pranks but one was used for revenge. Messrs Loughrey and Johnstone, from Melbourne are part of an artist's trio called Diptera (Latin for fly) who have put together a Blow Fly time bomb. It holds hundreds of pupa, sugar cubes and lollies as attractions for when the pupa hatch. They like to use phrases like "I'd like to be a fly on the wall" and "the Australian salute". Regardless of the blowies being an icon they say the Mortein will still have to come out if needed.