FACTS ABOUT MINTARO.
FACTS ABOUT MINTARO. [From a Correspondent.] The name of Mintaro has for many years been associated with the famous flagstone quarries, but there are other things for which it is noted, but which, perhaps, it is as well not to mention. We sometimes do the right things, but usually in the wrong way, or at the wrong time. At present we are suffering through somebody’s bungling. We have only one road to the railway, a distance of four miles—at least, only one road that is passable during wet weather. A few weeks ago the Government pulled down the old bridge over the Wokie Creek, on the station road, and have started (or I believe they have started) to erect a new one. This work, we are told, will take three months to do; but, judging from the present prospect, it looks to me that it may take much longer. It must be remembered, however, that this is not a mere culvert, but a bridge with a span of 10 yards! Meanwhile traffic to and from the railway is diverted through a slough of despond for 300 yards. There is no such thing as going over this. You may or may not get through. Recently I saw a trolly there, embedded to the axles. The next time I passed it had disappeared—whether entirely swallowed up or not, I don’t know. Our local storekeepers have to back all of their goods across a plank over the bridge, or where the bridge will eventually be. We thought to have been able to use Farrell’s Flat Station pro tem.; but our district council, with its keen foresight, stopped that little game by having carted out several chains of rough metal on this road, and leaving it unbroken. As there is a stream of water and slush on each side of this unbroken stone, it is impossible to get through except; by wading. I had almost forgotten to mention one privilege which Mintaro enjoys—We are allowed to send a telegram 200 miles for 6d.—a saving of 3d. If we want to send a message to the railway station, four miles, it goes first to Burra, thence to Adelaide, and is then repeated to the railway station. If we want a reply to the message, we may have to wait some hours for it, and if the waiting has to be done at the hotel the saving is not very great after all. I believe all that is wanted to connect us with the railway station is about 10 yards of new wire; but, as the Government is practising rigid economy, we can hardly expect this to be done yet awhile. The P.M.G. recently stated that the telegraph service was not paying, and that the cost was 25/ for every £1 taken. The wonder is that the cost is not much greater. Probably, if this service were taken over by the State again, the cost would be about 15/ instead of 25/, and we should be better served.
A CHANGING LIFE. AN OCTOGENARIAN’S EXPERIENCES.
A CHANGING LIFE. AN OCTOGENARIAN’S EXPERIENCES. Not every man who passes into the honored ranks of the octogenarians bear the burden of his years as well as does Mr. George McLeish. This gentleman, who resides with his niece (Mrs. A. W. Brown), at Princes-street, Alberton, celebrates his eighty-first birthday to-day. Mr. McLeish has passed 76 years in South Australia, and the vigorous life of the early settler seems to have agreed with his northern blood. He comes from Glasgow. He is still active and takes much delight in gardening. He came to South Australia with his parents in the brig Dauntless in 1839. Though he was very young, he remembers the arrival at the “Old Port” in March of 1840. Like the women and other children, he was carried ashore in the safe arms of a sailor. The Early Days. “We lived for two or three years at what was then called Immigration Square—a place close to the site of West Terrace Cemetery,” said Mr. McLeish, conversing with a representative of “The Advertiser.” “Our rations we obtained from a Government store at the foot of Montefiore Hill. [image] [Mr. George McLeish.] My father was employed in quarrying for the Government at a point near the spot on which the present Government House was afterwards built. My job was to carry to him his dinner. My father decided to go on the land, and so we moved out to a section a mile from Modbury, in the Upper Dry Creek district. The country was thickly covered with scrub and the work was hard. I wore my first pair of boots when 12 years of age and at 13 I drove a pair of bullocks with loads of dry wattle for fuel to North Adelaide. The payment was 2/6 for each load. This work and the use of the crosscut saw kept me busy. After some months we possessed four bullocks, and then I carted sheaoak to the limekilns near the Windmill Hotel on the North-road, and also to Margarey’s flourmill at Hindmarsh and Cook’s mill at Hackney. The price for sheaoak was 15/- a load. I remember Adelaide of those days well. The streets were muddy, and there were heavily timbered patches in the city. Bullock teams were constantly seen in the streets. The houses were thatched with reeds from the Reedbeds. Our second move was made about 1850. Father obtained some sections near Mintaro with allotments in the town. Until we had a three-roomed house built we had to live in tents. My work now became the cartage of ore from the Burra copper mines to Port Adelaide and Port Wakefield. The transport of coal or coke made the return trips profitable. My six bullock team hauled a load of 3½ tons, and the payment was £2 to £2 10/ a ton each way. The times were certainly prosperous, but hardships had to be borne. During the summer months water was scarce and the dust was choking. In order to avoid the heat we did most of the travelling at night. The last rest on the way to Port Wakefield was about 18 miles from the port, on the Wakefield River. ‘Jimmy Dunn’s Bridge” it was called. The Gold Rush. When I was 17 years old we received news that gold had been discovered in Victoria. My two brothers immediately set off for the fields, and were soon doing so well that they sent for my father and myself. They provided us with gold to the weight of 1 lb. to pay our passages. We shipped in a brig that took three weeks to make Port Melbourne. Then, carrying swags and provisions, we tramped for a week. Upon our arrival at the place where my brothers were working, we received disappointing news. The claim reserved for us had been jumped, and the new owner afterwards removed from it 40 lb. of gold. We joined a prospecting party, but made no more than a living. My father returned to South Australia, and I followed him about a year later. Later I went to Castlemaine with William Cook, but I became ill and all my cash was swamped up in bills for medical attention. We could not equip ourselves for digging, and so we accepted work at Back Creek, five miles from Castlemaine. We started off at 30/- a week and our keep, after a few days the boss found that we could manage bullocks better than the others, and we were rewarded with £3 a week. Eventually we managed to purchase a horse and dray, and we journeyed overland to South Australia, passing through the desert and over the Coorong. I married in 1858 and then set out after gold once more. My brother-in-law (Mr. John Tickle), who now lives at Prospect, started with me on a journey to the Snowy River. At Beechworth, however, we met thousands of men returning from the scene of this latest rush. We then invested and lost, our money in a claim at Spring Creek. A contract on the railway being constructed from Melbourne to Beechworth came the way of a party of eight we had joined. We bought a horse and cart, but we lost all on account of the hardness of blasting. I had sufficient money to take me home. Mr. Tickle, and my brother Martin, now residing at Unley, started to walk to Adelaide by the River Murray route—about 800 miles.” Fortune Smiles. When he returned to Mintaro, Mr. McLeish did contracting work for the Lower Midland and North Midland Road Boards. At the rate of about £11 a chain, he made several roads, bridges, embankments, and culverts. Stonebreakers, to whom he sublet contracts, made as much as £8 weekly. Success at last came to the man who had borne many vicissitudes, and he was able to retire for a few years. He was one of the promoters of the Mintaro Slate Company, and on the first directorate became associated with
LOOKING BACK BY G MCLEISH
LOOKING BACK. Mr. G. McLeish’s Story. Mr. George McLeish a former well-known resident of Mintaro, will celebrat (sic) his eighty-first birthday to-day. Time has dealt kindly with him, for despite many vicissitudes and a life full of energy and hard work, he has in a wonderful degree maintained both physical and mental alertness, and at the home of his niece, Mrs. A. W. Brown, of Princes street, Alberton, exhibits an activity in gardening pursuits that is truly astonishing. —Landed in 1840.— Mr. McLeish’s parents were among the earliest colonists in South Australia. They left Glasgow, in the brig Dauntless in 1839. and landed at the Old Port in March of the following year. “My father’s first move,” he told a reporter, ‘was to upper Dry Creek, where he took up a section of land within a mile of Modbury. My recollection of this period is associated with hard work The crosscut saw was constantly in my hands, and at 13 I drove [image- screenshot taken 22/1/2022] [Mr. GEORGE MCLEISH.] a pair of bullocks, conveying dry wattle for burning into North Adelaide, receiving for each load the handsome sum of 2/6. I did that for months, until we teemed four bullocks, and then I thought I was a man. I carried in sheaoak to the limekilns close to the Windmill Hotel at 15/ a load, and did the same to Magarey’s flourmill at Hindmarsh, and to Cook’s mill at Hackney. About 1850 father took up some sections close to Mintaro, with allotments in the township. We lived in tents until a three-roomed house was built. The famous Burra Copper Mines had been opened, and I engaged in the cartage of ore to Port Adelaide and Port Wakefield. —Visits to Victorian Goldfields.— “In the latter end of 1852 news reached us of the gold finds in Victoria. I made three trips there altogether. My two brothers preceded me, and did so well that they sent for my father and myself. I was then 17 years of age. My brother sent us 1 lb. weight of gold to pay our passages. The brig in which we voyaged to Port Melbourne occupied three weeks, and another week was spent in travelling on foot with swags and provisions to the place where my brothers were located. On arrival we found to our disappointment that the claim taken out by them for us had been jumped. It was the irony of fate that the new owners took out of it 40 lb. of the precious metal. My father and I, with four others, made up a prospecting party, but we only just managed to make a living. —Unprofitable Railway Contract— “The third trip to the goldfields was after my marriage in 1858, this time to Snowy River. My brother-in-law, Mr. John Tickle (now living at Prospect) and I reached Beechworth, and there we met thousands of men coming back from the new rush. We went no further, but bought a claim at Spring Creek. We lost our money, on account of water difficulties in the shaft, and took a contract on the railway line then being constructed to Beechworth from Melbourne. There were eight in the party, and we purchased horses and carts, but experienced another financial wreck, because of the unexpected hardness of the blasting operations, and were unable to complete the contract. Fortunately, I had enough money saved to take me home. Mr. Tickle and my brother (Mr. Martin McLeish), who is now living at Unley, tramped back down the River Murray route to Adelaide, a distance of 800 miles. —Success at Mintaro.— “On my return to Mintaro I started contracting with the Lower Midland and North Midland Roads Boards, sitting at Riverton and Clare respectively, and made a number of roads, bridges, embankments, and culverts for those bodies at the rate of about £11 a chain. Fortune smiled on me, and eventually I retired from business for a few years. I was one of the promoters of the Mintaro Slate Company, and remained a director until the death of my wife in 1900, then sold out the Mintaro interests, and went to live at North Adelaide.
DISTRICT COUNCILS
District Councils. MINTARO, May 1. Present— All. Tenders accepted—Contract No. 10, J. Ryan, £1 12s 6d par chain. For making a new assessment, T. J. Horgan, £15. Tenders for rolling maintenance to be re-advertised. The clerk to get portion of the cemetery re-surveyed, Nominations to be received until Saturday, June 12, 1916, for the election of three councillors in place of Crs. Tickle, Faulkner, and Roberts, and for one auditor in place of Mr. J. C. Hunt, all of whom retire by rotation, but are eligible for re-election. Mr. A. Hay appointed returning officer. Tenders to be called for fencing portion of the cemetery, and for five years’ lease of the portion fenced off. Also for making 17½ chains new road near Martindale station, and for several chains reforming in Hill River Ward. 600 yards mainteance to be broken at the quarry; left to clerk. Payments— General, £23 10s 6d; Main Road, £33 10s 7d.
NAMES OF RAILWAY STATIONS. MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS.
NAMES OF RAILWAY STATIONS. MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS. Mr. Alfred N. Day, Secretary to the Railways Comissioner, has, with the assistance of particularly Messrs. J. C. B. Moncrieff (Chief Engineer for Railways), E. M. Smith (Surveyor-General), H. C. Talbot, R. Cockburn, C.H. Harris, and R. Mercer, produced an interesting and valuable pamphlet giving the derivation and meaning of the names of the railway stations in South Australia. The following is the substance of the publication:— … Farrell’s Flat.—Derives its name from the fact that shepherd by the name of Farrell was lost in the locality. … Manoora.—A native name, believed to have reference to ‘spring’ or ‘water.’ The town was founded in 1830, and takes its name from the ‘Spring,’ a favourite camping ground of the natives at that time. … Mintaro.—A word of Spanish origin, meaning ‘camping or resting place.’
SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS
KOORINGA CENTRAL (BURRA). Hon. Local Representative—T. W. Wilkinson, Esq. — School Examinations. — Miss Malone, Mintaro Railway.— P.D. (dis.), pianoforte, M. Horgan. Sisters of St. Joseph Convent— E.D. (pass), pianoforte, G. Nieman; P.D. (pass), pianoforte, D. Rowe, V. Bruce.
Mintaro news
MINTARO, August 11. Owing to the slackness of trade at the Mintaro Flagstone Qurries (sic), the company had to dispense with twelve of their employes (sic) on Saturday last, which will be bad for the tradespeople of the town. Twelve months ago there were 47 men employed on the two quarries, at present there are only 14 employed. An earthquake shock was experienced at Mintaro on Thursday, Aug. 6, which caused several articles at Pulford Bros’, store and at different residences of the town to fall. It lasted for a few seconds. The weather is still keeping very dry, and the farmers would now welcome about two inches of rain for the crops and fallowing.
Church News
CHURCH NEWS Mintaro. The teachers and scholars of the Sunday school, at the close of Sunday afternoon session, took the opportunity of saying good-bye to Mrs. E. G. Priest—one of their oldest teachers who has been connected with the church and Sunday school for over thirty years. Mr. J. C. Hunt, the superintendant, on behalf of the school and congregation, presented Mrs. Priest with a silver afternoon tea service, appropriately inscribed. Eulogistic reference to the good work and untiring enthusiasm of the departing guest was made by Mr. A. Priaulx and A. L. Sandow. The secretary, Mr. Geo. Pulford, in a neat little speech, thanked the school, on behalf of Mrs. Priest, who leaves Mintaro, to take up her abode in Prospect.
LABOR NEWS. MINTARO RELAYING WORKMEN.
LABOR NEWS. MINTARO RELAYING WORKMEN. It is understood that the trouble that occurred a fortnight ago among the men engaged on the relaying railway work at Mintaro, over a non-unionist, has not been settled satisfactorily to all concerned, and yesterday afternoon Mr. J. Murphy (secretary of the U.L.U.), in response to a telegram, left by train for Mintaro.
TROUBLE AT MINTARO. NON-UNIONIST OBJECTED TO.
TROUBLE AT MINTARO. NON-UNIONIST OBJECTED TO. Mintaro, December 9. The navvies employed at the Mintaro station on the railway relaying declined to start work yesterday at noon, as one of their number refused to take a ticket in the union. The head authorities being on the scene immediately paid them off, as they could not settle the dispute. Over 100 men returned to the city by the afternoon train. The cause of dispute is a Seventh Day Adventist, who will not work the full week. He says he is wiling to subscribe to the union, but will not abide by their rules. Work on the relaying is now at a standstill.