The MITCHAM HISTORIcal society
IncORPORATED NEWSLETTER
POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 903 Mitcham Shopping Centre S. A. 5062
Web Site: http://www.mitchamhistoricalsociety.org.au/bgHistory.htm
Volume 8 Number 2 March 2015
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Title Page / 1 / Editorial, Disclaimer, Privacy Act / 2Chairperson’s Report / 3 / An Important Request For Help / 4
Calendar of Events / 5 / Rich & Famous of Urrbrae Flier / 6
Mt Torrens, Mt Pleasant, Springton / 7 / Brownhill Creek – Ellison’s Gully / 8
Caillet’s Monorail / 9 / No Dam Group Report / 12
Lake Killalpannina / 14 / What is it? /
17
An Eclipse of the Sun / 21 / Gold & Silver Robbery, 1850. /22
Lost Child / 23 / End Page /24
OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2014 – 15
Patron:Chairperson Julie Hogan / Julie Hogan / Tel 0430 472 262
45676676676676676676676
Vice-Chairperson
Editor / Richard Irving / Tel: 8272 9707
Treasurer / Brian Angus
Secretary / Cheryl Schneider
Committee Members / Trish Cosh
John Wood
EDITORIAL
The Mitcham Historical Society’s Newsletter “Mitcham Memories” has grown from a small, twelve page edition, that in many ways, had a lot of maturing to do. After nearly 8 years, I think it has well and truly matured into a very interesting and informative publication. A glance at the content of this edition shows a wide spread of local, South Australian and Australian history, encompassing many different topics, from a creek, a railway, a lake and also an eclipse of the Sun!
History is all around us. When we travel, on holidays, every town and village has a story to tell. Spare some time to find out the history of the next town you stay in. It will be very interesting.
DISCLAIMER
Views and opinions expressed in articles in the Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mitcham Historical Society Inc. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of articles printed, responsibility is not accepted for any errors they may contain that are out of the Society’s control.
THE PRIVACY ACT
A member’s personal information collected by the Society, for example name, address and telephone number, will only be used for forwarding of the Newsletter and relevant information concerning the Society. The information will not be shared, sold or given to any third party without the member’s consent. Any e-mails will be treated as above. However, any information sent by e-mail will be at the sender’s risk and the Society will not be held responsible for any unintended use or disclosure of this.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We gratefully acknowledge and thank Martin Hamilton-Smith. M. P., and his office for their assistance in the printing of this Newsletter
MESSAGE FROM CHAIRPERSON: JULIE HOGAN
Welcome back everyone and I hope you all had a great Christmas Break. I personally found the time went by too fast, as it seems to these days and life was busy. First up in February, Brian Angas organised a City of Adelaide Clipper Guided Tour and this was enjoyed by all participants. We have our annual Twilight Walk on 16th March, in the capable leadership of Glen Woodward. We will be exploring the “Rich and Famous of Urrbrae and Springfield” and by January I already had received many bookings for this popular walk. The bus trip in April, which will take in the sights and history of Mount Torrens, Mount Pleasant and Springton is an event not to be missed. For the May About Time Festival activities we will again be conducting the Brownhill Creek Ellison’s Gully walks. It is imperative that we continue to raise public awareness concerning the No Dam issue. This year we will have the initial walk on Sunday 10th of May hosted by Rick Irving, (who by now must know just about every nook and cranny in the two valleys) and Andrew Tilley will be taking the other two remaining walks. The month of June has proven in the past to have been a difficult month in which to attract events, mostly due to its wintery inclement aspect, so we have skipped to July for the next event. This will be another musical evening in the Drawing Room at Scotch College. John Wood organised a brilliant function last year and we hope this one will be as equally successful. John has been an invaluable Committee Member and we all hope for his speedy recovery from recent heart surgery. I hope that members will find something of interest in our 2015 programme and I look forward to catching up at our events.
“Love at first sight saves a lot of time.” US Comedian Milton Berle
A Request for Assistance
On Conducting the
Brownhill Creek – Ellison’s Gully Walks in May 2015 and beyond.
As you are probably aware, the Mitcham Historical Society organize and conduct a number of walks into the Brownhill Creek – Ellison’s Gully area each year, during History Month.
Late last year, the Committee made the decision that we, the Mitcham Historical Society, would continue to do this each year, on a permanent basis.
In order to successfully conduct these walks, we need an absolute minimum of two people, a leader (usually me) and one other person who, among other things, helps to make sure we know exactly how many we have on the walk, both at the beginning and at the end.
It is also a distinct advantage if we are able to have more than the absolutely necessary two people, and it is this that I wish to bring to your attention, a request for assistance in conducting these walks.
We usually organize three separate walks in May, and some times we find that some members of the Committee can not be present for varying reasons, and we need willing and interested volunteers to help us with these walks.
If you think that you may be interested, please contact either July Hogan () or myself ()
Thank You,
Rick Irving
Calendar
March, April, May
MARCH 16TH MONDAY - TWILIGHT WALK
“The Rich and Famous of Urrbrae and Springfield”
Walk conducted by Glen Woodward
Meet at Unley High School: at 6.15pm
Cost: $5 includes refreshments - RSVP by 12th March
Contact: Julie Hogan: 0430 472 262
Email:
» » »»» » » » » »»» » » » » »»» » »
APRIL 19th SUNDAY - BUS TOUR
MOUNT TORRENS, MOUNT PLEASANT & SPRINGTON
“The glue that holds small communities together”
Cost: $79 for members, $89 non-members
includes morning tea and lunch
Bus Departs from Mitcham Council Car Park @ 9.15 am
Limited seats so book early to avoid disappointment
Contact: Julie Hogan, 0430 472 262
Email:
Cheryl Schneider: 8357 7726 or 0421 358804
Email:
» » »»» » » » » »»» » » » » »»» » »
MAY - About Time SA’s HISTORY FESTIVAL ACTIVITY
BROWNHILL CREEK/ELLISON’S GULLY HISTORICAL WALK
SUNDAY 10th, SATURDAY 16th & SUNDAY 24th MAY
For FIRST Walk, Contact: Richard Irving 8272 9707
or email:
OR Julie Hogan 0430 472 262
For SECOND & THIRD Walks, Contact Julie Hogan, as above.
BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL
Julie Hogan, 0430 472 262 Email:
Caillet’s Monorail System.
There appeared the following advertisement in the Advertiser early in 1914. It reads “MONORAIL (Caillet's) Plant, in good order, consisting of 2 trucks, rails, and sole plates. Can be inspected at Unley Corporation quarries. Apply City Surveyor, Unley. [1]
What is, or was, Caillet’s Monorail? One interesting answer can be read in an article describing a farm monorail. It is described as “Caillet's 'wheelbarrow,' or—to give it the proper name— mono railway. The article, below describes one use of the monorail system.
“A system of transportation which promises to become a boon and a blessing to South Australian farmers, especially those in such districts as Pinnaroo and Loxton, where the absence of stone renders road making extremely costly, and the sandy nature of the soil greatly hinders vehicular traffic, is Caillet's 'wheelbarrow,' or—to give it the proper name— mono railway. As was mentioned in The Register a couple of months ago, the system has only a single rail laid direct on to the surface of the ground, and supported by small sole plates hooked on to the inside of the rail, which is joined to its next fellow by means of scabbard fishplates. Although there is only one rail there may be two or four wheels to each truck or carriage, but those are all in the same plane. Sleepers are not required, nor does the road bed need to be ballasted. Moreover, the trucks can go up hill and down dale, and the line of rails may be snakelike in its zigzag tortuosity. Indeed in every respect it is a most accommodating railway. The handcars have wheels 10 in. in diameter, but the larger vehicles intended to be propelled by mules or horses, have 20 in. wheels. The traction of the cars is effected from the sides with the aid of one (or two) tube levers, and the mere effort of propulsion is sufficient to maintain the balance. The trucks have two angle-iron levers connected by movable shafts, into which the horse is harnessed. The space between the bottom of the vehicles and the rail never exceeds a few inches, and the centre of gravity is thus kept as low as possible, thereby minimising the effort required for maintaining their equilibrium. In fact the only weight exercised is that of, say the shafts of a dogcart whose whole weight rests upon the wheels. When the car is at rest it lies over on one side, and so cannot run away downhill. Some of the cars have movable sides for carrying ballast, coal, grain, or other heavy produce, but pannier sides can be substituted when tight bulky stuff, such as hay has to be dealt with. The railway, it is claimed, is the cheapest in tho world, and costs less than a fifth of the ordinary light tramway. Since the publication of the previous article numerous enquiries have been received at this office for details of the system, and so impressed is one big landholder that he has resolved to instal it on his property. Others have warmly commended it, and there is no doubt that the day is not far distant when the farm mono railway will be a prominent and highly profitable institution in the agricultural areas of South Australia.” [2]
Interestingly, the South Australian Government more than expressed an interest in the system, as this article shows: “The Minister of Agriculture (Hon. J. P. Wilson) is thinking seriously of laying a mono-railway between Roseworthy railway station and the Agricultural College, over which passengers and freight may be carried. The Government have not yet decided upon anything definite, but trials have been made at Roseworthy of a horse traction mono-rail truck built by the Railways Department, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands will leave Adelaide to-day for Loxton, where he will inspect a mono-railway on the property of the Loxton Farming Company. It is understood that, the Government are considering the advisability of laying such railways as spur lines all over the country. The principle is that the horse is attached by shafts to the side of the vehicle and keeps it balanced. The road to Roseworthy College from, the railway station, 3 miles distant, is in a bad condition, and the Government, rather than go to the expense of repairing it, may lay a mono line, the cost of which it is thought will not exceed £7 a-mile. The rails would be attached to steel sleepers, which can be laid on the surface-of the ground, making the line portable. Only a little levelling would be required. The proposed line is on the Caillet system. One horse can draw 14 tons over such a line with gradients up to 5 per cent. The road to the college is Government property, and the line will probably be laid along it. There is also a proposal under consideration to use a plank with a steel rail let in it, and wheelbarrows, with grooved wheels, to load vessels with, instead of wheeling the barrows up the plain plank.” [3]
The most wonderful railway system in the world, the mono railway, owes its existence to a simple contrivance by M. Caillet, a French engineer in Tonquin. He was confronted with a difficulty in conveying materials from the coast to an inland settlement, and devised a single railway line, which he built a few feet from the ground. For this he constituted a train of basket cars, an equal number either side, thus balancing them as a Chinaman balances his baskets. There were, however, a number of ground level mono railways before the Frenchman's clever invention, the cars being kept on an even keel by harnessing horses at the side of them. A few such lines are to be found in South America, particularly in Mexico, where a tram car of the style shown in the picture is a favorite vehicle in sparsely populated districts. This runs on a narrow-rounded rail, a grooved wheel projecting each end and a horse at tho side manages to balance the machine and at the same time trot with it backwards and forwards, between tho points of its journey. Such a car holds twelve passengers, four riding abreast, and tho motion of the vehicle is said to be tho slightest known in railway travelling. [4]
NAIRNE RAILWAY LINE— ADELAIDE TO MITCHAM. On that portion of the southern line of railway from Adelaide to Mitcham, some 2600 olive-trees were planted. Of this number there are now 2,400 alive, and doing well. The soil and situation being well adapted to the successful growth of the olive it is anticipated that the result of this plantation will ultimately bear satisfactory returns to the Government. [5]
The facts contained in the Brown Hill Keswick Creek Stormwater Management Plan: Part B Report are unequivocal. A dam in Brownhill Creek is no longer feasible and cannot have any justifiable place in the final Brown Hill Keswick Creek Stormwater Management Plan.