Memories of the early days of Mannum district.

(These several “recollections” were contributed with thanks, by Helen Tuxford).

 

Lost Innocence by Dean Frahn.

My first school was the Cross Roads Primary School, 8km east of Mannum, which I first attended in 1948. This school closed down two years later, and the school bus then collected all the children and transported us to the "big" school of Mannum Higher Primary. Suddenly we were bereft of our innocence — the most startling change being that we had to wear shoes to school and instead of 14 of us there were 500. The little school was like home away from home as all the children of the seven grades were in one room and the older ones cared for the little ones, just as they would have done at home. There "amenities" were minimal. No electricity, no running water, no flush toilet, no paving, no nothing really. But we were happy, really happy, and our teacher, a Miss Davies, was just so beautiful and kind to us. The two things which I remember most clearly were the sharing of the tin pannikin at the rainwater tank and the aroma of the chalk we used on our slates. It seems I was there only yesterday.

 

CROSS ROADS SCHOOL CENTENARY CELEBRATION.

Memories, as told by Ella Crook.

 I was born in 1912, the youngest of five children born to Jim and Adeline Crook. We lived near Glenburr Road, Section 76, Hundred of Younghusband, and I did almost all of my schooling at Cross Roads.

In Grade 2 (1920) we had a teacher who used the 'stick' too much. He only lasted three months and was replaced by a very nice teacher, Allan Holland who boarded at Ted Standley's house. He played cricket and football with the boys and taught some of them boxing. The girls were taught dancing including how to waltz.

During the 1920's there was an increase of students as many families moved into the area known as 'The Rocks'. There was plenty of employment there extracting granite rock for building the locks up the river.

In 1925 - my last year of school, there were so many students that we were short of desks and forms to sit on. Our teacher, Beth Pryor. became ill and the school closed for the final six weeks of the year. Bert Haythorpe and I were in Grade 7 at the time, so we completed the school year at Stony Grove School. We then sat for our Qualifying Certificate at the Mannum School. Stony Grove School was very new and was built on land owned by Arthur Rathjen along the Glenburr Road. The teacher there at that time was Lillie Grigg. The school remained open until approx 1938.

Cross Roads School was also used as a Methodist Church up until about 1943-44. Organ players over the years were Miss Alma Schache, Mrs Mabel Rosenberg, Mrs Thelma Grace (nee Haythorpe) and then myself. Many locals attended these services, even some Lutherans.

The building was also used for dances_ and fund-raising functions.

Although I am unable to attend today's celebration, I hope it

all goes well.

 

Recollections, by John Lahme.

Floods and river levels have long been recorded, but it is some of the in between stories that have each their place in the history of time. Old river steamers, their captains and their crews, their stories of trading, hardships of being marooned after swiftly receding waters, miles from the main channel, and compelled, wait for the next rain or snow water to enable them to complete a delivery of produce or a load of wool to a port.

Then the decline of trade by the construction of railways, all tell a story of progress, and the downfall of others or just a fading out of those whose lames only appear on a plaque or engraved in a cement monument as a success story or the fulfilment of a project or scheme. While many who can recall and have suffered hardships, and seen despair ,all in the space of a lifetime.

The abundance of fish and game, the regular travelling of the aborigines, the opening of the river swamps as settlements, the construction of locks and barrages, seem to have passed as everyday happenings, and only now one may look pack through the pages of time and compare the pros and cons of how each have been until used or discarded subject to the whim of time or man.

Seeing steamers towing empty barges up past Bowhill, and returning without any sign of cargo, but travelling a lot slower, according to the run of the water and the tide; as at that time the river was tidal, made a lasting impression of how important the River Murray was then, and still more so now, as those barges were filled with fresh water for railways steam trains at Murray Bridge,

Being tidal before the construction of the several barrages at Goolwa had some advantages as well as nuisance values. Some fish in their natural environment moved upstream to spawn, while others went out to sea or salt water to complete their life cycle. Some caught in between were often seen stunned or dead, having been caught in a sudden surge of salt water; large Murray Cod being most notable.

Water birds were seen as forecasters of the rise or fall of the river as each had their habitats as conditions changed as Nature seemed so well organised, according to each change; the Widgeon a type of duck, now seldom seen, always appeared in big numbers on the approach of a flood or high river. Other birds of all types were more abundant as the waters receded and the swamps and lagoons contained myriads of trapped fish and crustacea.

The aborigine also appeared to move according to the season or abundance of food and the supply of natural elements that enabled them to travel to and fro and set up camp sites usually in the same locations at the end of their journey. They travelled in boats loaded to the gunwales with dogs and people and all their worldly possessions a happy go lucky tribe of folk , always with a wave and a greeting of goodwill to all.

Fish in abundance, eggs of the waterfowl, the skins of the water rat, the ever expanding plagues of the rabbits, and other animals, all dependent on the river, made their, life appear as part of Nature itself. .

Steamers towing Multiple barges transported huge red-gum logs from Victoria to be milled at Mannum and used on the spot in the manufacture of new and bigger steamers and barges in an area of the punts to the hotel of today,

Bullocks and horses transported great loads of grain & wool and other products to and from the river bank and often loaded bag by bag up a narrow plank, or a steam driven crane mounted on the foredeck of a steamer.

Piles of cut wood appeared at every landing, steamer wood cutting, all by axe, was an off- season job. A man and his wife in the early days as they felled the Mallee scrub, cut it into lengths, loaded it on to two sticks which they then carried to the edge of a cliff ,threw it all over, again picked up and carried to the river bank. All for the sum of one shilling a ton, and story has it that the man had to have a stick of tobacco as first draw on the proceeds.

World War I seemed to be a changing point in more ways than ever experienced before. The return of so many young fellows, now grown older and wiser, and in need of work saw a new development w use of the river and its lagoons.

Control banks were constructed, the river swamps were drained, channels were dug according to the contour in needs of the distribution of fresh water from the river, either by gravitation, or by pumping on to higher levels, and further drains to collect surplus salt water into a central point to be pumped back into the river.

Levees were first constructed on the outer edges of the lagoons by scooping the material, mostly mud, into the surveyed base by horse and man, trampled and packed by teams of bullocks continually on the move, and finally topped by men filling trucks on rails. Both bullocks and horses had their role to fill, as mud is inclined to stick thick on the wheels.

Filling the trucks by two man teams soon sorted out the slackers, or the man who never could, or would learn to handle a shovel. A good mate always enabled a spell between times as each line of trucks was hauled away.

The trucks were made to enable of tipping either side and the rails were mounted on light supports and lifted as the embankment reached the required length and height. Short hauls were handled by horst teams and later a type of powered loco appeared as the banks were topped.

To drain the initial low-lying areas, steam engine and pump mounted on a barge moored near the lower end of the swamp, and connected with flanged joined lengths of pipes for a suction line.

Then pumping units of solid construction were erected; and gradually as the necessary drainage and watering channels were excavated by machines made especially for the size and type of drain. A huge “a” line machine excavated the main salt and irrigation channels, while a smaller machine dug miles upon miles of minor drains.

The "A "line machine finished Baseby's swamp work after Neeta (Ponde) and Cowirra; it's huge frame straddled over a wide area enabled deep and wide cuts with little effort. In those days a feat worthy of great interest. To enable its travel from Neeta to Cowirra, two lanes were cut in a gully near middle Cowirra; one lane now-used as a road. Viewing them now reminds one of how big that machine must have been.

Early steam engines gave way to gas; still using wood, and later the same modified engines were converted to oil; and finally, all replaced by electric motors.

Wood was conveyed down the river in barges to the wharves and from there by rail trollies to the respective sheds and stacked nearby as high as man could manage, each six  foot length handled many times, some being classed today as small logs. Steam boilers needed little cutting. gas engines necessitated the wood again reduced to fifteen-inch lengths. Stories are told of snakes and other lizards being found coiled up in ropes on steamers and barges, of being still in the hollow logs, together with opossum, rats and even rabbits when finally put over the saw bench.

Conversion by a modified head enabled the use of oil; this was easier to transport by tanker barge and piped to storage tanks, and also allowed a reducing of a lot of manual labour and also in attendance as gas required two operators most of the time.

Initial draining and subsequent removal of flood waters saw thousands of tons of trapped fish having to be removed from the suction pipes and were carted away and used as fertiliser on orange trees, tip drays facilitated the final unloading.

Fishing around this time seemed a lucrative business as each part of the river had an allotted area, and all being worked full time. Murray Cod being the predominate, being sent to Melbourne or Adelaide according to availability of transport, all by river boats or steamers via Murray Bridge, thence by rail.

Around 1917 Wall Flat seemed to be the new area of development, as new, settlers, mostly returned men who had received some training at Pompoota, were allotted blocks and all were dairymen.

Names that come to mind; Mick Wundenberg, Clem Collins later to become MP, Bill Holland, Burton, George Harris, Glazbrook, Hopkins, Turners, Aberg, Keane, Andy Cloude, Bobridge, Bailey,O’Callaghan, Raggy Holland as settlers.

Day, Shaw, Glover, Hennigson, Opie, Macdonald, Melvin, Lahne, as employees of the Irrigation Dept. Over the hill to Walding, Mason as fishermen, then to Rathjen and Zadow as farmers.

A school of solid stone construction was later built; this saw lots of older children nearly ready to complete their 14-year term. This created some concern for the teachers, being harassed by a group of the older kids ganging up and making things unbearable for a new teacher just out of training; one only stayed 3 days, others not much longer.

Such items as a flying open pointed compass, a full ink well aimed at a white coated teacher, a chase down through a two-fence paddock, all added to a chequered career for some of those early teachers. In some instances, a few children crossed the river to Neeta to keep up their lessons.

To sit for the final Qualifying exam meant a pleasant drive to Mannum in a farmers big Dodge car; the driver picked others up along the way.

Wall Flat had a dual watering system on the swamp, the lower areas as in other swamps by opening of sluice gates and flooded by gravitation, and on higher swamp areas by pumping into cemented drains. The high ground was also set up for irrigation of fruit trees, but this never came to fruition

Plague numbers of rabbits created havoc, sand drift on high land got out of control, the thistle and other water born seeds of useless weeds spoilt pastures, road construction could not keep up with expanding areas, cars became bogged, even with chains on, in the mud, domestic water supplies were non-existent.

Ministers struggled to keep in touch with their parishioners, by travelling under difficulty to hold services where ever possible A C of E minister persisted for many years, Rev A.L Bulbeck later to be elevated to Archdeacon, his old Ford, would drive to Ponde, be crossed over to Wall ,hold service in the school,  and then to Pompoota via Survey Hill, a notorious narrow track up a very steep hill. Relying on tightness of transmission bands-and amount of petrol in the tank, or vacuum tank, straight ahead was no problem, failure of either often meant reversing near the summit, then going up in reverse what a feat.

This same minister on hearing of a settler on Cowirra being in hospital yoked up two horses and wagon and carted that man's hay.

Rev Bulbeck was also Scoutmaster in Mannum for many years, some will remember an ode he wrote for the local paper after a Scouting camp for the local boys held at Seacliff.

Crossing between Wall and Ponde sometimes caused a hassle, as late arrivals would find the several boats on one side. Story has it that one good swimmer had to strip off and swim over and bring a row a boat back to pick up his party, no easy feat on a dark cold night.

Going to a concert at Ponde one dark night, a young Scottish bride complained of a prickle on her leg, on being told it was only a scotch thistle, her quick ply was, "That's nae a Scotch thistle" which is evidently a true fact, as the national emblem as such is prickle free.

Engineers from time immemorial seemed to have been designated by an oil can in one hand and a bunch of cleaning rags in the other, but they all have that knack of spit and polish, and the polished brass, as their engines and workshops were always tidy and clean, although their job was always among grease and oil, dust, smoke and fumes. Like an inspector of schools, the chief engineer who was sponsible for any major repairs, always expected his staff to uphold the tradition, so that he had perfect conditions to complete his job and enable as little as possible delay of an engine out of action,

The removal of ashes, the fire-bricking of furnaces, the cleansing of filters and general maintenance of big sheds to house huge engines with limited power must today go down in history of dedicated men, on meagre wages, by todays working standards. Today’s equipment, doing the same pumping, needs little attention and housed in small buildings.

Snakes have been depicted and stories written since Adam and Eve, but one man who was given the job of trying to thin them out on the levee bank at Ponde by shooting, had to give up Eventually as his health was affected seeing too many, even in his sleep.

Bureaucratic protection now in force seems to have turned a blind eye to the actual natural increase in large numbers of snakes, crocodile, turtle, water-rat, and their effect on fish, fowl and man.

24 live young in a Tiger snake that had been killed by a mowing machine, was further eclipsed by a batch of 28 in the same area, gives some rather startling idea of how such prolific breeding will soon cause an increase in numbers, not only dangerous to man and beast. Terrible is the death of an inquisitive animal struck by only a small reptile. Duck's nests in hollow trees, another haunt for hungry snakes, quail nests in lucerne another favoured haunt.

The ever-present turtle was for years listed as a pest, for its nuisance to the fishermen, robbing nets, eating of fish and frog spawn; in early days was subject to a destruction levy of one penny a head, delivered to a police station.

Water rats, caught for their skins in large numbers never seemed to diminish as aborigine and white man trapped them for their fine furred pelts. Their presence in large numbers now playing havoc to fish in nets, frog and fish spawn, and the increasing, and agonising sight of seeing a mother duck trying to protect her brood from an underwater attack. Hawks have always been an enemy or predator of newly hatched ducklings from the air, but being able to dive made escape possible, only to be confronted by a hungry rat.

One summers evening as the trading steamer Pyap, then run by the Eudunda Farmers Co-Op, was Moored at Wall, a huge Carpet snake was seen heading shore-wards via a mooring rope and was only saved by the fireman arriving to explain that it and another of the same species were housed in the lower bilges to act as rat catchers. The disappearance of Carpet Snake has been attributed to the wily old fox, together with a lot of our birds, that like the Carpet snake, which hatched.

 

During the 1933 flood the Mannum punt was out of action and a local motor-boat was used to convey passengers and goods to and fro; the Eudunda Farmers hired a local farmer in a two horse van to transport one of their employees to deliver groceries, etc to surrounding areas and to pick up eggs and other produce. Picking up a hitchhiker one fine day, carrying on his back on ordinary looking wheat bag, but containing an extra ordinary collection of snakes he had collected along the flooded edges of the river. His offer to open the bag for further inspection was not accepted, value one pound per foot live.

Many more could have been collected, especially when trying to clear the telephone line, which was only a few inches off the water and each pole was a haven for stranded reptiles, mostly Tiger snakes.

When the northern end of the bank at Cowirra collapsed a twenty-foot length of timber was pushed down with ease as if in quick-sand, the roadway stemmed the initial flow of water until it also gave way, enabling plenty of time for final evacuation of stock. The full length of the bank was eventually covered by approx. two to three feet of water, thus proving the hopelessness of any chance of stemming that height of water.

Many herds were culled, others were agisted, others even took to the roads and milked their cows with portable machines, even by hand, and thus saved a group of breeders to enable production to proceed once the water receded enough to enable grazing on the quick growing vegetation, even some of the seeds of sown grasses had survived the inundation.

On the declaration of World War II, men were sworn in as special constables and rostered guard duty at the pumping stations in case of sabotage or interference overnight. Home guards were later trained and equipped in case of emergency.

1927-28 saw the allottees start to arrive on Cowirra, not as returned men but as farmers from surrounding areas securing irrigated feed to supplement dry land properties as well as a few starting dairying .

Early names that have persevered with floods, bad times, rabbits, sand drifts, poor prices, increased costs, only two families have carried on: Dabinett and Frahn, both names would rank as originals, not only on Cowirra, but as farmers north, of Mannum. Rathjen from Stoney Grove, Len and Frank Burt from Cross Roads, Lahne and Loxton, Hese, Peter Bock, Fred Lahne former clerk and foreman of Mannum council, Ted Haythorpe, and later Winter, Rhue and George Weidenhofer were allotted extra to their Ponde holdings. Roy Burt took over from Len Burt and Ray Rathjen followed. Rudolph Fiebert an early allottee.

George Fletcher lived in the old homestead on the northern end prior to taking up his block on Ponde. Dabinett originally lived in the house above the engine station, earlier occupied by Hatwood, who earlier had moved to Baseby’s swamp. Frank Burt took over from Ledo, Lintern and Haby who built the new home.

Hand milking in a leaky straw roofed shed, and pestered by summer flies, separating by hand, feeding calves and pigs with the skim milk mixed with bran, and pollard was a tedious job, not to mention dodging kicks from sore teated cows.

The installing of a two-unit New Zealandia milking machine in a water proof cement floored shed, and selling whole milk, even though it had to be carted to Bulls Tree landing twice daily in Summer, acted as a great relief to a very tedious occupation.

Starting at a price of one shilling and three pence a gallon seemed a fortune until the depression of the early thirties saw the price plunge: to four pence a gallon. Rising prices of commerce and control saw some farmers take years to get out of debt. Debt adjustment was a government relief scheme to assist needy cases.

Dairy men were always interested in a co-op scheme, and a visit and a meeting with the then newly formed Kenton Valley dairy men illustrated the advantage of such a venture.

Eventually the city milk supplier firm of J.Schofield and Sons started a milk collecting run to Cowitra, a pick up from dairy door proved a boon, and the run soon extended to Ponde, and in later years to up river and Springton.

This intrusion on other firms caused quite a furore, and resulted in the Dairymen’s Association expelling all of its members who supplied the new city milk distributer, without even giving those members a chance to put their case.

New planting of the swamp areas consisted of a main lucerne paddock, which was utilised as the supplement green fodder, and the surplus cured and stored as hay or ensilage for winter feed, while maize, millet, sorghum and other quick growing high yielding grasses, together with grain cover crops were planted annually. These high labour-intensive methods soon gave way to all pasture grasses and clovers. The two-horse mower, the dump rake, the scythe, and the slasher now only museum items, together with the tip-dray and the wagon.

A story should be told of the young lady, who, not only herded and milked cows, fed calves, cleaned the dairy, in between cleaned channels cut scotchies, and in her spare time, trapped rabbits for a bit of spare cash rode a bike to and fro and said it was good for her muscles. True story.

Celebrations of all sorts, dances in the little hall at Cross Roads, fare-well and welcome home parties, tin-kettling, travelling concert parties, seem to have gradually become items for the book of memories.

Arbour days regularly held each year, lectures and lessons given, trees planted, and should have been great, tree lots by now; but through lack of the right selections, shortage of water, and finally due to the poor fencing and lack of care little shade on hot days is very noticeable.

School and Sunday school picnics with their bantam rooster chase for the, young-ones, and the greasy pig chase for the more agile, all had amusement for those who had the interest and time to arrange and attend; Sandy Creek, or better known Mannum waterfalls, was a favourite site, to paddle in the creek or climb the rocky gorge, or just sit in the shade of the trees and enjoy a cool drink and share in the goodie baskets.

To see the first Ford car in the main street at Mannum; owner always opened front and back doors of his garage for safety’s sake in case he misjudged the braking power.; soon followed by the solid tyred truck and steel wheeled tractors.

To hear the first wireless messages from a cabinet with many dials, and a very high ariel, was then, and still is an event to record. Other firsts did not have such an impact as news of the world foreshadowed what we could expect. Events of today were portrayed in comics of fantasy of yesteryear.

Fodder conservation and channel cleaning drudgery has been taken over by machines, herbage selection has improved; cattle selection has reached a peak, selective sprays to control weeds have seen great advances.

Man, alone has still to work with Nature 365 days of the year; control watering, cleanse the machines, sheds and yards; supervise and select grazing areas, study the weather; careful and studious selection and recording of the herd; day in day out and all night sometimes; he is a real specialist in all facets of existence.

The water boot, the insignia of his or her trade, aided little by insecticide to control the worm, the bug, the beetle and the pestering flies. Some control with supplementary feed to control the green cow yard paint; the electric fence to keep in due bounds the unruly animal, or the cantankerous bull, (or A.I. to do without),the wide tyred motor bike to handle most conditions, hay on the  highlands may dodge the mud but it still needs machines to collect, and stack, as ensilage, green feed or hay.

Push button start motors, milk pick up at the door, bulk feed to silos, two way radio, water proof sheds, cement floored yards and holding pens, I.B.P. to model the perfect :-animal, computers to handle the book work, to write the cheques and order the spare parts, mail delivered to the gate; agricultural advice by T V and radio, and pamphlets and brochures telling all and sundry, what to do, how and when to do it,  where to go, how to get there; all costly.

The automatic gate or car door opener, or the water to run down the right channel, or the cow trough cleaning, the broken fence, the blown urn water heater, a power blackout, the sick animal, the break down, al1 fall to the persistent and personal touch of the successful and down to earth cow cocky

So have we arrived at a point near perfection, or going backwards with stress and greed overtaking mankind in his blindness of environmental disaster, Will the pollution of our river be controlled, will the proposed waste disposal unit operate safely, will the resulting salination damage that is gradually encroaching on farmland areas be rectified; imports of pests!, the wasp, the toad, the noxious carp; the water hyacinth threat; the toxin content of the milk cart, dieback; trees along the highways being affected by road vehicle fumes, high levels of radiation.; and finally the ozone threat of the next century.

The heating up of the atmosphere as forecast suggests higher tides; will this nullify the lower barrages to control the entry of seawater, resulting to a return of a tidal river; the flooding of the swamps and a return to their natural state. Reclamation would be useless. Islands and sandhills around the barrages would have to be strengthened and heightened as even today flash tides make inroads beyond and behind their limited control.

History is now taking another twist as we see the decline of the big tourist steamer being sidelined by the houseboat and the trailer-sailer, aided by the construction of marinas and safe harbours for pleasure craft all along the waterfront. All adding to a pollution problem and above all a serious threat to our water supplies statewide.

 

 

*(N.B. I have posted this as presented in the original authors own expressions and words except where computer copying and conversion made obvious errors that needed correction).