EARLY TERRITORY DIARY

In another   interesting  Darwin talk  on August 3    Thomas Barttelot Kelly   will retrace the steps of his great-grandfather from England to Australia and  later to Gallipoli and  Persia. Walter Barttelot was appointed  Aide de Camp to Lord Denman, Governor General of Australia , in 1911 .

A member of the 1912 Federal Parliamentary Party  which visited  the Territory , he was a talented  writer who   kept a diary  of  his  travels,  including a visit to the  Batchelor Demonstration Farm, south of Darwin ,  which  closed  in 1919. The  farm was  the  pet project of  Dr  John  Gilruth , controversial Administrator of  the Northern Territory during  this time ,  forced to  leave  Darwin  by  angry  residents  . 
 

 In l914 Barttelot  travelled overland back to  England where he joined his regiment  and  served  with  distinction in  France, Mesopotamia , Gallipoli  and Persia , where he was  killed in 1918.  

CAFE IS CAT'S WHISKERS

Tucked away in Townsville, North Queensland,  is the Cat's  Meow Café in what used  to be an old wares shop , part of  its  stock displayed  about  the  surprising  interior. Our  S(h)ipping  Reporter, looking for maritime  oddities,  recently ventured  into the  vintage  café and   soon  had  latte on his  whiskers , watched  by  a  shelf  of  cats .

The table  he sat at sipping  his latte, gazing about at the old bottles,  assorted china , Toby jugs , a variety of  bric-a-brac ,  was covered  with  pages  from  an action comic . A  fire truck  pedal car , below , was  inspected . 

 There  were  flights  of    ducks  and  a  pheasant  on a wall ,  early photographs .

The  café  is  located  in  shop 7, 262 Charters Towers  Road, Hermit Park  and is near a bookshop .  There is also a large  Lifeline store close by  from which our floating S(h)ipping  Reporter discovered  interesting  old  sheet  music which  will  feature  in  future  posts . 

 

The  expression  the   cat's whiskers  means   excellent , superior  or better  than  anyone .

TROUBADOURS ON THE MOVE

Above the ear splitting roar of the V8 racing cars in Townsville, a man who  had just arrived   on  the Spirit of Queensland  train from Cairns  stood out at the taxi rank . He wore  an  eye catching shirt  with  a  pattern  of  guitars , a  sensible  straw  hat , shorts.  Nearby , his  luggage included  what looked like a  large hatbox . On closer examination,  the painted  side  revealed  the  Confederate   flag   and  a  metal strip  which  read  Valiant . Engaged  in  conversation  above  the  roaring  cars,  he  said  he was  a  muso , the metal piece on  the hatbox  off  a  Valiant car  he once owned , his latest auto a  1954 Holden . And  inside  the hatbox was  his  squeezebox . 

In Cairns recently , this scribe discovered  the  place frequently  jumps to ukulele  music , about 40 players  seen   strumming  away  outside  an  hotel  in the  CBD  one  night , a real hoot . Ukulele playing has a  large following in North Queensland  and  groups feature in street  parades  and festivals .

At the ferry terminal in Townsville  a  man  with a  guitar , intent  on getting to  Broome , Western Australia ,  was  waiting  for   a   lift  in a car  going  to Darwin   in the Northern Territory .

JUKE BOX JUNKIES ON THE BUSES

Without  any  fanfare  and  unnoticed by the  local media , these new ticket machines, with  more than   20  buttons,   have  been   installed  in  Townsville  buses . They look  like  mini  juke boxes  or  part  of   a  new feminine  touch   to  the  gadgets in   Doctor   Who's  Tardis. The  fashionable space age looking  machine  has a card  swipe facility on the top , but  there are no  cards available , so many buttons  have to be  punched  to produce a  ticket. A bus driver described the  gizmos  as  second  hand ,  from  south  .     

SOON TO WALK THE PLANK TRUMP LINKED TO PACIFIC PIRATES !!!

 

Plastered across  the side of a building diagonally across  from the Murdoch  Townsville Bulletin , apparently unnoticed by the paper and other local  media , is this   sign  for an enterprising   firm , Coral Sea Property  Management , which claims to be  the pirates of  the industry and  flies  the skull and crossbones above its premises .  It features  the kisser of  US President  Donald J. Trump, and mention of a toupee-part of  a slick ( pomaded Brycreem ?)  message , not satisfied , no need to pay .  

MURDOCH CUTTING BACK AND MOVING OUT IN TROPICS ?

With media companies in North Australia  reducing  staff and shifting  into smaller premises in some  instances ,  this  large  billowing  for lease  banner  on  the Murdoch Townsville  Bulletin office  has  raised  eyebrows  and  questions.   Is  the  paper moving ,  down-sizing ? It is  not very old , built to replace the  former CBD  one found to contain asbestos .   In  recent  weeks   the  Murdoch  owned  Cairns Post  announced  three   experienced  staff members  have  departed .

 

One , Nick Trompf, had been with  News Corp Australia for   30 years , his latest  role general  manager of regional publishing . Two other "stalwarts" who  went  were  pictorial editor Marc McCormack ,  winner of three Walkley Awards , after  17 years,  and  sub editor Arthur Ingham , after  11 years, who had started his career in  Johannesburg  and  also worked  in  Hong Kong .   

 

 A while back a  sign on the small  Channel 10 studio in Townsville announced it  was   not closing,  just moving into a smaller office . This  was before   Channel 10 ran  into trouble , its   future now  uncertain . For many months  there has been a for sale sign on the  Cairns  building  in which Channel 7 is  located .

 

Darwin staff at Channel 9  has been  cut , evening  news   to be  compiled in Queensland. This  resulted in an angry response from locals, one   businessman suggested pulling  advertisements in protest.  In what was  seen as  a defensive  reaction to  the  threat  of  pulling  adverts , the  Murdoch Northern Territory News  said this would be counter productive to survival of  jobs and the station , perhaps fearful  that similar  protest  action could be taken against  the paper if  it scales down  operations  in  the  future ? 

 

 So what  is  going  on   at the Townsville Bulletin , which it is widely believed will become  a tri-weekly in the near future ?Speak  to  newsagents in   Townsville and  Cairns  and they freely admit they expect  the local Murdoch papers  to   be cut to  three  a week , there eventually being no hard copy newspapers  due to  smart  phones  and   digital  copies. 

 

While the  Townsville Bulletin recently  stopped  production of the free weekly Townsville  Sun , which became an insert  in the  Bulletin , the  Cairns equivalent is  still  running  as  an  insert . Both   Suns , as  was the original in Darwin  many   decades ago  ,  were  designed  to  stymie  competitors, anyone  thinking of starting  up  a new  publication .

RECOGNITION FOR SHAG ON A ROCK S(H)IPPING REPORTER

Veteran Melbourne  journalist, author and eagle-eyed chief sub editor   Kim Lockwood sent a surprising message to Little Darwin acknowledging the fact that our S(h)ipping Reporter  is indeed a  rare old seabird who justifiably  rails  about the failure of modern  North Australian  media to  cover  shipping activities  in  their own ports .  He  based this  apparent  praise  on the odd  treatment  given a possible  great  maritime mystery  in Darwin  which only rated  three paragraphs in  the Murdoch  Northern Territory  News .  It  featured this  supplied photograph of a raft with  a fold out  bed , a  large  esky  and a  canopy, washed up  on  rocks near  Charles Point .  

 

The report said the raft had been spotted by several vessels before it drifted into the main shipping channel  near  the entrance to Darwin Harbour and became a  hazard . It quoted  an  Acting  Superintendent ( shipping  or  police ? ) as saying it is  essential rafts are  "disposed  of " and  not left  behind to become  a danger to others .   

This write  up  Kim rightly  described as  "three  bland pars " about  shipping lanes , which  missed  the obvious , greater  possible angles.

Was someone trying to get  from  Darwin  to  Timor a la Ian Fairweather  (artist )  aboard a  flimsy  raft  in the early '50s? Or a  similar  attempt   by immigrant  Peter Pedaja who attempted to sail an  oil drum canoe  from Sydney to  New Zealand in  1959 ?


In respect of the mystery  raft , Kim asked  reporter like questions: Did  the passengers get  washed overboard? Or did they survive, and are now living  on  bush  tucker?  Could  a body  have been  washed  overboard , etc., etc. 

Alert readers of this blog will note that there is no mention in the  NT News story  of  the clearly visible SHARK GIRL  name on the canopy  and what appears to  be  the outline  of  substantial   mammaries , perhaps  the  work of a deranged  artist , adrift  at  sea   for a  long time , hallucinating , suffering   various  fantasies ? Other  lettering  appears to be part of  the  word  BOOMERANG . 

As  Kim and Judy  Lockwood  are   soon  to  land  in North Queensland , we  plan to   take  them   to  a  disreputable  waterfront  tavern  and thank him for saying nice things about  the  crusty  old  S(h)ipping  Reporter .