It used to be said that today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapper . This was an abject lesson to newspaper journalists who thought themselves bigshots. No longer is yesterday’s news used to wrap the fishmonger’s delightfully smelling goods that cause twitching of the nostrils and salivation . The sad , but inevitable, fact is that online publications and other platforms are reducing the need for newsprint, in the process threatening the very existence of traditional newspapers as the advertising lifeblood retreats.
Recently Little Darwin was told how the old “tin bank ” site of the Northern Territory News , in Smith Street, near Christ Church Cathedral, came crashing down. It took place the day Banratty Castle won the Caulfield Cup , according to a man who helped level the building . ( A quick Google search turned up the year , 1968 , the year after the NT News moved to a new one -storey building in Mitchell Street, handy to the Hot and Cold Bar of the Hotel Darwin .)
Interestingly, much of the roofing iron from the pre-fabricated building and other bits and pieces went to the horse stables of police horseman , Bill Jacobs, at the 13 mile. From a place producing crusading fish and chip wrappers to a venue turning out manure-good for the garden.
Recently Little Darwin was told how the old “tin bank ” site of the Northern Territory News , in Smith Street, near Christ Church Cathedral, came crashing down. It took place the day Banratty Castle won the Caulfield Cup , according to a man who helped level the building . ( A quick Google search turned up the year , 1968 , the year after the NT News moved to a new one -storey building in Mitchell Street, handy to the Hot and Cold Bar of the Hotel Darwin .)
Interestingly, much of the roofing iron from the pre-fabricated building and other bits and pieces went to the horse stables of police horseman , Bill Jacobs, at the 13 mile. From a place producing crusading fish and chip wrappers to a venue turning out manure-good for the garden.
The large amount of lead in the roof found a ready scrapmetal market. Much interest was shown in the slate in the steps and along the front of the verandah . A large part of the building was constructed out of angle iron . Impurities in the iron caused much splattering when hit by the oxy-acetylene torch. Workman carrying out the demolition stopped to listen to the running of the Caulfield Cup . A usually happy gent listening to the story about the demise of the building, slapped his forehead and groaned on hearing mention of it having taken place the day Banratty Castle took out the Caulfield Cup.
It seems his wife had a dream in which a castle had figured, and she asked him if it was an omen for the Caulfield Cup. Scoffing at the suggestion, he looked at the field , elimated Banratty Castle, and saw a nag called something like Palatial Place , which he felt was the way to describe a castle. He lost his dough, and his wife repeatedly told him he should have followed her dream .
Darwin not only lost the tin bank ; for some unforgiveable reason, the old photographic files at Smith Street were taken to the tip. Photographer Joe Karlhuber , who set up and operated the first darkroom at the News , working under difficult and primitive conditions, lamented this tragic act,probably up until the day he died.
It seems his wife had a dream in which a castle had figured, and she asked him if it was an omen for the Caulfield Cup. Scoffing at the suggestion, he looked at the field , elimated Banratty Castle, and saw a nag called something like Palatial Place , which he felt was the way to describe a castle. He lost his dough, and his wife repeatedly told him he should have followed her dream .
Darwin not only lost the tin bank ; for some unforgiveable reason, the old photographic files at Smith Street were taken to the tip. Photographer Joe Karlhuber , who set up and operated the first darkroom at the News , working under difficult and primitive conditions, lamented this tragic act,probably up until the day he died.
During the demolition , what was thought to have been the old bank vault, covered over by timber, was found in the floor of the building . It could have been, but when Rupert Murdoch bought the News in the 1960s a secondhand rotary press was sent up from south and installed. From memory, it had a large pit underneath for service and inspection, which could give the impression of a vault .
