Over the years, this writer was privileged to meet many of the extraordinary people in that filmic town like Alice . One of them was the late Bernie Kilgariff, an unassuming, straight talking , determined man who next week will be given a state funeral .
In conversations with Bernie , he poured out details of many colourful Centralians who have now all crossed the Styx . They included such people as Mona Minahan , the wild Adelaide flapper sent to Alice by her parents in a vain bid to tame her and soon after arriving was in a car of revellers which hit a tree and killed a man ; the amazing Miss Olive Pink , regarded as an eccentric by many locals , sympathetic to Aboriginals, able to tell the time by flowers, ahead of her time ; the dashing, headstrong Works Department resident engineer , D. D. Smith, a James Cagney type, who showed me a government telegram, in effect, reprimanding him for preparing in advance for the WW11 construction of the Stuart Highway to Darwin ; Reg Harris, like Bernie, a community minded businessman who wrote a book of Alice memoirs ; punchy Lye Underdown ,of the Alice Springs Hotel , clutching a moneybag, who gleefully told me how he pissed over the railing of his pub onto a policeman who was snooping about at night and that he once bought the slab from the Darwin morgue at a war surplus auction to use in an Alice bakery ; wartime pilot ace Sam Calder , unfairly called Silent Sam; pioneering aviator Eddie Connellan ,an educated man , with strong views and political connections ; the frustrated Dutch artist, Henk Guth , who built Panorama Guth from which he sold many paintings of Centralian views to tourists , often producing two copies of Standley Chasm at the same time ; Colonel Rose , dressed in a sheet like the Shiek of Araby , pulled out a fire extinguisher and sprayed it over women in expensive frocks at a Christmas party and hushed an audience during a royal visit by telling them to shut up ; Peg and Jock Nelson who, like Bernie, were unassuming people and contributed much to the town and the broader Territory. Jock, of course, was an ALP politician and a former NT Administrator.
In conversations with Bernie , he poured out details of many colourful Centralians who have now all crossed the Styx . They included such people as Mona Minahan , the wild Adelaide flapper sent to Alice by her parents in a vain bid to tame her and soon after arriving was in a car of revellers which hit a tree and killed a man ; the amazing Miss Olive Pink , regarded as an eccentric by many locals , sympathetic to Aboriginals, able to tell the time by flowers, ahead of her time ; the dashing, headstrong Works Department resident engineer , D. D. Smith, a James Cagney type, who showed me a government telegram, in effect, reprimanding him for preparing in advance for the WW11 construction of the Stuart Highway to Darwin ; Reg Harris, like Bernie, a community minded businessman who wrote a book of Alice memoirs ; punchy Lye Underdown ,of the Alice Springs Hotel , clutching a moneybag, who gleefully told me how he pissed over the railing of his pub onto a policeman who was snooping about at night and that he once bought the slab from the Darwin morgue at a war surplus auction to use in an Alice bakery ; wartime pilot ace Sam Calder , unfairly called Silent Sam; pioneering aviator Eddie Connellan ,an educated man , with strong views and political connections ; the frustrated Dutch artist, Henk Guth , who built Panorama Guth from which he sold many paintings of Centralian views to tourists , often producing two copies of Standley Chasm at the same time ; Colonel Rose , dressed in a sheet like the Shiek of Araby , pulled out a fire extinguisher and sprayed it over women in expensive frocks at a Christmas party and hushed an audience during a royal visit by telling them to shut up ; Peg and Jock Nelson who, like Bernie, were unassuming people and contributed much to the town and the broader Territory. Jock, of course, was an ALP politician and a former NT Administrator.
In discussions with Bernie it was only natural that information was sought regarding the crusading editor Jim Bowditch who spent time in Alice , playing a large part in politics , stirring up the police and being branded a "commie" before moving up to the NT News in Darwin.
There were fabulous tales to tell about the early days of Tennant Creek where Mona Minahan , working for Bernie’s uncle, Joe Kilgariff , was present at the shooting death of a man . Joe Kilgariff also tore the roof off Mona’s store when she started up in competition against him. They later resumed their friendship and went into joint business. Other grand people and outback places were covered.
One story he told me concerned the arrival in Alice of the American Caesar, General Douglas MacArthur , who had fled the Philippines , landing at Batchelor, near Darwin ,his party continuing on to Alice. Bernie firmly stated he saw a dog in the general’s party . From Alice the Americans travelled south by rail and at the South Australian station of Terowie there is a plaque which states it was where General MacArthur first made his famous vow to return to the Philippines.
Author Xavier Herbert died in Alice trying to write a novel, the last in a trilogy about the Territory, based on the Centre . Before he set out for Alice he asked me to provide him with background on Alice and some of that distilled info obtained from talking to Bernie and other Alice residents went into the document. After reading the brief, Herbert said,”You should be writing this book.” There is truly an epic novel to be written about the Centre . The Alice saga would also lend itself to a TV series which a strong Northern Territory film industry could produce. Filed away in the Little Darwin archives is a photograph showing the collection of old bottles which formed a window display in the Kilgariff Oasis Motel. The Kilgariff household was a broad church politically ; Bernie , a Catholic, was a founding member of the Country Liberal Party and a daughter, Fran, ran for the Labor Party in the 2005 NT election.
There were fabulous tales to tell about the early days of Tennant Creek where Mona Minahan , working for Bernie’s uncle, Joe Kilgariff , was present at the shooting death of a man . Joe Kilgariff also tore the roof off Mona’s store when she started up in competition against him. They later resumed their friendship and went into joint business. Other grand people and outback places were covered.
One story he told me concerned the arrival in Alice of the American Caesar, General Douglas MacArthur , who had fled the Philippines , landing at Batchelor, near Darwin ,his party continuing on to Alice. Bernie firmly stated he saw a dog in the general’s party . From Alice the Americans travelled south by rail and at the South Australian station of Terowie there is a plaque which states it was where General MacArthur first made his famous vow to return to the Philippines.
Author Xavier Herbert died in Alice trying to write a novel, the last in a trilogy about the Territory, based on the Centre . Before he set out for Alice he asked me to provide him with background on Alice and some of that distilled info obtained from talking to Bernie and other Alice residents went into the document. After reading the brief, Herbert said,”You should be writing this book.” There is truly an epic novel to be written about the Centre . The Alice saga would also lend itself to a TV series which a strong Northern Territory film industry could produce. Filed away in the Little Darwin archives is a photograph showing the collection of old bottles which formed a window display in the Kilgariff Oasis Motel. The Kilgariff household was a broad church politically ; Bernie , a Catholic, was a founding member of the Country Liberal Party and a daughter, Fran, ran for the Labor Party in the 2005 NT election.
