By the early sixties, the once vibrant river trade had faded on the Murray and boats sat idle in locations along the river waiting for the next phase of their lives to begin. One such vessel was the Gem, which had sat for almost 10 years near Mildura and by the time she was purchased by the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, vital items such as her engine were gone. Captain Paddy Hogg was commissioned with the task of moving the Gem to her new home and did so by towing her behind the Oscar W. They left Mildura in late 1962 and in this episode we hear the story of the last stage of the journey that took place in mid 1963, after a low river forced had them to stop and wait for higher water.
When the two old river boats had departed Mildura in late 1962, amateur photographer Keith Melberg took several photos of the event seen below. We’ve previously published these but thought it was a good opportunity to do so again, having found out a little more information on the contents of the photos. For example in the right hand photo you’ll notice a small launch, which we’re told belonged to well known photographer Frank Zaetta. That’s most probably Frank standing on the cabin top taking a photo of the two paddle boats. In the same shot you’ll see Keith Melberg’s family surveying the scene.
Sound from the TV documentary featured in this episode was discovered in a wonderful collection of historic audio tapes recorded by Eddy Hazelman. Thanks to Adam Auditori for rescuing the tapes and to Garry Briant for his assistance in restoring a suitable machine to play them on. Thanks also to Frank Tucker and Athol Melberg in helping source the images.
Some information received after posting on this topic tells us that prior to the sale of the Gem to Swan Hill, Arthur Mansell MLC made funds available to Mildura to set up a Pioneer Settlement on Mildura’s riverfront. The offer was rejected by the Mildura council and as Swan Hill was in the same electorate the offer was made and accepted by them.
I know it’s easy to be wise in hindsight, but it was a pity the Mildura Council of the time rejected the government’s offer to set up a pioneer settlement on our riverfront.