A Torrens Creek Memento

Gerald and Sandy Appo were in Torrens Creek recently and brought with them a present for Linda and Wayne Collin. The couple were presented with a didgeridoo crafted for them by their son Jerrard and painted with traditional motives by his sisters.
The couple were also treated to a lesson. Gerald demonstrated how to coax the different sounds from the instrument and showed how each stick produces individual sounds, comparing an older, wider one to the straighter new one.
After a couple of false starts Wayne produced some creditable sounds. The challenge now is facing the master next visit.
The Appos have been manufacturing these musical instruments for over ten years at their Currimine Beach home. A successful family concern, the sticks are much sort after and are sold all over the world.
The sticks are harvested around the Torrens Creek area, so the didge is a fitting memento for our first lady police officer and her husband. Unfortunately appropriate sticks are becoming harder to find, only hollow ones are used and the search entails quite a bit of travelling and testing, often

An Exchange of Cultures.

21st October.

The Exchange Hotel was thumping last night as Austour travellers enjoyed their taste of outback hospitality.
The European tourists enjoyed their overnight stay in Torrens Creek and mixed with the locals as they danced to music from the hotel’s up-to- date Juke Box.
Torrens Creek is a regular stop-over for Austour, bringing a mixtures of cultures throughout the year, injecting life into our town.
Locals and tourists both learn a little about another world.

Melbourne Cup Luncheon 4th November.

The Exchange Hotel

invites you all

to join them at

The Melbourne Cup Day Luncheon

($15.00 per head

includes a free glas of Champaigne -

pleas book before 31st October.)

Watch the race on the big screen,

in comfort.

Best hat competition for Ladies

plus the usual sweeps.

Phone 47 417378

From the Editors Desk

I’d forgotten how interesting gathering the news is. And how the oddest things lead to another item. Take the poem on page 7 for example. I guess I had to be naïve to imagine that our troops weren’t used as guinea pigs. It changes my perspective of the virgin beaches of the north somewhat.
This spring has given us some early storms. By my reckoning they are about a month early. Along with the storms we seem to have a wider variety of bird life this season. A bower bird has taken up lodgings in our fiddlewood. His repertoire entertains me and confuses the poor dog. I figure the bird is tempted by a blue glass bead welded in the wind-chimes near where he camps.
Hawks are prolific too. They hover and swoop over me as I take Bandit for his run. Both of us are a bit big for them so I guess it is just curiosity or the thermals which they come for. My speed on the road is legendary.
We have a new neighbour behind us. Where, I believe, the Bank and manual Telephone Exchange used to be. Mrs Clark wasn’t home the day I called to say, “Hello” and I haven’t been able to get back again. That brings our population back up to 19. Wow.
Alice Folkart has written another piece. I hope you enjoy her exploring? This story reminds me of discovering our ghost when we first arrived here. I still hear him occasionally, but it is not the same as when he used to turn on our television between 4 and 5 am. That happened until we finally unplugged the television before we went to bed.
Christmas season is on us again. Mad shopping and shipping ahead, even with the economy the way it is. I plan to be early this year, no leaving things to the last minute. I’ve learned my lesson. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break and next year will be all you can wish for. Frances.

Small Town Syndrome?

Our small township's divided,
We aren't speaking again!
They feel they are God's chosen -
what's that say for Them?

We stir pots in the kitchen
huddle in a gossip's conclave,
dream of a life without Them,
isolation makes them act brave.

Burdens are layered upon Them,
slandered by whispered word
so, ignorant of misdemeanor,
no disclaimer is heard.

Festering grudges and hatred
is how all wars begin.
Feuding fuels fragile egos -
there's no way We or Them win.
Frances Mackay (c) 19-7-08

Computer help

Got
Computer Problems?
Call Ken Mackay
for those Computer
Hardware Problems
you can’t fix.
Ph. 04 5854610
Or
47 417378

Price of Petrol in France

A thief in Paris planned to steal somepaintings from the Louvre.
After careful planning, he got past security,stole the paintings, and made it safely to his Van.
However, he was captured only two blocks away; when his van ran out of petrol.
When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied,
“Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings.' I had no Monet to buy Degas
to make the Van Gogh.'

Thank You

Thank You
To all the Locals
Who made Jillian and Marty welcome during their
Time here in Torrens Creek.

Terry and Carol.

Odd News.

An Interesting Read?
Author Mark Bauerlein has just had his new book released. Title “The Dumbest Generation,” sure to start a controversy. Seems Mr Bauerlein feels that those under 30 are in this category. Is he brave, foolish or just resistant to change? To review his book see the following web page. http://www.internetreviewofbooks.com/oct08/the_dumbest_generation.html More information on Page 7.

Contender for the Darwin Awards? Police say fake cop busted after stopping real one
HARTFORD, Conn. – Police say a Connecticut man playing police officer picked the wrong person to pull over. Israel Gomez was arrested Tuesday after pulling over an off-duty Hartford police lieutenant.
Police say 20-year-old Gomez turned on flashing lights and used a siren and loudspeaker to coax police Lt. Ronald Bair off the road.
Bair called for backup, and officers arrested Gomez and 20-year-old Esteban Cardona.
Gomez is charged with impersonating a police officer, reckless driving and improper use of red flashing lights. Cardona, who was driving another car involved in the bogus traffic stop, is charged with reckless driving. They were released on written promises to appear in court. The court says their dockets do not list attorneys. The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com

Snake Spoils Fashion Fun. A woman voted best-dressed at an Australian fashion contest was unable to collect her prize after she was bitten by a deadly snake, local media said on Monday.
Megan McDonough won the best-dressed contest at a horse race meeting at Hamilton in country Victoria state on Saturday, but was bitten by a Tiger snake before she could collect her prize.
"The judging had just been concluded. They were just giving them a final parade. And unfortunately Megan got bit on the foot," Hamilton Racing Club Secretary Manager John Donnelly told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
Tiger snakes are common in southeastern Australia during warm months and are among the world's deadliest snakes. Symptoms of a bite include localized pain, numbness and sweating, followed rapidly by breathing difficulties and paralysis. Of the world's 10 most deadly snakes, all are found in Australia, and the country has around 100 venomous varieties.
Donnelly said the woman was taken to hospital and was recovering well. "I've knocked around race courses a long time, and seen lots of things happen, but this is a first for me," he said.
(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Valerie Lee) CANBERRA (Reuters)

Remembrance Day—Unsung Heroes—still.

Private Mc Veigh.
By Viv. Bibby
When I came to Queensland, Harold said
not to touch the Birds-eye chilies.
Too hot for human use, yet swallowed
whole by lorikeets. “The fiery juice has
blinded some.” He knew from experience.

One Sunday, not too long before he died,
we talked about how many Kiwi soldiers
died, brothers in the Great War, a hundred
thousand from a population of one million.

A little drunk, he told me how for roughly
fifty pounds, a lot in nineteen forty two.
He’d tested poison gas for the Australian Army.
Marching, for hours on end. A dozen others,
with loaded packs, inside a concrete tank,
somewhere, still secret in the Tropic North.

He burned out his lungs and took to drink,
The money was to help Margaret and the boys.
He never marched on Anzac Day, just drank.
A quiet, bitter man, his Anzac story never told.

Tonight I harvest red hot chilies and marvel
at the deadly nightshade starry flowers.
Part of the genus that sustains mankind.
His wife boiled long grain rice each night.
It was the only food Harold could digest.
(story behind this poem is in the accompanying news article.)

Soldiers guinea pigs for chemical weapons in the North. August 15th, 2008
They worked under a shroud of secrecy in some of the most dangerous and unpredictable circumstances of World War II _ many on North Queensland soil.
They were burned and blinded _ two lost their lives _ and some were ridiculed for not serving overseas with the `real' soldiers.
Australia's little-known chemical weapons armourers dealt with the testing, storage and disposal of devastating substances such as phosgene and mustard gas. Some of their stories are detailed in Chemical Warfare in Australia, written by Defence Department employee Geoff Plunkett.
Bombs containing the lethal poisons were stored and disposed of at Talmoi, between Richmond and Julia Creek on the Flinders Highway, where the empty phosgene bomb casings were recycled to use as letterboxes, entrance markers and support stumps for the town's dance hall.
A research station at Bowen was a base for Beaufort bomber crews that sometimes tested the chemicals and equipment by spraying them on to human volunteers and animal test subjects at the Brook Islands, Mourilyan Harbour and Mission Beach.
Accounts in Plunkett's book give graphic descriptions of horrific burns suffered by human `guinea pigs' _ including one from armourer Vic Hicks, who was based at Innisfail.
"On Hinchinbrook Island I saw one of the guinea pigs . . . standing on the beach with his back turned to us," Mr Hicks recalled. "His back was just one mass of huge, long, wide, flat blisters _ it was a horrendous sight that drove home to us just how careful and vigilant we had to be and what we were dealing with.
"An English scientist was standing behind him, legs spread wide with a scalpel and his hand slicing open these huge blisters and the fluid was fast running in a flood down the rest of his body to the ground."
Kevin Garr spoke of being poisoned by phosgene gas _ which would hang in `pockets' near the ground until the wind blew it away _ at Talmoi.
"The pocket entered right next to me and I breathed it in," he told Plunkett. "I'm trying to get my respirator on and my arms are locked and I couldn't get the damn thing on and my lungs are on fire and eventually they noticed me, you know, carrying on, so they grabbed me and put my respirator on for me.
"Our medical orderly, a young bloke, went flying past me in a panic and (Flight Lieutenant) Myers got his Smith and Wesson out and brought him back under gunpoint."
More than 1000 chemical-loaded bombs were dumped in the Coral Sea off Townsville and Cardwell.
Stocks of weapons controlled by the United States were kept at Charters Towers and also at `Kangaroo', west of Toomulla Beach.
It started with WWII and by February 1942, Japan was feared for its stockpile of chemical weapons and its blatant disregard for their international control.
They had refused to sign the Geneva Protocol of 1925, and during attacks on China, had shown they were not afraid to use their lethal arsenal.
With such a merciless enemy close to our shores, the Australian Government established a retaliatory stockpile of its own to deter the Japanese from launching chemical attacks. Mustard gas was used in bombs by the RAAF and in a thickened form which was sprayed from aircraft.
It would burn and blister exposed skin, badly damage the eyes, respiratory and digestive tracts and destroy white blood cells. Phosgene, which caused `dryland drowning' when the nose, throat and lungs swelled and filled with fluid, was dispersed through the air as a fog. It was used in 250lb RAAF bombs and also as a chemical fill for the Army's 4.2-inch mortars and 5-inch rockets. (Townsville Bulletin, 15/08/2008)

Late Local News.

No—Michelle is not Accident Prone. despite featuring in The Telegraph two issues running.
But she is in the wars again. On Monday 20th, while working on the potato farm in Pentland she nose-dived from the farm’s ute after it ferried her from the harvester. She discovered how hard the earth actually is. Michelle suffered a broken big toe, damaged knee and left arm. When commenting on her accident it was obvious that her sense of humour was still intact.
Recent Visitors to Torrens Creek included
ex residents Gail Knudson, daughter Rebecca and two grandchildren. It was a sentimental journey to see their old home in Torrens Street. They stayed overnight and enjoyed the Saturday Night darts night.
Gail ran into another local ex resident recently at the Townsville Hospital.
Shirley Donaldson was in the waiting room with Ron. Shirley had broken her arm and was waiting for attention.

The Ambrose.

What's this Rubbish?

This is not how I would like our town promoted but, to be an honest reporter I have to show the good with the bad. This poster is displayed upon a resident's wall. The cat tally has been added to recently. The cat - another neutered pet - was killed, presumedly to draw attention to the clever??? play on words directed towards another member of the community. After the posting this brave Attention Deprived Person left town until the dust settled. He talks of a jihad against cats but this hate campaign is, in reality, concentrated towards the cat owners. The crime, says the brave defender of rights, is reporting him to the police. "Dobbing," he says. A false accusation, as it turns out. So, 7 neutered cats (plus vet. costs) and 10 years later, this dealer of local justice continues his reign. A simple call to the policeman of era time could clear the matter. But then what would our boy do for fun? Pull wings off flies?

What's This Rubbish?

Ask The Expert -

He Knows - and Peddles it.