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(Cairns
Regional Councillor 2008- 2012)
Diane arrived
in Cairns from Melbourne 21 years ago and stayed, she has two adult daughters
and one gorgeous grandson.
Diane
was the Director of a Drug and Alcohol rehabilitation service for 12 years
before being elected as Councillor for Division 7 in 2008.
Diane
has many life experiences including working with at risk and disadvantaged
young people, owning and managing her own restaurant; and a public servant
with the Victorian Education Department. Diane is also an active volunteer
for many worthy causes and organisations.
Diane
is passionate about the Cairns region with its tropical beauty and uniqueness
and works tirelessly to maintain that uniqueness whilst planning for
sustainable growth. Maintaining and
protecting our treasured buildings
and tropical lifestyle is very important to Diane.
On
a broader regional level, Diane has been involved in many community engagement
activities and causes; she has been involved with a large number of community
organizations holding many executive positions. Diane is committed to the
principles of sustainable environments and appropriate tropical development
with a vibrant and creative arts and cultural heart
As
a volunteer and employee Diane has been an activist in the areas of
disability, public education, homelessness, at risk young people, affordable
housing, women’s issues and the rights of minority groups.
In
2004 Diane was part of a collective with other community based leaders
initiating the Cairns Regional Alliance of Social Services, which brought
together concerned and pro-active social service providers to identify
current issues affecting marginalised and disadvantaged people and find
possible solutions.
Diane’s
experience as an elected representative is extensive and covers local,
regional, State & National bodies; she is currently a board member of the
Australasian Professional Society for Alcohol and other Drugs and Secretary
of the Association of Local Government Women’s Association Qld.Diane is a
long term member of the Australian Labor Party and Australian Services Union
Diane
completed a Diploma in Solution Oriented Counselling and Hypnosis and was a
founding member, and past-president of the Association of Solution Oriented
Counsellors and Hypnotherapists of Australia (ASOCHA), Diane was also on the
National Register of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of
Australasia (PACFA), until her election to Local Government.[i]
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Friday, August 3, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
FORD Dr Carole
FORD Dr Carole TITC; Cert A; BA (Hons); MEd (Hons); PhD After an extensive and outstanding career as an early childhood teacher in Victoria, Dr Carole Ford was awarded a Pro Vice-Chancellor’s scholarship to complete a PhD in Women's Studies, and subsequently lectured in Women’s Studies at Deakin University.
Her personal success in a number of sports – netball, cricket, athletics and distance running – evolved into community commitment to sports coaching and administration at both the junior and senior level.
As well as teaching, marriage, motherhood and sport, Carole’s interest in issues related to social justice and, more particularly equity for woman, provided many challenges. She was Deputy Chairperson of the Mornington Peninsula Community Health Service; Chair of the Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers and Residents Association; presented an hour-long feminist program on community radio; stood as a candidate for State Parliament; trained and presented as a state-wide volunteer speaker for Amnesty International; and was a foundation member of the very successful and high-profile Southern Women’s Action Network.
Seeking a warmer climate, the family relocated to Cairns from the Mornington Peninsula for what her children laughingly described as their mother’s semi-retirement. Carole was appointed as the Equity and Disability Officer at TNQ TAFE and was innovative in developing programs and services to ensure access and equity for a diversity of students and their families. At TAFE, she initiated the perpetual Joan Trewern Award in partnership with Ruth's Women's Shelter, to recognise a female student who has overcome adversity to achieve their goal.
Carole was also involved in the original project to establish Girls with Spark (a training program for female electricians), which was one of the first programs in Australia designed to encourage women to gain entry into male dominated trades.
Far from retirement, Carole has recently completed a MEd (Hons) research degree and is enrolled in a Post Graduate Diploma in Law (for non-Law graduates). She is a former secretary of the Peninsula Branch of the Association of Women Educators and continues to contribute to their conferences and journal. Her involvement as developer and convenor of the Cairns Women's Network provided an excellent opportunity to engage with a diversity of wonderful women in the region and resulted in the establishment of ProChoice Cairns with Carla Gorton. This advocacy and action group continues in its endeavour to remove abortion from the criminal code in Queensland, to bring our health system into line with the rest of Australia.
Carole has written a number of occasional articles for print media, and from personal experience, recognised the incredible increase in violent and sexist language directed towards women in newspapers, on television ,and though electronic means. Relishing another challenge, she has made a commitment to action, through a range of initiatives including an awareness raising project with women from the Cairns Women’s Network, and also an open letter format in conjunction with a number of other women’s networks and organisations. Each year since arriving in Cairns, Carole has been a very active member – and more recently coordinator - of the organising committee for the International Women’s Day Dinner, which raises funds for Ruth’s Shelter. Encouraged by an enthusiastic response to create a women’s performing arts group, Carole provided a guiding hand in the establishment of Red Pavilion, which successfully staged performances of “The Vagina Monologues” as a fund-raiser for Ruth’s Shelter, and the group is planning further forays into the world of theatre.
To fill in any spare moments, Carole trained as a mentor for the Cape York Institute, and completed the preparation program with The Pyjama Foundation. As a Pyjama Angel she is involved as a volunteer in developing a love of literacy (and some literacy skills) by working one-on-one with children in foster care. Her hobbies include reading, thread and textile handcrafts, sewing clothes and soft toys for an increasing number of young grandchildren, politics and flying (she has 20 hours flying training logged). Carole has been married to John for 43 years, and they have three adult children.
Reference: Email from Carole Ford to Juanita Van Dam May 13, 2012 2:25:16 AM GMT+10:00
(c)Marjorie Earl photograph.
FOGG Ellis D ( FOLEY Roger)
Ellis D Fogg is the pseudonym of Roger Foley (born 24 January 1942) who the National Film and Sound Archive have described as Australia's "most innovative lighting designer and lumino kinetic sculptor." The term Lumino Kinetic Art was first used in 1966 by Frank Popper, Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Paris.[1] Early life
Foley was born in Cairns, Queensland and attended Newington College (1957–1959).[2] In the late 1960s he started designing rock concerts and psychedelic light shows. His experimental light shows through to the 1970s were precursors to present multi-media installation.
Yellow House
He was one of a group of artists who worked and exhibited at the Yellow House Artist Collective in Potts Point. The Yellow House was founded by artist Martin Sharp and between 1970 and 1973 was a piece of living art and a mecca to pop art. The canvas was the house itself and almost every wall, floor and ceiling became part of the gallery. Many well-known artists, including George Gittoes, Brett Whiteley, Peter Kingston, Albie Thoms and Greg Weight, helped to create the multi-media performance art space that may have been Australia's first 24 hour-a-day happening.[3] Current work While continuing as an artist Foley is a producer of light shows and architectural theming for festivals and events. He was part of the Yellow House Retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1992 and was a finalist in the Blake Prize for Religious Art in 2003 and 2007.
References 1. ^ Fogg Productions Pty Ltd 2. ^ Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp66 3. ^ Transcript of TV interview by George Negus of some of the Yellow House artists on 15 September 2003 Bibliography • Mr Fogg's Music Hall, Jim Anderson (2007) • Teen Riots to Generation X - The Australian Rock Audience, Peter Cox & Louise Douglas (Powerhouse Publishing, 1993) • The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock & Roll, Toby Creswell & Martin Fabinyi (Random House, 1999) • Festival and Event Management, I McDonnell, J Allen & W O'Toole (Jacaranda Wiley Ltd, 1999) pp 252–253 & 258 • Ubu Films - Sydney Underground Movies 1965-1970, Peter Mudie (UNSW Press, 1997) • Polemics for a New Cinema, Albie Thoms (Wild and Wooley, 1977) • Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, Don Watson (Random House 2002) pp 333–337 • Kevin Kearney - Audio Artist, Sound Designer, Analogue Location Sound Recordist Vol. One, Brody T. Lorraine (iUniverse, USA, 2007) pp 91 & 107
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_D_Fogg Downloaded 18 May 2012
<http://www.google.com.au/imgres?hl=en&biw=982&bih=406&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=PaiDtcvhC89_MM:&imgrefurl=http://www.theleader.com.au/news/local/news/general/tripping-the-light-fantastic/1753993.aspx&docid=EtvN-1HuxotJRM&itg=1&imgurl=http://static.lifeislocal.com.au/multimedia/images/full/702274.jpg&w=600&h=389&ei=fu7RT53GFq_umAXThtn1Ag&zoom=1> Downloaded 18 May 2012.
FLECKER Dr Hugo
Dr Hugo Flecker was a Radiologist in Cairns, north Queensland in 1932. On January 20th 1955, when a 5-year-old boy died after being stung in shallow water at Cardwell, north Queensland, Flecker suggested that the police net the area. Three types of jellyfish were caught, one of which was an unidentified, box-shaped jellyfish with groups of tentacles arising from each corner.
Flecker sent it to Dr Ronald Southcott in Adelaide, and on December 29th 1955 Southcott published his article introducing it as a new Genus and species of lethal box jellyfish. He named it Chironex fleckeri, the name being derived from the Greek `cheiro' meaning `hand', and the Latin `nex' meaning `murderer', and `fleckeri' in honour of its discoverer. Flecker was also interested in the Type `A' stinging and published his article in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1952 naming it the `Irukandji syndrome' after the "Irukandji" tribe of Aboriginals who lived in the Palm Cove area where the stings were frequently reported (Flecker 1952b). Flecker died in 1957 without finding the jellyfish responsible for the syndrome.*
Flecker's field and experiment notebook, containing almost certainly valuable information ahead of its time, disappeared with his death. Rediscovery of this notebook would be a major historical and possibly research advance.
Reference: <http://www.marine-medic.com.au/pages/medical/irukandji.asp> Downloaded 18 May 2012
Amateurs as well as professionals have added to the bryophyte collections in Australian herbaria during the 20th century. Two examples of amateurs, from quite different parts of the country, are Hugo Flecker (1884-1957) and Alexander Clifford Beauglehole (1920-2002). Flecker, a radiologist, moved to Cairns from Melbourne in 1922. He had wide interests in natural history and became foundation president of the North Queensland Naturalists Club. Flecker, and other members of the Club, sent north Queensland specimens to the English bryologist HN Dixon, but also kept material in the Club herbarium. Many of the bryophyte specimens from the Club herbarium are now held at the Australian National Herbarium in Canberra. By profession Beauglehole of Portland in Victoria was an orchardist and was another example of a person with wide interests in natural history. As well as collecting in western Victoria he travelled widely through central, northern and western Australia and has added numerous bryophyte specimens from many isolated locations to the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.
Reference: http://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/aust-bryology-episodes-3.html Downloaded 18 May 2012
Compiler’s Note: The Botanic Gardens, Cairns was named Flecker Botanic Gardens for Dr Hugo Flecker. The name has been changed recently however, to Cairns Botanic Gardens. (See also: BARNES Dr Jack)
FEAST OF THE THREE SAINTS
Held annually, it is Australia’s largest religious and cultural festival . It includes a community parade which is led by a golden carriage and children in traditional Sicilian costumes. The History of the Three Saints, St Alfio, St Filadelfo and St Cerino, in Silkwood began in 1950, when they were brought from Italy to Silkwood by Rosario Tornabene.
Reference: http://www.feastofthethreesaints.com.au/ Downloaded 9 May 2012
FA'AOSO Aaron
An Australian television and film actor, probably best known for his role on East West 101. He is of Torres Strait Islander and Tongan descent. His mother is from Saibai Island.
Career
Fa'aoso began his acting television career in 2006, where he played Eddie Gaibui on RAN, a six-part drama, which aired on SBS. In late 2007 (continuing in early 2008), he appeared on another SBS drama series, East West 101, playing Detective Sonny Koa.
In 2008, he had a guest role in Sea Patrol, which aired on Network Nine.
In 2009, he appeared in season two of East West 101 and starred in the film, Subdivision. In 2011, he returned to star in the third, and final season, of East West 101 on SBS.
In 2012, he will appear in ABC1's 10-part drama series, The Straits.
Awards
• 2006: Nominated at the AFI Awards for 'Best Guest or Supporting Actor in Television Drama' for RAN
• 2007: Nominated at the Logies for 'Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent' for RAN
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Fa'aoso Downloaded 18 May 2012
ENDORPHIN (CHAPUS Eric)
Reference: <http://www.endorphinmusic.com/index-1.html> Downloaded 9 May 2012
ENDEAVOUR RELICS
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| One of the 6 cannon from the Endeavour on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney. |
In 1937, a small part of Endeavour’s keel was gifted to the Australian Government by philanthropist Charles Wakefield in his capacity as President of the Admiral Arthur Phillip Memorial. Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons described the section of keel as "intimately associated with the discovery and foundation of Australia".
Searches were resumed for the lost Endeavour Reef cannons, but expeditions in 1966, 1967, and 1968 were unsuccessful. They were finally recovered in 1969 by a research team from the American Academy of Natural Sciences, using a sophisticated magnetometer to locate the cannons, a quantity of iron ballast and the abandoned bower anchor. Conservation work on the cannons was undertaken by the Australian National Maritime Museum, after which two of the cannons were displayed at its headquarters in Sydney's Darling Harbour. A third cannon and the bower anchor were displayed at the James Cook Museum in Cooktown, with the remaining three at maritime museums in London, Philadelphia, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour Downloaded 15 May 2012
(c) Marjorie Earl photograph.
EDWARDS Ron
He himself was a subject for folklore. The home he shared with his wife, Anne, for the last 25 years was in the rainforest outside Kuranda, northern Queensland. They built a mud-brick house with swimming pool and workshop, but no running water. A hip bath stood outside the kitchen window; anyone wanting hot water had to light a fire under it; an Asian squat toilet sat in a three-sided shed in the garden.
Edwards, who has died in Cairns, aged 77, after a long illness, liked to assert he was the son of a teamster - a proper background for an Australian folklorist. It is true that his father, Bert, who came from England in 1925, worked briefly in the Victorian Mallee driving horse teams, before retreating to the city. Bert's fiancee, Gwendoline Hughes, came from England to join him and they married.
Young Ron studied commercial art at Swinburne Technical College, Melbourne. His first job was drawing "Jim Stern of the French Foreign Legion" strips for Captain Atom comics.
His involvement with folk song began in 1950, when he met the poet John Manifold in Brisbane. They produced Bandicoot Ballads, a groundbreaking series of musical broadsheets which made available to Australians a folk song heritage few dreamed existed.
Back in Melbourne, Edwards established the Rams Skull Press. In 1955 he published Hugh Anderson's Colonial Ballads, the first book of Australian folk songs with music. His own Overlander Songbook and other folk song titles followed. He was also lead singer on the first 12-inch folk music album recorded in Australia, the Wattle album Australian Goldrush Songs.
Edwards had met Anne Ross, also an art student at Swinburne, and they married in 1953. In 1959, with their daughter, Lee, and son, David, they headed to Cairns. Edwards thought he was leaving folk song behind but, all around him, he found locals who knew old songs. He became a prodigious song collector, fond of recounting folklore historian Wendy Lowenstein's description of him knocking on a door and thrusting a microphone in the occupant's face, demanding: "Sing!"
While Edwards's collecting style was not subtle, it was effective. He collected more than 670 separate items, resurrected the Rams Skull Press and, as editor of the magazine Northern (later National) Folk, published newly collected songs. An expanded 1969 edition of his Overlander Songbook was followed by more collections including, in 1976, the Big Book Of Australian Folk Song, still the largest published collection in its field.
As the old singers died, Edwards turned to bush craft and yarns. His Australian Traditional Bush Crafts (1975) became the first of 10 major bushcraft collections; The Australian Yarn (1977) remains the benchmark in its genre. He made more of his living, however, as an artist, painting naked women, horses and landscapes for tourists.
In 1977 he made the first of 20 trips to remote parts of China, Tibet and Japan, publishing illustrated accounts of his journeys. He grew enthusiastic about Shingon Buddhism, attracted in part by its rejection of celibacy and acceptance of alcohol and merriment.
He rejoiced in inoffensive argument. In 1984 he established the Australian Folklore Society, producing 60 issues of its journal over 23 years. He also founded the Australian Plaiters and Whipmakers Association.
Expecting libraries to buy his 200 Years of Australian Folk Song in the bicentenary year, he was disappointed when only six did so. Undeterred, he used the cartons of unwanted volumes as building blocks for a mud-brick wall and embarked on an even more ambitious indexing project - 12 illustrated volumes, totalling 2860 pages. Lauded overseas as a work of painstaking scholarship, it remains virtually unknown in Australia.
While Edwards delighted in publishing and producing fine books, he had scant interest in the task of selling them. His books were available at the craft shop that Anne ran in Cairns, or through mail order, although those on bushcraft sold well in bookshops.
A visit to Torres Strait in 1999 led him into a new venture as a field collector. Along with Anne, Edwards collected 341 traditional songs and stories from the people of Stephen Island, returning the findings to the communities as songbooks.
Edwards's Rams Skull Press produced more than 350 titles, most written and illustrated by him. Altogether, more than 400,000 copies of his publications were produced. In 1992 Ron Edwards, larrikin, artist, folklorist and workaholic, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia; in 2000, Swinburne University of Technology awarded him an honorary doctorate for eminence in folklore and publishing.
Ron Edwards is survived by Anne and their two children, Lee and David.
Keith McKenry
Reference: http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/determined-to-keep-the-songs-alive/2008/02/06/1202233938364.html downloaded 18 May 2012. (Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Feb 2008)
EARL Jaime Palma
8 December 1999 Jaime sent letter from SOCOG notifying her of her selection as a Torchbearer.
10 December 1999 Jaime received the above letter in the mail. Jaime was with a friend when she received the letter. They met up with me outside the Fitzgerald’s house in Draper Street (I was returning home from Nanny’s) and she said “Guess what I am?” I replied “A teenager!” She laughed and said no and asked me to guess again. I replied “Two teenagers!” She then told me she was a torchbearer. I squealed really loud then and we all did a kind of a dance. We then started telling everyone we could.
13 December 1999 Jaime was sent another letter from SOCOG giving her more details on her selection and requesting that she not tell anyone - even family – that she had been selected. It was too late. We’d told everyone possible, even strangers – at least I did, Jaime was a lot quieter about it.
December 1999 - June 2000 Jaime firmly stated she would not carry the torch a number of times during this period. She realised that she’d be the one that everyone would be looking at and it scared her. She wanted family and friends to run with her and was upset when told they couldn’t. I had to state very clearly that only one torchbearer ran at a time but that she would have an escort runner. She was frightened that she would not be able to run the entire distance (she only had a couple of training sessions), that she’d fall over, that the flame would go out, that she’d be puffed, etc. She had panic attacks a few times but I explained it was pre-performance nerves – that it was natural to be nervous, just like before she went on stage, but that once she was running, the nerves would disappear – just like on stage. I reminded her of the exultation she felt after a performance and explained that it would be the same after the run. I had to break things gently to her during this period to get her used to the idea. The times I pushed her (like when she found out that I had asked friends to carry banners – which they didn’t do anyway) – she dug her toes in - things like the interviews and running in front of a large crowd. I didn’t handle it too well, but it was all new to me as well.
5 May 2000 Jaime sent a letter and parcel from SOCOG containing the details of her Run and her uniform.
May 2000 I received notification in the mail that a parcel for Jaime was waiting at the Post Office. I decided not to tell Jaime, wanting to surprise her instead. She went to work (The Cookie Man’s, Cairns Central). I asked her friend Bill Byrne to drive me down to the Post Office – had planned to pick up the parcel, then have her open it while we were all having a cuppa at McDonald’s. The Post Office was closed.
May 2000 Jaime and Bill drove up and picked up the parcel before school. It looks really gorgeous on her. It was so exciting. Receiving the uniform made it seem more real somehow. There was a flyer inside – A Day in the Life of a Torchbearer, describing what it would be like on the day of her run. I tried to make sure she understood it as it answered a lot of her fears, but I don’t think she did.
July 2000 I received a letter from Trinity Bay High School today asking me to congratulate Jaime for being selected as a torchbearer. I took it to work to show Jaime as she came through on her way home to change and go to work. She read it and then said that she had a better one. She then pulled out a large envelope from Warren Entsch, our Federal Member. There was a letter and a certificate inside for her congratulating her on her selection.
Reference: Diary entries from the private collection of Marjorie Earl
(c) Marjorie Earl photograph.
EARL (Herbert) Brian
Singer/dancer Brian started his singing career as a boy attending St Augustine’s College, Cairns. Then – Brother Oswin, a Marist Brothers teacher entered my life. I guess I would have been about 10 or 11 years old. He formed a boys’ choir … The choir had a team of six soloists and I was the lead soloist. Brother Oswin and I had a sweet deal going between us. On many occasions, he would be asked to have me sing at weddings with him as my accompanist. “Of course, Mrs So-and-So, the boy’s fee is £20.0.0” After the engagement, we’d split this fee.
Another time, the choir had to perform in grounds of the Cairns City Council’s Chambers for a welcome to the Governor General of Australia and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. The Duke was King George VI’s brother. After the choir sang, I did a solo. Then the message came. The Duke and Duchess wanted me up on the stage with them. The Duchess was so charming and I was immediately sat down between them. The Duke’s breath nearly floored me. He was already half tanked but the Duchess obviously missed her own children and I was completely at ease with her. She chatted to me for nearly an hour while all the speeches were made. It was almost surreal.
Brian sang for many years around Australia and New Zealand. The highlight of his singing career was when he was one of only two non-British members of the Black and White Minstrel Show when they toured Australia and New Zealand for two years.
Sports: At school, Brian boxed, played cricket and rugby league and was involved in athletics. As a teen in Cairns, Brian played hockey, cycling and sailed 16’ skiffs. He was goalie for Brother’s A Grade hockey team and was selected to play for Cairns. He preferred road racing to track cycling and was selected to ride for North Queensland.
Reference: EARL, Brian, I’ve Crossed A Few Dry Gullies Mate!, Mindart Press, Hervey Bay, 2006.
Both photographs are from the above book. Brian is standing to the left of the Black and White Minstrel photograph.
DYER Bob and Dolly
In 1937 Bob Dyer, as he wished to be known, travelled to Australia with this vaudeville troupe. Billed as `the Hill Billy’, he achieved immediate rapport with Australian audiences. Radio and theatre work followed, including a tour with Jim Davidson’s ABC Dance Band. In 1938 he went to England, where he appeared in music halls, and on radio for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Returning to Tennessee in 1939, he was rejected for military service because of a duodenal ulcer. He came back to Australia in 1940 following an offer from Tivoli Circuit Australia Pty Ltd. In July he opened in Melbourne with George Wallace in The Crazy Show. That year Dyer met Thelma Phoebe McLean, known as Dorothy (Dolly) Mack, a 19-year-old Tivoli dancer. He proposed after a nine-day courtship and the couple married nine days later, on 5 September 1940, at St John’s Church of England, Darlinghurst, Sydney. In front of the microphone and camera, and behind the scenes, Dolly was an indispensable partner in his subsequent career. Late in World War II, Dyer toured the South-West Pacific Area with a show for service personnel.
Dyer’s conquest of different entertainment media was remarkable. He achieved wireless celebrity as the host of programs such as `The Last of the Hillbillies’ (1940), `Bob Dyer’s Variety Show’ (1944), `Can You Take It?’ (1946), `Pick-a-Box’ (1948), `Cop the Lot’ (1951) and `It Pays to Be Funny’ (1955). His radio days are especially remembered for his mock rivalry with Jack Davey, though the relentless search for stunts that this broadcast battle entailed was later described by Dyer as `soul destroying’. In 1957 Dyer launched television versions of `It Pays to Be Funny’ and `Pick-a-Box’. The latter continued on Channel 7 until he retired in June 1971. He claimed that the show was the `longest-running continuous prime time TV program in the world’: on radio and then television, the quiz show ran for twenty-three years, fifty-two weeks a year, without a break. Dyer was unusual among radio personalities in transferring so successfully to television. `Howdy, Customers’, his raucous opening line, and his trademark question `The money or the box?’ were recognised across the country. Despite his Tennessee accent, he became a national institution. In the first decades of Australian television, he represented both American dominance and the quest for Australian content within that hegemony.
Although Dyer was a smart businessman and a warm, clever and consummately professional performer, he had none of Davey’s gift for unscripted repartee. His shows were formulaic and carefully planned. The skills learnt in vaudeville served him well since audience participation was crucial to all his shows. He was a good actor whose booming voice contributed to radio success while his imposing physical presence was helpful on television. Dyer attributed the longevity of `Pick-a-Box’ to his ordinariness, but his claims to represent the average Australian were illusory. A wealthy man, he owned luxury homes and pursued an obsession with deep-sea fishing that took him round the world. He and Dolly held numerous world and Australian fishing records, many of their exploits filmed by Dyer, a skilled photographer.
Dyer drew a sharp line between the public and the private. The best-known contestant on `Pick-a-Box’, Barry Jones, described the private Dyer as an `old-fashioned liberal’ who detested racial and religious intolerance. Dyer had been awarded Logies in 1961 and 1968; he and Dolly received one jointly in 1971. That year he was appointed honorary OBE and Dolly was appointed MBE. Shunning publicity after retirement, and heavily bearded, he spent his final years reclusively with Dolly on the Gold Coast, Queensland. He died on 9 January 1984 at Southport and was cremated. His wife (d.2004) survived him; they had no children.
Reference: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dyer-robert-neal-bob-12449 Downloaded 18 May 2012
"Bob and Dolly Dyer, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman are just a few of the well known personalities who have fished for the black marlin in Cairns" says the Fishing Cairns website.
Reference: <http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/dolly_dyer.htm> Downloaded 18 May 2012
Compilers Note: Bob and Dolly regularly came to Cairns to fish for gamefish in the 1960’s. I remember as a young child watching them parade in the Fun in the Sun Festivals and being so excited that the “Pick A Box” couple were in front of me in real life. Bob and Dolly were the first celebrities I never got to meet.
DUYFKEN (Jacht)
Under the command of Willem Janszoon, Duyfken and her crew ventured south-east. They sailed beyond Os Papuas (Papua New Guinea)and explored and chartered part of the coast of Nova Guinea. They did not find gold - but they did find the northern coast of a huge continent: Australia. Captain Janszoon was the first European to map and record Australia in history so Duyfken's voyage marks the beginning of Australia's recorded history.
See: JANSZOON Captain Willem
Reference: http://www.duyfken.com/original / Downloaded 20 May 2012
DODD Frederick Parkhurst
Settling in Kuranda, he developed a spectacular show collection of insects for public viewing. The collection toured nationally in 1918 and 1923. As a result of the successful tour Dodd became a national figure, known as 'The Butterfly Man of Kuranda'.
His son, Alan Dodd continued his father’s passion for collecting, and in the 1920s brought the Cactoblastis moth from South America to rid Australia of the scourge of prickly pear, an outstanding achievement rewarded by both MBE and OBE.
In his retirement Alan undertook several adventurous collecting trips to New Guinea and produced beautifully arranged cases that complement the older collection of his father.
Reference: http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/Events+and+Exhibitions/Exhibitions/2010/02/Butterfly+Man+of+Kuranda Downloaded 9 May 2012
DE ROSA Letizia C.
In 2009 Letizia launched an international website for writers and book industries called Book Creators Circle and became its founding director. Book Creators Circle www.bookcreatorscircle.com.au is a corporate sponsor of International PEN Sydney and America – organizations advocating for the imprisoned writer.
Letiza’s aim is to see writers from around Australia visit Cairns and promote their work here and help Australian writers and book industries to profile internationally.
Books by Letizia C De Rosa:
Antonino’s Niche
Conversations With My Mother
Oh My God, I Might Have To Smile
The Seven Secrets of Successfully Creating ‘The Book’
A Migrant’s Song
Temptress Reclined at Rest
Pensieri Di Mia Mamma (My Mother’s Thoughts)
Reference/s: Email from Letizia De Rosa to Marjorie Earl, 18 May 2012.
DE ROSA, Letizia C and DE ROSA, Vincenzia, Pensieri Di Mia Mamma, Sorrentini Publishing Australia, Sydney, 2011
DE LACEY Keith
Reference: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=8044644&ticker=MCC:US&previousCapId=7652956&previousTitle=MacArthur%20Coal%20Ltd Downloaded 18 May 2012
FROM his start in life as a miner to his transformation to politician and businessman, Keith De Lacy never knew what fate had in store.
December 2 marked the 20th anniversary of the end of Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s 30 years in power in Queensland, when he was ousted with a landslide victory to Labor (a 9.5 per cent swing).
Local businessman Keith De Lacy, who was the then member for Cairns, and who became State treasurer under Wayne Goss’s leadership, recalls the lead-up.
"After 30 years, you begin to think things may never change," Keith says, particularly as he says electoral boundaries were gerrymandered to suit the National Party.
"Labor had been 30 years in the wilderness, so it was a momentous occasion," he says.
"There was the euphoria, but we didn’t really have time to reflect."
"The only other time I reflected was the moment I sat in the red leather seat of the State treasurer behind the mahogany table, and thought, ‘what’s a country humble boy doing in a job like this’," Keith says, laughing.
Keith was born in Cairns Base hospital and grew up in the Mareeba-Dimbulah area on a tobacco farm.
Before he ventured into politics, he was a tobacco farmer, supplementing his his income by working underground in the mines of Wolfram Camp.
Keith’s life in politics it seems was predestined.
"I grew up in a political household that suffered during the Depression," Keith says. "They thought the world wasn’t fair and that Labor was the only way, and then I just drifted into it."
Keith became the Labor member for Cairns in 1983 and came into government as state treasurer in 1989.
"I had lived about 10 lives before then, but nobody can train for politics – you have to learn on the job," he says.
"It’s the people who don’t do well who are usually the ones who think they know everything."
"You are forever learning, improving, understanding and listening."
Keith says he knew his time in government was going to be difficult.
The previous administration had left amid allegations of corruption, culiminating in the Fitzgerald inquiry and subsequent report.
Keith says Queensland was "a laughing stock".
"They were tough times," he says, "but I was struck by a sense of responsibility."
"But as my mother would say, ‘count your blessings’, because the previous member for Cairns never got in."
Keith says being the treasurer was "not the sexiest job in politics", but that he managed it well.
"We had a mandate to clean up the corruption and cronyism, clean up the election system, and to introduce social programs, but I did not want to do it at the expense of Queensland having a strong financial system," he says.
He describes Wayne Goss, his leader, as a man who was "intelligent, passionate and practical".
Twenty years later and Labor celebrated their victory with a party at Brothers League Club on Saturday, December 5.
"It was a wonderful night when we could live in the glories of the past," Keith says.
"What I found especially wonderful is there were old supporters who had been through tough times, yet they were still there."
Keith says he left politics, which was "a tough game" because he had a chance of a new career – a career as chairman of Ergon Energy, which he embraced with every bit as much enthusiasm and passion.
"I really enjoy being a company chair," he says. In his early days after retiring from politics, Keith wrote a book.
"When I left Parliament I was working 12 to 15 hours a day, so I was writing 12 to 15 hours a day," he says.
Blood Stains the Wattle published in 2002 was the story of long and bitter industrial dispute at the Mount Isa mines in the 1960s.
"I had been an underground miner with the refugees, so I suppose it had been harbouring in my mind for 30 years," he says.
Keith says he would love to write another book, but now he simply hasn’t got the time, which is not surprising.
Nowadays, although he has shaved off a fair few of his management commitments, he is still a very busy man.
"You may think it’s sad but all my pleasure in life comes from work," Keith says.
"I get my kicks out of it," he says.
His former roles have included being chairman of the Trinity Group, chairman of Queensland Sugar and the Global Sugar Alliance, chairman of CEC group, foundation chair of Advance Cairns, chairman of CoCA and of Ergon Energy.
And he has received many awards for his charity work including his work as chairman of the Red Cross’s red shield appeal.
He is now known for his directorial roles in a myriad of companies – he is chairman of MacArthur Coal, the Cubbie group, and Nimrod Resources, a director of the Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns and he is on the board of Queensland Energy Resources.
"These days technology assists," he says. "You can work on half a dozen companies every day."
Times have been tough in the past year and some of his enterprises have suffered.
Trinity Group, for example, from which he has since retired in July, fell in price on the stock exchange and are expect a $220 million loss, and the Cubbie Group, which he still chairs, is in administration.
But Keith is a fighter, believing that it’s only when times get tough, that people can show their true metal. To alleviate stress, he plays golf every Saturday at Cairns Golf Club.
"I love my Saturday golf,", he says. "I wish I could spend more time at it."
Keith divides his time between Brisbane and Cairns and still relishes in the pace of his frenetic life.
And he has some good advice for struggling and aspiring business owners. "You work hard and you take your luck when it comes," he says. When times are tough, he says, people should just work harder and "don’t let it beat you".
"You put your head down and work and you will prosper again."
Keith will be spending Christmas with his family; his wife, three daughters and five grandsons at his family home in Redlynch.
"We will be over-run," he says, laughing.
He reflects on all he has done.
"In my life, I didn’t know what was coming next, but I never had any regrets."
Reference: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/12/12/82085_lifestyle.html Downloaded 18 May 2012
DALZIEL Harry VC
Date of death: 24 July 1965 Place of death: Repatriation General Hospital, Greenslopes, Brisbane, QLD
Harry Dalziel, from Queensland, received the second of two Victoria Crosses awarded for the battle of Hamel. During the action on 4 July 1918 he advanced with a Lewis gun section before making a single-handed attack on a strong enemy machine-gun post, capturing the gun and its entire crew. Then, ignoring heavy enemy fire, he collected ammunition and reloaded magazines until he was severely wounded. After the war, although troubled by his injuries, he served in the militia and was also a songwriter.
Reference: http://www.awm.gov.au/people/8246.asp Downloaded 1 June 2012
CITATION: For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in action with a Lewis gun section.
His company met with determined resistance from a strong point which was strongly garrisoned, manned by numerous machine-guns and, undamaged by our artillery fire, was also protected by strong wire entanglements.
A heavy concentration of machine-gun fire caused many casualties, and held up our advance. His Lewis gun having come into action and silenced enemy guns in one direction, an enemy gun opened fire from another direction. Private Dalziel dashed at it and with his revolver, killed or captured the entire crew and gun, and allowed our advance to continue.
He was severely wounded in the hand, but carried on and took part in the capture of the final objective. He twice went over open ground under heavy enemy artillery and machine-gun fire to secure ammunition, and though suffering from considerable loss of blood, he filled magazines and served his gun until severely wounded through the head.
His magnificent bravery and devotion to duty was an inspiring example to all his comrades and his dash and unselfish courage at a critical time undoubtedly saved many lives and turned what would have been a serious check into a splendid success.
London Gazette: 17th August 1918
Henry 'Harry' Dalziel was born in a small mining camp near Irvinebank, Far North Queensland on 18 February 1893, the son of James and Eliza Maggie (nee McMillan) Dalziel.
He and his brother Victor as young boys are credited with the discovery of tin samples which led to the opening of the Boulder Mine near Emuford. This mine - one of the largest mines in the area - remained in production until the 1960s.
On leaving school 'Harry' worked as a apprentice fireman with the Queensland Government Railways on the scenic route between Cairns and Atherton where he then lived with his parents.
'Harry' Dalziel enlisted on 16 January 1915 and in July he went to Egypt with reinforcements for the 15th Battalion, serving with this unit in Gallipoli.
Following the evacuation of Gallipoli the 15th trained in Egypt until 31 May 1916 when they sailed for France as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade of the newly formed 4th Division AIF, which had been formed in Egypt three months earlier.
The 4th were at first stationed briefly near Armentieres, before in August they relieved the 2nd Division on the Pozieres Heights where they repulsed a major German counter attack. After twice seeing action at Mouquet Farm, they fought at Flers in September.
In April 1917 they fought at Gueudecourt, Lagnicourt and Bullecourt where the Division had 1170 officers and men taken prisoner by the Germans, and in June at Messines before, on 16 October, Harry was wounded by shrapnel while participating in the Battle of Polygon Wood.
There was a lull in the severity of the fighting during the period from January to mid-March 1918: the quietest of the whole war.
The revolution in Russia had led to the collapse of its military involvement in the war, allowing the Germans to concentrate their efforts on the Western Front. Wishing to attack before the Americans entered the Front, General Ludendorff planned an all out spring offensive against the Allied forces.
Thus in the early hours of 21 March the German commenced a five hour bombardment by 6,000 German guns against the allies, before lunching an attack by 50 Divisions (a million men) against the Allies on a 50 mile front. To counter this the Australian Division was rushed to the Somme region to try and halt the German offensive there.
The 4th Division was in May joined by the other four Australian Divisions and for the first time in the war the five Australian Divisions were brought together as the Australian Corps. In July at Hamel for the first time the Australians had with them a number of Americans who were facing their baptism of fire on their country's Independence Day.
Dalziel's actions, for which he was later awarded the Empire's highest bravery award the Victoria Cross, occurred on July 4, and was the 1000th such award made to a Commonwealth serviceman.
During the Battle of Hamel the 15th Battalion had been given the task of capturing a position known as Pear Trench. Artillery fire had been brought down on Pear Trench but this proved ineffective as it failed to damage the strong wire entanglements that protected the enemy position; neither the trench or its garrison were sufficiently affected so as to diminish their resistance against the Australians.
Three tanks had been allotted to the 15th but had failed to appear, and it became necessary for the infantry to push on without their support. Some men managed to get through the wire, but the attack virtually came to a halt in the face of heavy enemy fire from Pear Trench.
Each Australian platoon now had two Lewis guns; Capt. E. K. Carter, M.C. directed his gunners - one of whom was Harry Dalziel - to fire from the hip over the tall crops, a tactic which succeeded in limiting the high number of casualties previously caused by the German machine-gunners.
When Carter's gunners succeeded in silencing two German machine-guns his men rushed the enemy trenches only to be held up by another machine-gun to their left.
Dalziel saw this, left his gun in the able hands of one of his team and drawing his revolver he singlehandedly rushed the German machine-gunners, shooting two and capturing the third.
Dalziel, who lost his trigger finger when it was blown away by a machine gun bullet during this action, was ordered to the rear. He made off as if to obey, but later when Pear Trench was finally stormed and taken Dalziel was discovered still in the thick of the fight.
Again he was ordered back to the regimental aid-post, but went instead to retrieve boxes of ammunition which had been parachuted onto open ground but were inaccessible due to the enemy's constant fire. Ignoring the enemy fire he proceeded to bring in the ammunition a case at a time and had loaded his Lewis gun when he was shot in the head.
The wound smashed his skull exposing his brain. Both Australians and Americans who saw Dalziel despaired at this brave man's seemingly inevitable death. This wasn't to be: fortunately long and skilful treatment in England saw him fit enough to leave England for Australia on 5 January 1919 and he was discharged in Brisbane in July 1919.
Unable to return to his old job with the railways he went back to Atherton and worked a small farm "Carmelbank". In 1921 he married a Brisbane nurse named Hilda Maud Ramsay.
During the depression years Dalziel was forced to travel as far south as Sydney seeking employment. He and his brother (ex #58085 Pte Victor Dalziel who had enlisted in Cairns in June 1918 and served with the 9th Battalion) were gold mining in Bathurst, New South Wales when the serious illness of Hilda forced Harry's return to Queensland.
In 1933 Dalziel joined the Citizen Military Forces 9th/15th Battalion as a Sergeant and the first VC to be a member of the Guard of Honour at the opening of the Queensland Parliament as a member of the King's Colour escort.
On Anzac Day 1938 he took part in the Anzac Day march through the streets of Sydney. At that time Harry was a prolific writer of songs, having many copyrighted, and was also successful as (variously) an artist, potter and poet.
Like many who were awarded the Victoria Cross while serving in the First World War Harry served again during the Second World War, albeit in a limited capacity: his duties consisted of speaking during recruitment drives and fund appeals, and he also visited many training camps advising and talking to the troops.
In 1956, he sailed on the SS Orcades along with other Australian VCs who were among the 301 Victoria Cross recipients from across the Commonwealth who attended the Victoria Cross Centenary Celebrations in London.
Dalziel visited Hamel on 4 July and placed a wreath on the Cenotaph, but he was unable to identify the spot where he had won his decoration some thirty eight years earlier in the now lush agricultural area.
He was living in Oxley, Queensland when he died on 24 July 1965 aged 72 years. He was cremated at the Mt Thompson crematorium, Brisbane. A memorial plaque can be found on Wall 12, Section 16, No 106, at the crematorium.
 |
| (c) Marjorie Earl photograph |
The Bar at the Atherton Returned Serviceman's Club has a display of photographs and Medals featuring 'Harry' Dalziel VC and is named The Harry Dalziel VC., Memorial Bar. In a park near the club, a mounted First World War artillery piece stands as a memorial to Pte Harry Dalziel VC.
Dalziel's medals amounted to the Victoria Cross., the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, War Medal 1939/45, Australian Service Medal, King George V1 Coronation Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: My thanks to Mr Tony Derksen, Director of the Loudoun House Museum, Irvinebank, Queensland, for his assistance in researching this story.
Reference: http://www.awm.gov.au/people/8246.asp Downloaded 1 June 2012 http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/dalziel.htm Downloaded 1 June 2012
CYCLONE YASI
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| A pile-up of boats in Hinchinbrook Marina. Photo: Paul Crock/AFP. |
Yasi maintained Category 3 intensity for the next 24 hours before being upgraded to a Category 4 at 7pm on 1st February. During this time, Yasi started to take a more west-southwestward movement and began to accelerate towards the tropical Queensland coast.
Yasi showed signs of further intensification and at 4am on 2nd February and was upgraded to a marginal Category 5 system. Yasi maintained this intensity and its west-southwest movement, making landfall on the southern tropical coast near Mission Beach between midnight and 1am early on Thursday 3rd February. Being such a strong and large system, Yasi maintained a strong core with damaging winds and heavy rain, tracking westwards across northern Queensland and finally weakened to a tropical low near Mount Isa around 10pm on 3rd February.
Yasi is one of the most powerful cyclones to have affected Queensland since records commenced. Previous cyclones of a comparable measured intensity include the 1899 cyclone Mahina in Princess Charlotte Bay, and the two cyclones of 1918 at Mackay (January) and Innisfail (March).
Wind Damage
At the time of writing there are no verified observations of the maximum wind gusts near the cyclone centre. However a barograph at the Tully Sugar Mill recorded a minimum pressure of 929 hPa as the eye passed over suggesting wind gusts of about 285 km/h were possible. This is supported by measurements (subject to verification) from instrumentation operated by the Queensland Government (Department of Environment and Resource Management) at Clump Point (near Mission Beach) which recorded a minimum pressure of 930hPa. Significant wind damage was reported between Innisfail and Townsville where the destructive core of the cyclone crossed the coast. Tully and Cardwell suffered major damage to structures and vegetation with the eye of the cyclone passing over Dunk Island and Tully around midnight on 2nd February.
The largest rainfall totals were near and to the south of the cyclone and were generally in the order of 200-300mm in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. These rainfall totals were experienced in the area between Cairns and Ayr, causing some flooding. The highest totals were; South Mission Beach 471mm, Hawkins Creek 464mm, Zattas 407mm, Bulgun Creek 373mm along the Tully and Herbert River catchments.
Track and Intensity Information for Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi Map Legend:
- Map Legend: Very Destructive Winds Destructive Winds Gale Force Winds
Storm Tides A 5 metre tidal surge was observed at the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) storm tide gauge at Cardwell, which is 2.3 metres above Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT). The anomaly occurred at about 1.30am on a falling tide, averting more serious inundation. Some significant, yet far less substantial sea inundation occurred on the late morning high tide on 3rd February between the Cairns Northern Beaches and Alva Beach, with peak levels measured at DERM's Townsville tide gauge close to the expected 0.6m above HAT causing inundation of parts of the city.
***All information relating to intensity and track is preliminary information based on operational estimates and subject to change following post analysis***
This was the fourth tropical cyclone in the Queensland area of responsibility during the 2010/11 season.
* All times mentioned is Australia Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Reference: http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/history/yasi.shtml Downloaded 18 May 2012
Yasi was also indirectly responsible for the death of a 23 year old man who died of suffocation by generator exhaust fumes making it the second deadliest storm of the season, after (Cyclone) Bianca.
Reference: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Yasi> Downloaded 18 May 2012
Photograph Reference: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/cyclone-yasi-pictures/ Downloaded 18 May 2012
CYCLONE MAHINA
Cyclone Mahina Category 5 cyclone (Australian scale) Formed Unknown Dissipated 5 March 1899 Highest winds 10-minute sustained: 205 km/h (125 mph) Lowest pressure 914 mbar (hPa); 26.99 inHg (Lowest recorded pressure) Fatalities 400-410 Areas affected Far North Queensland, Australia Part of the Pre-1970 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons
Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Australia and the surrounding region with a devastating storm surge on 4 March 1899, killing over 400 people, the largest death toll of any natural disaster in Australian history.
Intensity
Tropical cyclone Mahina hit on 4 March 1899. It was a Category 5 cyclone, the most powerful of the tropical cyclone severity categories. In addition, Mahina was perhaps one of the most intense cyclones ever observed in the Southern Hemisphere and almost certainly the most intense cyclone ever observed off the East Coast of Australia in recorded history. Mahina was named by Government Meteorologist for Queensland Clement Wragge, a pioneer of naming such storms.
Contemporary reports vary considerably in the reported lowest barometric pressures. The pressure recorded on the schooner Olive are reasonably consistent in showing the lowest pressure recorded on her: 29.60 to 29.10 or between 29.00 and 29.10 inches A further variant was "during the lull in the hurricane the barometer on the Olive recorded 29.70 to 29.10" (no units are given).
Most sources record the schooner Crest of the Wave observation as 27 inches. e.g. Another reports 26 inches. More modern reports of a 18 inch observation on a vessel in the eye of Mahina seem to have no relationship to contemporary records.
Whittingham has accepted the 29.1 and 27 inches reports from the Olive and the Crest of the Wave respectively seemingly unaware of the discrepant reports. He has estimated the track of the cyclone from the damage reports, placing it directly over the position of the Crest of the Wave. The Olive was to the north and missed the centre. A pressure there of 29.1 is consistent with that of the Crest of the Wave of 27 given the separation. He calculates the centre pressure, standardised for temperature, as 914 mb (hPa).
In comparison tropical cyclone Tracy which devastated Darwin in 1974 had a central pressure of 950 hPa. Barometric pressure this low at mean sea level is also a likely cause and strong indicator of why cyclone Mahina created such an intense, phenomenal and claimed world record height storm surge of the likes not seen since.
Impact
Within an hour, the Thursday Island based pearling fleet anchored in the bay or nearby, was either driven onto the shore or onto the Great Barrier Reef or sunk at their anchorages. Four schooners and the manned Channel Rock lightship were lost. A further two schooners were wrecked but later refloated. Of the luggers, 54 were lost and a further 12 were wrecked but refloated. Over 30 survivors of the wrecked vessels were later rescued from the shore however over 307 were killed, mostly immigrant non-European crew members.
A storm surge, variously reported as either 13 metres or 48 feet high, swept across Princess Charlotte Bay then inland for about 5 kilometres, destroying anything that was left of the Bathurst Bay pearling fleet along with the settlement. Eyewitness Constable J. M. Kenny reported that a 48 ft (14.6 m) storm surge swept over their camp at Barrow Point atop a 40 ft (12 m) high ridge and reached 3 miles (5 km) inland, the largest storm surge ever recorded. However Nott and Hayne reviewed the evidence for this. They modelled the surge based on the 914 hPa central pressure and found the surge should only have been 2 to 3m height. They also surveyed the area looking for wave cut scarps and deposits characteristic of storm events but found none higher than 5 m. Of the 48 ft surge they suggest the ground level cited may not be correct, or that terrestrial flooding was also involved.
The cyclone continued southwest over Cape York Peninsula, emerging over the Gulf of Carpentaria before doubling back and dissipating on 10 March.
A memorial stone to "The Pearlers" who were lost to the cyclone, naming 11 Europeans but only citing "over 300 coloured men" for the other seamen, was erected on Cape Melville. The disaster is also commemorated in the Anglican church on Thursday Island.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahina_Cyclone_of_1899 Downloaded 15 May 2012
World Storm Surge Records By Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D. — Director of Meteorology, Weather Underground, Inc.
The Bathurst Bay Cyclone, also known as Tropical Cyclone Mahina, which struck Bathurst Bay, Australia on March 5, 1899, is generally credited with the world record for storm surge. The cyclone's storm surge is variously listed at 13 - 14.6 meters (43 - 48 feet). The Category 5 cyclone was a monster--with sustained winds in excess of 175 mph and a central pressure between 880 and 914 mb. Mahina killed at least 307 people, mostly on pearling ships, and was the deadliest cyclone in Australian history. The eyewitness account of Mahina's record storm surge was provided by Constable J. M. Kenny, who journeyed to Barrow Point on Bathurst Bay to investigate a crime on the day of the storm. While camped on a ridge 40 feet above sea level and 1/2 mile inland, Kenny's camp was inundated by a storm wave, reaching waist-deep. On nearby Flinders Island, fish and dolphins were found on top of 15 meter (49 foot) cliffs. However, an analysis by Nott and Hayne (2000) found no evidence of storm-deposited debris higher than 3 - 5 meters above mean sea level in the region. They also cited two computer storm surge simulations of the cyclone that were unable to generate a surge higher than three meters.
Indeed, Bathurst Bay is not ideally situated to receive high storm surges. The Great Barrier Reef lies just 20 - 40 km offshore, and the ocean bottom near the bay is not shallow, but steeply sloped. Both of these factors should conspire to keep storm surges well below the record 13 - 14.6 meters reported. The authors concluded that the actual surge from the Bathurst Bay Cyclone may have been 3 - 5 meters. The observed inundation at 13 meters elevation, plus the observation of dolphins deposited at 15 meters above sea level could have been caused by high waves on top of the surge, they argue. Waves on top of the surge (called "wave run-up") can reach five times the wave height at the shore for steeply fronted coasts like at Bathurst Bay. Since waves in the Bathurst Bay Cyclone could easily have been 3 meters, 15 meters of wave run-up on top of the surge is quite feasible. Since wave run-up doesn't count as surge, the status of the 1899 Bathurst Bay Hurricane as the world record holder for storm surge is questionable. However, the event is certainly the world record holder for the high water mark set by a tropical cyclone's storm surge, an important category in its own right.
Figure 1. Satellite image of Bathurst Bay, Queensland Province, Australia. The record 43 - 48 foot storm surge wave occurred on Barrow Point, marked by an "x" on the map above. Image credit: NASA.
Figure 2. Track of the 1899 Bathurst Bay cyclone. Bathurst Bay is located at the point where the 914 mb pressure is listed. Image credit: Whittingham, 1958.
See also ‘WACANDO Mohara’.
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