In the early days of Coolgardie, there was no provision for holding prisoners pending their appearance in court so Corporal McCarthy chopped a four-foot log from a three-foot thick trunk of a blown down salmon gum to which they were chained by a strong steel staple at one end and handcuffs at the other. (A […]
Old Timer – By Tony Bozich
OLD TIMER Charlie Nalty, of Coolgardie Westral Wheel Race fame, cant be forgot by the older generation, to Goldfields schools sometimes he came giving half holidays and warm oration. Charlie carried Glory of the Old Days, real turn of the century stuff, he seemed to personify that phase when life was not unhappy, but tough. […]
Vosper’s Dog and the Goat
(July 10, 1910)When the late rederick C.B. Vosper was editing the “Coolgardie Miner” for Billy Clare (the founder), in the middle nineties (1890’s), the long-haired litterateur owned a dog that was the terror of all within reach of its teeth. Day after day complaints poured in to the office in reference to children and other […]
Clara Saunders – First wedding in Coolgardie
In Celebration of International Woman’s Day 8th March 2016 On 4th July 1894 Clara SAUNDERS & Arthur WILLIAMS were married by the Rev. Thomas TRESTRAIL at John DE BAUN’S Great Western Hotel in Bayley Street Coolgardie. (now the site of the Coolgardie Motel on the corner of Bayley & Hunt Streets) Clara was seventeen & […]
Only a Flesh Wound – Coolgardie 1894
In Coolgardie in 1894 there was an influx of British nobility and for a time there were more Lords, Dukes, Baronets and others in Coolgardie than had or ever has been, in any one Australian town at the same time. These Britishers packed more guns than any Yankee film hero and regular revolver practice was […]