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Corio Villa 2 Broken Hill 4 Swift “Justice” 6 Geelong’s Mysterious Keys 7 Pigs 10

Harry Readford-Cattle Thief 12

Netball 14

Corio—The Early Days Part 4 16

Atomic Weapons 18

The Tsar Bomba Test 20

The Corinth Canal 21 Scabby Sheep 22 Smallpox 24 George Clooney 26 Recipe—Fish Tagine 28 Word Search—Animals 29 Banknotes: Sir Henry Parkes 30 150 Years Ago 31 Then… & Now 32

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Corio Villa, located on the corner of Fitzroy Street and Eastern Beach Road, is undoubtedly Geelong’s most important and treasured home. It is also Geelong’s most valuable, fetching over $5 million when sold in January last year. The four-bedroom property also has the title of Victoria’s and, in fact, Australia’s oldest and only known surviving prefabricated cast iron house.

After the Victorian gold rush started in 1851, building materials and tradesmen were in very short supply—all tradesmen and labourers were at the goldfields. Thus, when Commissioner of Crown Lands for the District of Portland Bay, William Nairn Gray, wanted a house built, he chose to order a kit home from Scottish iron founders Charles D. Young & Co.

Designed by Bell & Miller, the whole house was constructed in the foundry in Edinburgh, Scotland from cast iron. For example, the walls were 12mm (1/2”) iron plates, 900mm x 900mm (3’ x 3’) in size, bolted together. Wrought iron work around the eaves and gable roof were of exquisite design. When prefab-rication work at the foundry finished in 1855, the whole lot was put into crates and shipped to Geelong. That’s when the problems began!

The first event that stalled construction of the home had already occurred, in

the form of the untimely death of William Gray himself, who died on June 11, 1854 while visiting Hamilton, in Victoria’s west. Thus, when the shipment of crates arrived at Cunningham Pier on Geelong’s waterfront in late 1855 there was no-one on hand to collect it. While the shipping agent scratched his head, not knowing what to do with it, the next 6 months passed with the crates stacked on the pier.

Eventually, the following year (1856) local businessman, Alfred Douglass purchased the kit home and made arrangements to have it put together on land he purchased on Eastern Beach Road (then called Victoria Parade). However,

Corrugated Galvanized Iron was invented in the 1820s in Britain by Henry Palmer, architect and engineer to the London Dock Company. It was originally made, as the name suggests, from wrought iron. It proved to be light, strong, corrosion-resistant, and easily transported, and particularly lent itself to prefabricated structures, like the Corio Villa kit home. It soon became a common construction material all over the world. Although still commonly called corrugated iron sheeting, the product is made today with high-grade steel.

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when the crates were unpacked, there were no instructions provided on how to assemble the home. To make matters worse, the Charles D. Young & Co foundry in Scotland had burned down shortly after the kit home was manufactured, destroying all the original moulds as well as any plans. It was up to local crafts-men to work out the jigsaw puzzle for themselves—and a fine job they did of it!

A weatherboard extension was added to the eastern side of the existing house around 1890. Original garden plantings include an English Oak, Norfolk Pine and Elm reputedly planted by Alfred Douglas in the 1860’s.

The ornate and decorative designs, both inside and out, often stagger visitors, who are amazed to see such intricate iron castings. The veranda posts and porch supports were cast in ornate and delicate filigree patterns, while the internal lining is mainly lathe and plaster with some pressed metal and paper-mâché features thrown in for good measure. The fine initial workmanship, followed by loving care by the Douglass and McAllister families, has preserved the home in magnificent shape, even after nearly 160 years.

Corio Villa’s Owners Alfred Douglas was born in Leicestershire , England and immigrated to Tasmania as a child. By 14 years of age he had started his first business. At around 30 years of age, in 1850 Alfred moved to the mainland and settled at Geelong. Near the Breakwater on the Barwon he established the wool scouring works known as Barwonside. In 1861, five years after moving his family into Corio Villa, Douglass took over ownership of the Geelong Advertiser newspaper (from James Harrison who had become bankrupt), and ran the paper with his sons until his death in October 1885, aged 65.

Alfred’s son Henry then took over Corio Villa, until his death in 1927. His only son George had died in Belgium during WW1, and so, when Henry’s wife, Enid, died in 1938 the property was sold to Dr. Keith Ross from Ballarat. Meanwhile, Arthur and Alice McAllister settled in Geelong and ran the nearby Eastern Beach kiosk for a number of years. When the house was again put on the market in 1945 they purchased the property. Eventually the home was passed down, first to

their son Murray (in 1962), and then grandson Glenn and his wife Rosslyn (in 2004). After being in the McAllister family for 68 years, last year Corio Villa was sold for over $5 million to an unknown buyer. One of the delightful living rooms, looking

out at the sea-baths at Eastern Beach.

H.P.Douglass

The Douglas family crest can be seen on the building, just as it was when it was constructed,

complete with the family motto: “Do or Die.”

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Broken Hill is an isolated mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales. It remains Australia's longest-lived mining city.

Broken Hill's massive ore site has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The ore-body is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the deposit originally stood out as

a jagged rocky ridge amongst undulating plain country on either side.

On September 5, 1883, Charles Rasp, a small German boundary rider at the remote Mount Gipps sheep station pegged out a 16 hectare (40 acre) mineral lease with the help of two dam-sinking contractors, David James and James Poole. Charles Rasp was sure that the hilly ground contained black oxide of tin and told the station manager George McCulloch that he wanted to quit his boundary rider's job to prospect the claim.

George McCulloch suggested that a syndicate of seven station employees be formed to develop the claim. The seven agreed, the syndicate was formed, and an additional six leases were pegged and registered.

Little did they realise that under their feet, beneath the rugged outcrop of 'broken hill' as it was known, lay one of the most valuable mineral deposits in the world. Neither could they have known that out of their venture would develop the largest public

company in Australia—Broken Hill Propriety Co. Limited, now part of the largest mining company in the world—BHP Billiton. (Over the past 12 months BHP Billiton has made a $9 billion profit.)

The city of 19,000 people is located near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway and the Silver City Highway. The nearby mining town of Silverton once boasted a population of over 3,000, but now has less than 60 people in

Where Did Broken Hill Get it’s Name?

The "broken hill" that gives its name to the city, Broken Hill, is actually comprised of a number of hills that appeared to have a break in them. In 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named them the Barrier Range, but also referred to them as "Broken Hill" in his diary. Silver ore was later discovered on this ridge in 1883 by Charles Rasp. The broken hill no longer exists, having been completely mined away.

Before Charles Sturt's naming of the town, the surrounding area was referred to by the local Aboriginal population as the "Leaping Crest".

Broken Hill

Charles Rasp

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the tourist ‘ghost town.’ The closest major city is Adelaide, which is more than 500 km to the southwest. Unlike the rest of New South Wales, Broken Hill (and the surrounding region) observes Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30) a time zone it shares with South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Broken Hill has been called "The Silver City", the "Oasis of the West", and the "Capital of the Outback". However, although over 1,100km west of Sydney and surrounded by semi-desert, the town has colourful parks and garden displays, and offers a number of attractions for visitors, including the Living Desert Sculptures.

Broken Hill has been, and still is, a town dominated by the mining industry. The mines have until recently provided the majority of direct and indirect employment in the city. Before the 1940s, mining was done by hand tools with high labour usage rates and included horse-drawn carts underground. The advent of diesel powered mining equipment in the late 1940s and the move toward mechanised underground mining has resulted in greater efficiency. Thus, less labour is used per tonne of ore recovered, and the mine workforce has declined. Over the last 130 years over 800 workers have lost their lives digging in the hills here.

Broken Hill has always had a small indigenous community. In recent years the proportion of the population identifying as Aboriginal has increased markedly, partly owing to the migration of non-indigenous Australians away from Broken Hill. In addition, the 19th and early 20th century Broken Hill was home to a community of Afghans. Afghans worked as camel drivers in parts of outback Australia, and they made a significant contribution to economic growth when transport options were limited. The camel drivers formed the first sizeable Muslim communities in Australia, and in Broken Hill they left their mark in the form of the first mosque in NSW (1891).

Due to a swiftly shrinking population, compounded by its isolation, Broken Hill has encouraged its widespread artistic credentials. For example, widely renowned artist Pro Hart calls Broken Hill home. Additionally, the city is promoting itself as a tourism destination in order to become less reliant upon mining as a source of employment.

Why not come for a visit to Broken Hill, and explore some of Australia’s earliest and most important history?

The iconic Palace Hotel in the centre of the city was originally built in 1889

as a coffee palace (non-alcoholic accommodation) by members of the Temperance Movement. Three years later the booze won out, and a liquor

license was obtained in 1892.

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One hundred and fifty years ago, punishment for crimes committed was meted out swiftly, and often unmercifully, as the record of one day (April 28, 1864) before the Geelong Circuit Court gives evidence:

ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO DO GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM. Thomas Reynolds pleaded “Not guilty” to committing a murderous and unprovoked assault on an old man named Hunter, near Duneed. This was a very brutal and unprovoked assault by the prisoner, who was quite a lad. The jury convicted the prisoner and his honour, remarking on the enormity of the prisoner’s guilt, and his threat for vengeance, said he should not send him on the roads in consequences of his youth, but would inflict such a sentence as would give him ample time for reflection. He then sentenced him to three years imprisonment, the first week in each alternate month to be spent in solitary confinement.

ROBBERY. Thomas Underwood pleaded “Not guilty” to stealing two saddles, the property of Mr. Taylor, Gheringhap-street. The jury convicted the prisoner, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment, with hard labour.

CHARGE OF PERJURY. Joseph Thomas pleaded “Not guilty” to a charge of this nature at the private prosecution of one Rebfish. The prisoner was found “Not guilty,” and discharged.

CHARGE OF MURDER. Thomas Eva, charged with murder of an aboriginal named Barney, near Portland, was remanded till next sessions, on the affidavit of Mr. Higgins, his solicitor.

STEALING IN A DWELLING. Isaac Higginbotham, Thomas Dunn, James Parker, and James Foy, charged with being implicated in the robbery of jewellery from the Albion Hotel, were again further remanded, on the affidavit of Detective Daley, to the next General Sessions.

STEALING SADDLERY. John Cuthbertson and Thomas Ryder pleaded "Not guilty" to stealing sundry articles of saddlery from Mr.Thomas Austin’s station at Barwon Park. The prisoners were defended by Mr. Armstrong. After a lengthened examination, the jury convicted the prisoner Cuthbertson, in whose employ the lad Ryder had been, and acquitted the latter. His Honour sentenced Cuthbertson to eighteen months' imprisonment with hard labour.

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“A few days ago, the limeburners on the Limestone Point,* when quarrying about ten feet (3 metres) below the surface, found a bunch of keys imbedded in the stone. They were very much decayed, but not so much as might have been expected had they lain there many hundred years. . . How did the keys get there?” - Geelong Advertiser and Squatters Advocate July 2, 1847.

And thus began one of Geelong’s greatest mysteries. The day after the discovery of the keys by Mr Boucher the Limeburner, Lt Governor of Victoria, Charles La Trobe and prominent colonist and pastoralist, Alex F. Mollison visited the site. With an enthusiastic amateur’s interest in geology, La Trobe dropped down into the lime pit and started digging around, prompting the following conversation with Mr Boucher which La Trobe later recorded:

“I found a bunch of keys yesterday, just where your honour is picking the shells.” “Keys?” I said. “Keys, your honour,” he replied. “What can you mean?” I en-quired. “Yes, here,” he said, laying his hand just upon the shellbed. I asked him “Where are they?” “Up at the hut, your honour,” he replied. “Let me see them,” I said. He immediately left the excavation and ran up the bank to his hut, returning a minute or two afterwards with two keys, each about two inches in length,

Charles La Trobe Alex F. Mollison

A sketch of the Limeburner’s pit, showing where the keys were found.

*Limestone Point: Now called Limeburners Point—where the boat ramp is located on Corio Bay, behind the Botanic Gardens in East Geelong.

Keys found

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which he handed to me, saying that there had been three, but that the children had been playing with them, and he could only lay his hand upon the two.

Both La Trobe and Mollison were perplexed! How could a set of keys end up in a layer of shell grit some 3—4 metres below the surface of the natural ground, and 13 metres from the shoreline?

The Englishmen were familiar with a number of past efforts to sail these waters. Lieutenant John Murray sailed into Port Phillip Bay some 45 years earlier in 1802, being the first British sailor to record the event. He was followed by Matthew Flinders 10 weeks later. However, while the keys may have opened a sailor’s trunk or foot-locker, the age and position of the keys could not be ascribed to them, being buried so deep in the ground.

The conclusion La Trobe and Mollison reached was that a European vessel, perhaps Portuguese, must have entered Corio Bay, 150-200 years earlier, a sailor then dropping the keys which were in time, covered and buried. But modern geologists cannot agree with this finding. For the seabed to recede so far, and a layer of shell to be covered to a depth of 4 metres in sand and soil would take at least 2,000 years according to current estimates.

Other researchers and prominent Geelong citizens also weighed into the debate. Jaques Du Bois, an early Geelong resident, claimed (when visiting England in 1854) he had a conversation with Captain Woodruff, commander of the Calcutta, which in 1803, had helped (unsuccessfully) to establish Victoria’s first settlement under Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins at Sorrento. Woodruff claimed he had been on an exploration party in the vicinity of Limeburners Point when his party became in desperate need of water. They sunk a number of holes in the area searching for ground water. Eventually a spring was located at the bottom of a hill, near a gully, which quenched the thirst of Woodruff’s party.

According to Du Bois that spring was very close to where the Limeburner found the set of keys. Could one of the sailors in Woodruff’s party have dropped his keys while digging an earlier (dry) hole, only to be found 44 years later by Mr Boucher? After inspecting the area himself, Du Bois concluded that this was the only logical solution. However, La Trobe and Mollison reported no evidence of the ground around the keys being disturbed by earlier digging. In addition, the keys were determined to be unlike the modern key design of the times, instead being shaped like much older European keys. If a sailor had accidently

dropped his keys while digging a hole 4 decades earlier, even then he would have had to have been in possession of a very old sea chest.

James Harrison, who was then editor of the Geelong Advertiser and Squatters Advocate disagreed with Du Bois’ findings. As a newspaperman, Harrison

James Harrison

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regularly came across fanciful stories, mysteries, and bazaar claims from far and wide. While keeping an eye out for any sensational story that may increase the readership of his newspaper, Harrison had also become sceptical of many of the claims he heard.

Over 40 years later, when the Royal Society of Victoria published two pamphlets on the events surrounding the keys, Harrison recorded his own thoughts. He recalled being told by Boucher that he did not find the keys lodged in the layer of shell grit at all, but had actually found them at the base of the hole at his feet. He assumed that they had become dislodged from the shell grit layer, since that was where he was digging at the time. At the time Boucher employed an elderly man as a labourer to help him, a man “who had taken the prospecting fever very badly,” and was known for playing practical jokes. Harrison concluded that the old man had dropped an old set of keys he possessed at the feet of his boss while he was distracted with his digging, and then convinced him that the keys had been dislodged by his swinging pick.

However, James Harrison’s claim that the whole affair was a practical joke also had ‘holes’ in it. Telling his version of events, while trying to recall what had happened 25 years earlier, led to his account containing a number of flaws. e.g. He gets the date wrong by 2 years, and he repeatedly apologises for being unsure of his memory’s accuracy, perhaps just imagining the story instead.

Enlarging the mystery, the keys, which La Trobe passed on to the Geelong Mechanics Institute were eventually lost. A drawing La Trobe made of the keys was also misplaced. Hence, the lack of available evidence makes it impossible for modern science to resolve the confusion—and so the debate continues . . .

Early European sailors, or a 167-year-old practical joke? Which do you believe?

The Voyage of the Poppykettle is a 1980 children's book about a group of "hairy Peruvians" setting out from Peru to discover Australia. It was written and illustrated by Geelong-born Robert Ingpen. The popular story contains reference to the Geelong Keys.

The stories about the "hairy Peruvians" became so popular in Geelong, that an annual 2-day Poppykettle Festival was established to celebrate them, now held each October at GPAC.

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There are about 1 billion pigs in the world, which makes the domesticated pig one of the most numerous large mammals on earth. About half of the world’s population of pigs is found in China. Other main populations are in the USA and Brazil.

For at least the past 4,000 years, pigs have been farmed and domesticated for human consumption. Males pigs are called boars or hogs and the females are sows. Young swine are called piglets. Today, pork is one of the main sources of meat protein for humans, especially in Asia. It accounts for 38% of worldwide meat production. You have probably enjoyed eating it as ham on pizza, as bacon with your breakfast eggs, or as an evening roast pork with crispy crackling (the fried or roasted skin of the pig).

In addition to being used for food, pigs are noted for their intelligence as animals. For example, in 1784 London, an un-named pig simply referred to as the “learned pig” was taught to respond to commands in such a way that it appeared to be able to answer questions by picking up cards in its mouth. By choosing cards it answered mathematical problems and spelled out words. As a result, the pig became a common object of satire, illustrated in caricatures and referred to in literature. A popular example was the use of pigs in George Orwell’s satirical take on Russian Communism in his book Animal Farm (1945).

Pigs have a large head with a long snout which is strengthened by a special nasal bone and by a disc of cartilage at the tip. The snout is used to dig into the soil to find food and is also a very important sense organ. Each foot (trotter) has four hoofed toes with the two larger central toes bearing most of the weight and the outer two being used in soft ground.

Adult pigs have 44 teeth. The rear teeth are tailored for crushing. The male’s canine teeth form tusks, which grow continuously and are sharpened by constantly being ground against each other.

Wild pigs can forage from a huge variety of resources. Thus it can live in almost any productive habitat that can provide enough water to sustain large mammals. Pigs are omnivores, meaning that they consume both plants and animals. They commonly forage for leaves, grasses, roots, fruits and flowers. However, they can also eat meat off rotting carcasses, offal, insects, excrement (including their

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own), garbage, and other pigs. This has led to some pigs becoming carri-ers of disease which has spread to humans. (e.g. the H1N1 virus, more commonly called Swine flu.) If pigs are kept in unsanitary conditions disease from swine can quickly spread to humans.

In captivity pigs are fed mostly corn and soybean meal with a mixture of vitamins and minerals added to the diet. Traditionally they were raised on dairy farms and consumed the excess milk and whey from cheese and butter making, combined with pasture feed. Today, veterinary health care closely monitors farmed animals to ensure meat production is safe for human consumption here in Australia.

Like in North and South America, and various islands of the Pacific, humans have introduced pigs into Australia that have escaped and gone feral. These wild pigs have adapted too well to Australian conditions and are rapidly increas-ing in numbers and expanding their range. Feral pigs are often aggressive and are considered pests. Programs to control their numbers in Australia are having limited success.

For many today the pig has a poor reputation. But while it may be offensive to describe a human as being like a pig, the animal itself continues to play an important role in the diet of civilizations all over the world.

Some Pig Facts

The Jewish, Muslims, and some Christian Churches forbid the eating of pig meat—pork, bacon, ham, crackling, sausage etc.

Pigs hair– bristles, are often used to make brushes.

The heaviest pig ever recorded was ‘Big Bill,’ who weighed in at 1,157kg in Tennessee, USA in 1933.

The pig’s acute sense of smell is used in Europe to help locate truffles under the ground.

Feral pigs in Australia number 23 million, mainly in the northern states. They cause an estimated $100 million damage to farmers crops each year.

Sows (female pigs) give birth to 8-12 young at a time. The smallest piglet is called the ‘runt.’

In recent years pigs have grown in popularity as domestic pets, particularly the dwarf breeds.

Famous pigs include: Wilbur– from Charlotte’s Web Porky Pig– from Warner Brothers cartoons Miss Piggy– from the Muppets Piglet– friend of Winnie-the-Pooh Babe– the piglet who became a sheepdog Pumbaa– from the Lion King movie

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Harry Readford* was born in Mudgee NSW in December 1841. His father, Thomas Readford had been transported from York in 1815 after stealing four hides from a shoe-maker. Thomas was a convict success story, establishing his children with hotels and multiple land holdings. His wife Jemima was a currency lass.^ They married on July 29, 1834 in Windsor, NSW. Harry Readford was the youngest of Thomas and Jemima’s eleven children, and while his siblings lived wealthy, respectable lives, Harry had a wild streak that got him into trouble.

In March 1870 Readford, along with his accomplices, George Dewdney and William Rooke, stole about 1,000 head of cattle from Bowen Downs Station in central Queensland. Realising that remote parts of the property,

which stretched some 228km along the Thomson River, were seldom visited by station workers, he devised a plan to steal# some of the station's cattle. He constructed stockyards in an outlying part of the property, and gradually assembled the mob, which he and his partners then drove from the property, all without any of the station workers realizing what was going on. Included in their haul was an imported white bull belonging to the Scottish Australian Company. Readford planned to overland the cattle south and sell in them Adelaide, as the Queensland brands were unknown there.

It took three months for the three men to drive the cattle 1,300km down the Cooper Creek through country where Burke and Wills had perished only ten years before. As a droving exercise, it was a remarkable achievement, as anyone who has travelled the present-day Strzelecki Track will know. Two cows branded 'LC' and the white bull were sold to a storekeeper for rations at Artracoona Native Well near Wallelderdine Station in north-eastern South Australia. The rest of the cattle were sold for £5,000 (today’s value ≈ $250,000) at Blanchewater Station, 600km north of Adelaide. During this time Readford married a childhood friend, Elizabeth Skuthorpe on April 13, 1871.

* In Queensland Harry’s surname is sometimes spelled ‘Redford’, including on his grave.

^ Currency lads and lasses were the names given to the children of convicts born here in Australia. The children of free settlers were called ‘sterlings.’ Even these first generations of new Australians had developed an early version of the Australian accent, making their speech stand out as different from those born in England.

# The Australian term for stealing livestock is called ‘duffing.’

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Meanwhile, weeks after Readford had left Queensland, the initial theft of cattle was discovered. Bowen Downs Station employees, with the assistance of aboriginal trackers, then pursued the large herd toward South Australia. They were able to make a positive identification of the white bull, and Readford was arrested on a charge of cattle duffing while he was living in Sydney in 1872. After being brought back to Roma in south-western Queensland, Readford went on trial on February 11, 1873.

Readford’s courtroom strategy was to reject any well-dressed man for the jury. The ploy worked, as the jury, made up of common workers, was so impressed by his achievements that they found him not guilty! Staggered by the unfathomable verdict, the judge Charles Blakeney, then made his famous remark: "Thank God, gentlemen, that verdict is yours and not mine!" Upon learning of the verdict, the disgusted State Government shut down the Roma District Criminal Court for the next two years.*

However, the courts eventually caught up with Harry Readford. In 1881, after continual brushes with the law over horse stealing, Redford was jailed for eighteen months in Brisbane. By the time of his release, Harry had matured, and started taking on honest work as a drover. He took cattle from the Atherton Tableland near Cairns in northern Queensland, to Dubbo in New South Wales. In 1883, in charge of 3,000 cattle, he drove the first mob to Brunette Downs in the Northern Territory (216km north-east of Tennant Creek) where he became the station manager.

In 1901, Readford set out to explore Central Australia, but although a strong swimmer, was drowned in Corella Creek (215km south of Alice Springs) which, after heavy rain had become a raging torrent. He was 60 years old.

* To this day, it still remains difficult to get a conviction for stock stealing in Australia.

Harry Readford’s gravesite, identifying him with the fictional character—Captain Starlight.

Captain Starlight

The true stories of Harry Readford, along with other Australian bushrangers were woven together to become the mythical bushranger Captain Starlight, immortalised by Rolf Bolderwood in his novel: Robbery Under Arms.

Set in the bush and goldfields of Australia in the 1850s, narrator Dick Marston tells the story of his life in association with Captain Starlight, a renegade from a noble English family. Starlight's gang, with Dick’s help, sets out on a series of escapades that include cattle theft and armed robbery.

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The history of netball can be traced to the early development of basketball. A year after basketball was invented in 1891, the sport was modified for women to accommodate social conventions regarding their participation in sport, giving rise to women's basketball.

Variations of women's basketball arose across the United States and in England. At a physical training college in England, the rules of women's basketball were modified over several years to form an entirely new sport—netball. The first codified rules of netball were published at the start of the twentieth century, and from there the new sport spread throughout the British Empire.

From the beginning, netball was widely accepted as a sport suitable for women, and domestic netball competitions arose in several countries. The players wore gymslips, considered suitable attire for sportswomen at the time. Starting from the 1920s, national associations were formed to organize the sport in netball-playing nations. International matches were played sporadically, but were hampered by varying rules in different countries.

By 1960, the rules of netball had finally become standardized. An international governing body was formed to oversee the sport, now called the International

Netball Federation (INF). The sport's premier interna-tional competition, the World Netball Championships, first started in 1963. Since 1998, netball has also been contested at the Commonwealth Games. The Australian Diamonds won the first two Commonwealth gold medals, but their arch-rivals, the New Zealand Silver Ferns has won the last two. The Commonwealth games, held this year between July 23—August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland, will again see intense rivalry between these two dominant netballing countries.

Today, netball is reportedly played by over 20 million people in 70 countries worldwide. It remains primarily a women's sport, although male participation is increasing in some countries. Most participants play at an amateur level.

Early netballers in Queensland, wearing gymslips.

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Basic Rules of Netball

Netball teams have seven players each. The object of the game is to shoot the ball into the 380mm (15”) diameter hoop at each end of the court. A game is played over four, 15 minute quarters. The netball court is divided into thirds, and each player wears a ‘bib’ that designates which part of the court she is allowed into. Players must stay within their designated playing areas.

If a player goes outside their designated area (offside), a free pass is awarded to the opposing team in the offside area. A player may reach over and take the ball from an offside area provided that no part of their body touches the ground in that area. The ball cannot be thrown over a complete third without being touched by a player in that third.

A player can only take one step after receiving the ball, and has three seconds to pass the ball on or shoot at goal. The game commences with the first centre pass taken at the umpire’s whistle. After each goal is scored, a new centre pass is taken alternatively by the two centre players, irrespective of who scores the goal.

A player cannot accidentally or deliberately come into contact with another player in a way which impedes their play. For example, pushing, charging, tripping, throwing the body against an opponent or using the ball to push or contact an opponent. Players must not hold an opponent, nor keep their elbows against another player. A player with arms extended can-not defend a player with the ball closer than 0.9m (3’).

Geelong has many netball teams and courts throughout the city, but the highest grade netball is played at Kardinia Park, next to the Simonds Stadium football ground. The Kardinia Park Netball Complex features nine courts in total. Court 5 is a show court with retractable grandstands. The complex is fully lit with LED lighting that meets Australian Netball Association (ANA) standards. The nine courts are all regulation size and met ANA standards. Purpose built club rooms were renovated in mid-2012.

A number of indoor venues are also set up for netball, including the North Geelong Indoor Action Centre where 7-a-side games are scheduled. The net around the court keeps the ball in play at all times to ensure a fast, aerobic workout. Combining all the basic rules of the traditional game with modifications designed to get everybody involved, 7-a-side netball is a great way for anyone looking to improve their fitness in a fun and exciting team environment.

Netball can also be played throughout Geelong at most sports clubs.

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PART 4—The Bell on the Hill

An early landmark that helped new arrivals to Corio Bay get their bearings was the large bronze bell mounted by John Cowie and David Stead on top of what became known as Bell Post Hill.

Before leaving Hobart town in March 1836 with their sheep, the men purchased the bell, which was cast in Sydney by T & M Woolley. While there is substantial evidence that the bell actually existed, the reasons for it being placed on top of the hill,* along with written accounts involving the bell, have been clouded by folklore and legend. However, there appears to be two main reasons why Cowie and Stead went to the trouble of erecting the bell on the summit.

The first reason was to inform other settlers in the area that a ship had entered Corio Bay. At the time, all of the North Geelong area was covered in thick scrub, making navigation difficult. It also made views the bay, and any new shipping, impossible. In addition to those settling on the North Geelong plain, a number of early settlers preferred to set up camp closer to fresh water on the Moorabool River on the other side of Bell Post Hill. The bell also served to inform these families of any new ship arrivals, which often came with highly sought after news from other parts of the Australian colonies, or from England.

However, at the time the bell was set up in the late 1830’s, Cowie and Stead had few neighbours to benefit from this shipping alert. Thus, a second, and perhaps more likely reason is given for the bell’s placement—as an warning that hostile aborigines were in the area.

As explained in our earlier account (in Part 1) some of the local aborigines in the North Geelong/Anakie region demonstrated aggressive behaviour toward the early European invaders. Personal diaries and records from families who settled in North Geelong are dotted with accounts of unfriendly contact with the local tribesmen, describing them as “fierce and warlike.” At times the aborigines only demanded that the white settlers share their food, or give gifts of blankets and tools. More often they stole sheep and cattle, or dug up vegetables from among

*Some accounts have the bell mounted in the forked branches of a large tree on top of the hill. This seems unlikely, since the name of that location quickly earned the name Bell “Post” Hill. Thus, other accounts referring to the bell being supported between two posts seem more credible.

The Bell Post Hill Bell

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(story with help from Ian Wynd’s book So Fine a Country)

the growing crops. On a few occasions white families were even attacked, as Mrs Margaret Hodgson recounted about her mother:

Margaret’s mother often had visitors from among the blacks to her homestead, mostly demanding food. One day in 1840 a large group swarmed the property, their demeanour suggesting they wanted more than food. Horrified, she ran to grab her baby from the cradle, only to turn around as the aborigines grabbed her little girl who was playing by the door and ran off with her. She screamed and ran to find her husband, who had fortunately just arrived home after shooting pigeons. Mounting his horse he took off after the fleeing blacks. When the group saw a man galloping after them with gun in hand they threw the girl to the ground and fled into the bush. From her rough handling, the young girl bled profusely from the nose, her parents fearful that they were unable to stem the flow. Finally, the bleeding stopped, and the girl was saved, but the family was now ever on the alert to the location of aborigines in the vicinity from that time onward.

Similarly recorded hostile actions, with guilty parties on both sides, lent weight to the claim that the bell was mounted as a warning that aggressive aborigines were in the area. If the bell was rung, white settlers were to grab their weapons, locate the source of the hostile activity and help defend their neighbours from any attack. However, S. V. Stead, the son of David Stead, writes that, while the bell was set up by his father as a warning to shepherds and farmers of approaching aborigines, the bell was never actually used for that purpose.

Eventually the bell was removed from its position, and according to legend, thrown into the Moorabool River, retrieved, and then sent to Hobart to be repaired. When it was returned to Geelong it lay forgotten in the yard of Strachan, Murray and Shannon for many years, before being unearthed and put on display at the Melbourne Public Library. When the Morongo Presbyterian Girl’s College was built on top of Bell Post Hill, the bell was presented to the school where it hung from 1927 onwards. Since 1996 the site has been occupied by Kardinia International College, where the bell resided until being stolen off it’s mountings a few years back. Where is Geelong’s oldest icon now???

Meanwhile, back in the late 1830’s, large numbers of early settlers continued to arrive at Point Henry, in Corio Bay. Next month the story continues . . .

Morongo—home of John Calvert on top of Bell Post Hill. (1863) The Morongo Presbyterian Girl’s College was established on the property in 1920. The site is

now occupied by Kardinia International College.

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There are currently 8 known countries that possess nuclear weapons—USA, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. There is strong evidence Israel also has atomic weapons, but Israel officially refuses to confirm or deny their existence. Another 5 countries have nuclear weapons stored within their country by the USA—Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey. South Africa is the only other country to detonate a nuclear device, but has since disassembled their weapons. The United Nations continues to monitor the nuclear program of Iran, to deter the government of that country from developing ‘the bomb.’ Other countries admit to having the technical know-how to make atomic bombs, but have not done so up to this time.

The first nuclear weapon was detonated as a test by the United States on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico, USA, (size: equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT). The largest nuclear weapon ever tested was the "Tsar Bomba" of the Soviet Union on October 30, 1961 (yielding an estimated 50–58Mt of TNT). [See page 20.]

Only 2 atomic weapons have been used in anger, during August 1945 when the USA dropped bombs on Hiromisha and Nagasaki in Japan. Within a few months

up to 240,000 Japanese had died as a result of those two blasts. The fearful scale of destruction shown in Japan, and displayed in the media over the last 69 years, has been a strong deterrent to the use of further devices in warfare—especially when the size of those explosions (16Kt & 20Kt) pales into insignificance in comparison with the bigger bombs in existence today.

The 1st nuclear explosion—16 milliseconds after detonation. July 16, 1945. New Mexico, USA

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19

How Many Bombs Exploded?

Since 1945 there have been about 2,434 nuclear devices exploded all over the world while undergoing testing. Of this number, 471 of them have been exploded in the ocean or in the atmosphere, above ground.

One of the main problems with testing nuclear devices is predicting the outcome, with a number of test blasts being much larger than predicted. For example, the USA Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test in 1954 yielded 15Mt—over twice what was predicted. That test on the Bikini Atoll, 3,000 km north-east of Papua New Guinea, was the most powerful nuclear bomb ever exploded by the USA—1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The blast left a crater 2km in diameter and 76m deep. American observers nearby were injured in the huge blast. Some of the scientist’s equipment, thought to be out of range, was destroyed. A Japanese fisherman was killed. Locals on neighbouring islands suffered radiation sickness. The resulting mushroom cloud containing radio-active particles contaminated more than seven thousand square miles of the surrounding Pacific Ocean.

As a result of radio-active fallout, in 1963 countries with nuclear weapons signed the Partial Ban Treaty, agreeing to only test their weapons underground. The Soviet Union (Russia) continued testing underground until 1990, the United Kingdom until 1991, the USA until 1992, and both France and China until 1996.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), now signed by 183 countries worldwide, bans all nuclear testing, peaceful or otherwise.* A total of 337 monitoring stations have been built all over the globe to ensure compliance with the treaty. However, other countries including India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed the treaty. India and Pakistan continued testing underground up until 1998, while North Korea carried out its last successful nuclear test only last year, in February 2013. A month earlier North Korea had announced that it planned to conduct further tests involving rockets that can carry satellites as well as nuclear warheads "to strike and attack the United States."

As you ponder these facts, we hope you sleep well tonight.

This photo of Hiroshima taken after the nuclear bomb blast shows the complete devastation of the city.

*A total of 29 treaties, signed by nuclear countries and other aspirants have been signed since 1959. A number of these treaties have been broken by those who signed them, including the USA. Only time will tell if current treaties will be honoured.

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20

The Tsar Bomba is the Western name for the greatest nuclear explosion ever released. It was detonated by the Russians at 11:32am on October 30, 1961, over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Sea.

Weighing 27 tonnes, the bomb was detonated 4km above the ground. The estimated yield of the explosion was 50–58 Mt (about 3,500 times bigger than the Hiroshima blast).* The entire island area was levelled, and rocks melted away. The subsequent mushroom cloud was about 64km high, over seven times the height of Mount Everest. All buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick), located 55km away were destroyed. For hundreds of kilometres wooden houses were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors.

Radio communications were interrupted for almost one hour. The heat from the explosion would have caused third-degree burns 100 km away from ground zero. Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows 900km away in Norway and Finland. The seismic shock created by the detonation was measurable even on its third passage around the Earth.

Although scientists can build much bigger bombs today, modern nuclear weapons are much smaller, and are designed to be delivered as groups of missiles, enlarging their destructive range. As of 2013 there are about 17,300 nuclear warheads ready for delivery on the command of politicians and military strategists—Russia 8,500, USA 7,700, France 300, United Kingdom 225, Pakistan 100-120, India 90-110, Israel 80?, and North Korea perhaps 10.

Russia

Sweden

Norway Finland

*Russian scientists originally planned the bomb to yield 100 Megatons, but limited the construction size out of concern for the size of the radiation fallout.

A replica of the Tsar Bomba

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Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

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The Corinth Canal

In Greece the Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea, saving the 700-kilometre journey around the Peloponnese. It cuts through the narrow isthmus that separates the Peloponnesian Peninsula from the Greek mainland. Since the builders dug the canal through the isthmus at sea level, no locks are employed. The engineering marvel is 6.4km in length, 21.4m wide at its base, and 8m deep.

Several rulers in antiquity attempted to dig through the narrow isthmus. In the 7th century BCE the tyrant Periander abandoned his attempt and, instead, constructed a simpler overland stone carriageway, along which ships could be towed from one side of the isthmus to the other. Remnants of this road still exist next to the modern canal.

Three Roman rulers considered the idea—Julius Caesar was assassinated before he could commence his project. In 40 CE Caligula commissioned a study from Egyptian experts to see if a canal could be dug. However, he too was assassinat-ed before any progress could be made. Emperor Nero was the first to actually start the canal, personally breaking the ground with a pickaxe and removing the first basket-load of soil in 67 CE. Approximately 700m was dug by Jewish slaves, before the project was abandoned when Nero died in June 68 CE.

The idea of a Corinth Canal was revived after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. Construction finally got underway in 1881 and was completed in 1893. However, due to the canal's narrowness, navigational problems and periodic closures, it failed to attract the level of traffic anticipated

by its operators. It was also found that the wake from ships passing through the canal undermined the walls, causing landslides from its steep walls.

The canal is too narrow for modern ocean freighters, as it can only accommodate ships of a width of up to 16.5 metres and a draft of 7.3 metres. Ships can only pass through the canal one at a time on a one-way system. Larger ships have to be towed by tugs. The canal is nowadays mostly used by tourist ships. Yet 11,000 ships per year still travel through the waterway.

Peloponnesian Peninsula

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It has been said that “Australia was built on the sheep’s back,” a well-deserved tribute to the sheep industry in this country. And from the very early days of European settlement, the farming community around Geelong has played a pivotal role in making that happen. However, the life of an early sheep farmer was not always easy, as the following case from 150 years ago suggests:

On October 6, 1864 Mr. J. S. Buckland appeared before the Geelong Police Court charged with keeping 382 scabby sheep on his property without a licence. The scab inspector, Mr. Peevor had visited Buckland’s farm at Batesford on September 22, 1864 and counted 682 sheep on the property. When asked to show his licence for these sheep, Mr. Buckland could only produce a valid certificate made out on May 4, 1864 for 300 sheep.

Mr. Peevor then provided a written licence to Mr. Buckland for the remaining 382 scabby sheep, but then 4 days later, issued him with a summons for not having them licenced earlier. Mr. Buckland now contended before the Court that the remaining sheep were mostly lambs under 6 months old, and thus exempt from needing a scab licence.

Hang on a second! Let’s wind the story forward to the 21st Century. You are probably now wondering what this story is all about. What are scabby sheep? Why did farmers need a licence to keep them? And what was a “scab inspector?” Perhaps before we continue the court case, we should provide you, the reader, with some background information:

Scabby Sheep: Sheep scab is caused by the mite Psoroptes. The female mite lays between 40 - 90 eggs in her lifetime of about 30 days. Scab mites live and feed on the surface of the sheep’s skin. The mites prick the skin with their mouth parts and feed off the lymph and tissue-fluids which flow from the pricks. The lymph and fluids mix with the dead tissue, dust and dirt, secretions of the mites, strands of wool and oil. When this dries it results in the characteristic scabby patches in the sheep’s fleece.

Highly contagious, sheep scab is transmitted by direct contact when sheep are gathered together, such as when yarded, during sales, or by contact with infested scab material on fence posts. A single female Psoroptes mite on a single sheep could end up devastating an entire flock of sheep. In the 1840-1860 period

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infection rates of sheep throughout the southern Australia area averaged between 10-15%, but were as high as 60% in some regions.

Obtaining a Scab Licence: Destruction of infected sheep was very costly to the farmer, who could lose his entire livelihood if required to destroy his flock. As a consequence, as early as 1852 The Scab in Sheep Act was passed in Victoria, which allowed a farmer to keep his scabby flock under strict quarantine conditions while he tried to disinfect them. Any infected flocks (even if only one animal in the flock was infected) were not allowed to be transported or moved on public roads or land. It was illegal to purchase sheep from an infected flock.

A Scab Licence cost 3d. (3c) per sheep for the first six months. If a second inspection at that time revealed that at least one of the sheep was still infected, the entire flock could receive a renewed licence at a cost of 6d. (6c) per sheep. Further licences could be obtained at 3d. per sheep. However, if four or more other farmers living within 10km of the infected property demanded the flock’s destruction, the licence could be revoked and the flock destroyed. Even after receiving a clean bill of health, a treated flock could not be sold or moved off the farmer’s property for the next 4 months.

Scab Inspectors: The Scab in Sheep Act was updated in 1855, and again in 1862, when provision was made for government inspectors to visit sheep farmers to ensure they were properly licenced and were in fact isolating their flocks and treating them correctly. Paid £300 per year, they had authority to issue licences as well as summons notices to those farmers who did not comply with the Act.

Treating Scabby Sheep: Rubbing a solution of quicksilver (mercury) and turpentine into the fleece was recommended in the very early days. However, by the mid-1850’s tobacco wash was accepted as the most effective treatment. Ten pounds (4.5kg) of tobacco dust was boiled in 15 gallons (58 litres) of water. Small amount of spirits of tar and turpentine were added, before being vigorously rubbed into the sheep’s fleece. This very labour intensive treatment was eventually replaced with sheep dips, when the entire sheep was placed in a bath of the medicated solution. It cost about £6 ($12) per 100 sheep to treat a flock—a very expensive exercise for most farmers.

Well, with that background information, how did Mr. Buckland’s court case turn out? After deliberating for nearly a week, the panel of three judges could not accept that Mr. Buckland’s flock had increased by nearly 400 lambs in just over 4 months. He was found guilty of not complying with The Scab in Sheep Act and fined an additional £57 6s. ($114.60), the equivalent of 3s. (30c) per un-licenced sheep.

End Note: By 1896 scabby sheep were eradicated from Australia and New Zealand, and the problem has never recurred. But the infection remains a scourge in many other countries, including England, to this day.

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Do you have a small scar on your upper left arm? If you are over 35 years of age, your answer will probably be yes! But for those who are younger, the answer will likely be no. Why? Smallpox!

From 1917 until 1980 it was recommended that all Australian children have the smallpox vaccination.* The prick on the skin received at Primary School became a blister that, when healed, left a permanent scar on the child’s arm.

Smallpox is a disfiguring and deadly infectious disease caused by the variola virus. Before smallpox was eradicated, there were two forms of the disease worldwide: variola major, the deadly disease, and variola minor, a milder form.

The earliest physical evidence of smallpox is probably the pustular rash on the mummified body of Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt who lived about 3,100 years ago. More recently, the disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the closing years of the 18th century, including five reigning monarchs. It was also held responsible for a third of all blindness at that time. Of all those infected, an average of 30%, mostly children, died from the disease.

As early as 1796 the English physician Edward Jenner demonstrated the effectiveness of cowpox to protect humans from smallpox. From that time onward, many countries progressively introduced vaccination programs for their respective citizens—Spain and the Philippines in 1803; the US Congress in 1813;

and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in 1817. By 1832, the United States government had even established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans.

The British government introduced compulsory smallpox vaccination in 1853. By 1897, smallpox had largely been eliminated from the United States. In Northern Europe a number of countries had eliminated smallpox by 1900, and by

The smallpox virus

According to health experts, over time

smallpox was responsible for more deaths than all other infectious diseases

combined.

*Currently vaccinations are recommended by the Australian Department of Health to protect against 13 potential diseases within the first 4 years of life. At least 4 other vaccinations are recommended later in life, depending on the patient’s risk factors. Check with your doctor if you are unsure if you are fully immunised.

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1914, the incidence of smallpox in most industrialized countries had decreased to comparatively low levels.*

However, smallpox still remained responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century. Thus, in 1958 Professor Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of Health for the USSR, called on the World Health Assembly to undertake a global initiative to eradicate smallpox. The proposal was accepted in 1959. The program took time to work. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease that year and about two million of those people died from it. Vaccination efforts intensified. As a result, the last naturally occurring case of smallpox was reported on October 26, 1977. Finally, in 1980 the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated from the planet.^

Currently, there is no evidence of naturally occurring smallpox anywhere in the world. However, although a worldwide immunization program eradicated smallpox disease decades ago, small quantities of smallpox virus officially still exist in two research laboratories, one at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) high containment facility in Atlanta, USA, and the other in Russia.

The smallpox virus was highly contagious. In most cases, people got smallpox by inhaling droplets of saliva, which were full of virus, during face-to-face contact with an infected person. After the virus had multiplied and spread throughout the body, a rash and fever developed. This was the "illness" portion of the disease, and when someone was at their most infectious. Some risk of transmission remained until all scabs had fallen off.

Scientists have not studied variola virus well because of the hazards associated with potential exposure. In addition, by international agree-ment, smallpox may only be studied at the two facilities noted above, and any experiments must be approved in advance by an international committee.

There is no treatment or cure for smallpox. The 7.1 billion people who share this planet can only hope it never raises it’s ugly head again.

Smallpox was once a feared viral disease. Although an aggressive immunisation campaign eradicated smallpox by 1977, small stocks of the virus remain in laboratories.

Smallpox has recently been assessed as a possible biological weapon that could be used in non-conventional warfare or in a terrorist attack.

* Australia and New Zealand did not implement vaccination programs until 1917, instead relying on the isolation of their respective countries to protect them, something which became impossible as a result of participation during WWI and modern transportation.

^ Smallpox is one of two infectious diseases to have been eradicated by human efforts, the other being Rinderpest, which was declared eradicated in 2011.

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George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky USA. His mother, Nina was a beauty pageant queen, while his father, Nick, was a TV anchor-man, and game show host. Clooney’s maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Sparrow, was the half-sister of Nancy Hanks, the mother of President Abraham Lincoln.

As an American actor, Clooney has one of the most recognised faces in the world. Yet, many may be surprised to learn that Clooney is also noted for his political activism and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008.

Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic, and for a time, served as an alter boy in his local church. He began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. In middle school, Clooney developed Bell's palsy, a debilitating condition that partially paralyses the face. The malady went away within a year, however “that was the worst time of my life,” he told the Daily Mirror in 2003. “You know how cruel kids can be. I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger.”

After his parents moved to Augusta, Kentucky, Clooney attended Augusta High School. He was a good student, as well as an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. In fact, he tried out with the Cincinnati Reds baseball club in 1977, but was not offered a contract. He attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and very briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either. While at school he performed odd jobs, such as selling men's suits and cutting tobacco.

Clooney's life as a famous TV and film actor did not come quickly. His first role was as an extra in the TV series Centennial

Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 until they divorced in 1993. Since then, if media reports are to be believed, he has had more girlfriends than you and I have had glasses of water.

Often featured in People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, Clooney's marital status and availability continue to tantalize female fans, who hope for the chance to bring him to the altar.

In fact, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas has a "Marrying George Clooney" photo-op, in which museum visitors can put on a wedding gown and stand next to a wax statue of the actor in a tuxedo.

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in 1978, which was partially filmed in Clooney's hometown in Kentucky. His first major role came in 1984 in the short-lived sitcom E/R (not to be confused with ER, the better-known hospital drama, which came later). He played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life, and appeared as detective Bobby Hopkins on an episode of The Golden Girls.

Clooney’s first significant break was a supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's work supervisor, followed by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk, a co-starring role on the CBS drama Bodies of Evidence as Detective Ryan Walker, and then a year-long turn as Det. James Falconer on Sisters. In 1988, Clooney even played a role in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

While all these roles gave Clooney acting experience, it was not until 1994 that he finally gained worldwide recognition in his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the long-running hit medical drama ER. For his work on the series, Clooney received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama Series in 1995 and 1996. He also earned three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor—Television Series Drama in 1995, 1996, and 1997.

While working on ER, he began attracting a variety of leading roles in films, including Batman & Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). In 1999, after leaving ER, Clooney took the lead role in the well-received war satire Three Kings.

In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, Ocean's Eleven. He made his directorial debut a year later with the 2002 biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Middle East thriller Syriana (2005), and subsequently gained Best Actor nominations for such films as Michael Clayton (2007), Up in the Air (2009), and The Descendants (2011). In 2013, he received the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the film Argo, alongside Ben Affleck.

Last year Clooney co-starred with Sandra Bullock in Gravity (2013). This year (2014) he will co-write, direct and star in The Monuments Men. Clooney is also producing August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Currently, Clooney is the only person in Academy Award history to be nominated for Oscars in six different categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. The American heart-throb is now 52 years old.

Between 1988 and 2006 Clooney kept a pet pig named Max at his home. Max frequently made cameos in interviews, mostly because of his enormous size—over 130kg.

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Ingredients:

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 cups (400g) couscous

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cup coarsely chopped coriander

1 small (200g) orange sweet potato, halved lengthways, sliced

1 red capsicum, seeded, thickly sliced

2 Spanish onions, halved, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1kg firm white-fleshed fish fillets (snapper or blue eye), cut into 2cm pieces

1/2 cup (40g) flaked almonds, roasted

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

Method:

Step 1

Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and cook onions for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add sweet potato, capsicum and spices and stir for 1 minute. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Step 2

Stir in 1/3 cup water, fish, tomatoes and salt to taste. Cover. Cook for 10 minutes or until fish is just cooked through.

Step 3

Meanwhile, cook couscous, following packet directions. Combine almonds, garlic, lemon rind and coriander in a small bowl. Serve tagine on top of couscous, scattered with almond mixture.

Recipe by Michelle Noerianto For more recipes like this one go to: taste.com.au

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

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Word Search— Australian Animals

ANT

BANDICOOT

CROCODILE

DINGO

DOLPHIN

DUGONG

ECHIDNA

EMU

FLYING FOX

FUR SEAL

GALAH

GOANNA

KINGFISHER

KOOKABURRA

KOALA

KOWARI

LYREBIRD

MAGPIE

MALLEE FOWL

NUMBAT

OWL

OYSTER CATCHER

PARROT

PELICAN

PENGUIN

PLATYPUS

POSSUM

QUOKKA

QUOLL

RAINBOW LORIKEET

RED KANGAROO

SEADRAGONS

SAW FISH

SEA EAGLE

SHARK

SUGAR GLIDER

TASMANIAN DEVIL

THORNY DEVIL

TREE FROG

WALLABY

WALLAROO

WHALE

WOMBAT

YABBY

R P G T R E E F R O G A K E A O P L N

E O S G E I I S H A R K D S L F I D O

O I N I H P L O D P A O E M R V L E P

H G O R S O R E H C T A C R E T S Y O

O G G A I A K R O K E L I D O C O R C

N S A W F I S H V A E A N L E W I F W

E O R O G L O L G S K A N A C I L E P

V H D K N O M L E V I A T T H Y F K N

A D A L I V E D Y N R O H T I Q U U F

P R E D K A N G A R O O O N D U R R Y

A I S G L N D M U C L K G R N O S N B

R B W I O I S B I P W F P A A L E U A

R E Q U N A A D L W O F E E L L A M L

O R U G T K N A F X B L H L N A L B L

T Y O N O A T N B F N E D Y A G H A A

P L K O B Y G R A O I W A A B H U T W

A H K G P O S S U M A G P I E B W I A

K B A U R E D I L G R A G U S M A S N

E N S D W O M B A T H S E W S W U Y H

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On the commemorative $5 banknote issued in 2001 is:

Sir Henry Parkes

Politician and journalist, Sir Henry Parkes was born on May 27, 1815 in Warwickshire, England, the youngest of seven children. Henry's formal education was very limited. As a boy he helped support his family, working first as a road labourer, and then in a brick-pit and on a rope-walk (twisting cord into rope), before being apprenticed to bone and ivory turner John Holding.

On July 11, 1836 Henry married 23-year-old Clarinda, a butcher’s daughter. Then, upon completion of his apprenticeship in 1837 he began his own business. The business failed and they survived for a while by pawning his tools. Eventually Henry decided to make his fortune in Australia, and they reached Sydney on July 25, 1839 with their first child born at sea two days earlier. Henry eventually married three times (after his first two wives died). He had 12 children with Clarinda, and another 5 by his second wife, Eleanor.

After arriving in Sydney, Henry found work as a farm labourer, in an ironmongers and then in a brass-foundry. In 1840 he became a tide-waiter (inspecting newly arriving ships) for the Customs Department. By 1845 he set up shop as an ivory turner and importer of fancy goods, but never had any head for business. By 1850 he was in financial difficulties, and soon suffered the first of three bank-ruptcy suits he endured during his lifetime. His family was often left in poverty.

Parkes's talents as a writer developed quickly in the 1840s. Late in 1850 he became editor-proprietor of the Empire, a newspaper set up by Parkes to help fulfil his other passion—politics. For the next 45 years Parkes established himself as the most influential character in the New South Wales, and Australian political scene. He served as New South Wales premier 5 times, for a total of 11 years, and fought hard for free trade and federation. Parkes was very suspicious of the Catholic Church, and maneuvered events to thwart their influence in Australia. The governor of New South Wales, Lord Augustus Loftus later described Parkes as dictatorial, overbearing, and despotic in his manner of dealing with people. Future Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin was more kind, describing Parkes as being “from first to last the Chief and leader.”

On April 27,1896 Parkes died suddenly at his home from heart failure after an attack of pneumonia, and was buried beside his first wife in the Blue Mountains. He was 81 years old. While he made many enemies among the political, business and religious groups of his day, Henry Parkes did more than any other Australian in his lifetime to shape modern society as we enjoy it today in this country.

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About this brochure: This brochure has been produced as a community service by participants in the Work For The Dole scheme at Workskil- Corio branch office. This is part of a Job Services Australia initiative. All comments and views expressed in this publication are the opinions of the participants in the scheme and not necessarily the views of Workskil or Job Services Australia. If you have any comments about information contained in this brochure, or suggestions for future issues please write to: Workskil WFTD Unit 1001 Corio Shopping Centre.

Bacchus Marsh Rd. Corio 3214 Ph: (03) 5245 3000 or email: ssharp@workskil.com.au

Geelong– 150 years ago this month

“Our up-country friends who indulge in the delicacy of

smoked fish may possibly like to know how the article is

sometimes got up for market. In a County Court case

heard yesterday, the defendant, a fishmonger at Ballarat,

opposed payment of an account for the fish supplied to

him from Queenscliff, partly on the ground that it was

sent to him in a state of decomposition.

Plaintiff retorted that the defendant had thereby suffered

no loss, inasmuch as he admitted having ‘split them up

and smoked them,’ in which

condition they found a ready

sale.

Defendant so far admitted the

soft impeachment as to allow

that he had disposed of a good

many in this way, but added

that a large portion were too

far gone even for this, and he

had to throw them away

behind the depot.”

-The Geelong Advertiser April 1864

The Jillong Pocket is available online. Go to www.workskil.com.au and select the “Community Programs” tab.

32

Corio Villa. 56 Eastern Beach Road, Geelong Above is pictured Geelong’s most famous house, only 5 years after it was built. Owner Alfred Douglass holds the horse, while his son, Henry P. Douglass is the likely passenger in the dray (cart). Below, the massive trees planted by Alfred Douglass 150 years ago dominate the scene. The weatherboard extension added around 1890 is also visible to the left in the photo. See pages 2-3 in this issue of the Jillong Pocket for further details of this historical Geelong icon.

c.1861

Source: State Library of Victoria