boat

Streetview. maps.app.goo.gl/3TJWZmduG4Hz78mX6

At left an RIC man with a forage cap, so after 1900. But is that another RIC man wearing a pillbox hat with him? If so, it must be just as the new hats were introduced in 1900. Or is could be a messenger or some other lad in uniform...

Browsing the Kilkenny Moderator for Wednesday 22 August 1888 this morning, I noticed the 'Aquatics' section of the Thomastown Regatta and Athletic Sports on the following Saturday. There were 4 boat races, with entrance fees and monetary prizes (or a cup).

- one for cots of any length, - the second open to pair-oared punts not exceeding 17 ft in length - the third only open to bona fide fishing cots - the fourth confined to fishermen of Thomastown in bona fide fishing cots

Between the last cot race and the pony race there was what would have been a highlight for me: "Greased pole. No entrance [fee]. Prize - A Fat Pig" "cot" was new to me. From irishwaterwayshistory.com/

The really important vessels on Irish inland waterways were not barges but cots — smaller wooden boats, which may have been sailed or propelled by a combination of oars and poles (quants, shafts) — but we simply have no idea of the extent of their use on inland waterways.

That was the first thing that struck me when looking at thos photo, the wheeled cart in the river! Also, looks like a policeman there, early 1900's I'd guess.

In the corresponding event in 1881, there was a race not for catamarans, but "pair-oared outriggers". There were 2 entries but neither crew turned up, so the silver teapot and egg-boiler were not awarded. There were several entries for the greased pole, but this time the prize went missing.

Pig on pole. A number of post entries were taken for this event, and when the competitors proceeded to business the first man on the card had cast hs longing eyes, with eager anticipation in his glance, to where the pig ought to be. it was not to be .seen. It then became evident that white the attention of the crowd was engaged upon the other events as they proceeded, some adventurous climber must have essayed to reach the pig, and did reach it, and has, no doubt, dined upon it sumptuously before these lines come under the notice of our readers. Keen disappointment was depicted on the countenances of several who had anticipated with delight a savoury dinner on the morrow as the result a succeeding in climbing the greased pole.

(Kilkenny Moderator - Wednesday 17 August 1881)

Pearling became the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s and had a massive impact on coastal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It was the only industry ever exempted from the provisions of the White Australia policy because it was the economic pillar supporting the far north with cheap labour from the South Pacific and Asia. Its legacy is a history of mixed populations in the far north that defies the standard historical image of a white Australia. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/pearling

Developed as a naval patrol aircraft, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was a widely exported flying boat during World War II. Over the course of the conflict, it served a number of different nations in a variety of roles. In the Royal Australian Air Force, PBYs and PB2Bs (a variant built by Boeing in Canada) served as multi-role bombers and scouts, the type eventually earning great renown among Australian aircrews.[2][3][4][5][6] The motto of the Catalina squadrons was "The First and Furthest." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PBY_Catalina_in_Austra...

The WAAAF was the first military organisation in Australia for women which focused on skills other than tending the sick or injured. The establishment of the WAAAF paved the way for similar organisations in Navy and Army. Some women joined the WAAAF because they saw it as their patriotic duty, others to see the world and some to escape the social confines of life at home with the men away. Critics viewed the new organisation as a radical move and at least one national leader, the Minister for Defence, Harold C. Thorby, (right) opposed it. 'Aviation takes women out of their natural environment, the home and the training of the family,' he said. These fabric workers knew to an inch the amount of material required to cover their aircraft. It's no exaggeration to say that military life came as shock to some women: they had trouble adjusting. The WAAAF was designed and run as an efficient military organisation. In all areas, except pay and entitlements, women were treated the same as men in the Royal Australian Air Force. Pay and conditions were vastly different to men, women were only paid a percentage of the equivalent male wage and married women were not allowed to remain in the WAAAF. Source: www.radschool.org.au/magazines/Vol75/Page15.htm