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From about midnight on Saturday until yesterday evening very little rain fell, and it was generally hoped that fine weather would set in for a time at all events ; but by sunset last evening steady rain again began, and the night as it fell over the city was perhaps the most gloomy that has yet been experienced. No gas had been available since an early hour on Saturday night, and though some lamps in Queen and George streets were lit by Messrs. Barton, White, and Co. from electricity generated at the Government Printing Office, this served to light but a small portion of the inundated streets. Every effort is being made to supply the immediate needs of the suburban residents driven from their homos, and while many in various districts were accommodated in empty houses, shelter and relief were also afforded at the Town Hall and other public places. Police and Defence Force men worked hard to save life and minimise, where possible, the destruction wrought, and many young men, members of athletic clubs and football and cricket teams, worked with a will, plying in boats the whole of Saturday night from point to point where help was needed. Where the local authorities took the work systematically in hand as in the case of Booroodabin much needless suffering was avoided, but an emergency of such an unexampled nature could not in any case be fully met. Source: The Brisba e Courier, 06 Feb 1893 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3555422

" Clothes damaged by the flood being washed at D. L. Brown"

Percy Chapman: ‘The most delightful gentleman and an ideal captain’ – Almanack As a tall, polished left-handed batsman who, excelling in the off-drive and leg-side strokes, was generally willing and able to attack the bowling, he scored 16,309 runs, average 31.97, in a first-class career dating from 1920 to 1939. Of his 27 centuries, the highest and certainly one of the best was 260 for Kent against Lancashire, that season’s Champions, at Maidstone in 1927. The position when he went in was far from encouraging, half the side being out for 70 runs. Yet he and GB Legge (101) assailed an attack including such men as EA McDonald, the Australian fast bowler, Richard Tyldesley and FM Sibbles with such vigour that in two and a half hours they put on 284 runs. Born at Reading, Berkshire, he was in the Uppingham eleven for four years from 1916 to 1919, being captain in the last two, and soon attracted attention with splendid performances. Tributes to Percy Chapman Jack Hobbs I well remember the surprise caused by the appointment of Percy Chapman as the England captain for the final Test against Australia at The Oval in 1926. He was only 25 and all the team liked him. He was not a disciplinarian like his predecessors and he did not hesitate to seek advice. He often talked to me about tactics on the field and he set a great example with his brilliant catching in the slips. The Australian crowds loved him during the tour of 1928/29 when he made us a happy team. Billy Griffith I will always remember him for his debonair and aggressive approach to the game and as a great fielder. George Duckworth He was the most delightful gentleman and an ideal captain. He had such a persuasive charm as a leader that you could not help trying your utmost for him. Source: wisden.com/almanack/percy-chapman-the-most-delightful-gen...

Opening Day The Highway Opening on 4th October 1935 was a grand event for the longest bridge in Australia, opened by the Governor, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson. Several of the dignitaries also made speeches and some memorable quotes are recorded. In his speech, MR declared – “The hour has come!” After many challenges, it was a profound moment to reach Opening Day. He summarised the challenges with the full effects of the Depression being felt but said that “every man on this job stuck by me in the most difficult times,” and that many thought they would never finish the job but that “only strengthened our backs.” He said that at times the weather made his heartache but felt “proud of every man who worked on this job,” and that it was the policy of his firm to reward the loyalty of its workforce by engaging them on further contracts (Hornibrook Highway Opened, Longest Viaduct in Australia, High Tributes to Contractor,14). How heartening this would have been for local people and their families during times of such low employment and it helps to understand the loyalty people felt to MR and the company over many years. His big challenges had been designed, finance, organisation, and timber supplies and all had been overcome (The New Gateway to Redcliffe and the Great North Coast, 1935)6. A procession of cars crossed the highway to Clontarf Headland, where the visitors were entertained by the Redcliffe Town Council. At 6 p.m. the collection of tolls began and 3000 cars crossed the first day (Hornibrook Highway,29). The celebrations were held only on the Redcliffe side as the first sod had been turned on the Sandgate side (Hornibrook Highway,30). Redcliffe also had an officially declared public holiday for Redcliffe (Hornibrook Highway,30) so all could join in the celebrations from school children, workers, families and community. Newspapers reported it was a beautiful day and the chairman of Hornibrook Highway Pty Ltd, Sir Edward Macartney, said the work of constructing the Highway, because of its nature and extent, was unique in Australia. Speaking of MR he said, "My company has found him to be a great man, whose first principle is a first-class job. His attitude towards the company and the undertaking has been very generous and very reasonable. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with him” (Hornibrook Highway Opened, Longest Viaduct in Australia, High Tributes to Contractor, 15)14. Sir Edward added, “…the Hornibrook Highway is a tribute to those men whose ability and unshakeable convictions successfully overcame the forces of public criticism, and even ridicule, and shaped a public opinion sufficiently powerful to bring about the successful registration of their objective” (The New Gateway to Redcliffe and the Great North Coast, 1935)6. The Governor announced, “To-day is a day on which, we might say, another page in the history of Queensland has been written. It might even be said that another page has been written in the history of Australia, because this is the longest bridge in the Commonwealth" (Hornibrook Highway Opened, Longest Viaduct in Australia, High Tributes to Contractor,14). The completion of the Highway also showed that Queensland proudly valued enterprise and vision, their own products and employment of their own people. They boasted that all products used in the bridge, except the steel, was produced in Queensland. A few years later when the Story Bridge was completed there was a similar boast, including that the steel was made in Australia so these projects contributed enormously to the image Queensland had forged for itself and its place in a competitive Australia. The Governor commented that some criticised the size of the project and that it was built too soon for demand. He defended the stance saying better to be too soon than too late. He added that only 33 years previously were nearly 200,000 fewer people in Brisbane than in 1935. He went on to ask “Who would dare predict how many will be in Brisbane 30 years from to-day?” They would all have been amazed to witness how much these communication links really did influence growth in the area and that, by 1965, the Brisbane population growth rate almost doubled from the previous 30 years to approx. 700,000 by 1965 so the Bridge capacity was well needed (ABS, 2008)16. An exciting moment of the Opening was when the Governor cut the ribbon, reportedly with a gold boomerang presented to him by MR. Amidst applause, he and his wife, Lady Wilson, were then driven in the lead vehicle of a procession of vehicles over the Bridge. They were welcomed on the Clontarf side by the Mayor, a Scottish pipe band, a guard of honor of war veterans, and 400 school children. A civic reception followed with much celebration and congratulations all around (Hornibrook Highway Opening, Big Programme of Celebrations,17). The Redcliffe Library holds a DVD that includes footage of the opening of the Highway and the gold boomerang can be seen on film. The choice of boomerang was surely symbolic of belief in the future of holidaymakers and others choosing to go over the Bridge to the peninsular and back again. From the: Hornibrook Highway essay by Julie Hornibrook www.slq.qld.gov.au/discover/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/...

Queensland Cement and LIme (QCL) began making concrete using crushed dead coral in lieu of lime . Full production started in 1937 and one of the first projects to use the coral mix was the portal on the southern approach of the Hornibrook Highway Bridge. The concrete was made at the factory at Darra, with the coral being transported from the Oxley Wharf (Brisbane River, Seventeen Mile Rocks) to the factory initially by trucks, then in the 1960s, by overhead, overland conveyor belt. Remnants of the Oxley Wharf and the conveyor belt can be seen at Rocks Riverside Park.