steam

Looking across the Lane Cove River from Hunters Hill towards St Ignatius College...with the Lane Cove Bridge in the foreground... trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/164900578 - Sydney Mail, 2nd December, 1903...similar pic here, but taken from the nearby Fig Tree ferry wharf (see pic top rhs)... trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/165380556 - the Sydney Mail, 31st December, 1902...another pic of the bridge and surrounds here (see pic bottom of page)... trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/165291990 - the Sydney Mail, 2nd March, 1901...pic of the opening of the Lane Cove Bridge.

THE EDWARD STREET FERRY. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,-There is a saying that a corporation is a thing which hasn't a body to be kicked. The residents of Kangaroo Point will endorse the saying, and, possibly regret the fact that they are deprived of this last consolation, if not cure, for the present ferry disarrangements. The reason is given that it does not pay to run two steamers. We are expecting that the next thing we will have to endure is the removal of the gas lamps in our streets on the ground that it does not pay to light them. The bridge is free to pedestrians, but the " Pointers" have to pay for their passage across and are condemned to take whatever facilities may be offered. If the present arrangements do not pay, the Mayor need not hesitate; we are all prepared to swim. In order to deal out sauce to the goose as well as to the gander, the steam punt might also be hung up to stop a leak in the municipal revenues. But as a sauce of this kind might interfere with, amongst other things, the delivery of tradesmen's orders, that gander comes out with all its feathers on. The crowding of the single steamer at the busy hours of the morning and evening is not only extremely inconvenient but a source of danger. A very, slight wash from a passing steamer at these hours is likely to cause a panic, and possibly an accident. In the latter event-absit, omen-we have no doubt that the Mayor is courteously prepared to head the funeral and the subscription list. There are frequently as many as sixty passengers on a single trip across, and the crushing, getting on and off, frequently those coming off jostling those coming on, is such that no woman or girl should be subjected to. The life-saving apparatus, even if "getatable," would serve about a dozen. I am. sir, &c, 11th September. POINTER. Source: The Brisbane Courier, 14, Sep 1896 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3634669# many as sixty passengers on a single trip

The first recorded ferry service to Kangaroo Point was a row boat from Edward Street to what must have been Thornton Street in 1860 and in 1866, a punt operated between Customs House and, no doubt, Holman Street. The first steam powered passenger ferry was launched on the 22nd of September 1883 and in 1884, the cable operated steam punt Transit was introduced between Charlotte Street, City and Bright Street, which was then called Ferry Road. In 1887, the 50 passenger steam ferries Emu and Kangaroo replaced the rowing boats on the Edward Street to Thornton Street run and from the 1st of November to the 4th of November 1888, 20,037 (???) passengers were carried on the three Kangaroo Point ferries. During this time, an unofficial ferry began operating between Ferry Street and either Merthyr Road or Sydney Street at New Farm. This will almost certainly be Hughie Moar’s ferry. He also had a slipway at Ferry Street. The steam ferry Ena was launched in 1909 for the Brisbane Municipal Council. It operated on Town Reach. Source: kangaroopointhistory.com.au/the-river/ferries/