thequeenslander

About 40 km east of Dimbulah, Mareeba had its first tobacco crop in 1930. Within a few years tobacco was planted at Dimbulah, coinciding with the arrival of Italian migrant farmers. A local tobacco growers association was formed in 1935, later joining with Mareeba growers to lobby for an irrigation scheme. The war delayed the scheme, as well as leading to the internment of some Italian men. Some families left behind suffered considerable hardship. Source: queenslandplaces.com.au/dimbulah

Located 64 km west of Cairns and 450 metres above sea-level, Mareeba is the centre for a number of agricultural activities including coffee plantations, mango farms, avocado farms, and, most importantly, tobacco growing. In fact, the town is the centre of the Atherton Tablelands tobacco industry and consequently is home to the Tobacco Leaf Marketing Board. Tobacco was first grown in the area in 1928 and did much to bring prosperity to a town which had previously been little more than a stopping point. Today there are over 400 tobacco farms around the town. The Tinaroo Falls dam supplies the tobacco industry with most of its water requirements. Source: www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/mareeba-20040208-gdkqfr.html

The incredible tale behind Don Bradman's most uncomfortable dismissal: World's greatest batsman drops to the pitch after a ball from 'the fastest bowler he ever faced' - but racism means you've probably NEVER heard of him. * Harold Edward Gilbert was born on an Aboriginal reserve in Queensland in 1905 * He grew up in another Aboriginal settlement where he learned how to play cricket * Gilbert was picked as a bowler for the Queensland Sheffield Shield team in 1930 * He dismissed Donald Bradman, the world's greatest batsman, for a duck in 1931 * Bradman described the right-armer Gilbert as the fastest bowler he ever faced * Gilbert, who never played for Australia, died at 71 in a mental institution in 1978. Eddie Gilbert was the fastest bowler Don Bradman ever faced - an Aboriginal cricketer Australia rejected for national selection and then completely forgot. Gilbert, who once sat Bradman on his backside and knocked the bat out of his hand, was only the third man to dismiss The Don for a duck in first-class cricket. The little Queenslander was suggested as a counter to England's ferocious Bodyline bowling attack in 1932-33 but he never played a Test. Bradman said Gilbert was faster than Harold Larwood, who terrorized Australia during that series with short-pitched bowling aimed at the leg stump. Others have said Gilbert was even quicker than Australian tearaway Jeff Thomson and West Indian great Andy Roberts in the 1970s. Taken from his parents while still an infant, Gilbert found fame as a first-class cricketer at a time some of his teammates would not even speak to him. Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6591805/How-Aboriginal-b...

Nice one. Added to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queenslander Thanks for posting these!

Peter D. Tillman You're welcome! THe Queenslander coloured covers are one of our favourite digitised collections. There's only a small sample here of the total nearly 1000 in the collection. Should we add more?