Difficulties laying the line : diary entry |
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| Title : | Difficulties laying the line : diary entry |
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| Creator : | Crowder, W. A., 1854-1891 | ||
| Source : | Crowder, W. A. D 8065(L) | ||
| Date of creation : | 1871-72 | ||
| Format : | Diary | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Description : |
By July 1872 Crowder's party had left the camp on the Roper River and was in the bush, experiencing the difficulties of the work in erecting the Overland Telegraph Line. He was one of a party sinking holes for the poles to carry the wire for the Line. Alfred Giles with his team was laying the wire. Crowder described the spinifex that tore the skin and made it bleed; and how on 9 July the country was very rough and difficult for sinking the holes. Progress was painfully slow, and on 10 July writes that just under 1 mile of line was erected. On Saturday he collected some seeds from a creeper and on Sunday he did some washing and read a book. Finally he refers to a man named Moles who had been accidentally shot. Crowder's diary is a first hand account and day to day record of the toil of the men and the minor events of one of the greatest engineering feats in Australia's history. Alfred Giles, in his account of the work of exploring and construction on the Overland Telegraph Line, makes no mention by name of WA Crowder, who was one of hundreds of men. He does however refer frequently by name to the men with with whom he worked personally, and records that in early July he was working in the same region as Crowder's work gang. Giles also refers to the incident of the man Moles. The Overland Telegraph Line was completed on 22 August 1872 and finally the Australian colonies were linked telegraphically to each other and to the world. It cost 239,588 pounds to build and 36,000 poles were erected. There were 11 repeater stations between Port Augusta and Port Darwin, and only six men died during the exploration and construction. The Line had been constructed despite the appalling conditions, and the necessity, particularly in the northern sections, of exploring unknown territory looking for a suitable route. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Crowder, W. A., 1854-1891 Giles, Alfred, 1847?-1931 Todd, Charles, Sir, 1826-1910 |
| Coverage year : | 1872 |
| Place : | Powell Creek (NT) |
| Further reading : | Giles, Alfred, Exploring in the 'seventies and the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 1995 Taylor, Peter, An end to silence: the building of the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin Sydney: Methuen Australia, 1980 Clune, Frank, Overland telegraph: the story of a great Australian achievement and the link between Adelaide and Port Darwin Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1955 Cameron, A. R The story of the Overland Telegraph Line: [a lecture] delivered 11.10.32 Adelaide: S.A. Postal Institute Lecture Society, [1932] Mills, Elliott Whitfield W. Whitfield Mills: experiences with Darwin survey & overland telegraph parties and discovery of Alice Spring, from SA to WA by camel Adelaide: E.W. Mills, 1993 Moyal, Ann Clear across Australia: a history of telecommunications Melbourne, Vic.: Nelson, 1984 |
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