Many, many words were recorded about the utter outrage which afflicted the council meeting and which was marked by shouting, jeering, stamping of boots and veiled threats.
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It was an issue which divided Bendigo and the mayor (poor sod) was trying to keep a lid on proceedings despite the screeching and tub-thumping.
Sound familiar?
No, we’re not referring to Wednesday night’s hijacking of a democratic process (although there is much about that we’d really like to say but it is illegal to say these words in public even in this day and age.)
No, this was Saturday, November 4, 1893 and the city was torn apart by controversy over … the post office clock chimes!
Some didn’t want it in their back yard because the chimes kept them awake at night.
Some government bigwig had acted a bit presumptively and issued an order from afar to turn the blasted things off altogether as they were out of tune and no-one had money to correct it, so it was best to just shut them up entirely.
This got right up the locals’ collective noses.
One speaker pointed out that the heads of British kings had rolled for lesser things.
One city worthy ranted that he had (gasp) missed an important meeting because he’d been waiting for the chimes that never came.
And after hours of huffing, puffing and threatening to blow the house down, the meeting decided almost unanimously to demand the government turn the chimes back on. But only between the hours of 6am and 11pm.
Gawd, I love Bendigo.
***
Down The Mall also loves to celebrate all that’s beaut about Bendigo – as regular readers would know – and it’s a joy to come across the I (heart logo) Bendigo website which lists a number of recent media references of our cool culture.
Such as this one from Gram magazine: “…Venturing to Bendigo for a mini holiday one weekend, we discovered talented artisans, beautiful architecture and the most prestigious regional art gallery in Victoria. But best of all, we found a vibrant food culture, a community of passionate and hard-working store owners, chefs, growers and restaurateurs, and a strong local produce scene flourishing alongside a cultivation of global cuisine.”
We’d welcome them back any day. Perhaps for dinner.
***
Fair warning: vomit likely soon.
Our dear ABC has carried a news item about the efforts of some Australian butchers to restore the eating of tripe. A word to Gen-Yers: tripe is the (almost) edible lining of a cow’s stomach.
The article said in part: “In Australia, beef tripe was often cooked in old-fashioned English style - white sauce with onions - for the first half of the 20th century…”
Nope. Even boiling for 50 years would not make it palatable to most.
***
Often wondered about the meaning of the place-name Goornong? No, not much?
According to the Victorian Place Names organisation it is an aboriginal word meaning either: a kangaroo, an apple or a stinky plant.
We’d tend to rule out apples as we doubt there were many of those around in pre-European times.
But we also doubt if anyone has any clear memories of the early days as the 1903 Australian handbook records that the tiny hamlet north of Bendigo had the Drovers Arms Hotel, the Railway Hotel, the Black Swan Hotel and the Commercial Hotel – and a population of 200.
Given that, we’d bet the name came from a stinky plant. Possibly out the back of one of the pubs.
