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More Memories of Life on the
Overland Telegraph Line - 1878-1903

Continuing Joyce Allen's account of her grandfather's work on the Overland Telegraph Line. Her reference is 'Life in the Never Never Country of South Australia in the 70s to 90s' by A Telegraph Operator, which is the journal of her Grandfather, Frederick Goss.

With the installation of the second section of the Overland Telegraph Line, and more powerful batteries, it became possible for some stations to be closed down under certain circumstances. This was done by 'leapfrogging' over the central station in a group of three.

Daly Waters was one such station. In his journal, Fred Goss refers to it as the 'Ugly Duckling' of the stations on the Northern Section of the Line. We can assume it was given much harsher names by the man posted there. For some peculiar reason, Fred, over a period of 10 years, found himself much longer there than anywhere else. Of course nobody ever said out aloud that this might have been due to the personality clashes between him and his Boss in Darwin.

Quote from Fred's journal:

"From the Elsey to the North Newcastle, a distance of 185 miles, there was only one really permanent watering place, No 2 Well, 28 miles south of the Elsey. In most years, of course, waterholes would see the Dry through. More than once, though, No 2 Well was the only watering place."

The two dry stages then, of 75 and 80 miles, from the Well to Daly Waters and to the Newcastle, would only be undertaken in cases of dire emergency. This would mean line faults or medical cases. These took no account of the risk to the lives of the man or horses involved.

In Fred's view, the worst bugbear of his ten years at Daly Waters were the foolhardy foot travellers who flatly refused to listen to warnings or cautionary advice about these stages during the Dry. Invariably, in Fred's experience, these foolhardy types finished up dead. It was virtually impossible for the ordinary traveller to 'cut' the line to summon aid, but when somebody failed to arrive at the next station along the line, a search party had to be sent out to find the body.

On the other hand, there was a man who knew how to 'cut' the line, and had a mania for doing just that. Fred, as Station Master at Daly Waters, took the precaution of giving this character an escort to The Katherine, the next station along the line.

At Daly Waters, living conditions were far from congenial. It was isolated; the closest neighbours being at North Newcastle, 80 miles away.

The Management of the Overland Telegraph Line did its best to compensate for the disadvantages of the 'Cinderella' Station, all the way from Adelaide.

The buildings were commodious and up-to-date, the staff was relatively large, and the food supplies generous, along with 10 head of cattle, 40 goats and periodic drafts of sheep from the Eastern Highlands. There were about 25 horses, with two teamsters and two black boys.

Members of the staff could claim one shilling a week for the keep (in clothes) of a black boy as a personal servant.

The big drawback was not having a permanent water supply. The soil did not hold water. The only fresh vegetables that could be grown were pumpkins; the ironbark variety which were good keepers, and tomatoes, which 'tasted far from pleasant'.

Quote from Fred's journal.

"Our creek came down once a year, generally late January or early February, and would run for several weeks. Unfortunately the ground would not hold water very long, and the creek might be dry before the next Wet season set in.

"We had eight 1,000 gallon tanks for storing drinking water. They did not always see us through (the Dry). One day we might be at dinner or engaged otherwise, when all would suddenly look up and, "Creek!" would be the cry. We would hear the roar of the water as it rushed into the big holes, mostly ironstone conglomerate, and then gradually growing silent as the holes filled up. Then on to the next hole and more roaring. It would take about two hours from the time of hearing it first until it reached us."

Another quote from later in the journal.

"More than once, owing to water shortage, the station had to be abandoned. In my time, one year we had to remove all stock and staff except for myself and a Malay cook, to No 2 Well, 75 miles distant. It was a big job to water them from a well 104 feet deep. A mob of natives was needed to do it, but, of course, they were glad to do it, otherwise they had nowhere to go. They were in hostile country.

"I was left for a couple of months. All arrangements were made for the Malay and myself to be taken away if necessary. We came within a day or two of having to go. A tank of water was left at the Ironstone, on the Birdum, 34 miles from the station. If the worst happened, a party from the Well would go to the Ironstone overnight, and then come in to get us in the one day.

"We at the station watched the last tank daily. The water got down to one rim - to half a rim, and I was on the point of calling for the relief party, when we got a lucky shower, which provided us with water until we got another. The situation was saved. The well party did not return until an ample supply of water was assured."

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