WA lines to Eucla

Western Australia: East-west - 1877.
The line from Albany to Eucla.

A major issue for Western Australia was that, since the Colony was formed as a part of NSW to stop any colonisation activities by the French, Western Australia was the first and last port at which ships carrying the mails would stop. The possibility that Western Australia's role in the distribution of English mails and news was quietly being reconsidered by 1867 in preparation for an Inter-Colonial communications conference. The Fremantle Herald of 18 May 1867 reported a major possibility which few in the Colonies had yet considered:

"It has been suggested, while public attention is still fixed upon the subject of intercolonial communication, that instead of Memorialising the Home Government for the purpose of preventing what, after all, may have never been contemplated, the Memorialists should endeavor to get the country surveyed for the establishment of a line of Telegraph between King George's Sound and Adelaide.

The expense of carrying a line across would doubtless be heavy; but, it might very fairly be borne by the South Eastern Colonies in connexion with ourselves, in proportions calculated upon the basis of our respective trade returns. If such a line were opened, the other colonies would be enabled to receive English News, via King George's Sound, several days earlier than at present. While, if the line were extended to Fremantle, the Steamers might put in here, when the time would be still further abridged.

If Telegraphic communication could be established to this extent, it would soon be carried still further. A line, carried, so as to connect our colonist settlements together, onwards to Nicol BayRoebourne. , would be completed by an extension to Java, and Singapore. This is a subject well worth the attention of the Australasian group. If we are willing to do something at this end, no doubt the Dutch, said the Straits Governments, would do something at theirs.

Great achievements are not effected of themselves; someone is needed to put the machinery in action. We cannot do much in the way of contributing funds; but we may do something by pressing the subject upon others equally interested with ourselves, and who are able to organise a company. The Conference would not have labored in vain, if its sittings gave rise to nothing more than such a scheme as this—provided always, the scheme were carried into effect".

This statement was made TWO YEARS before the first line in WA - Perth to Fremantle - was constructed!!! The 1876 Report on the Eucla Telegraph Line by the Postmaster-General and the Superintendent of Telegraphs is included elsewhere.

The opening of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872 then meant that not only would Western Australia lose the advantage of receiving news from England first, but it would receive no current news and would have to wait weeks if not months for any news because of the lack of telegraphic facilities.

In addition to that communication problem for the West, was the view that there was nothing in the West anyway to even attract settlement. Reflecting views held for some time, the Western Australian Times of 26 April 1878 reported the following from the London Times and the Sydney Morning Herald:

"though east of the overland telegraph line there is not much unoccupiable territory, there is west of that line half a million square miles of waste howling wilderness. One-fifth of the continent, therefore, is unfit for human occupation.

How far this sombre view is to be accepted as final, observes the Sydney Morning Herald, it will be for subsequent generations to determine. In our age there is no probability whatever of the wretched sandy waterless spinifex country being profitably occupied. This desert, which occupies the centre of the western portion of Australia, makes a great barrier between the western and the eastern half. Communication through the centre of it is practically hopeless. Explorers have managed to get through at the risk of their lives - but that is all. And though here and there an oasis has been found to serve as a stepping-stone, they have been too few to serve the purpose of stock routes.

The only practicable lines of communication will be south or north of the desert tract. And it will take time and expense to make a practicable passage for stock by the southern side. The line of telegraph along the shore of the Great Australian Bight has been just completed, and communication between the stations will be permanently kept up. But the difficulties that the contractors have had to deal with for want of water have shown that there was no exaggeration in Mr. Eyre's account of the first journey by white men along that coast. If the water difficulty, however, were overcome, a large part of this district is sufficiently well-grassed to be profitably occupiable. And, though hitherto many of the efforts at well-sinking have proved abortive, there is no reason to suppose that there is no fresh water underground. Fresh water is found on the shore, which is proof that it works its way to the sea below the surface ; and, as the district is not a rainless one, water may hereafter be found below and stored above. When that happens, the grass that now grows to waste will be turned to account, and there may be a continuous line of profitable worked stations all the way along the coast from Port Lincoln to King George's Sound".

Wihin a decade, the nay-sayers from England the the Eastern Colonies were flooding into the "sandy waterless spinifex country".

The Western Australian part of the intercolonial line was constructed along the southern coast from Albany to Eucla in 1876. The main sections describing the creation and the construction of this telegraph line are:

Financing and planning the construction of the link;
Tendering;
Construction:
3.1: Stage 1: planting the first telegraph pole;
3.2: Stage 2: Albany to Esperance;
3.3: Stage 3: Esperance to Eucla;
The 1896 inland line.
The recent 1926 line

1. Planning and financing the WA-SA link.

In the Legislative Assembly of 5 December 1873:

"The Colonial Secretary moved that, in the opinion of the Council,

telegraphic communication between this colony and other parts of the world by means of a line to connect it with the South Australian telegraphic system via Eucla, is an object of main importance to the progress of the colony;

that it is desirable that the Government should at the commencement of next session be in a position to lay definite proposals on this subject before this Council for its consideration, and

that such proposals should be then considered in connection with correlative questions of public works and finance.

In explaining the views of the Government upon this subject, he said he could not see that any valid objection could be urged against the adoption of the resolution for two reasons:

in the first place because it was a truism, and

in the second that it was not intended thereby to bind the Council to any definite line of action.

His advocacy of the proposed scheme was based upon the assumption that this colony owed a debt of gratiude to that of South Australia, for offering to combine with the fomer in so useful a work; that many collateral advantages would accrue to this colony, the value of which advantages it was difficult to estimate at a money value. In support of this latter view, he adduced the overland line from Adelaide to Port Darwin, which, in spite of the enormous difficulties and the cost attending its construction, was now paying its way".

1.1: Financing:

The Inquirer of 15 July 1874 reported a discussion in early July in the Legislative Council: "The Colonial Secretary, in moving that the sum of £15,000 stand part of the Estimates for 1875 towards the extension of the telegraph from Albany to Eucla, spoke at considerable length, and with much force, on the undoubted and immense advantages which the proposed line would confer upon the colony and proceeded to show, from facts and figures, that the work when completed would not only be an inestimable commercial boon but remunerative. He estimated that the present trade between this colony and Indian and Eastern ports would ensure at least one thousand messages annually to the Adelaide and Port Darwin line and that, at the lowest, 500-600 messages per month could be relied upon for intercolonial traffic. In addition to this there would also be the business supplied by ships calling here seeking freights and by the monthly passengers by the P. & O. Company's steamers calling at Albany.

The estimates of the cost of construction and of the business likely to be done had been submitted to Mr. Todd, the South Australian Superintendent of Telegraphs — than whom probably no man in the world was more capable of giving an authoritative opinion upon the subject — and Mr. Todd saw no reason to doubt their correctness and fully concurred that the time had arrived when the work should be undertaken.

One of the immediate results of the project being initiated would be the almost certainty of cable communication being extended to our shores by a company already formed and that too, without the expenditure of a single penny by this colony in the work, but merely on condition of a concession of land. Having further dwelt on the merits of the project, Mr. Barlee confidently appealed to the House to support the motion that £15,000 stand part of the Estimates for 1875 towards carrying out the work".

In the Budget speech on 10 July, the Colonial Secretary noted: "the whole expense could be defrayed out of the current revenue without borrowing a sixpence for the purpose and it was calculated that the work could be completed in eighteen months or, at all events, two years from the date of its commencement. A sum of £28,500 would cover the entire cost of constructing the line from Albany to Eucla, inclusive of the erection of stations on the route and all conceivable expense of every nature. As the work, if undertaken, would extend over a period of one year, it was only proposed to place £15,000 on the Estimates for 1875 for the purpose of carrying it on".

1.2: Planning the construction:

Little was known of the countryside through which the line was to pass - the same situation as for the Overland Telegraph Line. For example:

in 1841, the expedition led by the important explorer Edward John Eyre set out to trace the country from Adelaide to Albany. It was to be of the greatest feats of human endurance. As the Kalgoorlie Miner of 28 May 1925 reports:
"Having sent back the majority of his party, owing to drought, Eyre started from Fowler's Bay, South Australia, with one companion, Mr. Baxter, an Albany native named Wylie and two South Australian blacks. South west of what is now the telegraph station at Eyre's Patch, at a spot on the summit of Culver cliffs, the two South Australian natives murdered poor Baxter in his sleep and stole the greater part of his provisions. Eyre and Wylie, with a Scotch terrier, after covering Mr. Baxters' remains with a rug (the country was too hard to enable them to bury him), left to accomplish a journey of 700 miles through unknown country, with forty pounds of flour and four gallons of water (their horses and kangaroo hounds having all been killed and eaten). After undergoing severe hardships, and having all their clothing torn off by thickets, the pair of explorers reached Esperance in a nude state and were taken on board the French whaler Mississippi (Captain Rossitter), who rendered them every assistance and kindness, when they were reduced to the last extremity of hunger, thirst and fatigue. Although efforts were made by Captain Rossitter (whose memory Rossitter Harbour, an inlet on the north bank of Esperance Bay, perpetuates) to induce Eyre to remain with the vessel, the intrepid explorer persisted in his three weeks' march to Albany".
Eyre struggled through conditions which made it impossible for him to make more than passing reference to the sterility of the strip of land immediately bordering the sea;
John Forrest, on his coastal trip of 1870, made more extensive observations, but the route he followed, particularly over at least the 300 miles west of the border, was some distance inland, and consequently detailed information relating to landing facilities, cartage of material, nature of the country for the purpose of sinking wells for water, etc., could not be obtained. In his address to the British Association in Manchester, Forrest (inter alia) noted:

"Previous to the year 1870, Western Australia had existed for 40 years in a very isolated condition, and had very little means of communicating with the Eastern Colonies or with other parts of the world. In 1870, however, I travelled from Perth to Adelaide along or near to the south coast, route that had been travelled by Eyre in the early days of the Colony under very great difficulty. Benefiting by his experience, and keeping further inland, I was enabled to perform the journey without very great difficulty and, in about five months after leaving Perth, I entered Adelaide with my small party of six persons all told, and with my horses and equipments. One of the chief objects of the expedition was to determine whether a telegraph line could be erected, and my report being favourable the work was undertaken and completed ... I also found that the country along the shores of the Great Australian Bight was an elevated plateau, averaging from 250 feet to 600 feet above the sea, of limestone formation, and well grassed, but entirely destitute of surface water. No doubt water will eventually be obtained by sinking, and also by storage in tanks and dams, and then this large area of good country will be utilised, and will be of great value for pastoral purposes".

Mr. Fleming, Superintendent of Telegraphs, originally recommended a direct survey of the line, with a view to set forth the real capabilities of the several landing places hereinafter mentioned; and he suggested the chartering of a vessel and the formation of a party for this purpose. He advised the adoption of the coast line because materials may be landed at convenient distances, and because this line runs through immense patches of country set down by Mr. H. Y. L. Brown, the Government Geologist, as of silurian and metamorphic formations.

Mr. John Forrest, now of the Survey Department, had traversed the whole country, and had a perfect knowledge of it. He expressed his concurrence as to the adoption of the coast line, but considered the chartering of a vessel to convey persons to examine the country would be a waste of time and money. He gave reliable opinions from his own observations, and other sources, of the various harbors along the coast. He did not hesitate to affirm that fresh water could be obtained in abundance at the several places indicated for telegraph stations.
Western Australian Times, 9 October 1874.

On his 1870 excursion, Forrest agreed with earlier favourable reports from S.A. Surveyor E. A. Delisser about the excellent pastotral opportunities in the area about 250 miles west of Fowler's Bay in South Australia. He named the area Port Eucla. Superintendent Fleming later drew up elaborate and detailed specifications for the telegraphic line construction work including details of "every coach screw and scientific instrument requisite for each of the sections" which would span the planned 800 mile line. Forrest agreed with Fleming's details.

	This map continues to the Goldfields.
This map continues to Albany and the southern region.		This map continues to Eucla and Port Augusta in SA.

In summary, Fleming's specifications based on Forrest's observations divided the line into 12 sections:

Section I. Albany to Longitude 118 deg. 43 min., Cape Riche Harbor, sixty (60) statute miles. At Cape Riche there is a good landing place. The track proposed to be followed generally is that known as "Wellstead's Road"; there will be clearing of standing timber nearly all over this section, and a maximum cartage over fair country of thirty miles.

Section II. From Cape Riche Harbor to Longitude 119 deg. 22 min., Mount Barren Station, sixty (60) miles. On this section there are two rivers to cross, the Gairdner and the Pallinup. There is a good landing place in the Western corner of Bremmer Bay. There will be a few miles of thickets to clear, and a maximum cartage of thirty miles.

Section III. From Mount Barren Station to Longitude 110 deg. 45 min., Cowerdup, Phillips River, under " Peak", forty-four miles. The line here will cross the "Fitzgerald", pass under Middle Mount Barren, and cross the Hamersley River, and pass over a good deal of rough country. The landing place is Mary Ann Cove; the maximum cartage twenty-two miles. The country is very open; very little fresh water in summer.

Section IV. From Cowerdup to Longitude 120 deg. 36 min., Darkanattup, thirty-eight (38) miles. The line here will follow generally Mr. Forrest's track. There is a landing place close to Darkanattup, at Starvation Boat Harbour. The maximum cartage nineteen miles and no difficulties.

Section V. From Darkanattup to Longitude 121 deg. 9 min., Stokes' Inlet, Shoal Cape, thirty-eight (38) miles, following the same track. There is a good landing place in Fanny's Cove. The Rivers Young, Margaret and Oldfield are no obstacles. The maximum cartage nineteen miles.

Section VI: From Stokes' Inlet to longitude 121 deg. 48 min., Esperance Station, forty six (46) miles. This section is covered with sand-hills, and may require close poling. By keeping along Mr. Forrest's track, the country is clear and the salt lagoons may be avoided, and there are no other obstacles. There is a good landing place at the west end of Esperance Bay. The maximum cartage twenty-three miles.

Section VII: From Esperance Station to (Duke of) Orleans Bay, forty-six (46 miles.) This section is chiefly open sand plain and scrub. The line will travel about three miles inland. The landing place is at the bay, and the maximum cartage fifteen miles. The Duke of Orleans Bay is a splendid harbor; there are also landing places at Lucky Bay, Thistle Cove, &c, &c, in this section.

In 1880, a Dutch brig went aground seven miles east of Orleans Bay. The Captain of the brig thought they were hundred miles from civilisation - so the crew and passengers waited. In June 1882, a telegraph line repairer was riding past and saw the masts of the ship. He went down to the beach to ride across the sand - to the wondrous joy and amazement of the lost souls. A boat was summoned (by the linesman) and it took them to Esperance.

Section VIII: From Duke of Orleans Bay to Longitude 123 deg. 30 min., the Bellinger Islands, fifty-six (56) miles. This section passes over rather rough country, and the maximum cartage is estimated at thirty-three (33) miles, there being a landing place near the island.

Section IX: From Bellinger Islands to Longitude 123 deg. 46 min., Israelite Bay, thirty (30) miles. In this section the thickets may be avoided by keeping a mile or two inland along a salt marsh. There is a good landing at the Bay, and a maximum cartage of fifteen miles.

Section X. From Israelite Bay to Longitude 124 deg. 40 min., Weld Station, a watering place west of Culver Cliffs, seventy (70) miles. The country near the coast for the first twenty miles is covered with a low scrub, after which there are twenty-five miles of drift sand-hills. By keeping inland along salt marshes these might be avoided. There is an abundance of water in the drift sand-hills. In fine weather the timber could be landed all along this section. The maximum cartage may be taken at twenty miles.

Section XI. From Weld Station to Longitude 126 deg. 28 min., Eyre Station; a watering place at the west end of Hampton Range, one hundred and forty-six (146) miles. This is considered the most difficult and costly section. The section is necessarily a long one, and the country is rough, abounding in thickets and limestone and granite. A landing place can be found at the west point of the range, and the maximum cartage about eighty miles. No permanent water exists along this section and no doubt difficulty will be experienced in carting.

Section X11. From Eyre Station to Longitude 128 deg. 55 min., Eucla Station, one hundred and sixty (160) miles. In regard to this section, Mr. Fleming proposes, if practicable, to run the line between Forrest's track and the coast, because he believes there are several places on the low sandy shore where materials may be landed in favorable weather, and he knows of nothing to be gained by following the track, which runs about fifty miles inland. Water is shown in rock holes, but no doubt water will also be found in gorges and gulleys on lower lands near the coast. The maximum cartage over the section is estimated at fifty miles. It is very clear and grassy under the range, which is never more than about twelve miles from the sea, and gets closer till at Eucla it is only one mile, there are also many rock water holes along the cliffs. The line would be much more substantial, also, than if constructed along the sand-hills near the sea shore.

The entire distance is 794 miles but deviations may increase this length at the rate of one in sixty.

There had also been considerations about a submarine cable down the coast of Western Australia as being an alternative to an overland line reaching the northern shores. Such a line could then be extended overland from King George's Sound to the east.

2: Tendering.

The Western Australian Government was going to complete all construction activities from Albany to Eucla itself. Hence tendering was not an issue.

James Fleming simply called to his Office two good men in whom he had complete faith. They were Charles Price and Jonathan Parrish. He appointed Price as the person solely responsible for the line and Parish as his Overseer. He subsequently wrote each a memorandum which approximately set out their responsibilities.

During the construction, Fleming kept in touch with Price and Parish in various ways. Although their appointments were far from being in accordance with today's practices, both men completed their tasks in the best ways that anyone could have (and quicker than could be done by todays standards). They certainly fulfilled all the faith Fleming had placed in them.

3. Construction

3.1: Planting the first telegraph pole.

On 1 January 1875, H. E. Governor Weld - as the last public act of his official life in Western Australia - placed in position the first post of the telegraphic line to connect Albany, and therefore the rest of the colony, with Adelaide and, through her, with the outer world.

It is reported that "at the time there were a few doggrel verses made out by the post, par excellence of Albany, and if it is agreeable, I will give you a verse or two:

"In Albany sometime ago a glorious feast was held,
In honor of our Governor Frederick Aloysius Weld;
The ceremony being ended of erecting the telegraph post,
At the Court House door assembled a hungry looking host;
Who were thus drawn together, their respects to pay,
To the good things, on the table, on this auspicious day.
Our member, Sir Tom Campbell at the table head sat he,
On his right hand sat the Governor and on his left Barlee;
And all around these tables, sat men of every state,
From the working mechanic, to the Resident Magistrate.
So when the glasses they were filled with Brandy, Wine and Beer,
To drink the health of our good Queen, they drank it with a cheer;
And after toasts and speeches at least half a score,
They all scrambled for their hats and made towards the door;
Thus ended this great luncheon, its true as I'm alive,
It occurred on New Year's Day, Eighteen hundred and seventy-five.

The surveyor in charge of the construction of the line between Albany and Eucla was Charles Denrick Price. The Government overseer was Jonathan Parish, and the contractors were James Flindell and John Elsegood.

The construction work proceeded very smoothly. In contrast to the South Australians, who had great experience through the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, the Western Australians had little experience - their lines having only just reached Geraldton in the North and Albany in the South over a period of about five years.

The West Australian construction teams used jarrah for their telegraph poles while the South Australians opted for tubular metal telegraph poles.

3.2: Sections 1 to VI (to Esperance):

In June-August 1876, Mr. Fleming made an extensive visit to the line construction camps to review progress, identify problems and recommende improvements to the strategy. He provided a very extensive and detaied report on his return - which is too lengthy to include here. It is interesting to see his appreciation of the situation and his insights. His obsevations of the conditions for men and for boats show "life as she was lived" by those associated with the construction. Great read!!

The first Telegraph Office opened on 9 March 1876 at Bremer Bay . The South Australian Register reported later in the month as follows:

"We learn that the (Western Australian) Superintendent of Telegraphs has just returned from visiting this work in progress on the Eucla telegraph line and that the first station - at Bremer Bay - is erected and the work has commenced on the Esperance Bay station. Upon the arrival of the telegraph wire and insulators next month, the erection will be commenced forthwith and, with the aid of a field operator, the work will constantly be en rapport with head quarters. We look forward with great interest to the time when the wires of the neighboring colonies are joined to ours at Eucla".

In another Report written about this time, James Fleming noted:

I have been to within 140 miles of Eucla and selected station sites. Poling has been commenced on Culver Cliffs, in the fourth section and the general progress is very satisfactory. One party is now close to Esperance Bay, having been detained six weeks in consequence of loss of forage and supplies in a cutter from Albany during a gale".

The Western Australian Times, 31 March 1876 reported that "the following report (to the end of February 1876) of the progress of the Eucla Telegraph Line has been very courteously placed at our disposal by the Government. It is from Mr. Price, the Surveyor in Charge, and will be read with interest":

Esperance Bay Station,
February 26th, 1876
(Ed. just over a year from the start and section 6 is nearly complete).

The works may be said to have reached Esperance Station for, although they are not as yet erected quite up to the Station site, poles have been laid along the line ready for fixing in their respective positions, which will be accomplished within 3 days.

This marks the actual distance (on the ground, not in number of poles) poled over since my last report at about 150 miles.

The general direction and nature of the country so far as the Young River was treated in the above mentioned report (sic). This river is crossed about one mile north of its junction with Stokes' Inlet, at a favorable spot, the landing place at Fanny's Cove being about 4 miles southward. To have approached which nearer would either have been necessary to have crossed Stoke's Inlet, where it is from 1 mile to 1½ miles in width, or to have hugged the sea coast, and gone over very rough, sandy coast hills, both in approaching and departing from the above landing.

After leaving the Young, it follows generally the direction specified, until nearing Maninnup. The required course would have involved winding in and out and crossing the numerous salt lakes and swamps in that locality. Instead, the line now passes close along the North shore of Lake Gage, thereby making a better and straighter line and avoiding altogether the swampy country.

Immediately on passing the eastern extremity of the lake, it turns to the S.E., and very soon follows the old course. There is no obstacle the whole distance, with the exception of the Gage River which is trifling. There is not a doubt about what is the most suitable line that could have been found: the straightest, abundance of fresh water along it and good sinking ground, and lengthening the carting little if any. In fact, in my opinion, it is advantageous to the contractor.

The approach to Esperance is over bad country, sand hills and hummocks (which were unavoidable without keeping many miles inland) and the carting being very bad. The departure will not be so bad owing to the kindness of the Messrs. Dempster's overseer, who himself shewed me the best pass out through them. Without a local knowledge, this might have not been noticed. It would be useless erecting the line close to the beach round the bay as shown on the tracing forwarded with Mr. Fleming's memo, the sand being of too loose a nature. It will be nowhere, for 10 miles after leaving the station, farther than 1 mile inland at the end of which it is close again, and there is a good landing called here "Rossiter Harbor" which will be of great assistance.

The erection of the station on the site gazetted will be commenced at once and will be pushed on with all vigor so as to be in readiness to receive the furniture which I am informed by Mr. Fleming's memo will be shipped per next trip of the vessel.

The work will now proceed rapidly for some distance, the carting being nominal, there being another good landing 10 miles on in this Bay.

From what I can gather, from good authorities, we shall have to keep rather more inland than contemplated after leaving the Bay 10 miles on as, round near the coast, rough country and bad carting will be met with. Further, all agree as to the impossibility of carting material away from Duke of Orleans Bay - a magnificent harbor but everything landed there will have to be hand carried for at least ¾ of a mile. If such be the case - and there is no reason for doubting the truth of the information, coming as it does from men thoroughly acquainted with it - it will be useless landing any poles there.

I am at once going on over that country as far as the Thomas and shall know better where landing places would be of service and if any but, as I mentioned, there is every reason to believe the information from those who have given it. Indeed no more serviceable knowledge of the country could be obtained from any other source unless much time is spent in traversing the country to and fro.

C. D. PRICE,
Surveyor in Charge of Eucla Telegraph line.

P.S. March 1st. The "Mary Ann" having been delayed, I reopen this to mention that the work is finished to the station.

In June-August 1876, Mr. Fleming visited the areas to the east of Albany and submitted a very retailed Report in August on his observations and recommendations.

On 22 November 1876 various newspapers carried the report that "At the beginning of August 1876, there were five hundred miles of the Albany-Eucla line poled and three stations erected, leaving about two hundred and thirty miles and two stations (including Eucla) to erect.

The first two stations, Bremer Bay and Esperance Bay, have been opened to communication with Perth and the third station - Israelite Bay - will likewise be opened soon. The wires and insulators being already distributed over that section and the party at work erecting".

A subsequent report in the Press noted:

"Esperance Bay Telegraph Office was the second office on 7 September 1876. The Israelite Bay station on the Eucla Telegraph line — some 60 miles from Esperance Bay — was opened on Tuesday morning 5 December 1876. Wiring the next (Eyre) station has commenced and everything in connection with the work is reported to be progressing satisfactorily".

At this time, Fleming was anticipating that communication between Perth and Eucla would be realised by the middle of 1877. The most significant setback had been the stranding of a vessel along the coast carrying poles and materials.

As an aside, the Daily News of 31 January 1891 (amongst others) carried an advertisement for an Auction to be held at The Exchange in Sydney on 25 February to sell a block of land E.370 of 500,000 acres (more of less) in the Southeastern district of Western Australia "near to the Eyre Telegraph Station". The advertisement also noted:

"This grand block, reported by the inspectors to be sound, healthy, first-class sheep country ... is described as being similar to our Riverina Country and superior to the wheat lands of South Australia ... this land was judiciously chosen near the Eyre Telegraph Station as the site of the future harbour for the shipment of wool, grain and other produce from the above estate. The railway to connect West Australia with our Eastern Colonies must pass through or near Block E 370".

3.3: Esperance to Eucla.

On 16 January 1877, the Western Australian provided the following comments made by the Governor at a Banquet:

"Within the last few days, we have received a telegram from the Superintendent of the works in the following terms:

"Since telegram, previous to interruption, poles and other materials have been landed here on rafts from Majorian, as quickly as weather would permit, and forwarded in the cutters to their destination at Culver Clíífs, to supply the works.

From this station, (Israelite Bay) the poles are up and finished one hundred miles, being up to a point on the Cliffs about thirty miles east of Point Culver, where the Cliff range commences. About ten miles further on, at a slip in the range, discovered by the overseer, twenty miles of poles have been landed, and which hall be erected in a few days time if not already up, bringing the poling forward fifty miles from Point Culver; another load there will be amply sufficient to enable the whole parties to remove to the east end of the range off Eyre Sandpatch, and work from that place in finishing the section; once rid of it, the last section will, from all reports, be trifling work in every respect and three months should do it.

All materials, including Eyre Station, are down to reach to within seventy miles of Eucla, and I think it hardly possible that the balance shall not be down in time to meet the land parties. I am determined, come what may, that communication be through to Eucla by the time declared for the guidance of the Adelaide Government, - the month of June - and there will be less anxiety as soon as Eyre Station is opened.

The station materials turn out in all respects first rate. The instruments are excellent and, so far, there is not a single article broken or astray. To-morrow I shall try the lines direct from here to Perth, nearly seven hundred miles, although we cannot work permanently beyond Albany until the apparatus there is completed and other alterations made.

I think you will admit that that is a satisfactory rate of progress, especially when I indicate to you the character of the country which the line traverses, and of which you may judge from the following extract from Mr. Fleming's last telegram: "This miserable sea-cliff section, which extends from point to point one hundred and six miles, is now perfectly destitute of water and burnt up; nothing but hot winds and dust. Four months ago the rock holes were full of water and it would have been trifling work to go over them then. Now the contractor has had to boat and cart every drop of water for horses and men. He informs me that there are three weeks supply distributed and, whenever poles are sufficient to take him over, four weeks will do it.

As yet I have not been able to meet Mr. Price, but have been in communication with him by aid of the cutters; he is camped at Eyre Patch and has finished his line over the Cliffs. He had hard times getting over; his last trip, when he removed finally from one end to the other after finishing the survey half over, was trying in the extreme. He failed in getting a drop of water anywhere after leaving the contractor's water supply. Everything was perfectly dry - the thermometer each day 110° with a strong and fearfully hot wind and yet compelled to put 300 lbs. to 360 lbs. on each horse. I have seen this sort of weather as far as Point Culver and could not have believed how trying hot days are in these latitudes."

Now, gentlemen, I think you will admit that the construction party have had great difficulties to contend with and that they deserve our thanks for the energy they have brought to bear upon the undertaking, which, I may add, promises to be completed within the time I have already named".

That report complements that from Mr. H. S. Carey who wrote to his father Mr. T. C. Carey from Point Culver about his life as a member of the survey team on the Eucla line. Extracts from Carey's letter were printed in the Inquirer on 14 February 1877.

The Inquirer of 9 May 1877 reported that "The schooner Planet, Capt Miles, has arrived at Israelite Bay from the coast opposite Eyre's Station, whither she had taken a load of elegraph poles from Bunbury. On her return from Fremantle the Planet will be mployed in shipping another, and, we understand, the last instalment of poles required for the line. She will also take the wooden house for the Eucla station now being constructed in Perth by Mr. Thos. Smith, under contract with the Government".

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald of 24 July 1877 gives some insight into the nature and pace of the construction activity:

"The Western Australian portion of the work will be about 960 miles long. It was begun about three months before ours (South Australia's) was commenced and it is expected that it will be finished by the end of September next.

From Bremer Bay to Culver, the line is within a very short distance of the coast. From that point to Eyre's Sand Patch it is a little distance inland and thence to Eucla it will be close to the water. On the 10th of June the wire had reached the Sand Patch but, in order to save time, only half the proposed number of poles has been erected in some parts. The supports are of wood and are 18 feet high".

Supplies were dropped off at the Eucla Jetty. Then the Post and Telegraph crews began the job of scaling the nearby sand-hills before following the route taken by explorer Edward John Eyre along the tops of the Bunda Cliffs and across the Nullarbor Plain. Jarrah poles were used throughout.

It was not long before the Eyre Telegraph Station was placed into major operation. On 15 August 1877, the Inquirer reported: "We are glad to notice that in consideration of the public inconvenience attending the detention of the month's colonial mails, the Governor has directed telegrams to be made available to the colonies on Thursday (to-morrow 16th) evening, which will be transmitted through Eyre Station and, on Friday morning, by horse express to the South Australian wire and will, we learn, be in Adelaide on Monday morning".

Some ships had difficulty with conditions when trying to unload supplies, For example, on 7 August 1877, the schooner Fanny Wright, which was carrying telegraph poles to Eucla, was salvaging cargo from the Freebridge in Waterloo Bay when she was holed by an anchor. Although she was quickly run ashore, she was found to be too badly damaged to repair.

At least three other transport vessels - the Twilight, the Catabunyip and the Mary Ann - were also totally wrecked during the progress of the work.

The Mary Ann was wrecked on her return voyage [to Fremantle] on the night of the Friday 13 July 1876, on Bellenger Islands. No lives or any of the cargo was lost. Mr. Fleming regarded the accident as unfortunate but one which would not interfere with the progress of the work. Miles was the navigator of the Mary Ann, and he was also the contractor for delivering materials to the telegraph line. He had always believed that one should not sail on a Friday.
"The cutters Twilight" and "Bunyip", engaged in conveying stores, etc., from Albany to the parties engaged in the construction of the Eucla telegraph line, were lost in a hurricane off the coast near Eyre's sand patch on the 24th May. No lives were lost but both vessels are total wrecks" (Fremantle Herald 16 June 1877).

There were few accidents and only one death. At Point Culver, one poor fellow, named Michael Reddin, lost his life on the 7th of January, 1877 when attempting, with others, to land poles in a heavy surf. The boat he was in capsized and he was pinned underneath and drowned before he could be released. But, fortunately, notwithstanding that, his was the only life lost.

At the end of construction, Price noted that "the anticipated trouble with natives was happily not realised; those I met with were of peaceful disposition, and rendered valuable assistance in locating water, carrying dispatches, and in many other ways. The difficulties encountered were in other directions, lack of landing places, or suitable harborage for the transport boats, the heavy nature of the country through which material had to be carted, miles of flinty limestone tableland where drilling had to be resorted to, and always the scarcity of potable water".

At Eucla a neat station of eight rooms was erected for the use of both the Western Australian and the South Australian operators.

The Western Australian section of the line was completed in December 1877. Communication was effected between Adelaide and Perth at 4 pm on 8th December 1877, a distance of 1,986 miles. As part of its Editorial on 1 January 1878 to welcome in the New Year, the Western Australian Times published (in part):

"But the grand event of the year was the opening of the Eucla Telegraph line which, by rendering us more quickly familiar with the transactions of a larger sphere, will make us less provincial. The local thoughts of the day will be modified by the intelligence of other and more populous spheres. The doings of our more adventurous sisters, and of more powerful nations, will suggest speculation and commerce, regulated by a record of prices, will prove more advantageous to the many.

The Eucla line, by apparently rendering us less distant and less isolated will cause us and our movements to be subjects of greater interest. It will knit us more closely to the Empire of which we are a portion. While in the spirit we have just indicated, we cannot but regret that some things have been left undone and that some schemes have been postponed which, if carried out, would have contributed to the well-being of the community. Yet we are not the less sensible that some real advance has been made. Land has been taken up, the area of settlement has been largely extended, and in some of the newer districts the progress has been remarkably rapid".

A sample of the congratulatory messages exchanged was published in the Western Australian Times on 28 December 1877.

The earliest recorded use of a telegraph being sent through the inter-colonial line is a transmission form used for a message sent from Green Ponds,Tasmania to Greenough in the Mid-West region of Western Australia in about 1880.

Telegraph rates from Western Australia to Europe were nearly £1 per word. Bishop Salvado, from the New Norcia Benedictine mission, paid £40 for a telegram of 51 wordsNo record of what he said!!. to the Pope in the Vatican two days after the line to Adelaide opened.

In October 1894, the duplex system was introduced on the Perth-Eucla line. Although there were many difficulties at first, the transmission system appeared to finally confer substantial benefits on the telegraphic operations. These benefits were however short lived. On 2 September 1895, the West Australian reported:

"The Telegraph Department propose trying an experiment. The pressure of business has been so great that the duplex instruments are not equal to getting through the work between Perth and Eucla. It is therefore intended to try the quadruplex instruments.

The distance is very great, possibly the greatest in Australia upon which the quadruplex is used and, as is too well known, the line is not in the best condition. It is, therefore, possible that the "quad" will not work satisfactorily and the correspondents who use the wires will have to wait the delay patiently until the Adelaide authorities finally decide whether they will have a duplicate line and, supposing the decision in ultimately favourable, when they will have the new line erected.

There will be the same delay in the forthcoming summer as during last year. The leakages through the hot months will probably cause delays in the transmission of messages but, if the quadruplex should prove successful, the delays will not be be protracted".

On 5 February 1896, the Geraldton Advertiser and many other outlets reported one of the really bad pieces of news:

"The Government have lately received communications from Eucla and Eyre, which indicate beyond doubt that rabbits are now established on this side of the West Australian border.

A telegram from the station master at Eyre, which was received early in the present month, stated that the blacks had reported seeing tracks of an animal strange to them, and there was evidence that the animal was the rabbit. The assistant at the telegraph station had endeavoured to obtain a specimen, but though he saw one he was unable to secure it. In a letter dated from Point Malcolm, and received by the Premier on Thursday, Mr. W. S. McGill, J.P. stated that, while at Eucla a few weeks ago, he had seen the skin of a rabbit which had been killed near the border".