Northern Territory Times (Darwin, NT : 1927 - 1932), Tuesday 25 March 1930, page 4


WEDDED 50 YEARS

Mr Alfred Giles Makes Diary in Red Ink

EARLY DARWIN DAYS

Wednesday was a red letter day for Mr and Mrs Alfred Giles of First avenue, Joslin. It was their golden wedding day and Mr Giles entered the record of it in his diary (which he has kept meticulously for more than 60 years) in red ink.

Seven years ago after a lifetime spent in the Northern Territory Mr and Mrs Giles came to Adelaide but they can't get used to it and now the diary which has played such an important part in Mr Giles's life more often than not contains such entries as 'Nothing doing and nothing to do.' Except Wednesday and that entry in red ink took a whole page. Many of Mr Giles's early diaries are the property of the Public Library.

Mrs Giles looks back over the half cen-tury which has passed and can see much happiness and many good times-particul-arly does she like to recall the trip to her new home after her marriage.

The wedding ceremony was held at Nar-acoorte and the honeymoon at the Mount Gambier Lakes and then began the trip up north. This was done, by boat as far as Darwin and the remaining 200 miles or more by buggy.

IN THE GAY DAYS OF DARWIN

'It was all wonderful' Mrs Giles says re-miniscently. 'In those days Darwin was very prosperous and there were hundreds of white people there and Chinese too in wide straw hats and they all gave us a wonderful reception. Then we left for our station home which Mr Giles had built or us. It was Spring-vale on the Katherine River and we had verandahs there 13 ft. wide and the pretty little house was built on high cement pillars and the breezes just used to blow right through. We took up lots of furni-

ture including a Ronisch piano which Mr Giles gave me for a wedding present and we had everything wonderful. Well when we left Darwin we travelled in two bug-gies-Mr Giles and I in one and the maid and driver in the other with two Chinese cooks behind and off we set. We camped by the wayside every day and the Chinese cooked the most wonderful meals there

for us.

And then I found this lovely home wait-ing for me. In all the 43 years I was there I came to town only twice the first time about three years after my marriage and Mr Giles came down and brought me back. But that was Mr Giles's last trip to Adelaide for 39 years when we came to town for good.

FOUNDED THREE STATIONS

Mr Giles is famed as an explorer and for his knowledge of the whole of Northern Australia and in his day founded three stations Springvale, Delamere Downs and Newcastle Waters and later he bought Bonrook station which he still owns.

Among many hundreds of visitors to the station home of Mr and Mrs Giles were the Duke of Manchester, Lord Kintore, Lord Northcote and Sir George Le Hunte. The Eail of Kintore, Mr Giles says was the only Governor who ever made the journey overland and this he did by bug-gies and pack horses. On the way he stayed at Springvale 'an a wonderful man he was too' Mr Giles declares.

Mr Giles and the party with whom he travelled were the first to go through Cen-tral Australia after Stuart and they found all Stuart's documents in a cairn of stones. Seven times altogether Mr Giles has made the trip from Adelaide to Darwin in the days before motors when most of the tra-velling had to be done on packhorses.

Two sons are still in the Territory-Mr Harold Giles who is managing the Elsie

Station made famous by Mrs Aeneas Gunn and Mr Leslie who is in the Department of Administration. A third son is Major F.

Gordon Giles D.S.O. of Fifth Avenue Joslin at whose home the golden wedding celebrations were held. Their only daugh-ter Lady Cockburn Campbell died a few

years ago.

At the 'bit of a kick up' as Mr Giles calls the golden wedding party there were three guests who had attended the marriage-Mr Boucaut the Misses Spriggs-& several others who had been present at the silver wedding held in the Territory 25 years ago so there was a great recalling of old days.

Mr Bussel, who is now Archdeacon Bus-sell performed the ceremony 50 years ago at the home of Mrs Giles who was then Miss Sprigg of Narracoorte. Among the invited guests on Wednesday were Mr and Mrs W R Boucaut, Miss R Rogers, Mrs Hedley V Sprigg and Miss Ella Sprigg of 'Hilside' Morphett Vale Mr and Mrs C M Sprigg Miss Agnes Sprigg Dr and Mrs Goldsmith late of the Northern Territory.

Mrs W W Andrews. Mr and Mrs J Morley,

Miss D Morley, Mr and Mrs Arthur Trel-

oar, Mr and Mrs J H Niemann, Dr and Mrs Cooper, Mrs J J Lawrie and the Miss-es Sprigg of Magill.

London.-Sir Alan Cobham has returned from his aerial survey of Africa. He de-clares the Croydon to Capetown route should be one of the greatest air routes in the world. The service is expected to be operating at the end of the year and it should open up Africa more quickly than any development in its history.

Melbourne.-With headquarters in Lon-don and a capital of £7,500,000 in £1 shares the Imperial Smelting Corporation Ltd. was registered in Melbourne yester-day. Sir Arthur Robinson is the Victorian agent for the corporation which was form-ed for the purpose of taking over all shares in the National Smelting Co. Ltd. of London and to develop mining, smelting, chemical and other allied industries within the British Empire. Those who will ac-quire share interests in the corporation will include Burma Corporation Ltd. Nor-th Broken Hill Ltd. Broken Hill Ltd. Zinc Corporation Ltd. and Electrolytic Zinc Co

of Australasia.

Montreal.-What is described by the Faculty of Medicine as 'a remarkable dis-covery' which will contribute greatly to

the relief of feminine disorders and their general health and well being has been made in the biochemical laboratory of the McGill University. It is announced by the discoverer of the new drug Dr James Collip who was associated with Dr Banting in the discovery of insulin. Commenting on the discovery Sir Arthur Currie presi-dent of the McGill University said it is a relef and comfort to countless thousands of women throughout the world.

Sydney.-Amazing allegations of white slavery will be a feature of the Court pro-ceedings to take place is Sydney in a few days' time. The police allege they have indisputable evidence of such trafficking and the sordiid manner in which white girls are paraded before the gaze of buy-ers mostly Orientals who then take the girls away to various suburbs and the country. The agent for procuring the girls is alleged to charge, 10/0 for an in-troduction to clients and £2 when the girls are handed over to the buyers. The so called sales of girls take place in a certain place in the city every week and is welle attended. After the girls pass under the control of their buyers they are spirited away from the city in closed motor cars with curtains drawn. The police have already got on the track of many girls spirited away in this fashion some were from the country.