100 YEARS AGO

West Gippsland Gazette – Tuesday, May 25, 1920.

AN OLD PIONEER

An old pioneer is only a figure of speech, for Mr Joe Hadlow is not old, though he is a 38 years’ old resident of Warragul, having come to this spot before it was a town at all.

Now he and his family consider it a fair thing that they should take a spell.

So Joe has sold his carrying business, which he conducted successfully for 32 years, to Messrs. Stallard and Haliet, and he left Warragul last week amid the good wishes of all his fellow townsmen.

Prior to his departure, we took the opportunity for a chat over his experiences during his lengthy residence in Warragul.

“Well,” said Joe, “it is 38 years since I came to Warragul, or what was then becoming known as Warragul. It was just a hole in the forest. There were, of course, no streets, but the tracks ran along Queen and Victoria and Smith streets, and these subsequently became the main thoroughfares.

“There was no metal, and the mud was over the axle at times. It was a common thing to see a team bogged in the main street in winter time.

“I had a mate, and we lived in a hut in the scrub, where Jones’ horse hospital now stands. The forest was all round us. Our wages were 5s a day, and we lived fighting cocks on 12s a week.

“The opposite side of the track, where the Gazette office and post office are now, were forest. There was only one store, and that was known as Biram’s chemist shop, and it was so called because we thought much more of the chemist’s shop than of the store.

“The few people who lived here then worked at felling the trees, on what are now the business sites of Warragul, and in the saw mills. The trees were often sawn into lengths in the middle of the road. Monkey bears were common enough in those days, and were all over the place.”

FOOTBALL

The Central and West Gippsland Association competition was advanced another stage last Saturday, when some fairly evenly contested games resulted.

Yarragon journeyed to Garfield to meet Iona, and suffered defeat to the extent of 10 points. The match between Drouin and Trafalgar was a stubbornly contested game and ended in a victory for “Traf” by a dozen points. Longwarry and Moe also had a good “go”, about 12 points being in Moe’s favour at the termination.

Warragul played Thorpdale and it resulted in a win for the red and black.

Owing to no special trains being available next Saturday, no matches will take place.