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Another coach, owned by J.A.Scott operated to Wanaaring and Bourke at
8 a.m. every Saturday, arriving at Wanaaring on Monday and Bourke the
following Wednesday (Sturt Recorder, 10 December 1898:2).
Regardless of the company operating the coach routes, a complex network
had developed by 1896. Coaches operated from Milparinka along routes
which connected the town with Adelaide via Broken Hill, with
Thargomindah via Warri Warri and Tibooburra, with Wilcannia, with Mount
Browne, and with Bourke via Wanaaring.
Mishaps with coaches and their drivers were reasonably common. One
occurred in November 1898 when the driver of a mail coach, waiting at
Bancannia Hotel, noticed an approaching storm. The horses were taken
out, and as the wind struck one side of the coach was lifted off the ground.
'The driver, Mr. Jas Looney, at once put his weight upon the coach and
prevented an overturning. While he was thus hanging on the wind started
the coach in motion, but fortunately it ran into the posts in front of the hotel,
and so its further progress was stayed' (Sturt Recorder 12 November
1898:2)
On another occasion the mail coach was swept downstream while
attempting to cross a flooded creek. 'Upon looking around to see what he
could do the driver saw smoke and immediately set off to the spot from
where it was issuing, clothed in hat and boots as all his other garments
had gone; he found two men at a campfire who were rather astonished to
see him nudis veritas and thought he must be mad...'(Sturt Recorder, 1
April 1899:2) Given the date of this partiCUlar report, however, it might be
treated with some caution.
As suggested by the last incident, wet weather caused the most significant
difficulties for coach transport. Coaches regularly became bogged during
wet weather on the Coally Flat and in the vicinity of Wonnaminta
waterhole, and the road in these localities became extremely rutted and
dangerous. Evelyn Creek at Milparinka also presented an occasional
obstacle to coach traffic. One of the more spectacular of these was in late
January 1894, when a sudden storm in the vicinity of Mount Poole caused
a flood 'fUlly half a mile wide' on the river flats below Milparinka (Sturt
Recorder, 2 February, 1894:2). On another occasion, in November 1896 a
travelling photographer swam the creek while it was in flood, but warned
that crossing a 'flowing creek in a strong current interspersed with growing
timber bush and debris was an altogether different matter' to swimming a
long distance in open water (Sturt Recorder, 20 November 1896:2).
Despite the difficulties, however, serious accidents to coaches or carriers
seem to have been very rare.