Adec Preview Generated PDF File - The Sydney eScholarship ...

5.5 Small Business
During the period under consideration Milparinka was also the location of a
number of smaller business ventures. Some were independent, while
others represented diversifications on the part of existing entrepreneurs.
There was a high turnover in these businesses, possibly indicative of the
poor prospects for particular trades and generally poor economic
conditions in the early 1890s. However, towards the end of the decade the
fading kaleidoscope of businesses probably reflects changes in the
demography of the far west and of Milparinka in particular. Although of
doubtless importance to the history of the town, the small businesses are
not particularly important to the core subject of my research. Because of
this the information acquired in regard to them has been relegated to
Appendix E.
5.6 Water Supply
From the beginning of European expansion into the far west, the extreme
scarcity of water was an ongoing concern. The Mount Browne goldfield
struggled because of the shortage of water, and because of that shortage
Milparinka was established on Milparinka waterhole, the only more or less
reliable natural water catchment not on privately controlled land.
Quite early in the history of Milparinka it had been realised by people such
as the mining warden that the supply represented by the waterhole was
inadequate for the needs of a large community. A dam was built to
enhance the waterhole, and was subsequently carried away by
f1oodwaters. To supplement the waterhole wells were sunk, but with
varying degrees of success.
The collapse of a stone tank associated with the Government well sunk in
1881 rendered that source of water unserviceable some time in 1884, and
a contract was let for the sinking of a new well (Mines 1884;108). This well
was not particularly successful, and a meeting in 1890 of the Milparinka
Progress Committee passed a motion that 'the Department of Mines be
asked to dispose of the materials surrounding the old (Milparinka) well so
that the shaft may be filled up and so remove a serious danger to children
and stock.. .' (Tibooburra Telegraph, 9 December 1890:2). Despite the
motion, Milparinka Well was not abandoned.
By 1884 it was already recognised that, with the exception of the
underground supply at Chinaman's Garden Well, almost all the water
obtainable at Milparinka by sinking was unfit for domestic purposes, and
that 'storm water storage' would be required. Despite this, little community
effort was made to improve the facilities for the retention of surface run-off,
which included Milparinka waterhole. By 1890 siltation had considerably
reduced the capacity of the waterhole, and the NSW Post Office history