8 / 25
for many years little indeed could be donej
towards the improvement of the surfaee, j
but the splendid municipal work of recent j
years has robbed the Port of special '
claim to be now described "Mudholia" and
"Dustholia." Not less marked has been
the progress of streejfc-lighting. A few flare- .
lamps constituted the only pretence at il
luminating the highways in the early days. :
They were few in number and uncertai.i
in power, rendering nocturnal perambula
tion, with unknown holes and uneven su'-
face, as hazardous as a tribal engagement.
The forward party has been frequently
cheeked by the instinctive aversion of tiie
average ratepayer to swell his^-burdens, but
the enlargement and increasing importance
of the town ultimately received just ap-
precialion. To gas has been added elec-
tiicity. With miles of wharf lining tslie
stream navigable for the modern mammoln
steamer, with facilities for transacting ship
ping and general business as thorough];.'
and expeditiously as in any port of the
world. Port Adelaide is to-day the centre
of a populous district, the home of one of
th-e finest bodies of working men in xVu.s-
tralia, one of the largest and wealthiest cf
our municipalities, and governed by a Town
Council whose management is worthy of
the best traditions of the colony- It i»
imijossible to coinpai'c the present and past
without a feeling of gratitude and admira
tion for the labours of the pioneers of Port
Adelaide.
CHAPTER II.
Hoth in local government and in the lar
ger sphere of politics Port Adelaide has
played no unimportant part. Some of the
most familiar figures in the public life of
the colony during the last half-century have
hailed from this waterside district. This is,
however, rather anticipating the narrative.
In the very early days, it is scarcely too
much to say that tlie government of the
l*ort was largely controlled by one man.
The reference is to Captain Lipsou, an I'.ng-
lidli narall ofiicer, who, with the cordial
approval of the people, was Harbourmaster,
Sragislrate, Collector of Customs, and, in
deed, almost Governor of the eatly settle
ment. With his famUy he occupied the
best house in the place, a Govei'nment
building where the Oustom-house now
stands, and he was the only fortunate in
habitant who possessed a garden an a
piano. As time wore on, howevei, a esue
was expressed for a measure of loca go
vcrT,ment. The first municipal law was
passed in the colony at the latter par
1839, the enactment being a P^twl tmns-
cript of an Euglikh Statute of 1835. Some
years later, as a result of a peti ion y
residents. Port Adelaide was proclaimed a
corporate town. Fi'om Hecem er , oo,
it was officially announced the "inhabitants
of the town and their successors weie to
consitute a body corporate and pol.t.c, by
the name of .Mayor, Aldermen, Councillors,
and Huigesscs." The district was divided
into two wards. Hast and West, the main-
road to tlie I'ort being the division line.
A public meeting of persons entitled to be
placed on the citizens' roll -nvis held in the
Shii» Inn on Jamuiry 8, 1856, Mr. William
■Tames pi'esiding. \ motion that the meet
ing should merely elect Councillors and
leave to them the selection of Mayor, al
dermen, and officers, did not find favour,
the ratejjayers of the place from the start
aiiiioimcing tlieii- intention of exercising to
llie full their prerogative. Four noinina-
tion.s were received for Mayor. (]'aptain E.
Frcueh was nominated by Mr. D. Bower,
Captain A. Hranee by Mr. J. Grosse, Mr.
E. G. Collinson by Mr. An-thony. The
fourth candidate was hir. Simpson. The re
sult of the voting wae that Captain Freuch
and !Mr. Oo-llinson eacii received 18 rotes.
The other two candidates then retired, the
first two names being again put to the meet-
ing. Capta.in Fi"cnch was declared elected
as first Mayor of Port Adelaide with the
" large " total of 21 votes to -his ereddt, Mr.
Collinson being close up with 18. For West
Ward Mr. David Bower was elected Alder
man, and Messrs. Walter Smith, James
Grosse, and E. G, Collinson Councillors,
For East AVard Mr. John Smith was re
lumed as Alderman, and Captain Alfred