io8 



AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 



For pluck in public works South Australia has a character of her own. 

 One of her great enterprises was the construction of the ' Overland Telegraph 

 Line ' from Adelaide on the one side to Port Darwin on the other side of 

 the continent, to meet the cable laid from Singapore to that place, and thus 

 to establish direct communication with Great Britain. Two years were spent 

 in this arduous undertaking. The 



country was awkward ; materials and 

 stores had to be transported across 

 the desert as the work went on. 

 For months the parties were stopped 

 by floods ; some perished from 

 thirst, and the blacks harassed 

 others. When at last the line was 

 up it was found that the white ants 

 had destroyed the poles in the 

 Northern Territory, and they had 

 to be replaced with iron columns. 

 One contractor and one officer " 

 after another gave up in despair, 

 and at last Mr. Charles Todd, 

 Superintendent of Telegraphs, 

 who was responsible for the 



-. -trT j».ca. 



Camel Scenes. 



scheme, had to leave his city office ; and, though he had no bush experience, 

 his zeal and his intelligence were rewarded with success. An engraving is given 

 on page 98 of Mr. Todd and three of his most energetic colleagues in the work : 

 Messrs. Paterson, Mitchell, and Little. The work was begun in 1870, and on 

 August 22, 1872, the first message was sent over the 1700 miles of wire. It 

 was feared that the blacks would never let the line stand, but, though they 



