674 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



" Cu Wednesday, September $th, Mr. Healy and I left for BRISBANE per S.S. c Corea.' 

 " Previous to leaving Somerset, Mr. Jardine promised me to recover the saddles, 



pack-saddles, etc., planted on August 25th, and he also promised to let me know when 



he got them." 



As will be seen in the portions of the diary which are quoted 

 in full, Mr. Bradford carefully noted, on each day's journey, what 

 timber was available for telegraph poles. It is clear enough, 

 even to an inexpert reader, that an adequate supply of such timber 

 was more than doubtful. By the time the report was completed, 

 it had come to be common knowledge that the " life " of cut timber 

 in the region to be traversed by the line might be set down at little 

 over two years, owing to the voracity of the WHITE ANTS (termites). 

 In these circumstances, the Government's decision to erect iron 

 poles throughout was a wise one. 



Mr. Bradford's report was followed, in 1884, by a call for tenders 

 for the construction of a line connecting Cape York with the then 

 existing Cooktown-Palmerville Telegraph line at FAIRVIEW, near 

 Laura. LAURA is now (temporarily, it is hoped) the terminus of a 

 RAILWAY from Cooktown, originally designed to extend to Maytown. 



Through the good offices of Mr. J. Murray, Parliamentary 

 Librarian, Queensland, and the Hon. James Page, Federal M.P. 

 for Maranoa, the Deputy Postmaster-General for Queensland has 

 furnished me with the following authoritative statement, dated 

 8th March, 1916 : 



" The line is stretched on iron poles supplied by the Department and the land line 

 is approximately 369 miles in length from Fairview to Cape York. Theclearing, erecting 

 of poles, affixing insulators and stretching wire was let by contract in two sections. 



" THE FIRST SECTION, of 201 miles, was constructed by Messrs. Brodziak & Degen. 



" For clearing and erecting poles, 72 per mile : wooden poles, where necessary, 

 15^. each : extra length poles, is. per foot : affixing insulators and stretching wire, 

 3 loj. per mile. 



" The SECOND SECTION, of 168 miles 31 chains, was constructed by Messrs. Gordon 

 & Moreton. 1 



" Clearing and erecting poles, j6 los. per mile : affixing insulators and stretching 

 wire, .3 IOJ. per mile : wooden poles, j each. 



" The work was commenced about July, 1884, and finished on I5th October, 1886. 



" The total cost was 67,329 6s. yd., made up as follows : 



*. d- 



Contract, ist Section J 5> 2 37 ll 



Contract, 2nd Section I 5> 1 36 n 8 



Cable 10,000 o o 



Buildings 12,197 10 o 



Poles, iron . . . . 8,825 l8 l 



Material 1,458 14 2 



Instruments .......... 258 I 4 



Sundries, including carriage, freight, purchase of horses, salary of 



overseers, etc., including preliminary survey .... 4,215 o 4 



67,329 6 7 



1 Captain George Croughly Gordon and the Hon. Matthew Moreton. Mr. Frank 

 J. Paterson, Surveyor, was also a partner. R. L. J. 



