y separately published work icon The Daily Mercury newspaper  
Alternative title: The Mackay Daily Mercury
Date: 1949-1980
Date: 1938-1949
Date: 1910-1938
Date: 1906-1910
Issue Details: First known date: 1906-1924... 1906-1924 The Daily Mercury
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The Daily Mercury was launched in 1906 and struggled financially during its first years of publication. When William Joseph Manning took over as managing director on 28 March 1911 the newspaper had been in receivership. From 1917 Manning served as Chairman of Directors, and the Manning family became proprietors of the newspaper in 1924. Registered as a private company in March 1932, the publisher's name changed to The Mackay Printing and Publishing Company on 27 July 1932. On the death of William Manning, his son H. J. Manning was appointed to his posts as Chairman of Directors and manager. Subsequently his own son, Clarence Manning, took over these roles, as well as serving as editor from 27 August 1949 and as managing editor from April 1968 to 31 December 1980.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

ISSN: 1329-5942
Frequency:
Daily
Range:
10 Jan 1906-
Continues:
The Mackay Mercury and The Mackay Chronicle

Has serialised

Love and the Aeroplane : A Tale of To-morrow, John Sandes , single work novel science fiction adventure
Set on a station near the fictitious rural town of Waratah Valley, Love and the Aeroplane is set in a future in which high speed mono-railways (which can travel at 150 miles per hour), biplanes and electrical machinery have effectively ended the need for horses and other work animals. The horse, for example, has been left to survive in the wilderness areas of Australia, but in doing so has become a pest. This has led to the Government declaring them a pest and allowing them to be hunted for money. This forms the foundation for much story's dramatic organisation. The issue which most directly influences the novel's narrative trajectory, however, involves Alice Hardy, whose jealousy leads her into a compromising situation with the region's mail carrier. This sets in motion a series of unanticipated incidents that involve her husband, Tom, and several other characters.

A number of reviewers have criticised the book for being overly melodramatic and pandering to 'popular tastes.' While Graham Stone refers to it, somewhat kindly, as 'a sentimental novel set in an indefinite future Australia with some material progress' (p. 117), the Evening Post critic is less complimentary, writing:

Likely to appeal only to those who are easily catered for, [a] husband and wife, and a couple of villains, together with one or two minor characters, fill up the stage, and with plots, and counterplots, and misunderstandings, the tale is dragged out to the bitter end; the villains are properly disposed of to the satisfaction of the most sensational melodrama-loving reader, and the hero and heroine live, we hope, very happily ever after (9 July 1910, p.13).

The opinion of the Western Mail literary critic is, however, more complimentary: 'Without having claim to be regarded as a great novel, [Love and the Aeroplane] has an all-round attractiveness, certain to secure for it a wide range of popularity and is a highly creditable addition to Australian fiction' (9 July 1910, p.50).'

Wilderness Orphan : The Life and Adventures of Chut the Kangaroo, Dorothy Cottrell , single work children's fiction children's
Chut, an orphan Joey, is raised by Tom Henton and his wife and Tom teaches him to box. Drought strikes and in desperate need of money Tom is forced to sell Chut to a circus owner whose cruelty results in tragedy. After killing his trainer in a boxing match, Chut returns to the wild and starts a family.
Last amended 30 Mar 2009 12:16:23
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