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Acetylene lamp from the
PS
Enterprise, about 1910.
Photo: Lannon Harley.
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The charts were typically drawn on starch-filled linen. The starch made the fabric rigid and easier to draw on. Some charts were more than a metre long and were rolled at both ends, allowing only the relevant section to be viewed at a time.The navigational chart pictured shows the Murray River from Wentworth to Danger Island in 1885. It was made by WA Cramsie of the PS Pearl.
Enterprise lamp
Paddle steamers used lamps to enable travel at night. Acetylene lamps like this one from the Enterprise were used on paddle steamers from around the early 1900s to the 1920s.
These lamps burn the acetylene gas that is created when water is dripped onto calcium carbide blocks.
They were ideal for navigating rivers at night as their broad beams of light illuminated river banks as well as the river.
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