By Brian Yatman
The ferry disaster
The steamer Tahiti had collided with the ferry Greycliffe in the harbour, killing 40. "Sydney people, who have seen their harbour traffic growing steadily with the years, were electrified early yesterday evening with the swift-running news of the disaster near Garden Island," the Herald wrote. "They may take heart from the thought that extra care will be given in future. Until the bridge is ready this must be so."
Railway resumption sale
"Railway commissioners to cleave through our frontage in connection with the progress of the City Railway," began an ad for Bebarfalds department store, opposite Town Hall. "Our frontage is just beyond the new alignment, and therefore must go. This sacrifice of showroom space means we are faced with reorganisation on a monster scale. Only in one way can the problem be solved – diminish stocks."
The story of the hole
The Hole in the Wall was a "cellar of a place" once frequented by Henry Lawson, located in Wynyard Lane. Henry Barker, an octogenarian of Bexley, explained to the Herald the origins of the name. The wall in question had once enclosed the Underwood estate, he wrote. As the masonry crumbled, local children burrowed a hole through, until it was "eventually large enough for me to ride my horse through".