John Murray's Diary 1914-1918

Letter to Gordon March 1914Mr. Gordon S. Murray Solomon Islands Development Company Ltd. C/- Burn Philp Port Moresby, Australian New Guinea March 27, 1914 Dear Gordon, I take great pleasure in providing ‘Happenings at Home #9, December 1913 – March 1914’. My dear brother, it has been some months since my last journal and I fear I may leave off news of all that has happened in this part of your absence. More so, I missed opportunity to meet the departure from Sydney of the steamer Malaita so will need to hold this volume till she returns from her passage to the islands which will be some months away. Events at home are for the most favourable and my tardiness in compiling the news driven mainly by my hours at Bravely & Sons and my Citizen Forces duties with the lads of the 21st Infantry. There was no word from you with Malaita so I can only assume and hope you are well and surviving the wilds of the islands and trade is good. I find it hard to believe that it is now 18 months since you were at home. On my personal endeavours, my wanting to become a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald has not eased but Mr Manning who seems to control all editorial jobs at the paper says persistence is the first mark of a newspaperman. I applied again in January. I think he takes some joy in refusing me but I should continue to apply at each intake. I cannot understand why I should be made to wait; I feel my writing exceeds the abilities of many at the paper. Whilst journalism is my desire, Mr Manning pays considerable attention to my illustrations and says maturity of years only enhances the artist’s view. I would consider the life of an illustrator if that were my door to the newsroom. Nonetheless, I will keep trying and for the time will continue at the stock and station agents, which, although tedious, does afford me insight to the heart of our country, and the people I encounter are rich in stories of the bush and land. I will be 20 at the next newspaper intake and should I fail I fear may be too old to start what will be four years as a junior. Perhaps I will be mature enough for Mr Manning to consider me as an illustrator. You will notice I have taken to typing my letter. This is a most exciting development. I have wanted a machine for some time. Father secured an almost new Corona 3 portable machine from an American tobacconist in George Street. The fellow supplies Father’s tobacco stock and recently visited America. He paid 50 American dollars for the machine, some £11, but found it completely unsatisfactory for compiling ledgers upon his return. Father, sporting my journalistic ambitions, offered £8 which the fellow jumped at. It is a splendid machine and accompanies me everywhere. I will repay Father at a rate of 5 shillings each pay. I have included a cutting from the Herald of March 25 which I hope brings a smile. The 18th Infantry Rifle shoot (seven shots over 500 yards) was won by Corpl. Holmes with 33 points. I recall his indignation with your last two shots at the Area Shoot. You would have thought the wager was £1000, not a couple of quid. When he marched off muttering “lucky bugger” we were all folded with laughter. You are still regarded as the finest marksman. The Smallpox epidemic noted in my earlier journal continues to cause concern, and I urge caution if meeting passengers arriving from any port in Australia. It continues to spread and it is our good fortune only that the disease is considered by the health experts as mild. All in the family have now been administered the free vaccination. I look forward to again seeing you, and in the meanwhile trust you will find the journal enjoyable and informative. Your loving brother, Happenings at Home #9, January – March 1914 Matters of FamilyFather’s store is flourishing. Summer arrived with a vengeance this year and Coogee Bay is drawing more and more people. It is getting positively crowded at weekends with sunbathers from miles away seeking out the sands and the cool waters. Father talks of expanding the store further or opening another at the southern end by the seaside. He has already added a range of household merchandise to his emporium which seems to attract good custom, although Mother is still concerned about the hours he keeps, working seven days beginning each at 5am and closing only in the late afternoon. He only recently elected to open on Sundays and is the only store to do so for many miles. I think he was heartened by a recent article in the Herald which suggested only a small minority of people would want to enforce restrictions on Sunday trading in these modern times. Father is buoyed by the trade, with people travelling from neighbouring areas to get produce, some even by motor car from as far as Petersham, as well as the steady stream of bathers wanting a cooling drink. Mother convinced Father to import two new General Electric toasters under the guise that he could offer them for sale and perhaps use one himself. But Father insists on stoking the cooker in the mornings to brown his toast over flames. The house is hellish hot after he leaves and stays that way all day. Poor Mother. As you know Albert turned 22 this past February. He left his job at the glassworks soon after. That is three jobs in the past year. He is helping Father in the store and doing more than his share of service with the Citizen Forces’ 21st. I would not be surprised if he were to enlist in the Permanent Forces soon. He was promoted to Sergeant in January and talks only of the life of a soldier and service to King and Country. Now he has achieved your rank, Mother decided he could have your old uniform as a spare. I freely admit he is a fine soldier and perhaps regular soldiering is what he needs to realise himself, although I ask on your return that you have words with Albert about treating me fairly when on parade. I seem to take the worst of jobs and despite his assurances to the contrary, I think he enjoys seeing me toil. I freely admit I am not as strong as he or you but it serves no purpose to prove that to the other lads of A Company. Walter has now almost two years’ service in the Citizen Forces. I think our youngest brother’s posting to H Company, and out of Albert’s reach, has been most beneficial and Walter seems much in favour with the Command. Like Albert, he too is considering a career in the military. He spoke at dinner of putting forward for officer training at the new military college at Duntroon, which is inland near where they intend to build our new capital Canberra. I think having his little brother training as an officer would quite disconcert Albert – General Walter Murray, imagine! Walter will need to maintain favour and work hard to secure his place at the college. The Royal Military College prides itself on accepting only the brightest and the best. He will need to sit an examination against hundreds of lads from all over Australia and New Zealand. Only 30 cadets are selected each year. Father seems favourable to the idea, perhaps as much because Walter would get a first class education but also because unlike Sandhurst, there are no fees. In fact, Cadets at Duntroon get £30 for uniforms and the like on appointment, and a daily allowance of 5 shillings and sixpence to meet expenses. Mother is less excited about the prospect. While four years of paid study is attractive, she holds no joy at the prospect upon graduation that young Walter would serve two years overseas, most likely in India or perhaps England. As you will recall she was not delighted at your departure for New Guinea. Walter’s CO is supportive and is confident Walter would excel in the examination. Walter will enquire about the examination toward the end of summer. In the meanwhile he continues happily in the office of Messrs White & Barn Engineers, although his offices at Randwick have moved to Newtown. It is now some distance each day but he has taken to riding a bicycle which Father secured for him at great cost. The ride seems to favour him but I cannot imagine why. Father offered Walter better terms than with me, requiring only 2 shillings each pay to reimburse the principal. (I am too happy with my machine to raise the discrepancy, nor do I want to tempt fate that Father might retreat from the deal and sell it on.) Little Lizzie is doing well in her studies. She and mother have conspired to promote the notion to Father that Elizabeth would be suited to further study at University. She talks of Law as a career. I think Father secretly supports the cause but he takes every opportunity to stoke Lizzie’s ire, most recently deriding the new University Women’s Union at Sydney as an abomination. Over supper he suggested Lizzie might also play Rugby for the university. She huffed off without cake which caused Father enormous mirth. Although only 16, she and Mother are kindred spirits and share much discussion on events. I think Lizzie is older than her years and I am not certain if Mother influences Lizzie or vice versa. Upon your return I urge you to take seriously the changing mood in terms of feminine actions and demands, particularly in our own house. Mother and Lizzie take any and all news of the suffragettes, particularly in the Mother Country, quite earnestly and I have unlike father learned to concede to their points rather than offer question. Father’s digestion has suffered for his humour. I enjoy mother’s cooking too much to engage in such folly. At first I was perplexed by their solidarity with the women of Britain on this issue. After all our country has long enfranchised women, granting equal voting rights for most when we were young boys. But mother is adamant the disparity in Britain is a blight on the Empire. She is not alone. Reports of Australian women travelling to England in solidarity and support are commonplace. In England protests on the rights to vote and equal pay have led to great public disorder and Australian women have been standing beside their ‘sisters’ from the Old Country. I must concede, having grown up knowing of female suffrage in our own land, it does seem odd they would deny such a simple right. The issue of equal pay however is another story. Mother and Lizzie are adamant that Australian women doing the same job as a man should earn the same money – not just half. They do not take kindly to the argument that work is a temporary diversion for women who will ultimately abandon their employer for husband, home and family. Consider this a warning if you again want Mother’s shepherd’s pie. All cousins are also doing well and no news to convey. News of the dayAs always I have noted those events and happenings I feel are of value in conversation. Army’s first flight In my earlier news I made mention of the establishment of the Flying School at Point Cook south of Melbourne. Only weeks ago on 1 March, they made their first flight. Accounts in the newspapers said the Airman, Lt. Eric Harrison, had to contend with 30 miles per hour winds as his Bristol Boxkite “bucked like an unbroken horse”. It surely would have been a splendid sight. Your old friend Hendy at C Company, who by way of interest is now Lt. Hendy, has an acquaintance at the Flying Corps who says the success of the flight was offset just hours later when Lt. Harrison’s English counterpart, Lt. Petre, snared his Deperdussin in telephone wires and crashed to the ground. It is interesting that Lt. Petre was himself brought from England three years ago especially to establish the Flying School, and he alone selected Point Cook as the base rather than the site near the College at Duntroon. It could be imagined he should be fully aware of the lines in the vicinity. Nonetheless, Hendy said the school’s mechanics were soon working on the craft and Lt. Petre was none the worse for his ordeal. Hendy said the school still has two B.E.2 biplanes, the Boxkite and another Deperdussin monoplane, and that the pilots enjoy using the Boxkite for training as it is by far the easiest to control. As much as the notion of flight stirs one’s imagination, I, unlike many others, am not drawn to joining the Australian Flying Corps. Harrison’s flight was reported at 900ft which is not a height at which I would find comfort. Hendy on the other hand spoke in rapture of the prospect, believing flying machines would be, as he put it, “the future of Army”. No doubt they will provide a great vantage for observations but the flimsy frames seem too delicate to hold much offensive promise. I informed him of my journal and he asked I pass on his best wishes and insists you contact him upon your return. Douglas Mawson returns from the AntarcticYou will recall prior to your departure, the Australian explorer who accompanied Shackleton to the Antarctic in 1907, Douglas Mawson, set off on an expedition of his own to the Antarctic. In January, after just more than two years, he returned. We have all here followed his adventures with interest. I imagine you have no word of his deeds nor the perils faced at that most bitter place in the world. I will not recount all as it is such a story it would surely take pages. I had saved for you a page from the Herald of 27 February which gives an exciting account of his expedition and the discoveries he led but unfortunately Mother used it to wrap potato peel. Mr Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition will surely be renowned for its achievements for he proved himself a man of great and exact science rather than a fanciful explorer seeking riches or fame. It will also be recalled for the tragedy of loss as two of Mawson’s companions were lost. Englishman Belgrade Ninnis rode his sled and dogs into an ice crevasse taking with him much of the trio’s supplies. Mawson and Xavier Mertz, his Swiss colleague, were left with only a few days food and had no choice but to turn back. Poor Mertz died within 100 miles of a hut and certain salvation. Mawson alone made it back but the toll was evident on him. As he disembarked the Aurora whaling ship, he was by account sullen and drawn. In truth, his arrival in Adelaide was with little fanfare. On the landAs noted earlier, summer was torrid this year. Many of the pastoralists attending Bravely & Sons say it was one the hottest they recall. Last year was hard for many on the land. Had it not been for timely spring rains much of the wheat crop would surely have failed and stock feed would have been scarce. This year started very hot and dry. Fires raged across much of Victoria through February and March. Concern about the conditions extends across the whole country. The Government must also be wary, wool sales account for much of all exports. The confidence of graziers, despite some good recent sales and fair rain in March, is not high. Many talk about the Federation Drought which killed off half of all sheep and cattle and from which they have yet to fully recover. Some say the dryness of the last few years is reminiscent of the start of that terrible drought. Wheat farmers are less pessimistic after the recent rains and have crops in the ground, although none anticipate a return to the 1910 season – the crops flourished that year and wheat looked for a time more lucrative than wool. I feel for those people who work the land and who are at the mercy of nature’s whim. If they were in Sydney this week they would be less concerned about drought. It is absolutely teeming down and the streets have transformed into flowing canals. I hope the rain makes its way to where it is needed most. Citizen Forces updateAlbert’s promotion has had a marked effect on A Company. I think he assumes ‘A’ stands for Albert and he has certainly inclined all to drill with greater effort. We are all benefiting from his observations and counsel, even those of us who do not see a career in service. Our Area Officer, Cpt. Wilson-Brown dropped in during night drill a couple of weeks back. So inspired was he by the progress Albert had made he asked if Albert could spare time to talk to the Senior Cadets who would join the Citizen Forces next year. Without a breath of hesitation Albert volunteered me to the task, saying it would benefit both the Cadets and me. I think the Cpt. was as taken aback as I but by reflex patted my shoulder with a “well done lad”. Only I could see Albert’s smirk. On the walk home I told Albert I would only prepare for the talk on drill nights, arguing it is part of my service. I still have some weeks before the occasion and have made enough notes, although Albert need not know any of that. I visited the Library and have copied much from The Defence Act, much of which I did not know. Here is some of what I am considering to deliver by way of my introduction: “Gentlemen, boys, soldiers all.” “A mere two years back I too was a boy Cadet in this very company before my graduation to Soldiering in the Citizen Forces with the 21st Infantry Battalion. Those who will be 18 next year need know you have much to prove ahead of you. “By virtue of your age you missed on being Junior Cadets who drill only in the schoolyard. Your introduction has been as Senior Cadets. But know this, your graduation to the Citizen Forces is as marked a change as that from Junior Cadet to Senior Cadet. In the Citizen Forces you will undertake the equivalent of 16 full days of training through the year. You will master your fighting skills in training camp for eight days, and you will continue night drills, half day drills and whole day drills – the CO will decide when and where you drill. You will be turned from boys to men, men who can rally for King and Country at a moment’s notice. When your service is up at 26, you will take all you have learned into your futures. “Our country holds the virtue of being one of the only civilized English-speaking nations to have the foresight to insist all young men should be trained so as to be ready to defend our nation. Hold this privilege close to you and appreciate that you will be entrusted with this responsibility. “I have the honour of serving in A Company at Woollahra, as does my older brother. Our elder brother also served here. Our younger brother serves with H Company at Randwick. You will serve where you are needed. Consider your service with pride. “You will hand in your .310 Cadet Rifle and get a soldier’s Short Magazine Lee Enfield .303 rifle and a soldier’s uniform & etc...” Gordon, having penned this I feel it may need more effort if I am to hold the interest of the boys but it is late and I am ready for sleep. Gordon, I will conclude the journal here and promise not to be as tardy in compiling the next issue. My aim is to forward this and the next issue with Malaita when she sails. I so wish you were home. John. John Murray’s Diary Part 2