Happenings at Home,
April - July 1914
Matters of Family
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Mother and Father are well. Mother has taken to involving herself in matters of the Store and the two sit for hours at the kitchen table over an endless pot of tea discussing opportunities. I have not much interest in the Store, nor matters of business but by accounts it is quite lucrative and Father has a knack for anticipating peoples’ wants, if not needs. Father has enquired about several properties beyond Coogee which might be suited to retail and is now considering a new emporium in or near the City. The cost of City property is high - George Street frontages are fetching as much as £500 a foot. Father is not the least put off. He asked as to my thoughts on the name “John Murray & Sons Australasian Emporium”. I said I did not have a mind for such things and would always trust his judgment in such matters (In truth, I see no need to tie myself to an issue which Mother and Lizzie will no doubt have a voice on).
Albert’s promotion to Sergeant in the Citizen Forces must have bolstered his confidence in all matters. He is spending time with young Mary Callaghan (you will remember her as the frumpy tomboy from my class at Coogee Public School). She is neither frumpy nor boyish anymore, and in truth I am absolutely astounded she would consider Albert’s attention. Unbeknown to all, they spent the best part of summer at the Bay and have since continued to spend time together. Mary has been to the house on a number of occasions for supper, and Albert dines with her family regularly. The matter of religion has not been raised as yet by either family, although I feel Mother is more interested in educating poor Mary to the suffrage of women than in discussing matters of church. And Father beams every time Mary visits. He has taken to allowing Albert the Ford for outings... (I could be courting King George’s daughter and still not be granted the Ford.) Walter is also taken by Mary. I would not be surprised if there was an announcement in this regard soon. I do not think Mother or Father would object to such a union and if Albert was to wed in a Catholic church it would not be of concern, such is their regard for Mary.
Lizzie too is well. With Walter, Albert and I again training for the Rugby season Lizzie has won favour with a makeshift masseur’s table and rubbing lotion. She is quite good and her manipulations are such a relief. She charged us each sixpence for the first treatment and quickly inflated her price to a shilling when we sought more. In the first week of play she was about a £1 the richer for our suffering. The boys and I have agreed since to no more than two treatments each a week as we feel Lizzie may be exploiting our discomfort. Alfred made mention of Lizzie’s service at training and to a man the Randwick lads urged we ask her to offer service to the Club. We will have none of it. Her studies continue to win applaud and Father, Mother and she now discuss openly her study of Law at the University next year. I confess to feeling great pride in her.
In regard to young Walter’s ambitions to become an Army officer, to his word he made enquiries about entry into the Royal Military College. The examination is to be held in October and he has since buried himself in literature. His CO forewarned him the examination might entail a range of general knowledge and military history questions. The seriousness with which he approaches his studies gives indication that the intent is not whimsical. Our brother really does want to be an Officer.
On matters of the Citizen Forces, in the past few days lads from the 21st Infantry have been called to stand guard, with rifles loaded, at public amenities across Sydney. Albert and a few others from H Company will be at the docks from next week. I have no detail as to what they are doing in reality but I can only assume it is in some way related to the events in Europe. Albert is quite excited to be selected to guard the docks.
His approach as sergeant continues to surprise all at drill. Not content with simply marching us, he has taken to, as he would describe, shaping our minds that we might be better soldiers. At drill two weeks back we arrived to find Albert in the company of Mr Pratt from the arms factory at Lithgow. Albert arranged for Mr Pratt to explain how munitions are produced so that we might better appreciate our kit (I believe Mr Pratt was in Sydney on business anyway). It was in truth an interesting discussion and one which I know you would have also enjoyed. Mr Pratt explained that the factory, which we must remember is less than 2 years old, had turned out almost 14,000 Short Magazine Lee-Enfields in the past year and would in the future be able to manufacture some 20,000 rifles each year. He had with him photographs of the facility which is vast, and apart from the straightening of barrels, which is managed by craftsmen, most all components of the rifle are produced by boys operating automated machines.
Of greatest interest to me was Mr Pratt’s discussion on our troops’ failings in the Boer War. It seems we arrived with an assortment of weapons and equipment different to that used by the British, which meant supply of ammunition and field repair of weapons was a major issue that affected our boys’ abilities in battle. The .303 is fully compatible.
Mr Pratt suggested if we were to visit the factory at any opportunity he would allow us to fire off rounds from one of the new rifles in development. I feel Mr Pratt was quite impressed with Albert. I know I am.
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