Mirror Perth 15 August 1931, page 19

RICHMOND beer has captured the Goldfields, as it has done every other part of Australia. The popular beverage is now so greatly in demand that the hotels which are now featuring it— the Grand in Kalgoorlie and the Shamrock in Boulder City- are daily attracting streams of people, many of whom walk some distance for a pot of the pleasing and refreshing fluid. In Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie, it is now a common sight to see large throngs of men congregated outside the Grand Hotel. Even in “off'” hours, the bars are well filled, while on a Saturday afternoon, it is a case of about

Six Deep at the Counter

and large number of people lined up in the street outside. In fairness, however, to Mr A. E. Kurring, the proprietor, it must be said that the popularity of the Grand Hotel is in itself largely responsible for this patronage. Since he came to the fields about 18 months ago, Mr Kurring has more than maintained the prestige of this well-known hostelry, which was the first big hotel erected in Kalgoorlie.

The Grand Hotel, Hannan St, Kalgoorlie – Image SLWA

A gentleman and a charming personality and in every sense of the phrase ‘a good sport’, Mr Kurring has already made a host of friends. Prospectors and miners from the backcountry who have for many years been coming to the Grand Hotel come there still, but with added pleasure. They like the hotel all the more for the improvements made in it by Mr Kurring, they like the new host personally, and they like the new beer. This is the answer to the question often asked by visitors passing by this part of Hannan Street — ‘What is the crowd doing there?

The Shamrock Hotel Boulder – Image SLWA

At Boulder City, the attraction of the Shamrock Hotel may also be attributed to the personal popularity of the host, Mr George Robert Mewburn, who has been in the hotel business since the Celebration boom about 15 years ago. Like Mr Kurring, he is a Victorian, though he came to this State in the nineties, and no man has assimilated the spirit of the West more thoroughly or has been more in harmony with life on ‘the Fields’. Commencing at the old Crown Hotel in Hannan Street, Mr Mewburn afterwards took over the management of the Celebration Hotel. He has also had several hotels throughout the Wheat Belt, and wherever he has staked his claim, he has made a reputation as a straight shooter, a sportsman and a good fellow. As long ago as 35 years, he raced horses on the Goldfields. Recently, when the above-mentioned gentlemen introduced Richmond beer to ‘Goldopolis’, they did not seem to have as much chance as hotelkeepers in other parts because the local brewing industry is exceptionally well patronised and its product has a stronghold.
But as results have shown, Richmond beer has ‘caught on’ as well here as anywhere. Richmond beer is a product of the enterprise of Mr P. G. Hay of the firm of Coulson Hay and Co, hop merchants of Tasmania. Perhaps he did not realise when he started to brew a beer of 100 per cent purity, and dared the vested interests of Victoria to stop him from marketing it, what he was up against. He soon found himself taking a leading part in a beer drama that the public watched with the keenest interest. He seemed like a puny figure storming an impregnable fortress, but with daring worthy of Douglas Fairbanks, he broke down the battlements of monopoly and conquered.

Poster – Image SLWA

Mr Hay proved himself a born organiser. He realised that if he was to win, he must give the public a beverage of unquestionably high quality. So he first of all acquired from Dr Leopold Nathan, the famous continental brewer, the right to use in Victoria the Dr Nathan brewing system, which he had made so successful. In 1927, he erected the brewery at Richmond, Melbourne, which most people regarded as a joke, but which made the public of Australia gasp with astonishment. Encountering numerous difficulties which would have daunted most men, Mr Hay eventually got his brewery into working order. At the beginning of the enterprise, the output of the brewery was only 88 dozen bottles per week.

‘There’s a new beer on the market” people began to say. “Have you tried it?”

And the question was asked more and more as the hotels’ stock of beer began to run out of supplies. The New South Wales capital, usually slow to accept anything that succeeds in Victoria, soon went ‘Richmond Time’ after time, both in Melbourne and Sydney, the demands for Richmond have attracted crowds, which caused a dislocation of the traffic.

Yet it must not be supposed that hotels only doing a bar trade went over to Richmond. Such high-class residential hotels as the Sydney, the Arcadia, Tattersall’s and the Pacific at Manly stocked it. Then Brisbane hotels followed in the grand parade of Richmond’s popularity. In fact, the invasion of Queensland was somewhat sensational, and now there are a large number of hotels banded together under the name of ‘Richmond Free Hotels Association.’ And so the success of Richmond spread from State to State and from town to town in the East till Friday, March 13 last, when the bulk beer was introduced to Western Australia in defiance of superstition. The first bars to stock it were the de Pedro’s Alhambra Bars, the Union, the Wentworth and Windsor hotels in Perth, and the Fremantle and Orient hotels in Fremantle.

Others have since followed, and the beer is now on tap in every part of the State. When Richmond hit Kalgoorlie recently, similar scenes were enacted as in other centres and in the first days, many people had to be refused a pot owing to the congestion in the bars of Arthur Kurring’s Grand Hotel. We are told that extensive plans are being made to meet the demand in the coming summer, and they will be needed if the Richmond thirst is to be satisfied on the Goldfields. It would be absurd to attribute the success of Richmond to anything but merit, for the average beer drinker is, what the Americans call, ‘a wise guy.’ But what is it that makes Richmond beer so good to the taste and so agreeable in its effect? Simply that malt, hops, yeast and sugar, all of the best quality, and all highly nutritious, are the sole ingredients of the beer. You drink it, you smack your lips with pleasure, you are pleasantly but not inebriately stimulated, and you feel no ill effects afterwards.

Swearin ‘n’ Spittin –

Kalgoorlie Goldminers were a great bunch of blokes. Their work was hard and dangerous, and most of them spent their leisure time in one of the 37 pubs. They drank beer as if it were their last day on earth. Sometimes, unfortunately, it was. Besides living from day to day, the miners existed from pay day to pay day. In fact, the whole town depended on the fortnightly pay days. Many miners lived on credit, and some pubs even gave credit on grog.

The Slate:
“Put it on the Slate”, “Chalk it Up” or ‘Book it” could be heard in the bars. Some just nodded their heads when it was their turn to buy a round of drinks. It was also common for them to borrow from the publican to have a bet on the horses or the two-up. On pay day, they would enquire ‘What’s the score?” and they would be handed a chit showing what was owed. The highest ‘Score’ in those days was £30, which was a lot of drinking. For many, after settling their account, they were again broke.
Some miners would rather have a fight than a feed, but most were friendly blokes who would hold out the hand of friendship to everyone. They were generous to a fault and always ready to put their hand in the pocket for a worthy cause. In the pubs, they would talk about their work, but in contrast, at crib time underground, they would talk about drinking, fighting and fornicating. There were some great storytellers. Some of the stories were even true!

Swearing:
Some miners could not utter a sentence without injecting a swear word into it.  In those days, the drinkers’ side of the counter was a man’s domain. Ladies were never seen there, nor were they welcome. Barmaids were exempt, but they were expected to turn a blind ear to the swearing. The most common word, which I’m told, was one that originated in the British Law Courts. It was an acronym for ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’. Some used this word in every sentence, and others, for more emphasis. Some slipped in a ‘bloody’ even in the middle of words such as ‘abso #bloodly# lutely”.

Swearing was such a common way of speech that many men didn’t even realise they were swearing. When one miner was chastised for swearing in front of a lady, he said: “I wasn’t f#### well swearing”.In a not-so-subtle effort to get customers to mend their ways, a sign was placed on the bar wall.

IF YOU SWEAR AND SPIT
ON THE FLOOR AT HOME
DO IT HERE
WE WANT YOU TO FEEL AT HOME

Not long after the sign was displayed, a miner was picked up for swearing. He justified his choice of language by pointing at the sign. ‘Surely you don’t use that language at home, I said. He assured me that he certainly did so the sign was removed.

Spittin:
Speaking of spitting, nearly every miner had a lung complaint of some sort. They all had to report to the Government Health Lab for regular checks to assess the degree to which their lungs were affected.

It was a miner’s greatest dread that he would be ‘turned down’ or ‘dusted’; this would mean the condition of Miners Phthisis was in an advanced stage.

Spitting was as common as rolling a smoke

All Goldfields hotels had spit trays travelling along the length of the bar between the floor rail and the counter. Most spat in the tray, some near it, some just directly on the floor and others even on the wall. It was an unenviable job to clean up the bar each day, but it had to be done.

Crumbed Cutlets:-
We had a visit one day (at the Gala Hotel) from “Lurkie Bill’, Bill Halligan, from the Piccadilly Hotel. He asked why we didn’t put sawdust in the spit tray. I told him that we liked to see it nice and shiny. He said that it put a fellow off his beer to see a ‘big dirty green back’ sitting in the tray. With the sawdust, it just rolls over and ends up looking like a ‘crumbed cutlet’. So from then on, a tradition was changed, and sawdust was used in our trays. It didn’t help with the walls, though, and I have had a distinct aversion to crumbed cutlets ever since. 😊😊😊

An Extract from Publicans and Sinners by Arthur Dunstan

Sunday Times: 22 December 1907

The Miners Arms Hotel Cue – Photo SLWA

Western Mail 8 July 1937, page 11

These horse dealers and thieves were always in possession of a list of “brands and owners”, together with clippings from newspapers showing where rewards had been offered for the return of certain horses bearing the brands mentioned. The owners always seemed to be living a long way off. Most of these adverts were inserted by the drovers themselves, and the lists were generally on sheets of paper bearing the large type headings of some firm in another place; the paper was pinched as well as the horses. But it looked a lot better, more business-like and lent an air of authority that couldn’t be got out of a plain sheet of paper. As a rule, the horses were “duffed” before the adverts appeared.

These lists would always be produced to the police when they started ‘nosin in’. So would “way-bills”, which all drovers were compelled to carry. These were mostly fakes as well. If found in the vicinity of where the horse had been picked up, the explanation would be that there were so many horses, so much alike with almost indecipherable brands, that it was necessary to yard them and clip the hair from the brand to make sure that the right animal would be taken. The only way to do this was to yard the lot in the nearest enclosure. A peculiar thing was that mobs were always on the way to a yard when the police turned up. To show that all was fair and above board, the police would be asked to attend and watch operations. Those that were on the list would be held, and the balance turned adrift before the eyes of the police to be picked up again immediately after their backs were turned. They were great horse thieves, no doubt, and

Mick was one of the best!

He sweated a horse from Cue to a northern town, rode it into the backyard of a pub, along with one he was “packing”, and sought refreshment at the bar. Unfortunately for him, the horse he took was well known to the local trooper. It was a beautiful bay with black points and a very noticeable streak of white hair on one flank, the result of a scratch from barbed wire when a foal. When Mick came out, he was asked some questions that he couldn’t answer. The want of a title to that horse earned him a “sixer.” (eg 6 months prison).

Cue was the hub of the Murchison at this time and boasted thirteen hotels. The principal water supply was obtained from the old well in the main  street, (Austin), where everyone paid 1/- per week for what they used. Later, a band rotunda was erected over the well. Being the principal town of the district, the gaol was there too. It was a mighty fine gaol as gaols went, and it was never empty. They even had a “seniority” list for the prisoners; the “oldest inhabitant” had certain privileges and a mighty lot of liberty. He ran messages about the town and acted as batman to the “heads.”

The sergeant of the day was a good sort and allowed the prisoners as much liberty and as many privileges as possible. He did what he could to make their lives a little easier. They were allowed to go as far as the Post Office at the top of Austin Street, but no further. The first pub was just around the corner, and that was out of bounds to them. It doesn’t mean, though, that they didn’t sometimes sneak in and have a quick one. There was one rule that had to be observed. If they weren’t in by 10 pm, they would be locked out for the night. That meant that they would have to hang around until roll call the next morning. “Absentees” were punished with three days in barracks, and all privileges were stopped. In the case of the senior man offending, he was reduced in “rank” and someone else got the cream. There was great joy when the leader fell by the wayside.

The Drover – British Museum

Fortunately for him, Mick was sent to Cue to serve his sentence. By the time Christmas arrived, about half of the incumbents had gone, and he found himself the senior tenant. He did all the messages about the town. One morning, the gaoler set him and two other prisoners to clear away an accumulation of refuse and manure at the back of the stables. Then he went to Court on a case and did not return until 1 o’clock. Mick was in charge of the team. Too right he was! About noon, the Sarg strolled along and found three men working in the pit and Mick sitting on the fence smoking his pipe. There was one man too many in the tally. The Sarg looked, the extra one up and down and said,

“What are you doing here?” “Working of course,” replied the man!

“What else do you think I’m doing? Look at the sweat on me. I’ve been delving here for the last two hours.” “Oh, have you?” said the Sarg. “And who put you on?” Turning to Mick, he said, “That bloke there.” “Well, said the Sarg, “that man’s a prisoner and should have done the work himself. I think I’ll pinch you for being on the goal premises.” “No ruddy fear you don’t,” he said. “I’ve been fooled once this morning and have worked like blazes for two hours for nothing. You’re not going to get me, and with this, he turned and fled. Mick never turned a hair. When asked by the Sarg what he meant by his trick, Mick said: ”Well, I ask you, if a man’s fool enough to stumble into a gaol yard and not know it, he’s fool enough to do ‘ANYTHING’, so I put him to the only job in sight. And,” he added,

“he’s a jolly fine man on the end of a banjo!”

George Paize, Jim Maloney, “Ma” Smith, John McMannaway, and Prank Stringer were some of the early hotelkeepers of Cue. Each would “back” a man into a “show” for weeks at a time, and, whether successful or not, made no fuss about the expense of the venture. Many a man made good through the backing of a storekeeper or publican. The trooper who put Mick inside was down with another batch and struck on Christmas Day. Like many more, he found his way to Jim Maloney’s just about dinner time and partook of the good things.

A gathering outside of the Cue Hotel, 1900 – Photo SLWA

Things hummed, everyone was in a merry mood, and the beer and food disappeared in huge quantities. The attendants were almost exhausted. At the table next to, and directly behind the trooper, was the merriest man of all. He was a host in himself, the life of the party, and as witty as a clown. He had the room in an uproar. No one was more insistent on keeping the jugs full and empty than he, and no one could make so neat a speech. He moved a vote of thanks to Maloney, and asked them to drink his health in bumpers, which they did time and again.

He also proposed the toast of  “our visitor”, the trooper who thought he had been unobserved. He spoke of him as the finest man in the north, the friend of the stock owner and the terror of the horse thieves. It was a pleasure to be acquainted with him. He had had but one official transaction with him and had no complaints. He got all that was coming to him. As he paused for breath, a disturbance at the door distracted his attention. Something unusual had happened. All hands turned to see what it was and broke out in a loud “Hurrah!” It was the gaoler, who was always looked upon as very straight-laced, and known as a man who “would not touch it.” But someone had got the better of him, and he was decidedly mellow, if not more so.

Christmas 1898 – Image TROVE

It was a huge joke, the best news of the Christmas week. The wit couldn’t let it pass. “Boys,” he said, “we have been wasting our time in filling jugs. Someone has filled the Copper!” He didn’t take much persuading to join the happy band, and they plied him with everything. What a comedown for the professed wowser! Now he was one of the boys living as a man ought and taking beer in his stride. But time was up. The dinner hour was over. One more speech only. Mr. Merryman made it. He toasted the gaoler. “Grand fellows, Best of cobbers. Treated people like a brother. Fact, he was not only his personal friend but his BOSS.” time they went home. The wag was none other than Mick ‘doing time’.

The following interesting story is an excerpt from a family history written by Julie Aitken, and reproduced with her kind permission.

Among Barney’s wide circle of acquaintances, colleagues and friends was the owner of a hotel in Wiluna.  In 1934, Barney Anderson accepted a position as Manager of the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna.

 Born January 1893 on the corner of William Street and Hay Street, Barney was a first-generation West Australian, the son of an English woman and a Swedish seaman.  His working life began at the age of 13 as an office-boy in the Head Office of Millar’s Timber & Trading Company, in Perth.  After four years, he was transferred to Wellington Mills as a timekeeper. He married Kathleen (Cassie) Rooney in 1915 and in 1920 took up a position as Manager of Millars T & T Co in Goomalling.  Heavily involved in horse-racing from a very early age, Barney’s next foray was as Manager of the very fashionable Imperial Hotel, at York, before returning to Perth in 1927 and re-joining Millars T & T Company.  There he took up a dual role of Manager of two separate branches for the company – one at Midland, the other at Maylands.   It was during these years that Barney sought the services of a companion-housekeeper for his wife, who was becoming increasingly ill with epilepsy. In July 1931, a 20-year-old Eva Evenis took on that position. 

 The following excerpt is taken from a book entitled “It Wasn’t Her Fault” which spans the twelve decades of the lives of these three people, and is as related by Eva Evenis:

 Wiluna is a predominantly mining and pastoral area situated some 947 kilometres north-east of Perth in the Murchison Goldfields on the edge of the desert.  It is the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway.

ABOVE: The Wiluna Gold Mine and town, taken in the 1930s.

 Mr A. Syd Reidy-Croft had bought the former Golden Age Hotel in Wiluna in the early 1930s.  In 1931, following the Great Wiluna Beer Strike, when it was one of three in town and was a small tumbledown place with only two bedrooms available, the hotel nearly lost its licence.  The following year, major extensions and refurbishment of the premises was undertaken and the establishment was renamed the Commercial Hotel.  Reidy-Croft was managing the business when discussions began between himself and Barney and it was decided that Barney would take over as Manager in April 1934.

As Eva often mentioned: “This was a wonderful business opportunity for Barney.”

ABOVE: Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, 1932 http://www.wiluna.wa.gov.au/Assets/Documents/Wiluna_Walk_Trail.pdf

By this time, Wiluna was at the peak of the 1930s gold rush.  Business at the Commercial Hotel was booming.  Having already experienced hotel management at the Imperial Hotel in York, Barney and Cassie were looking forward to moving back into the hotel business and returning to live in the country.

So, Cassie, Barney and Eva packed their belongings and headed for Wiluna by train.  There were no flights in those days.  Even the Flying Doctor had not yet come into full operation.^[1]  There was a daily train service between Wiluna and Perth but on this occasion, the train journey took 7 days (instead of the usual two days) as there was extensive flooding and the train was unable to get through.  On the way, they stopped at Buntine to see Cassie’s brother, Bill.  Instead of spending the night on the train as did the other passengers, they enjoyed a very comfortable night at the home of Bill and his wife, Mary.

Apparently, the train service was exceptionally slow between Perth and Wiluna – it usually went via Mullewa or Geraldton.  Many folklore tales^[2] exist about the slow train journey and how, on one occasion, it was actually beaten to the end of the line by a camel train!

Yet another story told of the time the train was clattering slowly along, stopping and starting, when a frustrated woman passenger asked the conductor when the train would reach Wiluna. “I must get there as quickly as possible”, said the woman, “because I’m pregnant”.

 The shocked conductor said: “Considering your condition, it’s a wonder you boarded the train”.   Thinking quickly, the frustrated woman passenger replied: “When I boarded the train I wasn’t in this condition!”

Shortly after the little group arrived in Wiluna, Syd Short sent an engagement ring up to Eva.  It was a pretty little ring, with a larger diamond in the centre and a smaller diamond on each side.  If he couldn’t persuade Eva not to go to Wiluna, at least by becoming engaged, Syd believed that Eva would eventually return to him.

Meanwhile, Barney set to work in earnest.

In the 1930s, Wiluna was a large, flourishing town.  With a population of around 9000 people, there were as many as 12 taxis permanently stationed there which, together with three buses, made many trips each day between the mine and the town.  The small booklet, “A History of Wiluna” (published sometime after 1981 but of which the author has not been named) states that a bitumen road was constructed from the town to the mine and each side of the road was almost continuously inhabited.

The author goes on to state:

“Fresh milk was available in the town from the four or five dairies situated within four miles of the shopping centre.“There were wide bitumen streets, restless traffic, bright lights, attractive shop fronts and many other evidences of a town apace with city progress.”

 A map of the Township of Wiluna as it was in 1938

The Commercial was one of four hotels in the town, the others being the Weeluna, the Club (which is the only hotel remaining in Wiluna today), and the Lake Way.  The Lake Way Hotel had not long been built when the gold started to peter out.  It did not enjoy a long life span in this gold mining town, which faced a dramatic downturn in fortunes after World War II and the drop in gold prices.  The Commercial Hotel was on Thompson Street, near the corner of Lennon Street, behind the Police Station and the Post Office.  The Weeloona Hotel was in the main thoroughfare, Wotton Street.

Constable Arthur Gallagher was one of three policemen at the Wiluna Police Station at the time.  He went on to become a well-known Inspector of Police in Perth.  He and Barney remained in contact for many decades after they had both left Wiluna. The Police Station was in Wotton Street, near the Post Office and the Club Hotel was further north along Wotton Street, on the corner of Wall Street.   By 1938, a sergeant and nine constables were stationed in the town, with one constable residing at the mine.

A big shed opposite the post office was used as a picture theater and in later years, became a meeting place for local indigenous groups. There was a large grocery store on the next corner up from the Commercial Hotel. The store was huge for that era – as big as any large grocery store in Perth after the War.   It was owned by Mr Laurie Gerick, a friend who shared Barney’s love of running.

Barney mentioned that he “used to run with Laurie Gerick….” years before.

Barney spoke of Laurie in conjunction with their days of running and preparing for competition in the Stawell Gift.  Among his possessions were a photograph showing him and other runners training together to compete in the Stawell Gift, in Victoria, however, does not include Laurie Gerick.  It is believed the friends may have traveled to the eastern states, probably by train, to compete in the famous footrace.   No mention of Barney, Laurie or any of these runners is held in the records of the Stawell Gift^[3].  However, whether they actually competed in one of the many heats is not known.  In 1915 alone, there were twelve first round heats on the Saturday and a further four second round heats or semi-finals on the Monday.  By 1924, the number of entrants had grown considerably, requiring twenty-three first round heats and five semi-finals.

 Jack Horsfall owned and ran the garage down on Wells Street, Wiluna, in those days of the Gold Rush and once again, this friendship extended well past the Wiluna days.

 Years later, Jack and his wife were operating a service station in Stirling Highway, Claremont, at the time Barney’s daughter was attending Claremont Teachers’ College in 1964-65 and the Wiluna friendship between Barney and Mr and Mrs Horsfall was soon extended to the next generation.    Another friend that Eva made in Wiluna was Edna Jeffery, who was nursing at Wiluna at the time the Andersons were residing at the Commercial Hotel.  On 12 December 1937, Edna’s son, Michael, was born.   Sir Michael Jeffery was later to become the 30th Governor of Western Australia (1993-2000) and the 24th Governor-General of Australia (2003-2008).   Eva and Edna rekindled their friendship many years later when both were living in Rockingham and sharing similar interests of working for the community.

The railway line ran out to the mine, where there was a large arsenic plant belonging to A. Victor Leggo & Co^[4].   The plant began operation on 17 April 1931.

It was reported in the Western Mail, that Arsenic production at Wiluna ended with the cessation of active mining.

Western Mail on Thursday 17 March 1932, on page 45

This is noted in the following article shown here from The West Australian:

The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), Thursday 17 June 1948, page 18

Eva remembered that the tonnage of arsenic from the mine was far greater than the output of gold.  There was more arsenic than gold in the ore.  In fact, the arsenic plant was bigger than the gold mining at Wiluna.  On certain windy days, when there was a southerly wind blowing from the mines, a large arsenic cloud would descend over the town.

“It was impossible to put a bowl of water out for the dogs because the arsenic dust would settle on the water,” said Eva.

At the height of the gold rush, gold production was at four penny-weight to a ton of ore.  The mine is situated 15 miles east of the present town, on the Gun Barrel Highway.

The reconstruction of the Commercial Hotel was still in progress when the opening of the new main bar was announced on 19 September 1932.  It was 60 feet by 40 feet, featuring a huge island bar totaling 122 feet of counter space – claimed to be the largest in the state at the time.

LEFT: The island bar at the Commercial    Hotel, Wiluna, in 1934

There was one barmaid, a Miss Hilda Brackenridge, and six barmen ‘going for their lives’ from opening at nine o’clock in the morning until closing at 11 pm.   A distressed Eva recalled that by 9.30 am it was not uncommon to see little Aboriginal children rolling around on the floor, drunk.  Another two barmaids ran the saloon bar.

The beer came up from Perth in big wooden barrels.  Bottled beer arrived in large wooden crates of five dozen bottles – 12 to a layer; 5 layers to a case.   The beer was kept in a very large cool room and served in pots from a keg on the counter.    The keg had a wooden bung in it, from which the beer was poured.  There were nearly always two kegs on the counter, but on pay days there were four – one in each corner of the bar.

Although there were no facilities at the counter to keep the beer cool, a keg would seldom last long enough for the beer to get warm!

RIGHT: Barney & Eva with one of the barmen and a barmaid from the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, in the mid-1930’s

On a normal day, the bar takings would reach around two to three thousand pounds – a considerable sum in those days.  One evening, Barney was quite drunk and Bill, the head barman, took charge of the takings.  He slept with all the money tucked safely inside his shirt!

Eva always said that on pay nights, the bar takings were incredibly high.  She mentioned that on more than one occasion, the takings totaled between £13,000 and £15,000 ($26,000-30,000).  That seems an extraordinary sum … but with up to 9 bar staff, four kegs on the bar at a time (which never lasted long enough to get warm) and with a population of 9000 mostly hot, dry, thirsty, single men, drinking from 9 am until 11 pm … ?

There were 10 to 12 garages in the hotel yard.  Two of them were used to store the wine, which was brought up to Wiluna in large casks.  Eva helped to bottle the wine from the 5-gallon wine casks into bottles and put labels on the bottles.  The Hotel staff consisted of 2 housemaids with 3 maids in the kitchen, 2 laundresses, 2 yardmen who served in the bar on busy days, 4 permanent barmen and 2 barmaids in the saloon bar plus Miss Hilda Brackenridge, the barmaid in the Main Bar.

In addition to their normal duties, the housemaids did the waiting in the dining room.  The dining room normally seated 40 guests and often more, if the commercial travelers were in town.  Frequent diners would include the ‘bank boys’, the manager of Millars’ Timber & Trading Co., the dentist and other professional and business people who, being mostly single men, would usually have their meals at the hotel.  Often Eva would need to get up from the table to help in the dining room.  In those days, she could carry 6 cups of tea or four or five plates of food at once.

The dining room at the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna, 1934

(This photograph was printed by the Lake Way Pharmacy, Wiluna)

Mrs Walkerden was the cook at the Commercial.  Her son was a jockey, who rode horses for Barney.  The laundress was Rene Howe, who later bought the laundry across the road from the Hotel and built up a thriving business of her own.  There were 40 rooms at the Commercial Hotel.  The housemaid was a Mrs Shepherd.  If the house was very busy, the parlour maid or the laundress would go upstairs to help out.  The other girls, the pantry-maid and the housemaids, were part of the floating population and were constantly changing.  Eva tended to all the linen requirements.

Eva had never been among ‘hotel’ people before and with her family experience regarding the effects of alcohol, was understandably wary in her new environment.  There were many business men and commercial travelers who frequented the hotel.  Barney felt that it was his duty to ‘watch out’ for Eva and protect her from any difficult situations that might arise in such a place.

In the Commercial Hotel at that time, everyone worked for wages, paid by the owner, Mr Reidy-Croft.  As manager, Barney was paid £12 ($24) per week with everything supplied.  This was considered quite a large sum in that era.  Cassie received £3 ($6) per week as housekeeper.  From Barney’s wage, Eva was given 30/- ($3) a week (double that which she received in Maylands) as companion to Mrs Anderson.

The housemaids and waitresses received £2/10/- ($5) and the cook drew £5 ($10) per week.

Due to her debilitating illness, Cassie was unable to do much of the work and her duties fell to Eva.  In those halcyon days, social class was highly defined.  A lady’s companion was socially ‘above’ the housemaids.  In reality, Eva did Mrs Anderson’s job, that of hotel manageress, arranging the linen, food and other housekeeping chores, in fact everything Mrs Anderson would normally have taken care of.

At that time, Cassie was taking fits or seizures every day.  At best, she could go for one week without ‘a turn’; but at one stage, she had 40 fits in 20 hours.  She was not conscious for the entire 20 hours.  After a seizure, she slept soundly for several hours.  Upon waking, she would then lapse into another seizure, followed in turn by another long sleep.

In November 1935, Barney was called by the State Licensing Bench, which was hearing applications for two provisional licences.  Thomas O’Shaughnessy, from the Club Hotel, Barney Anderson from the Commercial Hotel and Bernard J Casserley from the Weeloona Hotel, were objectors, who detailed the present accommodation at the respective hotels.  The Weeloona Hotel had nine permanent boarders, with the rest of the accommodation reserved for the travelling public.

The Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 – 950), Tuesday 5 Novemebr 1935, page 3, reported:  Mr Anderson said that contemplated extensions to the Commercial Hotel anticipated the requirements of the future.  His bar might be termed crowded at peak hours.  He had sent two men from Diorite to the Weeloona Hotel, as he did not have rooms at the moment.  The alterations to be made would meet any rush of business.

“Bedrooms and bars, at a cost of £3,000 ($6,000) were now being added to the Hotel.”

Barney enjoyed playing two-up and the school would always expect him on pay nights because he would take a ‘lot’ of money from the takings after the hotel closed at 11 pm and go down to join the two-up school.  He seemed to have a knack for two-up but his winning streaks were not popular at the school!

The ladies were not allowed to go downstairs on pay days.  Barney believed it was far safer for them to stay in their rooms upstairs.  With this in mind, in 1935, Barney taught Eva to drive so that she could take Mrs Anderson out of town for a drive on pay days.  Eva used to drive all around Wiluna, but when she approached Mr Gallagher for a licence, for some unknown reason, he advised: “Don’t get one up here.  Wait until you go to Perth and get a licence down there.”

Train Derailment at Wiluna, 30 March 1936

In this harsh, hot country town, as in many outback towns in Australia in those early days, people survived by their wits.  The climate and the conditions brought out the best – and the worst – of people.  It was sheer hard slog, but those who stuck it out, did so by their own ingenuity and determination to ‘make a go of it’, take advantage of the opportunities or generally manage as best they could. Each outback town had its fair share of interesting characters … and the gold mining town of Wiluna was no exception.

One old bachelor, named Paddy, lived two miles out of town at a camp in the riverbed.  He had two dogs, one of which was called Mick.  He chained both of these dogs to a tree in the riverbed on a very short chain.  When Paddy came in to town, he brought Mick, picked up a bottle of wine and strapped it around the dog’s neck.  Mick was expected to carry the bottle two miles out of town to Paddy’s camp.

One night, Laurie Gerick dreamt that Paddy’s two dogs were trapped on their chain and were drowning.  His dream was so vivid that he was motivated to get out of bed and go to Paddy’s camp.  His fears were not unfounded as the river had come down in a flash flood and, sure enough, there were the dogs with just their heads above the water, held down by their chains and struggling to survive.

Paddy was obviously not aware of the rain or the flash flooding – or maybe he just wasn’t in the camp.

After very heavy rain, the river was subject to sudden, heavy flooding.  The tree to which Mick was usually chained was in the middle of the river bed.  There was nowhere else to safely chain the dog.  During one such flood, Paddy decided to take Mick in to the hotel and told Barney the story, hoping Barney would buy the dog from him.  Barney’s love of and affinity with horses, also extended to dogs.  He gave Paddy a bottle of wine for the dog, thinking that as soon as Paddy was gone, the dog would follow him; but it never did.  Maybe this was because as soon as Barney took possession of the dog, he took it by the chain, led it upstairs and brought it a full leg of lamb from the kitchen.

“Old Mick” remained with Barney for the rest of the dog’s life.  Mick and a little black Pomeranian, called Toby, went everywhere with Barney, Cassie and Eva.

Barney with “Mick” at the water tank at Wiluna

Like his previous owner, Mick was also quite a character.   On a regular basis, he would wander into the tobacconist shop next to the hotel and put his paws up on the counter until Mr Gilmour, the tobacconist, gave him a peanut brittle.  Once a week, Barney would go down to Mr Gilmour’s store to pay the dog’s peanut brittle account!

Barney and Mick in the yard at the Hotel

Barney is seen in the doorway of what is believed to be the repertory Club at Wiluna.

There was a very popular and quite large repertory club in Wiluna, to which Barney belonged.  He was always there for rehearsals and meetings, although he did not take part in any productions as he had earlier in his life.  He is seen appearing in the doorway above left in the photo.

In 1935, Barney wanted to send Cassie on a sea trip to see if it would provide any benefit to her ailing health.  He asked Eva if she would accompany Mrs Anderson on a sea voyage to New Zealand.   Eva and Syd Short were to be married at Easter, 1935, so Syd was very much against Eva going abroad in the first months of that year.

Eva explained to her fiancé that she could not let Mrs Anderson travel alone.  She had already made up her mind that she would accompany Mrs Anderson to New Zealand and then stay with her for a couple of months after the trip until Cassie’s health settled down and the Anderson’s could get someone to take Eva’s place.  According to Eva, Syd ‘put on a show’ and the two of them began to ‘argue’ in letters.

In an effort to appease the situation and placate Syd, Eva travelled down by train to Perth to stay for a few days and try to sort it out with Syd – but the argument continued.  According to Eva, Syd appeared to be different.  He acted strangely and was frequently asking Eva the names of various people who worked in the hotel at Wiluna.  Eva returned to Wiluna a few days later with the situation still unresolved.

The next time Barney went to the post office to pick up the mail, he discovered what Eva described as ‘an incriminating letter’ written to himself from Syd Short.  According to Eva, Syd had enclosed malicious, ’pornographic’ letters about their relationship.   Syd claimed that these letters were written by Eva.

Back at the hotel, Barney showed Eva one of the letters and asked her if she had written it.  Eva indignantly replied, “No!   That’s not my handwriting.  I don’t write like that.  I can’t do those ‘r’s.”  As Barney went through the mail, he discovered other similar letters had been addressed to various people in the hotel, spreading malicious lies.

As luck would have it, the letters had been posted without stamps on them.  This meant Barney had to go back to the post office to pay postage for all the other letters.  Having done this, all the letters from Syd were now in Barney’s possession.  With that settled, Barney burnt the entire bundle of letters. As much as she hated to part with the pretty little engagement ring, Eva decided to pack it up and return it to Syd Short, thus breaking the engagement and putting an end to their relationship forever.

Pictured here are a few items of memorabilia that Barney kept over the years and which are connected to significant decisions he was later to make regarding his business.

An invitation to Barney from the Wiluna Road Board to attend a dinner held at the Club Hotel to welcome to Wiluna, Mr Claude De Bernales, Western Australian mining entrepreneur, and Sir William Campion, Governor of Western Australia, 1924 to 1931.

The front cover of the menu to that dinner.

The full menu and Toast List for the Dinner.

Fire at the Commercial Hotel

In 1936, fire broke out at the Commercial Hotel.

Fire was a risk in that hot, dry climate.  At one stage, it became almost a regular weekly occurrence.   One fire destroyed three large shops in the middle of the town.  They were the Men’s Mercer owned by Rowley Wedgewood, the Grocery shop owned by Laurie Gerick and the chemist owned by Norm Davies.

There was a race to get all the furniture out via the back stairways and down into the yard at the back of the Hotel in an effort to save as much of the furniture and belongings as possible.

In true country style, everyone pitched in to help and damage was minimised.

Death of a miner: It was reported in The West Australian newspaper on Wednesday 19 February 1936, page 21 that as a result of an explosion in the Moonlight Gold Mine at 11.30 o’clock that morning, the well-known miner and sportsman, Francis Thias Evenis, known as ‘Manassa’ had been killed and another man critically injured.   The men were working underground at the time and “… it is believed that Evenis bored into an unexploded charge…” which had been inadvertently left by the previous shift.”

The explosion caused multiple punctures about the waist and head of Mr Evenis, with large perforated wounds in the chest, forearm and lower jaw.  The article went on to say that:

“Evenis, who was married towards the end of last year, had an accident shortly afterwards and returned to work only a few weeks ago.” 

On Saturday, 22 February, the Geraldton Guardian and Express reported:

“Further particulars have been received regarding the tragic death of Frank Thias Evenis, aged 23 years, married, of Wiluna, who was killed in the Moonlight Mine at Wiluna on Tuesday morning last, and of the serious injuries sustained by Eric Robinson, aged 27 years, who was working with the deceased at the time. Statements obtained by Constable Alford, of Wiluna, disclose that at about 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning Evenis and Robinson were machine mining in the No. 2 level (No. 1 rise) of the east lode of the mine, and when engaged in boring out the drill struck a misfired hole and exploded the charge. Robinson was blown off the stage and sustained a depressed fracture of the skull, a compound fracture of the ribs and abdominal injuries, but was able to stagger some distance down the level, where he was met by two other mine workers (Herbert Gibson and Bob Lang), who rendered him temporary assistance.
Gibson and Lang were informed by Robinson before the latter collapsed that Evenis was up in the rise ‘upside down,’ and on hurrying to the scene of the explosion they saw the deceased’s body hanging by one leg from the stage. On being removed to the plat on a stretcher it was found that the body of the deceased was pitted with dirt, there was a large hole in the chest, and also one in the back, indicating that some object had passed clean through the body. The face was covered with blood. There were many injuries, including fractures of the right arm and upper jaw. On examination life was pronounced extinct by Dr H. D. Phipps, who later attributed the cause of deceased’s death to the perforating wound in the chest and to shock.”

At the inquest into the death, held at Wiluna on 6 March, John Butler, the underground manager of the mine, reported that:

“Men working underground are instructed to advise the shift boss of the number of holes fired and the number that go off.  If there is a miss it is entered in the log and the new shift is advised. The previous shift boss reported no miss holes.”

On Tuesday, 3 March 1936, the Western Argus, a Kalgoorlie newspaper, reported:

 “The funeral of the late Francis Thias Evenis, who was killed on the Moonlight mine last Tuesday, was the largest and most representative yet seen in Wiluna. The burial service was read by Rev. C. W. Collard (Methodist). The pall bearers were Messrs. J. Baker and W. Sampey (A.W.U.), J. Pettigrew (Wiluna Gold Mines), J. Hollier and W. O’Neill (Mines Rovers F.C.), and H. McKimm. Over 100 workers marched immediately behind the hearse and 60 cars completed the cortege. The second victim in the accident, Eric Robinson, is holding his own and has every prospect of recovery.”

Francis Thias Evenis was Eva’s first cousin. His father, George, was an older brother of Eva’s father.   Frank had married Lillian Delcy Newbon at Wiluna in late 1935^[5].

Headstone for Francis Thias in the C of E Section of Wiluna Cemetery

In January/February 1936, Cassie and Eva left from Wiluna on their cruise to New Zealand and Tasmania.  At Fremantle, they boarded the Moldavia for Sydney, before boarding another ship to sail to New Zealand.  Calling in at Tasmania on the return journey, the travelers re-boarded the Moldavia for the trip back to Fremantle. Eva spoke fondly of her trip to New Zealand for many years and particularly enjoyed their visit to the hot springs at Rotorua.

P & O Line’s RMS Moldavia

It was only discovered in 2014 that Cassie Anderson’s parents, both of Irish birth, were married in New Zealand.  Some of her family were still living there at the time of this trip but it is not known whether contact was made with any of Cassie’s extended family.

Mick and Barney (leaning on car at extreme right) enjoy a drink with mates outside the Commercial Hotel, Wiluna. (Note the beer bottles on the bonnets of two cars and the water bags on the front bumpers of two other vehicles.)

After two and a half years, it was time to move on.

With a small fortune, amassed during a ‘golden’ opportunity in the peak of the gold rush, the threesome left Wiluna in September 1936, driving via Kalgoorlie to enter the horses in the races on their way. As they set out, they stopped for the first night at the homestead of the Lake Way Station, where friends, Mr and Mrs White, had a guest house.  They had often dropped in to spend a night or a weekend with the Whites when living in Wiluna, so as they left for the last time, it was opportune to call in for a final visit.   The guest house was a couple of hours out of Wiluna.

In the car, Eva sat in the back with Mrs Sep Woolhouse, the wife of Barney’s horse trainer, and the two dogs.  Eva commented that through Leonora, the road was so rough that it

“… shook every bolt on the wheels loose and shook the windscreen out of the T-Model Ford”.

The Commercial Hotel in Wiluna was leased for 12 months following Barney’s departure but no further records have been found.  As the town declined, the Commercial Hotel finally closed some time in or after 1945.

[1] The Australian Inland Mission Aerial Medical Service (later renamed the Royal Flying Doctor Service) opened in Cloncurry, Queensland, 15 May 1928.

[2] Adam-Smith, P., “Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen”, Adelaide, 1969.

[3] Watt, Gary, “Stawell Gift Almanac, A History of the Stawell Gift”, 2008, Legacy Books

[4] Arthur Victor Leggo (1875-1942), metallurgist and merchant, who claimed, by the 1920s, to be the largest producer of arsenic in the Southern Hemisphere.  His company supplied chemicals for the leather, wool and rubber industries, and seed wheat pickles, sheep dip, rabbit poison, pest sprays and weed-killers to primary producers.

[5] WA Marriage Certificate Registration Number 58/1935, Murchison

YUNNDAGA
Latitude 29° 45′ S Longitude 121° 03′ E

Yunndaga is an abandoned town on the Western Australian goldfields located 7 km south of Menzies. Gold was discovered in the area in the mid-1890s, and in 1898, a business and residence subdivision was laid out at what was then referred to as Woolgar. Business and residence subdivisions were very temporary and gave no secure tenure to the inhabitants.

Yunndaga Street Map – 1908 – Image SLWA

By 1904, there was a feeling of permanency about Woolgar, and the mining warden advised it was time to gazette the place as a townsite. As there was already a place in Queensland with this name, an alternative name was required, and the mining warden made three suggestions, one of which was Yunndagar. The Department of Lands and Surveys then applied spelling rules it had adopted for Aboriginal names, and the townsite of Yunndaga was gazetted in March 1904.

Royal Group Hotel Woolgar – Yundaga 1909 – Golden Mile Magazine

Bonzle Map – Location of Yunndaga

Yundaga People

Studio group portrait of 2402 Private Pte Henry Alexander Spalholtz, of Yunndaga, WA, to left seated 2387 Pte John William Reilly of Woolgar, unidentified soldier centre standing, holding a piece of rope tied to a toy poodle (strange)- Photo SLWA & AWM – Photo Ancestry.com

Henry Alexander ‘Alik’ Spalholtz was the son of Bernard Henry Martin Spalholtz and Matilda Rooke. Bernard died in Woolgar on the 13th of June 1918, only eight months after hearing of his son Henry’s death in Belgium, when he was killed in action aged only 19 years. He was a storekeeper in Woolgar for many years and is buried in the Menizes Cemetery.

Harry Spalholtz and Matilda, nee Rooke – parents of Henry Spalholtz – Photo Ancestry.com

John William Reilly was the son of Thomas Edwin Reilly and Mary Josephine Smith. He was from Bendigo, Victoria, and his occupation before enlistment was a miner. This was perhaps how he came to be in Yunndaga. He married Eleanore ‘Nellie’ Richardson in Kalgoorlie in 1914 and died in Perth, WA, in 1973.

Yunndaga townsite 1904 – Photo SLWA

The staff of the Menzies Consolidated Gold Mine, Woolgar – 1916- Thomas ELLIS (back row far left) – Arthur BELDON (centre back row).

.

The Queen of White Feather
A true story of the introduction of the first barmaid in Kanowna in 1896
by John Drayton.

Smith’s Weekly – Sydney – 2 September 1922

TOM DOYLE, licensee of the Kanowna Hotel (White Feather) in 1896, introduced the first barmaid to the fields. There were women in the camp, and drink was sold in the shacks they inhabited, but of this brand, the diggers had Eastern recollections. Tom decided, on advice, to put in his bar a queen of the saloons, a lady, as to dress, deportment and manners. “It would be a big thing, Tom,” said his adviser. “You’d have a magnet to pull the boys in, and it would take the Warden and a copy of the ‘Riot Act’ to get ’em out while they had the price of a drink in their clothes, Y’ll double your takings right away.”

“Not that the money’s any good t’ me, said Tom, “but if I doubled me takins, I’d get, maybe, half av what’s comin’ in now.  Every bare-armed beer puller down that counter takes his cut before I get mine. I don’t get the full half of what’s spent in the house. Maybe if I were taking twice as much, I’d be making more, but at the same time losing more. “What put the idea of a barmaid in your mind?”

“I’ll tell ya the truth Tom, I’ve got a hankering t’ see a fine Australian girl,

a real lady with lady’s manners.” “That’s a big order,” grunted the landlord of the Kanowna. “Still, I’ll do it. I’ll put one over on Mick Donellan across t’ road. Not a word to the boys! Come with me and we’ll write a letter to Mick Kennedy. I’ll tell him to rob the biggest bar in Sydney of the finest girl he sees. Ten pounds a week, and first-class transport.”

Kennedy carried out his instructions. He selected a girl who fitted the bill, and crowded over on both margins. She was smuggled into the camp at night and assigned to her private quarters, fitted out with utter disregard of cost.  Tom was going the whole length of the string. The next day, the news was permitted to filter through the channels of bar gossip. Tom confirmed current rumours that the finest girl who had so far come to the West was to be installed as

‘The Queen of the dispensary’ on Monday morning.

Evidence in support was furnished by the erection of a dais at one end of the bar. Richly carpeted with a gilt chair approached by velvet curtains and the minor equipment of a miniature drawing room. The “throne” was accepted as proof of the coming of the Queen ……

“Ye’ coves, y’r better be on y’r best behaviour,” Tom warned his clients. “This ones something different from what y’ve been used to!

The installation of the ‘Queen’ was a ceremonious affair. Punctually at 10 a.m., Tom lifted a hand, and the curtains of the dais were drawn to disclose a blond and massive beauty, young, sweet and gracious.”Champagne! Put up a case of it, Bill! ” shouted a whiskered prospector.  “Gentlemen, I drink to the health of the Queen of the Feather!”

Tom Doyle’s Kanowna Hotel c 1900 – Photo SLWA

“Business is begun,” said Doyle to the girl. “There are twenty barmen there with orders t’ jump if ya hold up y’r finger. I’ll leave y’ to it.”  Twenty minutes later, a barman found the landlord. “That girl’s broke down” he said, “She’s cryin’ I think she’s goin’ t’ have histeriks;” ‘” What th’ divils the matter?” gasped Doyle! “Y” better ask her,” was the sane response to the enquiry.’ Tom dashed into the saloon. The information was correct. The girl had gone to pieces. Two hundred troubled men in front of the bar were looking at her helplessly. Twenty bare-armed beer pullers of Doyle’s command were looking at them helplessly.

“In the’ name of Hivin, what’s wrong, me girl?” Tom asked kindly. She clung sobbing to him. “Oh, Mr Doyle”, she said, “I couldn’t stay here, I’d go mad! Such swearing! I’ve been in bars for years, but this is too, too awful! ” The boys were a bit loose in their speech. Their profanity was a habit. Words that had no meaning qualified all their utterances unthinkingly. Tom knew the men and their ways — which were his ways. He knew every man in the crowd was clean at heart. He knew, too, how to handle them, and he employed it.

“Stop servin drinks!” he bellowed to the line of barmen. He reinstated the Queen in the chair she had abandoned, took a position at her side, and overlooked the multitude.

“A nice lot of  *+%#  y’are! A foul mouth’d gang of dirty under bred scum with neither decency nor discretion in what does for yr minds. Yr manners is the manners of the gutters of Sydney and Milbourne. Y’r talk is the talk of the fish markets.  Y’ low down lot of slugs and worms, what are y’ that a man should spind money t bring ye a lady frum the saloon of the foinest hotel in Sydney. A lady used to the language of decent men. I had it in me mind that she’d lift ye out of the muck yer wallow in — an what’s t’ result?”

She tells me she canna stay a minute longer in the place!” A thirsty digger jiggled a glass on the counter. “Throw that ‘son of a gun out! Through the winda, if there’s no way to get him through the door!” (Crash! The thirsty one went out.)
“And now, y ‘ll all give heed t’ what I say, the next swine that grunts a bad word within the hearing of Miss Mclvor, I’ll beat black and blue if it’s the last thing I do in this life!” He turned to the Queen.”I tink y’ll hear no more of it, Miss Mclvor,” he said gallantly to the horrified girl.

“Go on se’rvin drinks!” he commanded!

Where Belinda Bought the Drinks
by Andree Hayward – 1896

In the outback pub, it was always known when ‘womenfolk’ would be arriving in town. The news could never be kept secret. When the weekly coach arrived, all eyes would be on the lookout to catch a glimpse of the ‘new girl’. There was no lack of assistance in helping with the luggage; there would be a scramble to see who could assist first. Publicans were not to show mercy to a new barmaid, even though she may have just completed a journey of 600 miles; she was obliged to put in an appearance that first night at the bar. There would be a great roll up that night and a rivalry among the lads as to who would secure her smiles, and there was no shortage of offers to dance, walk or drive. One young lady was heard to receive 40 such offers on her first night and wisely refused them all.  There was plenty of time, and she could have her pick at leisure.

Everyone would be on their best behaviour, and fighting and spitting were not to be seen.

Six months was thought to be a good while to last out and then the publican would have to cast around for a new ‘Hebe’ to lure the customers and part them from their gold. Many of the girls went on to marry bank managers, mine managers and some of the leading men of the day. They were spirited girls looking for adventure, and usually they found it. The following poem is about the lovely ‘Belinda’, one of many such girls.

Belinda

‘Twas an unpretentious grog shop in a dust mining centre,
Flanked about with bottles that were growing more and more,
People called it “The Excelsior”, but “Abandon Hope who Enter”
Would have been a fitting legend for the board above the door.

Alexander was the landlord – Mr Patrick Alexander –
Strangers mostly called him Alec, but his boon companions Pat;
And his usual place of vantage was a broken-down verandah
Where the townships’ hardest cases sprawled and swore, and smoked and spat.

Then the local papers spread the news one more afar,
That an angel in a bodice had appeared behind the bar;
And the frenzied rush that followed marked an epoch new, methinks,
For that little corner shanty, where Belinda brought the drinks.

For indeed, she seemed an angel to our starved imaginations,
Though the unromantic Alec used to claim her as a niece.
Not a man would have bartered for her smile, the Wealth of Nations
From the youngest new chum digger to the sergeant of police;

And the magic of her presence shed a subtle hanky-panky
On that dingy shrine of Bacchus, and the crown assembled there,
Till the hardest heart was softened, and the synonym for ‘blanky’
Seldom rose above a whisper on the whiskey-scented air.

Thought the rival barmaids there, in the fashion of the fair,
Tossed their heads in scornful comment on Belinda’s golden hair,
Thought they pulled her charms to pieces and declared she was a minx,
No one swerved from his allegiance, where Belinda brought the drinks.

Real chain lightning was the whiskey, and the rum sent strangers raging,
But Belinda’s thirsty lovers soon made havoc in the stock;
And the landlord’s smile grew daily, more expansive and engaging,
For the row of empty bottles would have paved an acre block

Never knights of old so loyally mustered to their sovereign banner
As the boys from shaft and windlass to the Queen of Alec’s bar;
Popping corks and jangling glasses nearly drowned the cracked ‘pianner’,
When the local Paderewski played “e dunno where ‘e are”.

Nights of revel, days of graft, when our luck was in, we laughed,
And when fortune frowned, forget her in the fiery cups we quaffed –
Memory’s chains still binds her to me, and the strongest of the links,
Takes me back to Alec’s parlour – where Belinda bought the drinks.

But one bitter day she left us, and the storm of lamentations
Echoed throughout he tents and humpies in the days our darling went;
E’en the wild, seductive “two-up” lost its ancient fascinations,
And the usual Sunday dog fight seemed a spiritless event

Nevermore shall I behold her, but my recollection lingers
On that tiny, winsome figure, conjured up from days gone by;
Still, I feast my eyes in visions on those ring’d and tapering fingers,
Flitting from the fierce Jamaica, to the flasks of ‘Real MacKay’.

Nevermore! aye, there’s the rub! O that township in the scrub,
And the hurried nightly beeline from the campfire to the pub.
Every other scene of revel into dull oblivion sinks
By the side of Alec’s shanty, where Belinda brought the drinks.

Yerilla (Aboriginal name for white Quartz)

Latitude: 29 29 S Longitude: 121 50 E

Direction sign at Kookynie – Photo Nic Duncan

Yerilla is an abandoned goldfields townsite located 105 km east northeast of Menzies and 37 km southeast of Kookynie. Gold was discovered in the area in the mid 1890’s, and the miners soon formed a progress committee, and in 1896 requested the declaration of a townsite. The townsite was gazetted in November 1896. The year 1896 was one of rapid expansion, with the opening of a ‘Mutual Store’ and two hotels which struggled to meet local demand. These hotels were constructed of hessian and timber. The progress committee had a plan of eighty lots drawn up. The first stone building with an iron roof erected was a butcher’s shop built by William Smith, who was to become one of the town’s longest residents.

Yerilla Townsite map – Image SLWA

Yerilla is relatively unheralded of for its gold production between 1895 and the present, but it is renowned world wide among the gemstone fraternity, for its green gold. Chrysoprase (green gold), of the quartz family and it has been mined there for forty years. Few however, until now, have been aware of the machinations and intrigue that have been associated with its extraction.

Chrysoprase – Photo SLWA

150kms north of Kalgoorlie, in fairly lush pastoral country, lies Yerilla Station. Within a few kilometers of the homestead, are the remains of the old Yerilla townsite, and its early gold workings.

The Yerilla King GM – Image SLWA

The word ‘Yerilla’ is currently accepted as being the Aboriginal word for quartz. Jerry McAuliffe disputed this and said the Aboriginal word for Quartz was ‘Waboo’. He also said, after her declined to have it called McAuliffe’s Find, a Scotsman on the site suggested Yerilla, after a property in NSW where he had been employed. Probably nearer the truth is that Yerilla is the Aboriginal name for ‘Plenty of white stone’. The stones being Quartz, of course.

A Yerilla Aboriginal family 1895-1900 – Image SLWA – Photographer Roy Miller

The Never Never Land Hotel, Yerilla

Bill Smith’s Never Never Land Hotel, Yerilla c 1906 – Image SLWA

The Sun 24 December 1905 

The second cemetery, Reserve 4587 of 5 acres, 2 kms North of the town – Photograph By Jill Heather

Yerilla Cemetery – The First Burial – Reserve 3738
Distressing Complications

The Goldfields Morning Chronicle 26th March 1897 – On Monday morning, 22 March 1897, Mr. Simon Elliott, age 63 yrs, manager of the Yerilla Claims, died suddenly at GM Lease 64R. He was at work but died as a result of a rupture of the heart and was buried the next day. Death certified in writing Hubert Elliott, his son. Mr. S Anstell, Mine Manager, and brother Freemason read the service at the grave in the Yerilla cemetery. Two shifts had been employed digging, but the grave was only half-finished when the cortege arrived. Ten hours of work had then been done into an ironstone conglomerate. The ceremony was gone through and the coffin was placed in the grave, which was finished later on. However, a doctor from Niagara arrived in the evening with instructions from Warden Owen that the body be exhumed so that a post-mortem might be conducted. The ground in the original cemetery was very hard, necessitating blasting. It took two men 1½ days to dig the first grave. Not much foresight was shown in the selection of this site for a cemetery, which was gazzetted as 30 acres, and a new cemetery site was eventually chosen.

Note: There is no mention made of a post-mortem actually being carried out on his death certificate. Mr. Elliott’s two sons were with him, Hubert and John, and the rest of his large family remained in Ballarat. Simon’s wife, Catherine and the rest of the family moved to the Goldfields after his death, where she lived at 59 Hanbury Street, Kalgoorlie, before moving to her daughter’s house in Trafalgar, where she died in 1917. She is buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery.

Death Certificate: ELLIOTT Simon — 63yrs, d 22 Mar 1897, a mine manager who died from a ruptured heart. He was formerly the underground manager for the WA Gold Co. Born: Cumberland Victoria, Father: John ELLIOTT, at the age of 40 years, he married Catherine BELL nee MOORE in Clunes Victoria. At the time of his death, he had only been in Western Australia for 2 ½ years. Their children at the time of his death were – Victoria Alice 21yrs, John Moore 19yrs, Twins Violet & Hubert 16yrs, Margaret Mary Ruby 13yrs and Lillie 10yrs, Reg North Coolgardie 54/1897, Buried Yerilla cemetery.

Buried at Yerilla’s Second Cemetery.

BOASE unnamed male — d 18 Mar 1906, Stillborn, buried by father, Father: Philemon BOASE (Wood Carter), Mother: Ellen Elizabeth WOOSNAM. The couple had already lost a son, Philemon Boase, who died aged 16 months in 1900. He was born in Gippsland VIC, and is buried in the Coolgardie Cemetery. Their surviving children were Lucy, born in 1896 in Daylesford, VIC; William James, born in Walhalla VIC 1897; John born in Kurrawang WA in 1902; Annie Veronica born in Niagara in 1904, Mary born Coolgardie 1905, Thomas born Kookynie 1909, Philemon born Kookynie 1912, Ellen born 1914 Kookynie WA. Their last child was Dorothy, born in Laverton, WA in 1918, Reg North Coolgardie 14/1906, Buried Yerilla Cemetery.

Ellen Elizabeth BOASE nee WOOSNAN – Photo Ancestry.com

MARSHALL Thomas John — 26 yrs, d about 14 Feb 1899, 12 miles from Yerilla on the Griffithstown Rd on the Linden track – Death certified in writing by William Marshall, his brother from Pendinnie. He was a miner who died of thirst, having lived in Western Australia for 2 years. He was born in Richmond, Victoria. Son of David Marshall (Labourer) and Ann Noble, Reg North Coolgardie 9/1899, Buried Yerilla Cemetery.

A swagman came across Marshall’s swag and billy-can on the road with a note attached reading:  ’10th February – no water 20 miles from here’ His body was found some 15 km from the swag; the police went out and recovered his body, which after an inquest was buried in the new cemetery.

MARSHALL Thomas d 1899-  Photograph by Jill Heather

Coolgardie Miner – 17 February 1899, page 5

FERRIS William — d 12 Nov 1905, 42yrs, at Mt Catherine near Yerilla, Cause: Heart disease, Verdict of the Coroner, Born in South Australia but no family details were known. Reg North Coolgardie 50/1905, Buried Yerilla cemetery.

Evening Mail 17 November 1905, page 1

CAPON Tom —  d 1 Aug 1968, 84yrs, was cremated and his ashes interred at Yerilla Cemetery. Tom was from England originally and was a returned soldier from the First World War. Father: George Stephen CAPON, Mother: Caroline Amelia KAY, He married Annie Wills HAYWARDS in 1910, Birling, Kent, England, and they had three children: Charlotte Annie (1911), George Stephen (1912), and Edgar John (1913). The family emigrated to Western Australia in 1923 on the ship BENALLA and arrived in Fremantle in January 1924. Tom and his family moved to Albany in the 1930s and worked as a carpenter (his trade) for several years. At this point, I think the marriage started to break down. Tom moved out to Balladonia Station and began work as a cook. He remained at the station for at least five years before moving to the Yerilla Station, where he became a cook’s assistant, general handyman, and childminder for over seventeen years before leaving to live with family in the late 1950s till his death. In 1953, Annie filed for divorce, accusing him of adultery; they had been separated for over five years. Tom returned to Perth by 1954 and settled in the Swan region, where he remained until his death, Reg 2568/1968.

WILSON Dave — 84yrs, d 30 May 1985, was from England, born 7 Sep 1901, he was cremated and his ashes interred at Yerilla Cemetery. Dave had been a prospector and well sinker before he arrived at the station in the early 1940s, he remained there into the 1980s.

Recommended Reading:  Yerilla by Alex Palmer will be very much enjoyed by all who are interested in the early days of the goldfields and of the explorers and prospectors that first discovered the area.

“Yerilla” by Alex Palmer, District history, maps and indexed
ISBN 0 9590584 2 7  Available from Eastern Goldfields Historical Soc &  Hesperian Press

Arthur Cyril LEEVERS was born on the 9th of March 1866 at Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, England. His parents were John LEEVERS and Mary Ann RATHY. In 1872 he travelled to New Zealand with his parents and brothers. He married twice, 1st to Isabella HEBLY in June 1886 in Wellington, New Zealand and 2nd to Alma Beatrice GRAHAM in Westonia WA in 1924.

Arthur Cyril LEEVERS – Coolgardie c 1897 – Photo SLWA

Arthur C Leevers first hotel, The Exchange (on far left) in Bayley St, Coolgardie 1894 – He took over the hotel from Evan Wisdom – Photo SLWA

The Lady Shenton Hotel, Menzies – Photo SLWA (Now the Menzies Visitors Centre)Arthur was to take over the Lady Shenton Hotel in the main street of Menzies in 1897. However by 1899 he was declared bankrupt having spent all of his earnings.

North Coolgardie Herald and Miners Daily News-22-June-1899

Arthur was to join the AIF in 1916 at the late age of 44 years. At the time of his enlistment he was working at the Perseverance Mine in Boulder and his occupation was as a plumber and he was a widower. His next of kin was his brother, William Thomas Leevers, also at the Perseverance Mine. Arthur volunteered to serve overseas with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He embarked at Fremantle, Western Australia aboard HMAT Port Melbourne on 30 October 1916. He was a member of the Field Company Engineers.

At the time of his second marriage Arthur was aged 58 years and his bride Alma was 20 years. Arthur and Alma were to have two children, Arthur Graham born 1924 and Donald Ian born 1925.

Yilgarn Merredin Times 11 November 1922, page 2

Southern Cross Times  20 February 1904, page 2
The Biggest ‘Shout’.

I am reminded  of Arthur Leevers, one time prosperous Coolgardie and Menzies publican, whose big ” shout” in Adelaide on the occasion of a trip to the East, is said to be the largest publicans over there were ever called upon to execute. He invited them all in, one blistering summer’s morning, and regaled all and sundry on beer and champagne to the tune of £127.

Poor Leevers! He had the ‘boodle’ then, and distributed it with a lavish and generous hand. When the writer knew him last, about three years ago, at Laverton, Arthur looked rather forlorn squatting on the end of a barrel in the main street. He was working as a camp cook.

“Wish I had some of it now,” was his remark when the famous shout” came up for discussion.

Arthur C Leevers died in Perth WA on the 6th September 1932 aged 66 years and is buried in the Karrakatta Cemetery. His wife outlived him by 55 years dieing in 1987 in the ACT.