Friday, March 11, 2016

TAMIE FRASER'S GUIDE TO SPOTTY TOWNSVILLE HISTORIC SPOTS - HOW LOW CAN YOU GO ?

You  just about need  to  be  as low as  a snake's duodenum  to read  this  slightly above  ground level  Heritage Trail  sign  surrounded by unsightly  black spots  on  an uncomfortable  concrete  seat  in  the  Flinders Street CBD. Standing erect,  especially if you are  as tall as was  Malcolm ,  you  will not be able to read the  information  .   If  you get down on your stomach ,with a magnifying glass or lorgnette  , you will discover that  the plaque  relates  to  general merchants  , Cummins and  Campbell Limited , formed in  Townsville 1899 , a dynamic  partnership between  John Cummins  and  Alymer  Campbell .


It had  branches in the booming  mining town  of   Charters Towers ( where Campbell died  soon after )  , Cairns, Bowen, Innisfail and Ingham ; agencies  in Hughenden , Yungaburra, Cloncurry , with a  depot in  the mining town  of  Mount  Isa ,  the  latter dealing  with  Territorians  as well. 

An  important aspect of  Cummins  and  Campbell  is  that it also produced  a monthly magazine   jampacked  with interesting  articles and photographs  about the early Queensland mining  towns , items of  information  about  people who had been involved   in   various  Northern Territory ventures  and even extensive pieces  on  New Zealand   subjects,  including the   1932  Napier earthquake .

Bound  in  copies of  the  magazine  dating from  the  l930s through to the l950s are held in  the great treasure house  of invaluable information -  Special Collections  at the   Eddie Koiki  Mabo Library, James Cook University , Townsville .


That Cummins and Campbell was  a large business playing an important part in northern commerce  is shown by the above  flashlight photograph of  its staff dance in the   Townsville  School of Arts , May  1931 .  The tall, white-haired man at  the front , near the centre,  is almost certainly John Cummins, described as  big and bluff , who  allocated  shares  in  the company to  employees.
 
A member and  chairman of the Townsville  Harbour Board , president of the Chamber of Commerce and  chairman of the  Turf Club , Cummins was  said to enjoy " ebullient  companionability" in later years . Flags  flew at half mast in Townsville when he died August 1,1934.
 
Browsing  through   the company's monthly magazines  , described  in  the Australian  Dictionary of  Biography   as having  been the  sole repository of  writings  on  North Queensland at  one stage  ,   is  like scanning  Glenville Pike's  North Australian Monthly  which kicked  off  in  the 1950s , published in Townsville ,  and  covered the  top of  Australia   from WA  through  the Territory   to   Queensland .