Found in a mixed box of battered books at the Magnetic Island Museum White Elephant Sale were two unusual volumes of tennis interest.One was the above 1931 DIY booklet by Victoria's leading tennis coach,C.Stuart, nominated for the Australian Davis Cup teams of 1923 and 1924, a South Australian singles champion, played in competitions between various states and in a match between Victoria and an American university. Other claims to fame were that he had been a doubles champion of South Yarra, Grace Park and St. Kilda.
The booklet contains adverts which indicate Stuart was a partner in a Bourke Street tennis shop, Stuart and Steele . Declaring himself Victoria's leading tennis coach, he informed tennis clubs and private court owners within 50 miles of Melbourne that he was available at no cost for exhibitions, matches and lectures on the game .
The preface states that barriers preventing the book being published had been broken down and, for the first time in Australia , players had the opportunity to learn how to repair their own rackets . This was great news for country players who would no longer have to send rackets away for repairs.
Stuart said the Melbourne tennis shop would accept old rackets as part payment on a new one. A back cover advertisement for Nugget white cleaner -for unbeatable service -featured a female tennis player in action .
The other unique tennis find is a "Classic" book of tennis scoring sheets used for recording matches played by teams at the North Queensland Chillagoe gold, copper,silver and lead smelter town , with pencilled in names of players , the earliest dated matches played in the l930s .
Teams included Smelters , Central ,Bachelors and Almaden .The last recorded matches were in May 1940-ladies and girls doubles and mixed doubles. In some instances the matches have been signed by the umpire .
Remains of the heritage listed refinery are now part of the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park, in the Mareeba Mining District. In 1910 a rail line ran from Cairns to Chillagoe , tapping the mineral riches of the area .
Nowadays there is the Savannahlander four day rail tour from Cairns which takes in Chillagoe , Almaden and Forsayth.
