A THOUSAND AND ONE AUSTRALIANS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

During the late l950s,  British writer Jean Heal  travelled about  Australia  intent  on   gathering material  for a  book  about the nation and  its  people. It  resulted in A Thousand  And  One  Australians, published  by Michael Joseph , 1959. A copy of  the book surfaced  recently  during a  visit to  Darwin ,  which  rated  10 pages  in  the book , and  I spoke  to  longtime resident  and  friend , Betty Bowditch  and   family  members  .
 

By Peter Simon
 

Betty actually  drove   Heal   about  Darwin and introduced her to many interesting  people . Written up were  playboy diver  Carl Atkinson who was negotiating to  buy the  wartime wrecks,  former butcher  boy  Mick  Paspalis  with a  30,000 pound house , Mrs Mazlin  who had  prospected  for  uranium  .


For  helping the  author  ,  Betty  was  not mentioned by name ,  just  described  as  the  "softly pretty coloured wife" of  the Northern Territory News   editor , Jim Bowditch , a good  newspaper man.

 Good-hearted  Betty  gave a laugh when she pointed  out   her  description in  the  book , and gave it to me to  peruse  in  coming days, on the understanding that it was  a  boomerang. Of  the Territory people mention  in the book she is probably the  only one alive today .  

The author's  abiding  memory of  Darwin  was  that  although  it was in cattle country, the beef was  the toughest she  ate .  And  despite the fact  that she  put out a  do not disturb sign  on her expensive  hotel  room , presumably the Hotel Darwin , she was  woken up at 6.45 am with a  cuppa . It would have been nice to have  had water in the water  carafe and  the  coathangers  in  the cupboard not be  broken . For men on the run , Darwin  was a place  where   they asked no questions .
 

 Reporters mentioned in Darwin were  Percy Burton and Peter Ross, the latter  she described as having  such charm he could become  an international  radio figure.  He died recently after a long  and  distinguished   career in television and radio . 

Heal was photographed  with bronzed  Bondi lifesavers and compered a  fashion  parade  in Melbourne  attended  by  Mrs  Bolte , the  Premier's wife . Other places and  points of  interest:-   

CANBERRA : In the  Australian Capital Territory  she noted the circular  road system   and  was  impressed by the many portraits  by  Australian artists  on the walls   of  parliament house .  Guided by the  Liberal Member for  Perth, Fred Chaney ,  she listened to debates in the Senate and House of Representatives , one issue raised  being   a  call  for the  Northern Territory  Member  to have  more voting rights. Funding for the Snowy River scheme also raised. Chaney  was   later  made Administrator  of   the  Northern Territory.

ADELAIDE :  Described in England  and other states  as being " very old fashioned, quiet, proper. Adelaide is beautifully laid out , but then she's been   a long time dead ." There the  first  person   Heal  spoke to was the  great- granddaughter  of  cattleman  James  Chambers  who  in 1862 financed an expedition  to the top of the  Northern Territory . Somehow, the township which was established along  the way  should   had been  named   Catherine ,  after  his  family , but  became  Katherine . 

Adelaide, she wrote, was proudly conscious of the Northern Territory, selling   bracelets made of  NT stones  and offering   NT  tours. The chairman of the  The Advertiser, Sir Lloyd Dumas , proudly pointed out  South Australia had been the first place  in the world to give women  the vote .

 

One of the Advertiser writers was  cosmopolitan  Sidney Downer,  " with a sweet, smart  wife   with   lovely legs-Marlene Dietrich -type legs ".   It would be worth the  journey to  Adelaide  just to  see Margaret Downer again , a  very attractive person . (Sidney subsequently wrote  Patrol Indefinite   about the  Northern Territory  mounted police .)

 

Another person who made a big impression on  her was the dashing  jazz musician  with a   record shop ,   former  airman, ex-Australian  speedway champion  , with  his  own hydroplane and a house filled with  one of the finest collections  of contemporary Australian paintings  in the world ,  Kym Bonython . 

 

As she walked about the well laid out city, she noticed  The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was having a return season at the Theatre Royal ; Rundle Street was  a cross between Singapore's  Chinatown  and something out of a Wild West movie.

 

 Surprising were  her observations  about the young  people of  Adelaide :" The flashiest youth I had  seen in Australia waggled its hips on Rundle Street. Every girl seemed to have stiffened petticoats , stiletto-heeled shoes, blonde hair , glittering costume jewellery, lashings of  rouge. The boys were the nearest thing  I had ever seen across the  world  to Teddy Boys. Gangs  of  youths roamed  round the streets or loitered  over the corners -more youths than I had seen anywhere else in Australia, youths of every colour  speaking  many languages , especially Italian ."   

 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: At the Highway Hotel in Perth the hospitality was superb-a bowl of fruit  provided on the  veranda  balcony of her  room, calamine lotion  and  cotton wool  on  the dressing table  for  mosquito bites on her arms .

 

She was taken  to see  the greatest philosophical  figure in the West , Professor  Walter Murdoch , 84, after whom the Murdoch University is named , uncle of Sir Keith Murdoch, Rupert's father,  in a  white linen jacket, who served  sherry . There were  many books spread about ,  good pictures , and  more  sherry . With a  spry mind, he was amused by everything ,  irreverent about most  things , immensely well  informed. His daughter , Catherine King ,  prominent in  radio ,  had  taken her  about.

The pearling town of Broome did not rate well : Nights in a tiny oven of a room  too hot for pyjamas, a sheet pulled up  for protection against sandflies. There were, however, handsome men , friendly women and  great acts of kindness.  Final  assessment-pure beauty and excruciating ugliness.
 

QUEENSLAND:On the Gold Coast, the first person of note was  an unnamed  American evangelist-probably  Billy Graham. She had bypassed him in Melbourne, and now he was   having a rest  at Lennon's super luxurious hotel, exhausted  from  the effort of  saving Australians, and no wonder, she  teased . It must surely   be  impossible  to  save Australians-they  are  not   lost. 

 

 On to Townsville,  she  wrote that it was a town  which   felt like a  potential  city , the centre of a  great developing area ... Sugar, minerals, timber , cattle . Majestic scenery;crazy pioneers-Townsville is the apex  of all of these ...Townsville the only town in the world  with  orchids growing in the main street ...The  mayor  a bookseller, Angus Smith .


The Queens Hotel , said to have the largest frontage of any hotel in the world, overlooked the harbour ,where silver lead ingots were being loaded aboard  a Swedish ship .

The annual swim to Magnetic Island, described as  scrubby with  palm trees and undergrowth , a  faintly seedy dingy air  so  typical of the unromantic tropics, was   taking  place  ,  girls  in  16ft cages  to  protect them from sharks .
 

Readers were told that Townsville was an ideal place for children, the wife of an alderman saying her son went to a state  school  just in a shirt and  shorts, no socks , no shoes . There was a free library , a record club, chess classes and coaching, a camera  club, a puppet club , pen pals.

Her travels included  Cairns and the Atherton Tableland , a trip to Green Island where the underwater observatory had  been  built by Lloyd Grigg  and Vince Vlasoff.   

Lobbing in the mining  town of Mount Isa,  she met  Rupert Murdoch , described as a newspaper proprietor from Adelaide, with his   London editor , a mining engineer  and two stockbrokers , in an air conditioned  guest house where   mining  executives  entertained  visitors.

In the conclusion to the book, back home in England, Heal  was shocked by the newspapers which she wrote were  full of  sordid trivia  and pettiness , with little hard news . She found herself missing the   blanket of stars and the Southern Cross at night , the gum trees , empty beaches ,  passion fruit , the space .

Also missed was the complete lack of snobbishness  everywhere in Australia and  the no class system .There was much to learn from Australia  with its world-mindedness , tolerance, and  give it a go  attitude.