MARY POPPINS AND THE SOUND OF ORIENTAL MUSIC IN QUEENSLAND

The  first  list  for 2025  by  Douglas Stewart  Fine Books , Melbourne  , is  a  bobby dazzler with 150 rare and important offerings  covering  natural history ,early works on  China and  the Far East , Australian photographs  and   ephemera , original  art  and  artists'  books. 

   

 A  rarity is the above  1943   Christmas   presentation copy by P.L. Travers , the Australian born  author  who  grew up in  Queensland's sugartown   of  Maryborough  , and    wrote  the  children's  classic  Mary  Poppins . 

The slim volume was privately printed  in New York,limited to 500 copies,   by  the High Grade  Press   for  her  friends .

In  it  Travers recalled  , with affection,  Ah Wong, the  family's  Chinese  cook.

‘I was ten when I first met him. The place was a sugar plantation in the tropics of Australia, and the day juts out like a promontory from the level lands of memory.’

Ah  Wong ,  a memoir   of that  time and  place , consisting of blue wrappers  and  23 pp , inscribed by   Travers  ,  priced  at  $165O, sold quickly.

Travers went to New York during World War II while working for the British Ministry of  Information. Walt Disney contacted her about selling  the rights for a film adaptation of Mary Poppins.  Wikipedia  says that after years of contact, which included visits to Travers at her home in London, Walt Disney obtained the  rights and  the  film  Mary Poppins, premiered in 1964.

Other offerings by Douglas Stewart  included  an early book on the natural history of New South Wales birds, $55,000,  and  two  on  New Zealand  birds - $12,000 and  $15,000; death warrants for two men guilty of murder  at  Ballarat goldfield in 1858, $7000 ; a  1980 Standing Nude   by John Brack , $55,000 ; an l868   waterolour by Rose Selwyn of  a croquet match outside the police magistrate's residence, Newcastle , New South Wales.  

A book which sold quickly  was the 1944 The art of Albert Namatjira, a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous art ,  a longtime resident of Alice Springs in the  Northern Territory. It was a first edition, presentation copy inscribed by C. P. Mountford for  Robert  Henderson  Croll, of  the  Melbourne Bread and Cheese Club , who  wrote  the foreword. 

The inscription  read : '  To  R. H. Croll, a fellow lover of the simple courteous dark folk of the “Centre,”, and its great solitudes. C. P. Mountford'

Loosely enclosed were a number of contemporary newspaper cuttings relating to  this landmark publication  and  an autographed letter by   artist Lionel Lindsay , signed (Wahroonga, 26 April 1944), addressed to Croll, thanking him for sending a copy of this book and discussing Namatjira’s work (4 pp. octavo) , accompanied by the original mailing envelope). 

(Poppins, Namatjira , Chinese.)

MORE IMPORTANT SCROLLS DISCOVERED IN NORTHERN TERRITORY WILDERNESS

While it  may be  considered  blasphemous  to  mention  the  jumbled  files  of   Darwin  agronomist and  relentless   activist   Robert Wesley-Smith with  the  divine   Dead Sea Scrolls , we  do  so  because  of   his    latest  discovery  of   yet   another  carton  of   interesting   material .

The Dead Sea Scrolls,which contained  Jewish  manuscripts  written on parchment , paper and   copper,  were  found in West Bank caves  over  10 years.

Wesley-Smith  has  been excavating his dusty files, in suitcases,  cardboard  boxes , bookshelves   and  computer ,  which   includes correspondence  with  the  former US  President Jimmy Carter  over   East Timor , and  a  rare , large  collection of  protest  T-shirts , for what seems to be  almost  half  a   century .

Just recently , he  informed  this  blog that he had found yet another   carton of  old  documents  and  some forgotten  diaries  which will help him resume writing  his memoirs.   It seems   there   were   pictures of  him speaking  to  a  police  office  at  a  l999  East Timor demonstration  in  Darwin  .

Little Darwin readers may recall   photographs  of  Wes-also known as Rural  Rebel Rob-being manhandled by security  in Canberra  during  the 1970  visit of  American  Vice - President  Spiro T. Agnew who was on  an  Asia-Pacific Tour .

RRR is  seen  below , on  the left, in glasses, coming to grips with the situation .  On  that  occasion, a  kind lady armed with an umbrella  went to  his  assistance, as  did  others,  to try and  prevent him being   hauled away .  

Apart  from continuing to  dig up  the past , Wes , in recent weeks, has been  raising  the  plight  of  West  Papua ,  the   need  for a   Julian Assange  pardon by  President  Biden before  he  exits  ,  several   environment   issues  and  alerted  council  to  dangerous  potholes in  the  Darwin  rural area ; he also attended  the  Cyclone Tracy 50th  anniversary.  

(Scrolls, Rebel, Carter.)

SEEKING AND VOTING FOR SERGEANT BLAIN IN WARTIME SINGAPORE

A   Little Darwin  blast  from  the  past

The  1945 official book, Victory Roll, The RAAF  at War, carried an  article  about the end of  WWll and the Catalinas  which  flew  in  medical  supplies   for  the  thousands of  prisoners of  war  in  Singapore . 

One  of  them , Sergeant  Adair  Macalister  " Chill "  Blain , in  the   Changi hospital,  was  the  Independent  Member  for  the Northern Territory in  the House of  Representatives , Canberra ,  reelected  during  his  captivity . 

Sergeant  Blain, a surveyor,  had worked in  Queensland and  the Northern    Territory ,   twice  wounded   in  WWl,  heard of  his  reelection  on  a  secret  radio  set   constructed  by  his  fellow  prisoners. 

On returning to parliament  soon after his release , wearing a crumpled uniform and  two rows of medals , he  received a standing ovation  , then went off and rested for two months  to  get over his wartime ordeal  during which  he  had  sold  his  gold  fillings  to  get  medicine  for  sick  comrades.  

He lost  the Territory seat in 1949  to Jock Nelson, ALP,  whose  campaign  was  assisted  from Alice Springs by  Jim  Bowditch, later editor of the Northern Territory News in  Darwin .

In  the same volume  there  is  mention  of  Group Captain Dixie Chapman ,of Adelaide , who had served in the Middle East and England during earlier years, commanded  RAAF squadrons in the Western Desert, took over control on Bougainville, where he represented the RAAF  at the  surrender of Japanese  forces.

In  later years , following involvement in the Korean war  and a spell as Air Attaché Washington, Chapman was put  in charge of the RAAF base in Darwin  and  had  dealings  with  Bowditch at  the   News over the low level bombing of   nearby Quail Island .The island  featured in Aboriginal  Dreamtime  and   was  a  turtle  breeding  ground.

As part of  the long campaign  to stop  the bombing ,  Bowditch  ran  an  editorial , saying  turtles were in the soup  and mentioned  the pitter patter of little children's feet, headed : CLOMP, SLITHER  CLOMP. The  theme being  that  mother  turtles would never hear the sound of baby turtle  flippers on  Quail Island   because  of   RAAF  bombing.

On reading  this amazing editorial, Dixie Chapman , short in stature, was driven to   the News  office in his staff car and  firmly  told Bowditch  he  had read  a lot of bullshit in his life, but  this editorial  took the prize for the  worst ever . Bowditch  rolled about in his chair, laughing , the air chief joining in .The RAAF   eventually   stopped   bombing  the  island.

(Changi,Blain, Chapman.)

PELICAN FAMILY ALBUM

 

Taking  in  Magnetic  Island Blue House  and  Cairns. 

(Pelicans, Album, Queensland.)

TOTEM POLES AT ANCIENT WATERWAY

Photos taken by Vallis floating about  Fairfield  Waters ,Townsville,which lived up to its  name , there  being  much  surface  water  and  many  waterbirds . 

(Construction,  Bridge, Queensland.)

HEAVEN CLOSED

Our Aeronautical  Correspondent  Abra  discovered  this great bookshop- unfortunately closed for a few days- when she flew into   Cairns .  Nevertheless, she peered through windows and took an interior  photograph. 

 

(Books,  Heaven, Cairns .)

RUGGED BOTANICAL SETTING

Townsville.  Sara  safari  photograph.

 (Tropics,  View, Sara.)

MANDORAH MONSTER BRANDED FAKE NEWS

 The recent   yarn in  this  blog about   renewed  interest  in   sightings of  something  strange  in waters  off  Darwin  years ago , which  became known as  the Mandorah Monster ,  drew an  immediate  response from  a gentleman  who  should  write  his  memoirs  about  his  adventures on  land  and  sea .

Under the nom-de-plume an unidentified Darwin correspondent , he declared  the  MM was a well known beat  up by certain Northern Territory  News hounds, on dull news days, in order to fill space.  They even had  photos of an incoming tidal "'ripple"' and this  wavelet was often described as travelling at  some fantastic speed - Aaah those good ole days... he added .

 This so called Monster , he continued, was actually one of many huge Manta Rays, usually about six foot or  more across.

One became  snagged on  a  rope anchor and  gave  him and another person on the boat a short, fast ride.  It was just one of many memorable unforgettable occasions when fishing on a shoal near the Two Fella Creek entrance.  ( Bushman and author  Bill Harney, born at Charters Towers, Queensland,  used to  live at Two  Fella  Creek ).

" I was pulling the reef anchor up when it happened, "he recalled .

" It was witnessed by a nearby boat who just laughed and chiacked us with the usual teasing of those days.  These huge rays would often have their wing flaps turned up, as they surfaced, when chasing a meal, and thus these 'stories' gained momentum with the oft re-telling, etc. It was good for Mandorah  tourism   and  a  known  joke."

(Monster, Darwin , Ray.)

EXCLUSIVE : ALIENS WANT TO CALL NORTHERN TERRITORY HOME

 Northern Territory  real estate is expected to  become the dearest in  Australia  following  a  tip from  E.T.  that   investors on  PLanet  Zog  and elsewhere  are  intent on buying  the abandoned  out  of  this world  business at  Wycliffe Well which traded as the  Unidentified  Flying   Objects  capital  of   Australia.

Emerging from a  decades long  hibernation in  a  dark  Darwin  penthouse,  E.T. said his sleep had been interrupted by  numerous inter-gallactic messages  from  the  folks back home  urgently   wanting  information about  the   attractive   Wycliffe  Well  property , and   any  other  Territory  real estate where  you could  get  spaced   out.

He said  aliens all over the  cosmos  were  concerned about  the deteriorating lifestyle  due to  Elon  Musk  blasting   the heavens with rockets , NASA  zooming  in  on the Sun , the  Chinese  delivering   noodles  to the  Man on  the  Moon , Japan  stepping  up  its  involvement  in  the  space race . 

As a result, the  Northern Territory  sounded  like a highly desirable , peaceful place  in which  to  touch  down , settle .

The once  thriving  Wycliffe Well roadhouse cashed in on UFOs, but fell on hard times and was  flooded in 2022. The  abandoned premises were  vandalised  and  a large  green  alien  statue  was  decapitated. 

However, E.T.  pointed  out   cashed up  buyers  in space   say  they  will fill Wycliffe  Well , near Tennant Creek ,  with  a  horde   of  real  aliens ,  form   five   football   teams  in   both major codes , including  a women's  side,  run  a  global  UFO  airline  from  there  which  will  undercut   Qantas  and Virgin .     

(Aliens, Territory, Spoof.)

MONSTER RESURFACES

 LIttle Darwin  is surprised  by  the   fact  that  there  is  renewed interest  in  stories  it  ran  years  ago  in  the  blog  about   a  strange apparition  off   Darwin known as  the  Mandorah  Monster. One of  those  posts , with  its heading,  is  rerun below .  

MANDORAH MONSTER MYSTERY SOLVED?

It is surprising that nobody in the Top End media thought to link  the recent  sighting of humpback whales way  up  a Kakadu  river  with  Darwin's  baffling   Mandorah  Monster of  yesteryear.  Back in the l950s and  early l960s , the   Mandorah Monster  was  as  famous locally as  the Loch Ness Monster. 

The tropical Nessie  was sighted  from time to time off   Mandorah, just cross the harbour   from the  Northern Territory capital.  There was a holiday resort  at  Mandorah with a  honeymoon suite  which  featured  Cupids in a big way .  The   monster was seen  during  nuptial  ferry  trips across  the  harbour, one of  the crew  named  Roy  Big  Foot .

While some people said the scary  object was some kind of  fast moving  giant  sea  creature, others  believed  it  mechanically driven  , even Russian !

The  Russkie  connection  could have been inspired by a highly dubious  report  in the  Northern Territory News   quoting   Mr  J. G. Slaggert, said to be a self employed businessman, as having sighted  a flying saucer  land  at the  Darwin Golf Course , its occupants speaking perfect English , questioning  him  about  Darwin ,  announcing   they   were  Russian !!! 

Viewed below are l959 photographs taken  on the  ferry trip to Mandorah, including the honeymoon cottage, the wartime tower and gun emplacements. 

Seriously, it is just possible that  the  Mandorah Monster was  actually  a  humpback  whale / whales  frolicking  off  Darwin . Meanwhile , our roving cameraman , Vallis, has handed in the following  shot of  a  sea monster  in  North  Queensland  waters.  

(Monster, Mandorah , Russian.) 

CALIFORNIAN DREAMING FANTASY IN A MOKE FILLED WITH JOYRIDING CROWS

Magnetic Island ,Queensland. 

 

Crow sculpture , Saddleworth,South Australia .

(California, Crows, Dreaming.)

MEET SPIKEY , SKY DIVING SPIDER

 

Vallis  

(Spider, Sky, Photo.)