NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS SCOOPED

THE DEMISE OF SHELL-SHOCKED FAIRIES

Her two sons killed in action during WW11, widowed Australian artist , Ida Rentoul Outhwaite , renowned for exquisite representations of fairies , announced that the war had stopped the taste for fairies among parents and that they- the wee folk- had fled, appalled by the atomic bomb.

Over the years she had illustrated many children’s books, sheet music and postcards with distinctive fairy scenes . Although disinclined to continue her prodigious output of fairies, she  produced other entrancing work which involved a variety of animals and Teddy bears . Recently a first edition copy of her 1929 book, Fairyland , the spine sunned , was offered for sale in America for $US1495.

The above cover illustration of the 1949 song book THE PUDDIN’ & THE PIXIE is an unusual example of her art, the initials I.R.O. seen bottom right. The drawing of the Christmas pudding on the beach could have been inspired by the artist , sculptor and author Norman Lindsay’s book, The Magic Pudding , which he wrote in 1917 for a bet . Bertram Stevens of The Bulletin magazine maintained children liked to read about fairies , while Lindsay said they liked to read about food. Published in 1918 , it proved a runaway success, and has been translated into many languages , regarded as  a classic of children’s literature.

The grumpy looking Magic Pudding  drawn by Lindsay was part of a comic fantasy about a pudding who always reformed to his original shape, no matter how much people ate of him. Pudding thieves were always trying to steal him.

The University of Technology Sydney paid $320,000 at auction for a collection of Lindsay’s works which had been compiled over 40 years by cartoonist James Kemsley who continued James Bancks’s Ginger Meggs comic character for 23 years. The collection included a first run, first edition of The Magic Pudding , valued at $6000. I met Kemsley, who actively promoted Australian black and white artists , an admirer of Sun newspaper caricaturist Tony Rafty, when he lived at Bowral, NSW ; he died , aged 59, from motor neuron disease in 2007.

The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Ida  Rentoul  Outhwaite was brought up in an artistic and literary family. In 1903 , she and her older sister , Annie , who graduated from Melbourne University , combined to produce six stories for New Idea ; Annie, a longtime teacher at the Presbyterian Ladies College , who never married, provided the text , Ida the drawings.

 Ida married a barrister and solicitor who promoted her work . Exhibitions of her work were well received in Paris and London .  Her drawing of a " fairy witch " with a black cat was exceedingly popular. The collection of songs in the above book , bearing the stamp of the now non existant MARGARET FURNISS SCHOOL OF DANCING , Townsville, North Queensland , which taught hundreds of local children from 1970-l995, includes the PANTOMIME FAIRY and BEARS AND GOBLINS . The back cover has an advert for new song books for children –ABORIGINAL SONGS , PERCY PLATYPUS, FAIRY CLOCKS  and  HAPPY DAYS .

The two sisters teamed up with composer, pianist, singer, chorister, portrait painter , Georgette Peterson (1863-l947), to produce a number of popular song books for Australian children , see above , also ex-Margaret Furniss School of Dancing.  Born in Budapest, nee Lichtenstein,  she later graduated in Dresden and  in Britain  married  music educator , author and chorister,   Professor F.S. Peterson, who in 1900 was appointed Ormond Professor of Music and Director of  the Conservatorium , Melbourne University. Soon after their arrival in Melbourne, Georgette Peterson formed a small women’s choir, regularly conducting them at various  public concerts and fund raising efforts for such  buildings as  the Conservatorium  and the Dame Nellie Melba Hall.

In another book of songs ,the cover  by  Ida Rentoul Outhwaite , a  fairy is  serenaded   by  kookaburras.

 An October 1919 West Australian newspaper report of a recital said the Sydney soprano, Miss Rene Maxwell, rendered some bush songs written by Annie Rentoul and composed by Georgette Peterson –widow of the former Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne.  Other newspaper reports refer to Peterson in connection with the ode God Guide Australia , a fine and patriotic song , and some of her other essentially Australian songs- Little Aborigine, Mother Sea, Kookaburra, Moonboat, and Kangaroo Song.

FAMOUS COMPOSER DISCOVERY

In 2003 , the University of Melbourne Collection Management Project  unearthed several “treasures” , including a portrait of the Polish composer, concert pianist and statesman , Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941). The long forgotten painting , in poor condition, signed in the lower right corner with a conjoined GP, followed by 95, the  initials thought to be those of Georgette Peterson. It was speculated that the portrait had  been brought to Australia by the Petersons in 1901 . Paderewski toured internationally and was a  popular guest of  artistic circles in London, Paris and later the USA. The university  said  it was thought that the paths of the much travelled Petersons and Paderewski crossed in the mid-1890s, providing an opportunity for Georgette to paint the portrait . Paderewski made his first Australian concert tour in 1904. The painting has been restored and now hangs in the foyer of the Conservatorium. (By Peter Simon).

BIRTH OF THE MOUNT ISA MAIL-Continuing saga of Northern Territory's Crusading Editor ,”Big Jim” Bowditch.

A typical do-it-yourself  Kiwi, Ross Annabell  is shown   with a deer he shot  and ,  a  120 camera  hanging about his neck,  down  inside the  steaming  crater   of   Mount Tarawera  which  exploded in the 1880s, devastating  a  large part of  the  Bay of  Plenty in the North Island.

After freelancing in North Queensland for 10 months from a base in Mareeba ,  Kiwi  journalist Ross Annabell returned to the Mackay Mercury newspaper and was surprised to receive a letter from Eric White and Associates,Sydney, in November l952 asking him if he would like to be the editor of a new weekly newspaper in the mining town  of  Mount Isa .

By Peter  Simon

Annabell, destined to become closely involved  with  Bowditch  and  Bob  Freeden , mentioned  in the  previous post , NO NEWS IN THE TRUTH , was offered  the  position because he  had applied in l950 for the job as the first editor of the NT News, but had not received a reply to his  letter. Then ,“ out of the blue ”, some two years later, he was offered the editorship of a new newspaper to be called the Mount  Isa Mail , on a salary of 20 pound ($40) a week, plus two percent commission on any advertising contracts he could write. He accepted the position to start  mid-January but , luckily, did not resign from the Mercury as plans for the paper were delayed several months.

In April , Annabell was flown to Sydney and in an interview with Eric White and Don Whitington  was confirmed as editor and given many instructions on how they wanted the paper run . They told him they had 20,000 pound  ($40,000 ) capital to start the paper and he firmly believed they had received some financial assistance from the mining company. Annabell was instructed to set up an office in the Isa then travel to Townsville and go by rail around the west for a fortnight selling advertising  space and gathering copy for the paper . The paper would be printed in  Darwin at  the NT News.

Both White and Whitington , he felt , had spoken to mine management who were “desperate ” to have a local paper to counter the strong union influence in the town. As a result of that visit to Sydney, Annabell resigned from the Mercury immediately, booked a flight to Isa for late May , the aim being to have the first newpaper out on July 3. He tried to leave the Mercury earlier but the management made him work out his month’s notice , finally departing for Mt Isa on May 26. By this time, Eric White and Associates were in a “ big panic ” because they had heard that a journalist with access to financial backing was trying to buy the newspaper in the nearby township of  Cloncurry with plans to also produce a paper for Mt Isa , beating them to the punch.

Annabell arrived in the Isa  and discovered that the temporary office which had been arranged for him was to be demolished in two weeks. Therefore his first task was to find a new office , engage an office girl and  have a phone connected . After that he had to get cracking on stories and advertising for the first issue. The local MP , a Labor man , was suspicious about the paper . Entertainment in Isa consisted of picture theatres, pubs and  a  brothel -all of  which did a roaring trade.

DISTURBING  NEWS  SHOCKS  SYDNEY

Dilligently doing the rounds on a motorbike , whipping up adverts and copy for the new paper, Annabell was told that a Sydney company had rung a Mt Isa timber and hardware firm seeking land on which to build a newspaper office and printery. This intelligence was quickly passed on and had caused further consternation at Eric White’s . Then a rumour  went about the town that the journalist said to be keen to move into Mt Isa had offered 12,000 pound($24,000) for the nearby Cloncurry Advocate plant and buildings. Sydney made counter offers until it eventually succeeded  in buying the rundown plant ; it was later moved to Mt Isa. The plant was so primitive that the metal for the linotype machines had to be melted down each day in a wood -fired trough in the backyard .

However, during the months Annabell was in the Isa he was on his own and the Cloncurry paper had not yet been bought . The first edition of the paper came out on Friday, June 26, l953, and consisted of four broadsheet pages. Prominence was given to a Sydney court case in which a man linked with plans to start up a rival paper in Mt Isa had been charged with embezzzling funds from Universal Business Directories. Eric White  and Associates had known of the forthcoming court case and had instructed Annabell that he should mention it about town . This was intended to  undermine a potential competitor.

One of the stories in the first edition was about two police officers in Camooweal who had been charged with assault and sacked . Annabell had a personal interest in the case -the magistrate was the father of a  girlfriend Ross had in Mackay. Later on ,  Annabell met one of the policemen in the case who had moved to the Northern Territory and  he took the journalist on a shooting trip .

As planned, the Mail was printed in Darwin and flown down to Annabell for distribution. During his time in Mt Isa he led a busy life which included parties at the hospital, drinking sessions at 2 am in the  pathology department with nurses and  being  driven home in an ambulance.

Having successfuly launched the Mt Isa paper, he was then directed to Darwin in September to help the NT News in its quest to torpedo the union owned Northern Standard. He was obviously well respected in the Isa because a farewell party was held for him at which the local shire chairman got into a fight because someone shouted him down during a speech praising Ross for his efforts in starting the Mail .  The small, hard working  journalist , Mac Jeffers-"the Midget Sub" - was sent down from Darwin to take his place, but for  a  time operated from the  Cloncurry Advocate premises . Once  the paper was printed it was railed to Mt Isa.  Eventually the Cloncurry plant was moved to a site  in Mt Isa , but the paper was never much of a goer, eventually bought by Rupert Murdoch. NEXT:  Editor hooked  on banana fritters.

MOTHERS' DAY SHOCK , HORROR!

Being a perfect, thoughtful husband, Cyclops lashed  out  and  bought  for his  ever  loving  wife  an  unused, gleaming white  toilet bowl  for  $5   at  a garage sale  so that she could use it as a  potplant . Cumbersome and heavy,  the highly desirable   present was  lugged  to  the  car, probably inducing a hernia in the process, driven home,  unloaded with the help of a sack trolley,and deposited in  the backyard. Like a mug, Cyclops  decided to  move it  near  the shed  so that a bougainvillea  could  be planted in it. Once more it was loaded onto  the sack trolley , with flat  tyres, and trundled  up to the  shed -where it fell off  and  smashed to pieces . The  mother of all  oaths  was heard  across  the   district . Informed  of  the disaster , sight unseen,  my wife asked this flush-faced  toilet  wrecker if  it could be glued  together . Nix .  Clearly   visible on  the  shattered  dunny  is the  sign NEW and  the price  of  five bucks .

WHEN SEA GOING CAESAR RULED THE SUN

Near the centre of the front row in this circa 1957 photograph of distinguished newspapermen is the white haired editor of The Sun , Sydney, Lindsay Clinch (1907-1984), nicknamed “Little Caesar”and “ The Little White God.” In the highly competitive tabloid world of those days, he was a prominent , influential figure who walked with a slight swagger and boasted that he could jump from his bed straight into his shoes, an unusual skill for a newspaperman . A keen yachtsman and boat builder , he had been born in New York and was brought to Australia by his parents and educated at North Sydney Boy’s High , starting his newspaper career as a copyboy on the Sun , working his way up to become chief sub editor and news editor of The Telegraph.

Based in New York during WW11, he was having coffee with some correspondents in the New York Times office, he the only one facing out a window, when he noticed smoke coming from the Empire State Building ; without alerting the others, he excused himself and discovered that a military plane had crashed into the building killing 13 , scooping the other reporters. At the Sun he did not tolerate management interference in editorial matters and ran dramatic headings on stories and racy posters .

On Clinch’s left is Sun chief of staff, Jack Toohey , and behind them is Jack Tier, later made editor of the paper. Sitting far right is the famous Sun Police Roundsman , Noel Bailey , who also figured in a radio series , Police Files. After all the drama in his life, Bailey fell out of bed, cut himself on a glass  and bled to death. In front of the fan at the back is Lou D’Alpuget , father of Blanche , who in his younger days boxed under the name of Pancho D’Alpuget and was nicknamed The Sea Going Ox because of his build and the fact that he also was a keen yachtsman ; he wrote a book on Australian yachting .

The poet , war correspondent , leader writer , reviewer and president of the Australian Journalist’s Club , Kenneth Slessor , is also present. Always giving the impression of an albino , he stands out as that pale-faced person . Standing out in back row is tall Ian”Storky” Arnold , perhaps given that nickname because of his height and angularity of limb , like a stork, keen on baseball , sports editor and eventual editor of the paper, who left that post after Derryn Hinch was brought in to change the style of the paper. Hinch resigned soon after .

Further along from Arnold, on his left, is a person holding up a glass of beer- ideas man Reg Halliday ,who worked in the chief of staff’s office, tasked with perusing many publications , PR hand outs and invites for possible stories . He often told a reporter to attend a function, saying the speaker might not have much of interest to say , but there could be good catering . Once he told this writer to cover a talk by Kiwi promoter Harry M. Miller to an audience of aspiring businessmen at the Wentworth Hotel. It was a stirring speech, and Miller asked all those who wanted to be successful in business to stand up. All rose- except me . There were expressions of nervous disbelief on the faces of the cultish throng as they stared at me. Harry scratched his armpit or some other part of his anatomy , and asked me why I did not want to be to successful in business . I told him I was from the Press covering the  pep talk ... really , Harry, I  just wanted to succeed at gluttony because the Wentworth was noted for its choice tucker. Next to Reg’s left on the back line is longtime Canberra correspondent Neil O’Reilly and the last person there is smooth operator David Pynt .

On the far left of the photo at the front row is George Godfrey, president of the NSW Journalists’ Association, involved in many battles, one involving the right of journalists to be members of a political party, stand for election and continue in the employ of a paper . He also negotiated with News Limited following the strike at the NT News in Darwin over the removal of editor James Frederick Bowditch.

There are other familiar faces , but their names escape this viewer. The Sun folded on March 14, 1988 as a result of the scheme to buy back the Fairfax  family company with junk bonds and got caught up in the Wall Street crash of 1987 . There is now an online publication called Sydney Sun which says the title existed in 1910. (Photograph by former Sun reporter,Warner G. Russell.)

COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S COAL- NOT HIS WIFE

A humorous Irish advertising card, circa 1950s , sets out how to live on 30 shillings ($3) a week. It was distributed by the Harp Hotel , Cahirciveen, County Kerry , which boasted bad beer, dirty glasses, and other faults and asked why people still frequented the pub. It sets out in detail how to live on such a small amount of money . There is provision for pints, midweek pints and more pints; a small amount is set aside for the wife’s gin and lime; meat, fish and groceries are on credit ; when it comes to rent-you pay it next week ; coal, very necessary to keep the house warm , is covered by borrowing the neighbour’s. When the outlays are added up they come to one shilling and sixpence (15 cents ) more than 30 bob ; to avoid going into debt, the solution is to cut out the wife’s gin and lime . The present website for the Harp Hotel indicates the Melbourne Cup is celebrated in a big way.

BOWDITCH BUSTS POLICE THIRD DEGREE-From biography of Northern Territory crusading journalist , by Peter Simon

The  front page lead in the October 29, l953, edition of Darwin’s union  owned newspaper, Northern Standard, was an Alice Springs court case in which Jim Bowditch was a major figure.  The report said it had been alleged that police Sergeant John Michael Fitzgerald had used American-style “third degree” methods when questioning half-caste Mervyn Brockhirzon about a break in . Brockhirzon had  laid a charge of assault against Fitzgerald . The case was  a classic example of Bowditch reacting to “bullying” of a person . While drinking at the Memorial Club, Bowditch often spoke to and drank with Sergeant “Blackjack ” Fitzgerald, who freely talked about  police work; some of the things he told Bowditch were said to be “hair-raising. ”

One night at the club , Fitzgerald, whom Bowditch judged to be under the influence of liquor, said he had pulled in Brockhirzon for questioning , and then showed him skinned  knuckles , adding : “ I had to play a little. ”

On being  told  that , Bowditch  quickly sought out  a young lawyer, Phil Rice, much later involved in the Azaria Chamberlain missing baby case, and with him went to the police station. There they bluffed the young officer on duty ,and were shown into a cell where  they found Brockhirzon battered and bleeding. Rice took a statement from the man and subsequently filed a charge of assault against Fitzgerald.

In court,  Brockhirzon said  he  had  removed his dentures fearing he was going to “cop it ”from Fitzgerald. The policeman had “ wailed ” into him , splitting his lip , blackening an eye and cracking his dentures. The complainant denied calling Fitzgerald a rotten copper bastard who was always picking on him , or that he struck the officer. Called to the witness box, Bowditch recounted the events of the evening . Under questioning , he agreed that he was living with the daughter of the woman with whom Brockhirzon was living. Special Magistrate Bell found Fitzgerald guilty and fined him ten shillings , saying there may have been some provocation .

ALLEGATIONS OF  ASSAULT

Prior to the case, Bowditch had received allegations about half-castes frequently being beaten up by police, but said he could not do much about the situation until somebody was prepared to make a statutory declaration . After a confrontation in the Memorial Club in which Mrs Fitzgerald called Bowditch a “ little Commie bastard, ” the sergeant left the police force  and reportedly set himself up in Adelaide as a private investigator.

In another report, Bowditch highlighted  the plight of  Aboriginal people in Alice, especially of those living at the segregated Gap Settlement.  There, he wrote, several hundred people had been slapped into small , inadequate cottages,  in the middle of a dustbowl.  Some were “ un-exempted ” and others were “ exempted” in relation to alcohol , so there was nothing more certain that there would be problems. These problems were due to  administrative  bungling and “ our own social immaturity.”

While some wonderful people were living there , lots of bad things occurred. Some men bashed their women, children went  neglected and some homes were filthy. There was a general air of nobody caring for the residents , so" damn the Government property.”

He referred to growing problems caused by rotten overcrowding and the rotten environment in which  great little kids were growing up. New homes being built by Administration were  too  close to the settlement. As the Gap settlement was obviously going to be there for a long time, he supported the move by Reverend Norman Pearce to have a fulltime minister based there to help the residents who would be the confidante and teach them  about hygiene and “ the word of God”. Bowditch had a long association with Reverend Pearce , who later moved to Darwin.  NEXT :  How adventurous  journalist  Ross Annabell  set  up the  new newspaper  in Mount  Isa  and became involved with  Bowditch. (Photo at head of  post shows  Bowditch in typical pose , taken by  Kerry Byrnes , Darwin.)