by A B Facey
We talked about many things until bedtime.
25
MOTHER
Next morning we were all up early. Bill went to work about seven and my brothers and I decided to go and have a look around Perth. We found our way around, as Perth wasn’t a very big city then. There weren’t any moving pictures during the day – the only amusement was the Wax Works, the parks, river trips on the ferry, the beaches or fishing. At night there were dances or variety shows. That evening, after walking around Perth, we were dog-tired and went to bed a few minutes after tea.
Next morning our mother woke us at about eight o’clock. Bill had gone to work and the kids were ready for school. Mother prepared some breakfast for us, then when we sat down at the table she said, ‘Now I have something to say to you. It’s about the position I find myself in with you three boys. As you know you have a stepfather and he is only a working man with limited means. He’s trying to work up a business but it is a battle and he has been very good to me. He never complains but I cannot expect him to keep you boys. He is not your real father and has three children of his own.’ She suddenly stopped talking about Bill and said, ‘How much money have each of you got? She looked straight at me. I felt myself blushing and looked at my brothers and said that I had enough to pay my way for a few weeks. Eric said he had enough to do him until he got his wages and he continued, ‘I’m starting work on Monday next.’ Roy said the same. We were keeping our financial position to ourselves. Mother then said that board and lodgings would cost each of us one pound a week. ‘That is what you would be paying in a boarding-house. The only difference is that I will do your washing and ironing, and at a boarding-house you would have to pay extra for that. Now that may seem hard to you but from tomorrow I want one pound a week from each of you, and each Friday thereafter, whether you are getting wages or not.’ Eric remarked that she was being a little hard on Punch (my brothers always called me Punch). He said, ‘He is only a kid and not able to go to school. He’ll have a hard time getting a job.’ Mother replied that if I could not pay my board, I would have to go back to the country – I was fourteen years old now and they couldn’t send me to school. Eric and Roy looked disgusted and I knew then that I didn’t like my mother. What Grandma had said was right. If you had money for her everything was fine. She had showed her feelings to us, no doubt sensing that we were not prepared to reveal our true financial position.
After breakfast we walked to the railway station at Subiaco, boarded a train and went to the Port of Fremantle to have a look around. While in the train my brothers and I discussed our mother’s attitude towards us. Roy said, ‘She only took four days to put the screw on us to know how much money we had.’ He then said to me, ‘How did you avoid telling her what money you had?’ I said, ‘Grandma warned me about her liking for money. That is what made me careful.’ Eric let himself go and said that she had no love for any of us and that he had a good mind to clear out and not bother to see her again. So we talked about her all the way to Fremantle.
After seeing all we wanted to see at the port we went by train to Cottesloe beach. We lay on the sand at the beach, then hired some bathers and went for a swim. We didn’t go home until late in the evening.
On the train on the way home we again talked about Mother. Roy made the suggestion that if I was unable to find work, he and Eric would pay my board between them. Eric agreed to that. I told them that I would be all right for about two months and surely something would turn up in that time. At that moment I felt that it was a terrible mistake to have come from the country. Everything was so different. In the country the people were more friendly and I felt like I was wanted, and I was happy.
The next three weeks were a nightmare to me. Besides paying my board, I had to split up enough wood blocks to keep the fire going. Mother would send me out in answer to ads in the morning paper to try and find a job. I had little knowledge of Perth and surrounding districts and got lost trying to find the places. When I did find them I would be too late or would be told that my reading and writing was not good enough to do the work.
Then one Friday evening I was walking home from job hunting down Rokeby Road, the main street of Subiaco. A storekeeper, who was standing outside his grocery store, stopped me and said, ‘Are you the boy who is looking for work?’ I replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ He then asked me what work I could do. I told him, ‘Anything. If you show me what you want me to do, I’ll do my best. I don’t mind what it is.’ He said, ‘It will be cleaning up in the mornings and evenings, filling up the grocery shelves and bringing in fresh supplies from the storage places at the back as they are required, and delivering small orders in and around Subiaco. Do you think you could do that?’ I said that I could. He thought for a moment then said, ‘All right, I’ll give you a week’s trial and you can start Monday morning at seven thirty. Now, what about wages. How much a week do you want?’ I said I hadn’t worked in town, only in the country, and I was receiving up to fifteen shillings a week and my keep. The storekeeper said quickly, ‘I cannot pay anything like that, but if the job is any good to you, I’ll pay you one pound a week and you must make arrangements to keep yourself.’ I thought for a moment. The wages would at least pay for my board. I decided to take the job.
I hurried home to tell Mother. When I told her she said, ‘What are you going to do for pocket money? I cannot reduce your board because you eat as much as a full-grown man.’ I said I still had enough to keep me going for a week or so and something might turn up. I would try it for a few weeks and keep learning to read and write.
I had been learning every chance I could get and sometimes I got on Mother’s nerves asking questions. She was good at helping me at times, but she was also impatient, so I had to find a quiet spot somewhere to study as best I could. I was coming along nicely and could write very well and sign my name without any trouble. In fact, last time I made a withdrawal at the bank, they came and questioned me about my signature. When I explained about my improved writing and learning to read they were very nice, gave me a pat on the back and said, ‘You keep on son, you’ll come good. We are glad you told us because your writing has improved noticeably since you opened your savings account.’ (It was five weeks since I opened it.) ‘We would like you to give us another specimen signature.’ This made me very pleased and it was an inspiration for me to work harder.
The first week in my new job was not a happy one. The sweeping, dusting and re-filling of shelves was all right, but the delivering of stores was not so good for two reasons. Firstly, I had to learn to ride a cycle with a large cane basket strapped onto the handle-bars to carry the groceries. It was hard to manage this bike and when the basket was full I found it even harder. I doubt that I could count the number of times that I fell off and tipped the groceries out onto the road – spilling sugar, breaking eggs and numerous other things. And also, not being used to the city, I had a problem finding the places to where the groceries were to be delivered. I expected to be sacked before the week ended but although he growled and threatened me many times, my boss also gave me a lot of encouragement and said, ‘Never mind, lad, you will learn in time.’
At the end of the second week the boss told me I was doing fine and he was very pleased with me. But I didn’t like the job. My brothers told me that there was no hope of advancement. ‘You are only working for your keep.’ they said. ‘What will you do when you want more clothes or boots?’ This disheartened me and I decided to go back to the bush. I thought any condition in the bush is better than this hustle and bustle of the city.
I got Roy to write two letters for me; one to Grandma and one to the Bibbys asking would they like me to come back to work for them. My Grandma wrote back and said that things were very bad in the country. The crops were a failure because not enough rain had fallen during September and October to bring them to maturity. Most farmers would be lucky if they got enough wheat for their seed for the next crop. A few days later I got a letter from Mrs Bibby and her story supported Grandm
a’s. She said that they would gladly have me back but they wouldn’t be able to pay me. They thought their crop would strip about one bag (three bushels) per acre. This news upset me. I felt sorry for these people doing all that heartbreaking work for nothing. I got Roy to write a letter to tell them how sorry I was and thank them, and wish them better luck next year.
After I had been at the store for nearly four weeks, Bill came home one evening and said he had been talking to some cattle station owners he had met in a hotel in Perth. They had told him that cattle stations up North were looking for lads who could ride a horse, for mustering around Christmas time. They told him that the lads could get up to thirty shillings a week and keep all year round. This appealed to me and I got Bill to make enquiries about how to get up there and where to go for a start. The station owners told Bill that I should go to Geraldton or Carnarvon (two seaports on the Western Australian coastline, north of Fremantle). Bill also found out that the best way to get to these places was by boat from the Port of Fremantle.
Roy, who was working in the city, made enquiries for me at a shipping office during his dinner hour. I would have to book my passage to get to Geraldton on the small steamship Kanelpy or one of the other small boats that went north calling at all ports. So the next day Roy booked my passage to Geraldton on the Kanelpy, sailing at four o’clock on the first Monday in December. I felt pleased with myself as I didn’t like my job in the city. Give me the bush where I could be with the things that I liked, and I liked horses.
My mother was very annoyed with me and said, ‘What will you do if you don’t find a job up there?’ Then Roy said he would help me if I got stuck and that I was to send him word and he would lend me the money. My mother turned on him and told him he would want his money to buy clothes and boots. He replied, ‘Punch will send it back as soon as he gets settled in a job.’ I had told Roy that my financial position was all right but not to tell anyone else, especially Mother.
I finished up with the grocer on the Saturday and Mother washed my clothes and got them ready for me. Early on Monday morning I went into the city and withdrew some money out of the Savings Bank, enough to last for a month. I arranged with the bank to send my specimen signature to the Geraldton branch. I had thirty pounds left in the account, and considering that I had been in the city for nearly nine weeks I hadn’t done too bad.
Before my brothers and Bill left for work that Monday morning, they said goodbye to me and wished me luck. The three kids said goodbye to me before going to school. I knew that I wouldn’t see my mother again for a long time. Mother didn’t seem to worry. She asked me a lot of questions. One thing she asked was, ‘Don’t you feel afraid going away all on your own?’ I told her I wasn’t afraid and that I would be quite at home in the bush. Everything was so quiet and free there, I wished I hadn’t come to the city.
After lunch I finished packing up my tin trunk. My mother said she would come with me and see me off at Fremantle. So, carrying my trunk, we set off to the Subiaco Station. We had to walk about half a mile, then we boarded the train for Fremantle. We walked from the Fremantle Station to the wharf. Now I got the biggest surprise of my life! The ship, Kanelpy, was very small. So small that we had to go down a ladder to get onto it from the wharf. This was strange to me as I remembered the old tramp ship the Coolgardie that we came over from Melbourne on. She was called small but she was many feet above the wharf. But this boat? I didn’t feel so brave now.
A man in uniform met us and I showed him my ticket. He looked at my mother and she hurriedly told him she was seeing me off. He seemed satisfied and showed me my cabin. It had four bunks – two below and two above. My bunk was one of the lower ones. I put my trunk under the bunk, then Mother and I had a look over this boat that was called a ship. It was bigger than it looked from the wharf and was fairly long. I felt a lot better after I had seen it from end to end.
We went back to the railway station, and as I had plenty of time before the ship sailed, I sat with Mother until her train came. She said goodbye to me and kissed me, and I noticed a few tears in her eyes. As I went back to the ship it seemed to me that that woman who was my mother showed she had a little feeling for me – enough to shed a tear. That was something I had to remember her by even if I never saw her again.
JOURNEY
1908–1909
IT WAS A FEELING OF WONDER – NOT LONELY, NOT AFRAID – A FEELING OF INDEPENDENCE.
26
TRAVELLING NORTH
The boat sailed a little after four o’clock in the afternoon. There were five other passengers on board. The water was very calm and the little boat ploughed its way out to sea. I sat on a hatch cover and watched Fremantle get further away, wondering what was ahead for me. I felt free. It was a feeling of wonder – not lonely, not afraid – a feeling of independence. Here I was, only three months over fourteen years of age and free to go and do as I pleased.
The Captain of the boat asked me if I was enjoying the trip. I said, ‘Yes, it is nice and calm. I hope it stays that way. When the water is like this I’m a good sailor.’ He told me that it would get rough later but I’d have no worries as we would be in Geraldton early in the morning. Then he asked me if I was going to my people or to a friend at Geraldton. He was surprised when I told him I was looking for work. ‘What is a kid like you doing on your own? Where are your parents?’ I told him how I came to be on the boat. He said, ‘We are not allowed to carry kids under fourteen without a parent or guardian.’ I told him when my birthday was and he sighed and said, ‘Thank God for that.’
We were now out of sight of Fremantle and although the sea was only a little rough, I felt squeamish. When the dinner gong went I didn’t feel like a meal. That night the sea got into what they call a swell and I got very seasick. I spent most of the night vomiting over the side and by the time we arrived at Geraldton I felt really ill.
When I got off the boat I spread my travelling rug on the ground under a big shrub and lay there for over an hour before I felt well enough to bother about finding somewhere to stop. I didn’t know what time it was. All I knew was that it felt better on land than on that small bouncing boat.
When I stood up the ground felt like it was rising and falling under me for a while. I managed to carry my trunk and rifle up to the main street of Geraldton, where I saw a sign in front of a fairly large building that said ‘Coffee Palace’. I remembered the Coffee Palace at Narrogin, and I knew people could get lodgings and meals there. I went in and a large lady came to me. I told her that I wanted somewhere to stay and she said, ‘You’ve come to the right place. Come in.’ She took me into an office and asked me my name, age and what I was doing in a place like that. I explained my reasons and she said that I should have gone on through to Carnarvon where I would have a better chance of getting a job on a station. The large station owners mostly traded through Carnarvon. I told her that if I had gone any further on that boat I wouldn’t have been alive to want a job. She said, ‘Were you seasick? You don’t look too good. How long do you think you will be stopping? The board and lodgings will cost you one pound a week in advance, or if you are staying a day or two, we charge a little more by the day.’ I agreed to pay one week in advance and see what turned up. I said, ‘You never know. I might get lucky.’
I was shown my room. It was a small room at the back of the building and I had it all to myself. The lady said that she would let anyone who may come there know that I was looking for work on a station. I told her that any sort of work would suit me, no matter what kind. Sometimes one kind of a job leads to another.
She seemed a kind lady. Her name was Mrs Stafford and she and her daughter Jean ran the Coffee Palace. They employed another girl to do the cleaning and wait on the tables. Her name was Mary and she was about twenty years old.
Then Mrs Stafford said, ‘I have some cold meat and a cup of tea. I bet you could do with that.’ I thanked her and said I was hungry.
Mrs Stafford was a very big person but nicely spoken and se
emed to understand people’s feelings. We went into the kitchen and it took her only a few minutes to make the tea and sandwiches. As I ate she asked me questions about myself and how a boy like me was alone in the world. I explained the best I could about my position and all the cruel people I had been unlucky enough to meet up with, and also the nice ones I had met.
After the tea and sandwiches, I became tired and sleepy, so I asked Mrs Stafford to excuse me as I wanted to go to my room and have a sleep. She said, ‘You do just that. You look all in. We have dinner at five thirty. If you leave your door unlocked and you don’t waken, one of us will call you.’ I had no sooner laid down on the bed than I was sound asleep. The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me and saying, ‘Come on, dinner is on.’
Mrs Stafford and the girls were sitting at the table having their dinner as I came down. Mary jumped up and said, ‘I will bring your dinner into the dining-room for you.’ I said, ‘Could I have my meals in here with you? I don’t like strangers and I don’t understand the names you put on the menus. My reading is limited, you see. I never had any schooling.’ Mrs Stafford said that they would be pleased to let me have my meals with them in the kitchen. So Mary sat me at a place at the table and served me my meal there. This made me pleased.
