West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Thursday 26 June 1952, page 7


VETERANS OF FREMANTLE TRAMWAYS

Two veteran employees of the Fremantle tramways. Mr. Harry Bennett (left) and Mr. George Staton, dis-mantling No. 2 tram, which was one of the first 14 brought into service when the tramways were opened in 1905. Mr. Bennett joined the Fremantle Municipal Tram-ways and Electric Lighting Board as an apprentice fit-ter in 1911, and Mr. Staton joined as a probationary conductor in 1918, when he earned about £3 a week. Mr. Staton said yesterday that No. 2 tram was one of several he assisted in re-building when a young man. He became a carpenter after about five years of conducting and driving. With the board's policy of changing trams to buses in the Fremantle area, tenders are now being invited for the purchase of nine tram bodies. Mrs. Samson, then Mayor-ess of Fremantle, and mother of the present Mayor (Mr. W. F. Samson), drove the first tram inaugurating the Fremantle tram service on October 30, 1905. When the old Fremantle tramway car barn, at the corner of High and Cliff streets, is offered for auction on July 9, a feature of the town long familiar to tram-waymen and citizens alike will no longer exist as such.