Recorder (Port Pirie, SA : 1919 - 1954), Saturday 8 February 1930, page 3


PERSONAL REMINISCENCES (BY S.W.O.)

THE LATE MRS. B. P. GOODE.

The death at Blackwood on Satur-day last of Mrs. Frances Goode, re-lict of the late Mr. B. P. Goode, re-moves one who was a resident of this town for 46 years, one who was

highly respected and esteemed by reason of her kindly disposition and

good works generally. Both the de-ceased lady and her husband be-longed to well known families who have rendered fine service for the State, Port Pirie especially owing a debt of gratitude to the members of the Goode family for their well directed efforts on behalf of the

town in the pioneering days. The de-ceased lady, who was 87 years of age, was formerly Miss Frances Jones, of the Finniss, near Strathal-byn, where her parents, settled when they came out from Heywood, Here-fordshire (England). Of a family of twelve, of whom deceased was the eldest, only one remains, Mrs. H. A Goode (mother of Mr. A. H. L. Goode, of Port Pirie), who at the age of 84 years is still hale and hearty. The latter is now residing at Hyde Park with her son and daughter, Mr. W. H. Goode and Miss Goode. An-other sister, Mrs. W. Goode formerly of Port Pirie, died in Hampshire

(England) about six months ago at the age of 76. It is a remarkable fact that the three brothers, the late Messrs H. A., W., and B. P. Goode, so long and so honorably known in Port Pirie commercial circles, mar-ried three sisters, while a cousin of theirs, Mr. Matthew Goode, the well known Adelaide merchant, marrying two others. He first married a Miss Jones in England, and on her decease, the family having then removed to Australia, he came out and married her sister. Messrs H. A., W., and B. P. Goode who, like their wives, came

from good yeoman stock, hailed from Cleobury, Mortimer, in Worcester-shire, the county noted for its fruit, hops and cider, and, incidentally, sauce. They left England for Austra-lia in 1857, and in 1864 Messrs H. A. and W. Goode bought a storekeeper's business in Aldinga, Mr. B. P. Goode managing a branch at Yankalilla for them. In 1876 the three brothers came to Port Pirie and founded here the firm of Messrs H. A. and W. Goode, taking in Mr. B. P. Goode as a partner, the business being suc-cessfully continued until 1910. On Friday last Mr. A. H. L. Goode showed the writer the receipt paid for the first business in 1864, the document being one of the old-fashioned blue billhead type, with lithographed heading, the ink on which still looks quite fresh. Mr. H. A. Goode carried on the Aldinga business till it was sold in 1896, when he and Mrs. Goode went to Adelaide to live. The former, however, continued his in-terest in the Port Pirie firm till 1910. Mrs. B. P. Goode left Port Pirie for Blackwood in 1922. Her surviving children are-Mrs. Drew (Kooringa), Mrs. Jacka (Blackwood), Messrs. Herbert (Blackwood), and H. W. Goode (Port Pirie), Dr. M. Goode (Brighton), Dr. Reg. Goode (Mit-cham), and Mr. Douglas Goode (Ade-laide). Children who pre-deceased her were-Mrs. J. B. Johnston (Port Pirie, Mrs. Davis (England) and Miss

G. Goode.

MR. WEBB RUBS IT IN.

Asked by a "Register" representa tive what - he planned to do when he returned to his own country, Mr. W. A. Webb is reported to have answered "Just as I have done since I" have been here-what I damn -well please."

; Rather a crude way of putting it what? But the Yankee way is often crude.

. Incidentally : rather , cruel too, when one remembers, the'-millions . which have been scattered, and realises how difficult it is now to get out of the Government a few hundreds- for any necessary work-in the country at any rate.

FORMER RAILWAY COMMIS

SIONERS.

Fancy either of Jiis predecessors during the last thirty years-the frigid Mr. Pendleton, the fussy . M. \loncrief or the friendly Mr. Mo Quire-talking in this strain: to the public by means of the Press.

But. of course, they could not do is they; pleased-that.power was re served for the imported official.

The only time I met the late Mr. Alan Pendleton was on the occasion of a -deputation that waited on him at Peterborough many years ago. - His arctic attitude then -struck me as that of one who could well and_truly freeze any official who was" unfor tunate enough to bo carpeted before him, and what-I heard subsequently about him-showed that",my flrgt im pressions of this glacierrlike gentle man was correct. The prominent man in another State who won the soubri quet of "Iceberg" had nothing on-Mr. Pendleton.

Mr. Moncrief was more of the ir ritable -type, "and, bitterly - resented po'itical. interference with his job. I remember one occasion when he dis played his rancour about members of Parliament inviting their friends to fake a ride in a vice-regal train the day of the official opening of the Booleroo Centre railway line, Foqr people were to have joined, the train at Gladstone, but the latter left- that station'with'twenty-iive extra pas sengers- as thg result of pressing in vitations on the part of politicians on

boarcU- The commissioner was furious; but he- only showed his spleen (toy toe way, that word has achieved some notoriety in Port Pirie. ttyis week) by "sending round the cenduo tor to ask if these additional guests had tickets-he did not go so Jar as to complain of the excessive hospi tality of the-members qf Parliament. I have, however, . referred at. greater length .to this incident before

The 'three mentioned, thoqgh,

'were all good railway men, and Mr. MeGuire was probably the best of the bunch.. He certainly had the most trying time of any, - occupying the position just when the railways came in for a lot of criticism prior to Mr. Webb's appointment, and. also . had the lion's share in the initial work of the- 3>ehab!Uitation >scJheme after the latter's - arrival. The arduous, duties

j which fell to 3iis lot during the latter'

period of office were performed while j

he ~was suffering -a succession of-j

bereavements which won for him the' sincere "sympathy of hosts of friends. T think-1 am correct in stating that he: lost three sons in the Great War,

while subsequently there were other , losses in the family circle.

.. uau . .rtJbiutJiHb Hive t'UoircB, Messrs A. E. (Brett and H. Revell will well remember the time when Mr. MeGuire was Stationmaster at Port Pirie, and the late Commissioner iiad many pleasanLmemories of this,place.

The last time I met him in Ade laide ~r could see the strain was be ginning to tell on him, but he -bright ened up when I began talking about his old friends here. -Over some little refreshment he opened out- and gave me some interesting reminiscences of old Pirie days, pathetically adding-at their_ conclusion, "Ah, those were,

happy times."

If these men, who served the State so faithfully, for long periods, had been entrusted with the free hand accorded to our visitor from Ameri ca, South Australia probably would not have been in such a parlous posi

tion today.

THE COUNTRY PAYS-AND

SUFFERS.

It is quite possible - that City resi dents are quite' satisfied with the Situation. They have their palatial station premises, their beauty par lors, their cheap small goods shop, inexpensive restaurants and other facilities run in competition with pri vate enterprise. Three course meals VT;1/6 are ava>lab*e for dwellers in I Adelaide, hut the traveller journey

through. ths. dusty Far North ihas to weigh out nearly half that amount for a cup of tea and a bun!

long-distance travellers ri<»ht

throug-h this orgy of expenditure °on i our railways have been least con sidered-even when reaching the metropolitan terminus they have to walk the longest distance to And their

way into the "City streets.

~ The lack of facilities provided for Northern travellers-I cannot speak of the South-was the direct cause of the firm establishment of private motor services. Had "motor trains been introduced at an , earlier stage a lot of the passenger traffic might have been retained for the railways. Take Port

Augusta,- ior instance," with thirteen' hours dreary journey, facing travellers to the .Citj^.as against six or -seven by motor service car. Gertainly no time was lost in securing a motor train service for Clare, but then, you see, that fortunate - place happened - to bo in Sir Henry Barbell's district!

Then, tpo. regard the attempt made -when it was found that these pri vate facilities were being- availed of by :the people-to. interfere with the liberty of the subject and push these cars off the roads, through the in strumentality of a Liberal -Government

above all others!

And our American visitor, as the tiuie- draws near for him to leave be queathes to us- the ill-timed , taunt that in the future he is going to do

"Just as I 3iave done - since I have been here-what I damn well pleaseiv

What' colossal" effrontery |

"MR. WEBB SIR HENRY BARWELL'S

BROTHER-IN-LAW."

-"In former "days" the smithy which stood under the speading chestnut tree was the place.where men used to congregate for gossip. Nowadays the barber's shop often seems to be' the place where "the latest" can be

heard.

. r remember, just-after Mr. Webb's arrival, going into Mr. H. Tidswell's saloon at Balaklava and finding t heated discussion proceeding-.

The proprietor - remarked that pro bably I "might be;able to throw :some

light on the subject, and inquired who -Sir Henry Barweil married. I replied} -"Miss Nancy Webb." Immediately! one keep disputant exclaimed: "What

did I tell you?^-inquiring what" the -argument was all about I was told that the latter was endeavoring to persuade the oompanv, that the n.*w rCommissioner-was Sir Henry Bar

well's brother-in-law,

' I tnew the one who Tiadintroduoed the. question to be .loygi. iabor si$p-v porter, and I said I presumed he was a -subscriber to " "The Daily Herald " which was then-still being published He assured me he was, and I then in quired how many pages he 3iad seen in that - paper containing criticisms re-' garding Sir Henry Harwell having apr i pointed his brother-in-law to this' remunerative position. He admitted' that he had not soen any reference to' this in t?ie ^ Labor daily. j

I then explained that Lady Barweil

was the daughter of the late Canon' Webb, of Clare, but she had a brother I -a journalist- who had beeq fop some time in"*: America and had re turned to South Australia about the same time that the. new Commis

sioner arrived..

Tlie- latter fact especially had "as sisted in providing that "two and two" which when put together often

proves wrong.

"MUfSQER (HOST FOUL." ] The^ Surrey (Eng.) Council has been - having. sometroufale about the famous "Murder'* stone "erected in detestation "of a "barbarous murder," which stone is supposed to be cursed, and which the workmen refused to

toucft.

The published pioture_of the stone referred to reminded me of another

murder stone I once saw. One'sum mer evening about 35 years -ago I was passing through, an . old-;church ; yard in Glamorganshire, South Wales, ?when the-rays of the westering sun ; touched as with fingers of Are' a

large -headstone on -which, in the big t gcst lettering I have ever se"en on a

tombstone, appeared the word "Mur 1(ler." On a closei> inspection-Tfound , that the stone gave (he details of "the brutal murder of" a <young woman a few yards from that spot which had i happened ..one Sunday morning about ? seventy-years before. The inscription

| finished'with the reminder: that- ''mur

.?der will out" and foretold that even

I tuaUy~the one'fresponsible- for the per | petration of the crime would be

I brought tobook.

Some years'ago'I met a ship's of I ficer (I believe he was on the old Anglo CTalifornian) who knew this old-world village ivell, and he told me that the weird'stone with,the unful filled -prophecy -was ^still: standings'and attracting the attention "of 'visitors. -

In the Surrey case-the "murder of an unknown sailor-there was swift retribution,' the three murderers be ing .apprehended the same day ~~ and hung in chains near the spot shortly afterwards.

NEW ZEALAND'S GOVERNOR

OEHERAL.

New Zealand is fortunate in having as its new' Governor-General - Lord BIedisloe,"a - well known; autliority on agriculture., His people owned a good deal of . lood' near .Circenoester," famous for its Agricultural College,

one, 01 whose pupils was Professor Lawrie, who did' so' much towards iOr troducing superphosphates.= to South

Australia.

Lord Bledisloe's country seat Is in the Forest _ of Dean,, from which formerly came ,most of the oak 'used in "the "wooden walls" of 01(1 'Eng land-now noted for its coal mines.

A quiet place ordinarily, the Forest of Dean came into great prominence politically on one occasion; namely the return to public life of; Sir Charles Dilke nearly forty years ago.

Formerly a member 'for, Chelsea, and a great advocate of 'Imperial federation, ' Sir, Charles" was looked upon- as-likely to later on hold the highest political - office the United Kingdom has to bestow, but owing to his connection with'a certain cele

brated case, he had to get but of pub

lic life. ~ -

I wander if there are any here who remember the rather vulgar - music

hall dittv

"Charlie Dilke. he spilt the milk,

While bringing it home from

Chelsea."

After several years "of banishment SiiL Charles acceded to a request by

the Forest of Dean miners - to become7! their candidate for a seat in the, House - of v Commons,- and the ; fig?it which followed is historic.

One of Sir- Charles Dilke's greatest opponents was the late Mr. W. T. Stead, of "The Review of Reviews," his contention being that the former, having been adjudged guilty of con duct inconsistent with the moral law, should never more be allowed to hold » public position:

There was one feature about the late editor of "The Review of Re views." When he took a dislike to a man it hecame ant obsession with him, and "liis pursuit of his quarry was biiter and relentless.

I had a special opportunity of realis ing this, for I met Mr. Stead on this occasion. It was through his agency that placards: were pasted all through r the Forest such as "Where is Fanny?"

(a .reference to one cited as a wit ness in the divorce case who mys teriously disappeared) and other al lusions to the spicy case of a year

ago.

Sir Charles-on the mistaken ad vice of an eminent friend-never gave evidence; his wife, a most cultured lady, had displayed implicit' belief in his innocence; and there were many who believed he had been misjudged.

Anyhow when the miners' leader got up and addressed ihem, point

ing out that these were the sort of things-(flourishing some plaoards which had been pulled,down)-that were meeting Lady Dilke's eyes every where she went with her husband, and asked the men how would they like their "old women" to have such insults put under their noses, the "hunt-was up" for Stead, straight away. The latter stood .not upon the order of his going but left at once, and only for the foresight of a young policeman, who smuggled him -away "in an empty coaJ truck, then; might have been* one less victim in the Titanic's list.

Sir Charles Dilke won the seat from the holder (Sir Colchester Wemyss) by about 4,500 If I feraem ber - rightly, a tremendous majority for the distriot and one which was greatly enhanoed -bV Mr, Stead's bit

terness.

All this happened a long time,ago and a long distance away. The prin , ciple still obtains though-the - per . secution of men personally op of 5 parties invariably" arouses for those . thus pursued a fair ajeasure^Qf sym pathy, on the part of the public,

j In this way some of the big papers I in Australia undoubtedly, if umvit

tingly, helpejj the Lahor Party dur ' ing, the last Federal elections. -