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Commercials History of the Nimitybelle - Early 1900's

The Old Post Office

My earliest recollection of the old Post Office was in going there for the mail with my mother. On entering a room off the verandah, one could see an opening in a dividing wall about four feet from the floor. This was far too high for a little boy to look through, so I asked my mother what was there to see. She replied, "Pigeon boxes with letters in them". I had heard of pigeons but had never seen them, though I did wonder why pigeons were kept in a Post Office.

Some time later I was in the company of an older sister when we called for the mail, and she was good enough to lift me up to look through the high window. She quickly put me dawn, claiming I was too heavy for a big look, and one very disappointed boy walked out of that building, not having seen any pigeons. That was the last time I was in that building as a Post Office. That would be about 1907.

Not too long after this the Post Office was moved to its present site, and the old building was used as a residence. 

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Bootmaker

The first occupant of the old Post Office premises was the Breen family. The father, Nick Breen, was a bootmaker by trade, and taught his son Dan the trade of repairing boots. Both were excellent tradesmen.

Nick would measure the foot, and make a boot to fit it. Every bit of the boot was hand sewn. The material used in the upper was called mineral-kip (or kipp). It was something like kid, but was much stronger and took a very bright polish. The boot was made with four lace-holes and three tags. Mineral kip and lace tags have disappeared this many a year. (I wonder why) This boot repair business was conducted in a small building that stood on the south side of the main building.

Breen's price to make a pair of boots was £2-0-0.

Breen closed up shop and moved to Mosman on completion of the railway to Bombala, and the years that followed saw many boot repairers at the trade. All were amateurs, not having learnt the trade, and their work was a long way below Breen's standard.

Names that come to mind:

Walter McDonald (in a building that stood in B.Stove's truck yard)

G. Welsh (in a room near Tudor Inn on the south side; later became Clear's butcher's shop)

J. Peters (in premises occupied by Nimmity Wares)

G. Stephenson (in cottage in G. Kerr's yard, fronting old Bega Road and adjoining back lane)

Digger Roach (at his residence, south end of town Duck Flat)

Note: Information regarding Breen's move from Nimity from R. Norton, Goulburn.

Blacksmith Wheelwright and Farrier

This business was conducted in a building which stood where Pool Bros. later erected their office.

The first Blacksmith I remember was Morgan Thornton. He had his son, Dan, as his striker*, and in this capacity, taught him the trade of Blacksmith and Farrier. The woodwork in wheelwrighting was done by John Driscoll, but the tyreing was done by the Thorntons.

*The Striker is the man who wields the heavy hammer. While he is doing this the smithy beats the rhythm with a small hammer on the anvil. Should the rhythm get out of time somebody gets hurt. This is interesting to watch, pleasant to listen to, and the sound will carry for over a mile on a clear morning. The striker's hammer weighs up to l4lbs. The smithy on certain work will hit with the light hammer where he wants the striker to hit with the heavy one.

The Thornton's disposed of the business about the time the railway line was completed to Bombala, and a number of tradesmen carried on the business in the years that followed.

Names that come to mind are:

A. Caldwell (who later moved to Cobargo)

W. Summerell (who moved to his residence where Mrs. Fred Reynold's now lives)

Chas James (business conducted at the rear of Mrs. Judy Casseill's residence)

John Peters (who conducted his business about a hundred yards at the back of where I now live)

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Commercial Hotel

Recently a picture of the old pub appeared in the Cooma Monaro Express, and very clearly on the north wall can be seen the sign, "Silks' Hotel". This I think would be before my stretch of memory.

The first Licensee I remember was Chas Hoar. When he sold the Hotel he built and operated a saw mill in Rutherfords Creek almost where the log cabin now stands.

Below are the names of at least some of the Licensees as I remember them, but I don't doubt there are some I have forgotten:

Gledhill-Pitt, G. Sims, Sandy McDonald

J. Sims, Goggin Hall

Tolhurst, Greer Langtree

J. Shelley, J. Payten

I have an idea that the licence could have been held by a Mrs. Thornton. This lady married twice and was the mother of the two Sims mentioned above. I purchased the land below the old saw mill from the Sims' (Mrs. Thornton was deceased) but the conveyances showed she had owned the land. They also showed that between them, they had at various times mortgaged the land with the breweries and liquor wholesalers who were operating at that time. However, there were no mortgages on the land when I bought it, but in bad years I have often felt like putting one on it and drinking it out.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Heyde's Garage

This was where "Rayners Store" now stands. It was conducted by Percy Heyde, who married a Miss Mullins, the Publican's daughter, and remained in Nimitybelle until the railway reached Bombala. This automatically cut out his passenger run to Bombala, so there was no reason for him to stay put.

When Heyde moved out, J. McKee moved in, but after a year or so he moved out and Fred Silk moved in. However, Silk did not stop long. He moved on to Bombala and established a motor business there. Percy Heyde was the first man to bring wireless to Nimity. It was a sophisticated affair with a double antennae, over sixty feet high. One pole was in G. Kerr's yard near Kirke Street, the other, near the back of Rayners store. He just got it operating when the authorities made him pull it down, fearing he would communicate with the enemy. This of course was during World War One. Heyde was of German origin, and it was about this time that he changed his name by deed-poll. His original name was Willhelm Duddee Vor-de-Heyde.

This building was later converted to a fruit, confectionery and tea room and was run by Mr. and Mrs. Woodhouse. It was not long however, before the business was sold to Mrs. Campbell, (now Mrs. Tozer), who successfully carried the business on for a number of years before selling to G. Thistleton. Thistleton who in a very short time discontinued the tea rooms, and set up as a general store .

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

C.W.A. Rooms

This building was built right up to the footpath in both Bombala and Clarke Streets, and was residential as far back as I can remember. It was occupied by Alf Foster and family.

I was told by the Late J.J. (Bob) Kirwan that this building contained the floor space for local dances until the School of Arts was built. Small, you may say, but it served its purpose.

I remember Alf Foster quite well. He had a long white beard which reached halfway to his waist. He was also a violin player, and at times played for local dances. As a boy I wondered how he played without his beard getting tangled in the bow or strings .

Then one day I saw him play. The beard was neatly folded under the base of the instrument, and it was business as usual.

Just behind the C.W.A. room was the cordial factory which was operated by N.J. Norton. There was no petrol power in those days, so the power was supplied with a horse works. Bottles were hand washed, hand filled, and sealed with a glass marble and rubber ring. Norton also conducted the mixed store business where Creamer's store now is. It was a general store and carried stocks of all groceries, drapery, crockery, glassware, horse shoes, tools, chaff, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, bran, pollard, grass seed. There was no sheep lick at that time, so he carried a big stock of butchers salt, and rock salt. Also in stock were cornsacks, chaff bags, woolpacks, various sheep dips, stockholm tar, coal tar, iron, down pipe and guttering. If you asked for something he did not have, he very smartly got it in.

Norton was also the local undertaker and conducted most local funerals. The first funeral I attended was that of Long John Driscoll. All vehicles were horse drawn at walking pace, and it was a slow funeral procession from "Mount Emerald" to the cemetery. He also made coffins when called on to do so.

The first casket I saw him make was for the burial of Mark Walker. It was well made and carried the usual mountings.

As the business grew fast, he closed his cordial works, and took J. Driscoll in as a partner. After a year or two he bought Driscoll out, and employed Dave Roach on delivery cart and grocery counter, and Dennis O'Mara on the drapery and groceries. This store was known as the Hospital Store. The whole business originally belonged to John Geldmacher, and was willed to the people of Nimitybelle to build a hospital. Hence the name.

Norton was also the local rabbit-skin buyer. On leaving Nimitybelle to open a business in Goulburn, he sold out to C.H. Pilley. After a few years of trading Pilley sold to J.B. Shelley. A few years in the storekeeping business, Shelley closed the business and took over the Licence of the Commerical Hotel. The building was destroyed by fire in 1949 and the present building erected on the site.

A skin and wool buying business was conducted by Creamer and West, and after by S. Creamer who introduced farm supplies, and auctioneering into the business.

Note: Norton's store was lit by gas, hence the need for the proprietor to carry stocks of carbide. Carbide is a rock-like substance, which when water is added to it, it produces an evil smelling slow burning gas (acetylene). The flame is reasonably clear although it gives off a little smoke at times.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Fruit Shops

The next building to the south of the store was a fruit and confectionary shop. It was situated where the entrance to Mr. J. Green's yard is, and was conducted by a Mrs. Rankin. She was probably a widowed woman as I do not remember any Mr. Rankin. Her son, Jack, played in the local football team, and her daughter May, married Jim Driscoll, an uncle of Isobel Rayner.

Mrs. Rankin introduced the first ice cream to Nimitybelle It was really ice cream, and made on the premises. The cream was procured from a local dairy, and ice from the local refrigeration works. The cream was put in a butter churn, and when all other ingredients were added, the churn was packed in ice, and churning commenced.

There was usually one free ice cream to each of two boys to do the churning. Churning time about two hours. I have done time on the churn handle, but I never remember getting a free ice cream.

Mrs. Rankin moved on when the Bombala line was completed, and I don't recall who had the business until it was conducted by Mrs. Alby Thornton. It was during her occupancy of the premises that it and the contents were destroyed by fire. That would be about 1930-31.

Footnote: Between Rankin and Thornton, the business was conducted by Mrs. Mullane. She was a widowed woman and lost her husband in tragic circumstances. He contracted anthrax from a new shaving brush that he used without sterilizing.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Grocery Store

This building stood where Judy Casseills' home now stands. It was conducted by a Chinese by the name of Charlie Yee-Hee. He sold all packaged groceries, tobacco, cigarettes matches, confectionary, and fire crackers. These crackers came apparently direct from China, as all markings on the box were in Chinese characters.

At that time crackers were not controlled by law as they are now, and I have not seen such a collection of crackers since.

Charlie packed up and went back to China.

As lads we bought our cigarettes from Charlie. A packet of nine Capstan cigarettes and four waxed holders, cost threepence.

The old building was pulled down and the present one erected by Mr. Earn Thornton. He was also a local skin buyer, and a barber, and conducted his business in the new premises.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Royal Building

This was originally the Royal Hotel. I have dim recollections of it operating as a Hotel, but I do remember an employee of my father saying some very unpleasant words about a barman at the Royal who took a half-crown from him and gave him change for a florin. That would be about 1908 or 1909 That would be about the time the licence was withdrawn.

One of the early licensees was R. Bell whose name appeared on the south end of the building until painted over in recent years. Other names associated with the premises were: McKee, Kiss Rapmond, Silk, Basser.

In later years, about 1916 or 17 it was run as a boarding house by Mrs. Roach. There were others who followed her but I have forgotten the names. But I do remember the coaches being sheltered in the archway, out of the weather.

The upstairs dining room was used for many receptions. The one foremost to mind, was that of my second oldest sister's marriage to Reg Bell. That would be about 1915. In the early thirties these upstairs rooms were leased to the Masonic Lodge But after a couple of years they terminated their lease.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Copied from the Bega Gazette 1889.

About 32 years ago the Nimitybelle Folk subscribed a sum of E100, as a reward to the man that could find and mark a track, on which a horse might be safely led, from the Tableland to the foot of Brown Mountain.

Four venturesome young men took up the challenge: J. Trigell, A. Alcock, J. Green, Joseph Ha ond.

They succeeded in marking a line 9 miles dawn from Nimmitybelle, or from Pole Flat to Stony Pinch, near the lake where Irwin's saw mill now stands, and for about 13 miles upwards. At this stage they ran out of water and provisions. They eventually struck the river at the foot of the Mountain, near Nelsons Flat. They were in an exhausted condition and their clothes torn to shreds.

The A. Alcock mentioned would be Mr. Charles Alcock's father, and the year 1857.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

END OF EVANS1

Post Office

Little can be said about the building, as it is much the same today as when it was built. Only small structual alterations have been made, some for better, some for worse, but that is in keeping with government policy. The hours of trading were from 8.30 a.m. to 5.03 p.m. Six days per week. It would close from 9.00 a.m. to 16.00 a.m. on train days to allow for the sorting of mail.

The first Post Master I remember being in charge was Bradford, who was there for a few years. However on a final audit of the books, there were discrepancies in the balance and Mr. Bradford was asked to resign. Being an obedient and obliging servant he did as he was asked, For the next few years he went trapping rabbits for a living. When war was declared in 1914, he and his two oldest sons enlisted with the A.I.F. All were discharged in 1919, little the worse for wear of war.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

First Building to the North

This was a ramshackle sort of building. but it served as a barbers shop for years.

Eventually a vacant space on the north side was closed in and roofed, and the barbers shop was shifted into it. The former barbers shop was converted into a fruit and confectionary shop.

Both businesses were operated by Alby Thornton. After a few years Thornton sold the business to --- Allen, who incidently was his father-in-law. He pulled the old shack down and built the building that is there now.

Allen carried on a fruit and confectionary business for some time. On going out of the business it was taken over by the Hess family. Mum Hess ran the business*

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Butchers Shop

This shop was owned and operated by Tom King, The name was originally Ah-Kin. When the family left school he considered the Chinese name might make it difficult for them getting Government jobs, so changed the name by deed-poll.

The building between the shop and the Bakehouse was his residence. The shop and the residence were demolished about 1965. King and sons did all their own slaughtering. The slaughter house was on the south side of the Springfield Road some five or six hundred yards over the railway line.

The butcher boy came around on horseback and took your orders on Friday afternoon. The orders were cut, wrapped, and delivered on Saturday morning.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

The Bakery

I doubt if this could be termed a Bakery at the present. Certainly the proprietor is selling bread. So also is the general store.. the Cafe and the Mobil garage. They are all retailing for other manufacturers. If one can be termed a bakery, then the four of them can.

It is so long since I saw a loaf of unsliced bread, I am beginning to think it is sliced when it comes out of the oven.

When my wife and I first set up house, bread was delivered daily, before noon fresh and hot from the oven. It was delivered by a young fellow on a bicycle with a dust-proof basket mounted over the front wheel. Price, fourpence per loaf over the counter, fivepence delivered.

At that time a loaf of bread weighed 2 lbs.

Any structual alterations to the building have been made in recent years. It seems strange that these alterations should be made when the business has ceased to produce bread after about eighty years. Over the years the oven has always been heated with wood, but when ceasing to bake bread was being heated with oil. I will always contend that the wood heat produced better bread, besides making a job for somebody to supply the wood.

For some reason or other bakers did not stop more than two or three years. Below are some of the bakers who were here, but may not be in the order in which they came.

C. Alt, S. Flakelar, -- Ross, -- Ryan, -- Alt, -- Donnely,

Perkins, -- Beileiter, -- Paternoster, -- Thovaits, -- White, Vanzanden.

Some of these were good bakers, some not so good, and some were terrible. It would be only fair for me to comment that Vanzanden was the best of them.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Butchers Shop

This is a comparatively new establishment but by no means a new business. This business has been ruined by the introduction of central killing. This has forced the price of meats beyond the purchasing power of the low income groups. I would consider the present butcher is doing a good job under existing circumstances.

General Store

This building was owned by P.W. Jenkins. In its early beginning it was opened as a general store in partnership with D. O'Mara.

After a few years O'Mara left the partnership and went on the staff of N. Nortons Hospital Store.

About 1912 my father purchased Minton property from W.J. Sykes. With the proceeds of this sale Sykes leased the building from Jenkins and opened a general store. This he called the S.P.Q.R. Store. The letters stood for small profit and quick return. The school children got hold of it and coined their own wording inappropriately as Simple People Quickly Robbed. I knew Mr. & Mrs. Sykes from 1910 until their death but I never knew them to do anything dishonest, which is more than I could say about some of their customers.

Sykes was also a rabbit-skin buyer. He employed in the store one girl, Pearl Driscoll. Pearl's father was John Driscoll, the wheelwright. Her brother, Vin, joined the police force, and over the years worked his way up to Detective Sergeant.

During his early training, he taught Pearl to box. When she reached a reasonable proficiency, he invited any young man in the town to put the gloves on with her. His only stipulation was no punching about the breasts, and he stood by to see this rule was adhered to. A few accepted the challenge but it was not long before Pearl could not get sparing partners.

After Sykes died and Mrs. Sykes got out of the business it was dormant for a year or so, but was eventually opened by Alams from Delegate. It was not long before Alams moved out and sold the business to Mack Bros of Cooma. Mack Bros struck it rough, for they were in the business during the war years when goods were rationed. Alams purchased the Exchange Store further up the street and they too were subjected to rationing. A few short years of trading and Alam once again sold to Mack Bros. Mack then closed the old store and concentrated all their efforts on the one business.

The old store was eventually taken over by Gordon Thistleton, and run in conjunction with his other business.

In recent years the building has been used as a storeroom. At present it is for sale. I wonder what will happen to it next.

A residence at the rear of the store was pulled down some years ago. Why I do not know for it was many years a newer building than the store.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

School of Arts

This building was erected with borrowed capital, backed by local citizens, who submitted their names as guarantors. It contained one of the best reference libraries outside of the city. It also contained exercise equipment of that time such as dumbells, clubs, skipping ropes, hoops, boxing gloves, punching balls and weights for lifting. All of the above have long ago disappeared and I venture to say, most of it was stolen. Over the years I have at various times seen books bearing the School of Arts stamp. The people who have them know where they belong, but make no attempt to return them.

There was also games for entertainment, draughts, chess, dominoes, several types of card games, and several also of dice games but, like the exercise equipment, it has all gone.

The hall and all rooms and foyer were lit by gas generated from carbide. The gasometer was housed in a building where the toilets are now situated. The pipes conveying the gas were suspended from the ceiling, to within about eight feet of the floor. Each pipe was fitted with a cross-arm carrying two gas flames, there being three pipes and six gas jets to light the hall. These were efficient as lighting at that time, but were an awful nuisance when the first picture show came. Regardless of where the picture machine was set, these pipes threw a shadow on the screen. Mostly these pipes were lassoed and pulled to the side. At least this gave a clear picture in the center of the screen. Why the pipes never broke off and released enough gas to burn the building down, I will never know.

The first motion pictures were a travelling show owned and operated by ??????? It was conveyed from town to town in a covered-in van drawn by two horses. The film at that time was celluloid, and extremely inflammable. The machine for showing the film was called a cinematograph. Hence the shortened name of cinema for motion pictures.

The lighting for the cinema was gas and this added to the fire risk, so the law compelled the operator, and the machine to be housed in a metal box. This box was about seven or eight feet square and about the same in height. Apart from a narrow door in, the only other openings to the box were an opening to direct the light through to the screen, and one over the machine to let the fumes of the burning gas out. Both these openings were fitted with lids which could be shut from inside or out.

At this time electric motors had not been invented, and electricity was only at the experimental stage. All film had to be turned through by hand. Mr. Check was very good at this, turning evenly, and getting a reasonably good movement of the characters. He also learnt the dialogue of some of the films, and recited the words to the lip and mouth movement of the characters. This was cleverly done and gave the impression that the characters were actually talking. Mr. Check often engaged a lad to help turn the film through. This job mostly fell to Norman Nulhern. He turned very unevenly and caused the shadows on the screen to dance about a lot. If Norm decided to change hands on the handle (which he did fairly often) it was remarkable what those shadow characters could do.

On the retirement of Check from the cinema world, the travelling show was carried on by two brothers (names forgotten) with a light truck and generating equipment. With expenses rising, attendance falling, and technology advancing, this show did not last for very long.

The next move for pictures was done by the School of Arts itself. This again was done by borrowed capital backed by guarantors. They purchased one projector and an electric generating plant. The big improvement in this move was the electric light. This allowed the Hall Committee to do away with the gaspipes, a brighter light for the projection of film, and done away with the necessity of turning and winding film. These were silent films and were accompanied by local musicians, F. Silk (piano), Reg Draper (violin), A. Thomas (cornet).

Pictures were shown every Saturday night. The picture shown on the opening night was The Count of Monte Christo.

After a couple of years, attendances fell off owing to winter showings, and the pictures were showing a loss. The pictures were closed down but the generating plant was maintained for lighting.

After World War II equipment for showing sound-produced (talkies) film was procured. When the committee went to sell the old plant, it was found that the most valuable part, the lenses, had been stolen. Local Talkies have gone into recession, and I would say the chief causes were rising costs and the coming of TV.

About 1912 to 1914 roller skating was conducted in the hall. During the ending of the first winter so many complaints had been received about the noise that the proprietors, P. Reed and T. Gait, fitted all skates with rubber rollers. After the second winter it was found the rubber rollers were cutting the grooving and tounging off the boards, particularly in front of the stage where the skates crossed the grain of the wood. At this stage the Committee decided not to allow any more skating in the hall. Reed and Gait ended the partnership, and this left Gait with about 100 pairs of skates, and as many disappointed patrons.

At this stage Gait decided to erect a rink of his own on his own property. This he did on the second block on the left below the post office. He carried it on for a couple of years, before closing it down claiming he did not have time to operate it. His son Tom ran it for a couple of winters, but soon after leaving school he joined the Police force and that wrote finish to roller skating in Nimitybelle.

The building was sold and removed to old "Nandawar" where it served for a time as a shearing shed. It was later moved again, and I have a strong suspicion it has been incorporated in Mr. Mike Herbert's shearing shed.

The original stage screen was donated by E.W. Cansdell, and was a picture of Sydney Harbour taken from the ocean and looking back through the Heads. It was a beautiful bit of work, looked at by thousands and recognised by few.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Police Station

Neither the Courthouse or the residence have changed much over the years. Like most stone and brick buildings in the town it was built before the days of damp-coursing. For this reason it has been condemned every decade for the last seventy years.

An extra door off the verandah into the office has been added. A yard at the back of the residence was enclosed with a galvanised iron fence. This gave privacy to the residence.

During the railways construction, it was quite common for the two cells to be occupied, in which case the iron yard was used to contain the drunks.

My father who was a J.P. and N.J. Morton, J.P., would be called on to occupy the bench and hear the charges. He considered the charges piddling and fined each man half-a-crown or the rising of the court. He told many of them to wait a few minutes and they could go as the court was about to rise. There was nothing illegal about this, although it did not please the police, it delighted the navvies.

The first cop I remember there was Sergeant Lee. One day my father called at the Courthouse on business. He was obliged to go around to the back where he caught the Sergeant flogging his wife with a heavy leather belt. It took quite a few minutes to rescue the woman and calm the intoxicated Sergeant.

Not long after this Lee left the force and bought the property where Ian Blyton now lives. He lived in the old home up on the back. As children walking to school from Green Bank, we often met the ex-Sergeant. If he was sober he said good morning. If intoxicated he never spoke. Many times have we said good morning to him to find out if he had been drinking.

I think his wife might have died and that induced him to leave the Police force.

Up until about forty years ago, the local police officers were mounted. The uniform was tunic, riding breeches with calflaced on outside, dark tan leather boots and leggings.

The horses were stabled at the rear of the residence, where feed shed was also provided.

Across the lane from the stables was the exercise paddock for the horses. There were no buildings on this land. It was bounded by the lane on the east, Clarke Street on the north, Boyd Street on the west and down to the Post Office on the south.

This was known locally as the Police paddock. It contained a couple of gun trees for shade, and the town tennis court. This was about where Robbie Rankin's house now stands. The house over Boyd Street opposite (Haig) was the home of Andy Hayes, the local town carpenter.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

Corner of Bombala and Clarke Streets

On the corner of Bombala and Clarke Streets where Kelly's shop now is, was a weather-board building of about 12ft by l6ft. It had a verandah over the street much the same as the business opposite has. It was occupied by W. Sloan who conducted a barbers shop.

Like plenty of young men of that time he wore a very wide hard celluloid collar, 1910-1911. To quote from Banjo Patterson - The barber bloke was young and flash as barbers mostly are - unquote. This was my impression of Mr. Sloan. By some means the collar caught alight and burnt him very severely around the neck and demolished his hair. This ended his career as a barber in Nimitybelle.

The building was then occupied by -- Mullins as a Tinsmith and Plumbing business. His chief plumbing was the building of water tanks. I remember nests of them being stored in the back yard. He also repaired tanks, gutters, downpipe and sundry things that required hard or soft solders.

When this business closed down, it was not long before the building was pulled down to make way for the printing office of the Nimitybelle News. This building was situated in Mr. Alf Tozer's yard and was moved to its new position by H. Hutchison's bullock' team.

P.S. A nest of tanks are tanks of different sizes with no tops on, stored one inside the other. Tops are fitted as the tanks are sold.

From; NIMITYBELLE, 70 YEARS OF MEMORIES by J W Evans. Transcribed by Pattrick Mould 2004, with permission from Peter Evans.

END OF EVANS2

Chemist Shop

The next building reached to within about five feet of the Federal Hotel. It contained five businesses at the same time, but some of these changed occupants after only a few years. The first section was the Chemist shop. This business may have been started at that time because the town had a resident Doctor. I do not remember the Chemist shop being open, but I do remember the sign Chemist being painted on the gable end of the verandah.

I remember Dr. Dunlop. He had a room at the Commercial Hotel for his surgery. At three years of age my sister fell off a horse and broke her arm. She was rushed into the Doctor who busied himself setting the arm. I will never forget the way that girl yelled when the Doctor pulled the broken bone into place and applied the wooden splints. At that time it was the right thing to do, but in the modern times we would consider it crude surgery.

About this time the Chemist shop closed and the shop and residence were taken over by Mr. Joe Green in connection with his auctioneering business. He conducted his business in these premises for many years, until he bought the Freehold of Heydes garage. He moved into the residence there, but retained the office for his own business.

Some time previous to this a tea room with a shop for the sale of fruit and confectionery was opened next door to Green's office by Evelyn and Alma McDonald, daughters of Sandy McDonald. This was about the time McDonald sold out of the Hotel. The girls carried the business on for some few years, then sold out to Dave McDonald. A few years in the business and Dave sold out to Paddy Buckley. When Paddy decided to move on he sold his interest to Jim Lazanus. He had the wall pulled out between the tea room and Green's office and opened a cafe which grew into a flourishing business very quickly. After a few years Lazanus sold out to Con Contos, and bought the Alpine Cafe in Cooma.

Contos built the business further over -the next few years and then sold to Bede Latham. Latham was still in the business when the building was gutted by fire in 1949 or 1950.

Contos had moved on to Cooma and taken over the Blue Bird Cafe.

Next Door

This store was contained in the same building, and was built by E.W. Cansdell. He also bought the property Highland Grange, and had the Cummins house built for his own residence. He was also responsible for the planting of the avenue of pine.

About the same time he bought the Rockdale property in his son Les's name.

He conducted the store for many years in conjunction with his auctioneering business. During his absence from the store it was managed by Mr. Sam Wilson. At this time the Wilson family lived in the old home that Alf Tozer demolished to build his home on the site. It was during the years that Cansdell conducted the store that he had the Federal Hotel built. He also had several houses built and acquired a lot more. He eventually sold all his interest in Nimmitabel and moved to Lake Cargellico. On leaving Nimity, he sold the store to John Fakhry.

John was an Asserian. He was a big man weighing around twenty stone or better and very strong. I witnessed him with other men unloading salt. Each man carried a bag of salt on his back, but John carried one under each arm. A bag of coarse salt weighs two hundred pounds.

Another stunt of John's was backing himself to pull a horse. His idea was to dig a hole and sit below ground level. Many of the navvies who had good heavy draught horses working on the line, took up the challenge. Most were disappointed. A horse or even a tractor does not have much power to move something below ground level.

When Fakhry went out of the business he sold to Phil Bracks. A few years and Bracks sold to Allam. About three years and Allam sold to Pilley. A few more years and Pilley sold to Mack Bros. Mack's were in the business when it was destroyed by fire in 1950. During Bracks occupancy of the 'store he also conducted an undertakers business with a very modern hearse and advertised that he had caskets on hand. This of course was in opposition to Pilley who had taken over the undertaking business from Morton when he purchased the Hospital store.

Billiard Salon

This was operated by Mr. Les Poole. At various times it was under a manager but Poole was always the Licensee. After many years he closed up and sold his equipment to J. Buckley.

There used to be a box-shaped lamp, over the door with E.L. POOLE Licensed billiards on or in the glass. There was also a clock on th e wall with a notice over it which read "I tick the Marker". I wonder what became of them.

Next Shop North

This was used for many years by Fakhry as a storeroom About 1916 it was opened as an auction mart. Sales were conducted every Saturday afternoon, the selling being done by Mr. Bun Silk. After a year or so it was taken over by Poole Bros. who used the front room as an office and the rear room for storage.

It was about this time that Poole Bros. purchased the old blacksmith shop, had it removed and built their office on the site .

This business carried on for many years, but upon the death of Les Poole, the remaining brother disposed of the business to Mr. Roy Clark, and Poole retired to Tathra. Clark carried the business on for several years but eventually sold the business to Hope Harnett. Harnett died after a couple of years in the business and the building Was sold and moved to the park where it is used in conjunction with the tennis courts. Clark retired to Tumut in the first place and later to Numeralla.

After Pooles vacated the Fakhry premises, they remained closed for a time but were eventually opened by George Welsh as a boot repair shop. About two years and Welsh shut up shop and moved on to parts unknown.

The premises remained closed for a further term until they were opened as a butchers shop by Mr. Leo Clare. Clare was still in the business when it was gutted by fire in 1950. After the fire, there were beautiful barbecued steak, chops and sausages on the floor, but all were overdone.

Federal Hotel

I believe the first Licensee of these premises, was Tommy Moran. Moran also had the coaching too and from Cooma Bombala and Bega. He was credited with having found the crossing over the Nunnock River the other side of Bemboka. Hence the name Morans Crossing.

My earliest recollections of the Hotel would be about 1-010 when my older sister and I were sent there to deliver poultry and eggs. The entrance to the yard could only be described as a quagmire, and the yard was little better. The stables were full of horses, the yard was full of coaches, and the livery man was busily engaged greasing harness, coach axles and tending horses. On leaving the Pub yard we went opposite to the farrier to get shoes replaced on our horse. Whilst there two coaches came out of the Pub yard. The horses were logged to their bellies, the coaches to their axles and the Coachman applying the whip until the coach reached the road if such it could be called.

The greatest cruelty I have ever witnessed was to coach horses and teams of bullocks. The internal combustion engine was the greatest thing that ever happened for these animals. The completion of the railway from Cooma and the coming of the motor-driven vehicles phased out the coaches. Thankfully goodbye to one of our rottenest eras.

The next Licensee was -- Mullins. I do not remember much about these folk, but remember staying at the pub one night in company of my father. One of the girls tried to kiss me, and to me this was a terrible thing to have to happen, but I escaped after a big struggle. That was seventy years ago. I wish they would try it now.

The next Licensee were the Mudies. Prior to coming to Nimity, they held the License of the Bemboka hotel. Alex Mudie was his own best customer and died as a result. So also did his two sons Ray and Pat from the same source. As far as I know Alex Mudie could be buried in Bemboka, but there is also an Alex Mudie buried in the Mount Cooper cemetery. Ray and Pat are both buried at Nimitybelle.

One of these men conducted a shooting gallery between the Hotel and the butchers shop. This was in railway construction days and was patronised well by the navvies on Saturday afternoon. Pools were formed and the shoot was for winner take all.

I witnessed a young aboriginal who had either drunk all his money or been frisked, make a small mound of sand in the gutter and stand a needle point-upwards in the sand. He then stood on his hands, feet in the air, and lowered himself down

until his eye was close enough to the needle to close his eye lids on the point, lift the needle out of the sand and spring back on his feet. For this effort he received about six shillings from the navvies watching.

It was during the first stage of the railway construction when the navvies decided to take over the pub. The publican and his barman were seized and thrown out, and the navvies put their own barmen in. Police were called, but what could two police do against two hundred or more navvies. Finally a call was made to Cooma and Bombala for help. As the police had to travel by horseback, it was hours before they arrived.

During this lapse of time the navvies drank most of the bottled grog and threw the empty bottles through the window breaking every pane of glass. Mirrors were broken, and many bottles on the shelves were broken by pelting empties at them. Any man who left the bar did not get back in so most relieved themselves against the bar. By the time the police arrived the urine was running out the front door, across the street and into the gutter.

The police played rough and quickly broke up the demonstration, arresting the garrulous and drunks, and dispersing the remainder. This was one time they did not get away with a two-and-six fine.

Another occasion I well remember was when a travelling circus came to town. A circus hand on a big white horse rode up the front steps and up to the bar. After a couple of drinks he rode on through the hall and up the back steps to the toilet. When he came back into the hallway the police were waiting for him but he was much too agile for them. He let them handcuff him, but in less time than it took them he slipped the manacles off and threw them out of the window. They then reasoned with him to come down to the Police Station which he did, but on reaching the gate they decided to arrest him. They again handcuffed him, but again he slipped off the manacles and threw them up on the roof of the Police residence and returned to the pub, got his horse and retired to his circus camp.

The police then summonsed him. He appeared in court next morning and was fined. The circus proprietor paid the fine and there was an excellent roll up to see him perform.

A report of the incident was published in the Bombala, Delegate and South Coast papers and attracted bumper attendances. It was then that the police woke up it was an advertising stunt. It certainly left a couple of red-faced cops in the old town.

The next Licensee was Adams. Like the Mudies he was his own best customer, and obtained the same result. At his death Mrs. Adams sold to Daniels. Daniels for a short while had Lillierist managing for him. He was not in the business very long before he sold to Russ Burns. Burns transferred the licence temporarily during his absence overseas to Mick Lewis. On his return Lewis moved on to Bombala, and Burns took charge for

a"ther couple of years. During Lewis's tenancy a fire destroyed not many rooms at the rear, lessening the accommodation quota.

In recent years extensive alterations and renovations have been made, and a thriving business is now being conducted by Joyce and Abby Payten.

Cafe

To the north of the Hotel where the Cafe now stands were two residences. They stood back some twenty feet from the street and had high verandahs with steps up to them. They were occupied by two of Mrs. Mudies sons-in-law, George Ward in the first, and Les Poole in the second. They were pulled down and the present building was erected for a billiards saloon, a barbers shop and a bank office for the Commercial Bank.

The saloon and barbers shop were conducted by Jack Buckley for many years. He eventually sold to Tom Buckley. As Tom's health was deteriorating, he sold the billiards equipment and closed down.

The building was then leased by Mrs. Tozer who opened it as a Cafe and mixed business. After years of successful trading she sold the business to Mrs. Williams. She carried the business on for a number of years but with failing health it was sold to Mrs. Hazel Walker who carried it on for two or three years before selling to Mr. and Mrs. Rootsey.

Nimity Wares

The next building where Nimity Wares was, was originally a residence. About 1913 or 14 it was opened as a fruit shop by Mrs. Mullane. However she did not stay long before she closed up shop and moved on.

Some time later it was opened by P. Reed as an office and auction mart in connection with his auctioneering business. Reed held on to the lease until he gave up the auctioneering and bought the Sheehy property where Amos Blyton now lives.

About 1932 the building was leased by John Peters and son Jack. John Senior did blacksmithing on the sunny side of the building whilst John Junior did boot repairs in the backroom. Many wrinkles in boot repairs he got from Gordy Stephenson who had just served a gaol term for the murder of John Jarvis. During his term in gaol he learnt the trade of boot repairing. It was not many years however before the Peters' moved on to Cooma. John Junior conducted a sawmill, and John Senior retired.

Saddlery

My earliest recollection of the next building which has now been demolished was when the Allen family were in residence in the back portion, and a front room was used as a shop for the sale of fruit, vegies and confectionery.

A few short years and Allen shut up shop and moved into the premises near the Post Office.

The next occupant of the building was Mr. X. Quail of Cooma who opened a saddlery business there. When Quail had cleaned up most of the local saddlery he shut up shop and moved back to Cooma.

It was not long however before the shop was again opened as a saddlery by J. Perkins, he and his wife residing in the back rooms.

A few months and Perkins' wife was getting too friendly with the local constable, he was obliged to close the business and move on to parts unknown.

After this closure it was bought by Jack Buckley senior who with his wife lived there until they died. It then became home of J. Buckley junior. He sold it after selling his interests in the billiards saloon and retired to Merimbula.

In the corner of the yard towards the Hotel grew a very big weeping willow. The branches of this tree weeped onto the road embankment forming a perfect arch over the footpath for twenty feet or more. As school boys, we delighted in sitting on the embankment in the shade and extreme coolness. But the powers that be had it cut down.

Boot Snob

The next building was in Stove's truck yard, about half way across it. It had originally been a small bake house, but I never remember bread being baked there. In his latter years Walter McDonald conducted his boot repair business in the building. At Walter's death the building was pulled down and the site cleaned up.

Butchery

The next building was the butchers shop owned and operated by Mr. H. McDonald. It was a very old building and business, and was there as far back as I can remember. He, with a bit of help from his brother-in-law (Cyril Thornton) did the slaughtering for the shop. When his health failed in late years he was compelled to close the business down.

When Clear's shop was destroyed in the 1950 fire, he leased the shop from McDonald, and once again we had a butcher.

This arrangement was short lived, however, for Joe McLennon built the present shop and equipped it with modern tools and refrigeration and the business never looked back until central killing was introduced. Clear disposed of his interests and retired to Goulburn.

Residence

From the butchers shop to Bentley Street was the residence of Mr. & Mrs. McDonald. At McDonald's death the Freehold was sold to John Jardine who used one of the rooms as an office. During the next years or so Jardine built an office and workshop back from the street, and had the old home demolished. When disposing of his town interests, the lot was purchased by Burnie Stove who still retains it.

The Park

The original survey of the Town designated the land between the creek and the old Bega Road in front of Mr. Bernie Stove's residence as the Park. Up until about 1913 this site was used as the town rubbish tip. It was an awful sight, especially for those entering or leaving the town by way of the Bega Road. Literally speaking, rubbish was piled mountains high.

Through the efforts of my father bringing pressure to bear on the Lands Department through the Local Member, he got the present site gazetted as a park. Shortly after the change-over the rubbish was cleaned up by removal to the present tip. I remember the men with horses and carts removing the rubbish and think they must have been employed by the Council. Apart from getting on somebody's back, I cannot imagine the Lands Department doing anything.

The ribbony gums on the eastern side were set by my father and were obtained below the "Minton" house. Over the years (they were planted in 1930) they were subjected to heavy lopping by the P.M.G. Department. Not until the wires were put underground did the P.M.G. decide to leave them alone.

The memorial to honour fallen men of World War One was financed by donation, and was created a year or so after hostilities ceased.

The building and tennis courts were financed and managed by the Country Club.

The stone table, seating and flagging at the drinking fountain were financed by the Garden Club. It was at this site that the Nimitybelle water scheme was declared open officially in 1964.

The play equipment was provided by a Government Grant through the local Council.

The first fence surrounding the Park was of netting wire with two barbs on top. This fence lasted about 40 years until replaced with the present rail fence.

The memorial gate was financed by moneys raised locally, chiefly by donation. The stone was obtained from Mr. Pad Rose's property "Parkside", and is called Schista by the Mines Department. The erecting was done by Mr. Frank Wormwell who proved himself an excellent tradesman. It is of interest to note that Frank also built the Memorial to Fred Piper at the Lookout at Brown Mountain. The stonework provided by the Garden Club was done by Tony Golby.

The official opening of the Nimitybelle Water Supply was done by our Local M.L.A. Mr. Jack Seiffert.

Railway

There are sections of the construction of the line by the Coonerang Siding I remember quite well. At one point it was on my father's property "Fountain Head". This is now part of "Coonerang" .

The other section was from Blackflat to the station. This section was done by contract, the firm doing the job being Hendrick & Knutson.

The spoil was loosened with a plough, built like a single-furrowed farm plough, weighing probably a ton, and pulled by a team of 22 bullocks. The blasting was very heavy through the cuttings, and also for the excavation at the station.

It was a red-letter day for Nimitybelle the day the line opened. Although my father was instrumental in getting the line to Nimitybelle, the honour of officially opening the line was given to Mr. John Jardine, who was my father's greatest opponent to the scheme, contending the line should go through Maffra.

However opening day did arrive, a ribbon was held across the track, the whistle was to blow, Miss Mabel Jardine was to smash a bottle of champagne on the engine, her father would cut the ribbon and the train would steam through.

' The slipup came when Mabel was handed the champagne. The bottle slipped through her hands and broke on the rail and proceedings were held up whilst another bottle was obtained from town.

This incident was the joke of the town and district for years, some folk contending that she threw the bottle at the railway engine and missed it.

About 11.00 a.m. the train was taken back to Rock Flat where its passengers enjoyed a picnic lunch. A whole bullock was roasted over at the rocks. Apart from the outside getting well charred, the middle never cooked at all. About 2.30 p.m. the train returned to Nimitybelle. A lot of passengers waited at Rock Flat for a night train which they were informed would be running. The train consisted of four or five carriages of the suburban type, one compartment full length. The seats were the reversible type, and were made of cane.

The service started immediately to move passengers and freight on a tri-weekly basis (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). As this section of the line had to serve Bombala, Delegate districts and the South Coast it was not long before the goods were banking up in the goods shed.

As the line to Bombala was closed down on the outbreak of War in 1914 it was found necessary to operate the service on a six-day-a-week basis. It was no uncommon thing to see half a dozen horse teams loading at the one time. This was when the motor lorries first made their appearance to move loading too and from the Bombala district.

The first Station Master was Mr. Atwell, and he was a busy man with many problems. One big problem was the disappearance of sugar from the goods shed. Every consignment of sugar when moved would have a number of half empty bags. The Station Master at last discovered that somebody was getting under the shed and by pushing an auger through a crack in the floor would bore a hole in a bag of sugar and catch the flow in a tub. This went on until the local Constable spent part of a night under the shed and got his man.

When World War One ended the construction of the line to Bombala was continued to completion. Practically the whole of the ballast for the line was quarried and crushed at the big quarry opposite Mr. Donald Rankins now deserted residence. The area between the quarry and the road was covered with tents, as also was the paddock where the sawmill now is situated.

The years have seen many special trains run for various occasions. One worthy of mention was for the Prince of Wales, an other a few years later for the Duke of York. Both were taken to Bombala and then on to Melbourne by special car. A small crowd gathered at the Nimity Station to see these Royal trains go through but were stood back by the police. It appeared as if the police were keeping Royalty away from the people, rather than the people away from Royalty.

Another train worthy of mention was the Great White Tra which was brought here in October 1926. It was a very long and heavy train and had to be brought to Nimity in two parts, the line being too light to sustain the weight. It had high educational va value, demonstrating the manufacture of many articles including spinning and weaving.

Vandalism was rife for some time but seems to have abated in recent years. At present it looks like the line from Cooma to Bombala will close down. The motor car and truck have proved too strong in competition.

About 1930 we had a very heavy fall of snow. The train travelled from Cooma to Bobingah, with a lot of slipping. The cutting at Bobingah was full of snow and the train could not get through, only about half way. The driver backed up the line and rushed it, gaining some ground. The next back-up brough trouble. When they rushed the snow it had packed up into ice, the locomotive ran up on the ice, and sat up on its rear end tipping the driver and fireman into the tender. There was no way the train could be backed now, so steam from the boiler was used to melt the ice and let the wheels down onto the rails.

Some three hours later a very thirsty engine and train limped into the Nimitybelle water tank. After taking in water it continued on towards Bombala but it never got there, nor did it return.

It was many hours before it was located in a snow filled cutting. Another engine was sent from Cooma to haul it back to the station.

The next day the Sydney dailies carried the headlines - Trail lost in snow at Nimmitabel. The following week the London newspapers carried the headlines - Train loaded with passengers lost in snow in Australia.

I knew the Guard on that train. He had been on it for many years. His name Bill McMahon. Last year travelling to Sydney, I met Bill on the train, and spent some time relating some of his experiences on the train between Cooma and Bombala, and particularly the day the train got lost. Bill, like myself has retired, and is living with memories of the years that have gone by. The total cost of constructing the line to Bombala was 1 1/2 million pounds.

The Old Mill

As far as I can gather from enquiries made in my youth years from old men of the day - P. Slavin, J. Evans, R. Kirwan the mill could have been built in the 1850's.

It was built by John Geldmacher, its purpose to turn the mill stones by wind power to

grind wheat for flour etc. Like enterprising people of today, he was sat on by the

general public, claiming the shadow of the sails going around would frighten horses.

He then procured a steam engine and cut timber in a small way. He cut the flooring and some other timber for the Presbyterian Church, the balance being cut by Hutchison & Sons. I was told by Alex Hutchison the trees to cut the flooring were felled where the rubbish tip now is situated.

John was also a cabinet maker, and made the pews and pulpit for the same church but it does not appear to be local timber. Before he conducted the Hospital store, he conducted a store where Mrs. Burke now lives. He also owned the land where I live, but not the house which was built many years after he moved on. The hawthorns and trees were planted about 130 years ago. I was told by Mr. Sam McDonald that during John's occupancy of this lot he kept the hawthorns trimmed at fence height and always tidy. If Sam meant this for a hint, I did not take it.

At this stage I am going to deviate from the Old Mill to tell of a few buildings in the close proximity to where I live because these were connected to the Geldmacher era.

Now more about the old mill. In 1912 the upper floors were in the mill. As boys we used to go to the top floor for a view of the town. The floors were connected by a type of ship ladder, the roof was of shingle. As Norton held the lease together with the store he used the ground floor for a stable and the first floor for a feed shed. When Norton sold out to Pilley, the latter took the agency for Texaco motor spirit and used the base floor for a fuel storage. The wind eventually tore the shingles off and let the water in. The Monaro Shire obtained a grant to reroof it and put new windows in. They took the last floor out and locked the mill up. This was a shame for during the 1960 period I saw dozens of tourists assend to the first floor to have a snap taken of themselves looking out of a window on the western side. The closing up of the mill killed 95% of tourist interest in it, and most of local interest.

The stone seat was financed by the Garden Club and was built by Tony Golby. Both stone jobs are a credit to a novice builder.

Industry

I would say the first industry would be brickmaking. As previously stated the first bricks were made at "Minton". The second shift was to a position where the rubbish tip is now located. When the tip started there were hundreds of pieces of broken brick lying around. I have never had any confirmation of this being a brick area from any of the old hands, but don't doubt it could be so.

The big lot of bricks were made at "Mushey Flat". That is the flat on your right about 1 1/2 miles along the old Bega Road.

The bricks were made by Sil Powning, and as everything was done by hand, it was a hard way to make a living.

As children going to school we often called at the brickworks to watch them being made. The mould was filled and pressed by hand and racked for drying, and covered with iron until cured. They were then transported by wheelbarrow to the kiln where they were again hand stacked.

I recall a time in 1911 when I was sent with my brother to get two loads of bricks to build two chimneys and a sheep dip at "Green Bank" where we lived at the time. I was sent to help load bricks. I don't remember loading many bricks, but I do remember jamming more fingers than I thought I had.

When the last kiln of bricks was burnt, Powning sold them in the kiln to John Fakhry. This was the last of the brick making at "Mushey Flat".

Incidently, Powning lived where John Ingram now lives When John Malins house was being built at the McLaughlin River, he gave a contract to L. Stafford of Tathra to burn the bricks locally. These were burnt about 300 yards down the flat from where Col Ffrost lives.

END OF EVANS3