In Search of a Title

How To Keep Cool

2012-05-28T10:19:28Z

From the Daily Telegraph, 9 September 1899:

The thermometer 92deg. in the shade in London in July. Hence the following with accompanying illustration, from the "Daily Mail"-

"When everyone is trying to solve the problem of how to keep cool, it is not surprising that the always-willing-to-oblige inventor should come forward with suggestions for improving the lot of perspiring humanity. The [below] illustration embodies the more or less Quixotic devices for keeping cool which the heat wave has brought forth.

"A penny releases a miniature blizzard from an automatic machine which sets an electric fan working. The pocket-stove used in Arctic countries has its counterpart in the pocket refrigerator, while the small electric battery in the hip-pocket sends a current of cool air through the coil which encircles the legs. London is not adopting these inventions with any degree of enthusiasm."

H is for... Homes, Strange

2012-05-14T11:18:25Z

Today I came across this odd story in a copy of the Examiner (28 October 1899) and not having an H entry, I thought I'd share it.

MEN WHO LIVE IN STRANGE HOMES

FROM A FURNACE-BOILER TO THE SKELETON OF A WHALE.
Many men have made their homes in strange places; but perhaps the strangest habitation of them all is the rusty, battered furnace-boiler in the Erie Basin, Brooklyn, in which "Old Moore, " as he was commonly called, spent 40 years of lonely life, and in which he recently died.

"Old Moore's" history is strangely pathetic. In early manhood he was captain of a large merchant ship plying between Brooklyn and the East Indies. On his last voyage he married a native girl, of rare beauty, and was proudly bringing his bride to America, when his vessel was caught in a hurricane and dashed to pieces, every life but his own being lost.

He never recovered from the shock of losing his young wife; and day after day for 40 years he would row out to sea in the hope that he might at last find her body. Among the piled-up wreckage in the Erie Basin, hulls of abandoned coal-boats, old machinery, anchors, furnaces, and the debris of neighbouring factories, he found on old furnace-boiler, part of which was lined with abestos, and in these narrow, but warm, quarters, only 7ft. long, 4ft. wide, and 6ft. high, he made his home. He converted a broken steam shovel into a stove, and on it he cooked the few fish he caught. He never spoke a word to any soul except an occasional greeting to the watchman; and steadily declined all offers of sympathy and help.

In a home still smaller, and almost equally strange, a Tennessee man and his wife have lived for a generation, and brought up a stalwart family of 11 children. The home consists of a hollow tree, 7ft. in diameter, perched high on the side of an East Tennessee mountain. The floor is made of rough slabs, split from smaller tree trunks, dry leaves form comfortable beds, and the skins of animals a sufficient covering, while the entire furniture consists of an axe, a rifle, and a hunting knife, an iron pot, a water pail, two or three large gourds, a bread tray, and a meal bag.

In Wisconsin a party of hunters recently discovered a wild man living in a cave in the side of a huge bluff, partly covered with undergrowth. The man, who was apparently about 60 years old, had nearly lost all human likeness. His matted hair and beard almost enveloped him; his clothing consisted of a single sack wrapped around his body; and he had lived so long in the pine forest that he had lost all knowledge of human speech, and could only jabber incoherently.

His arms and legs were so enormously strong that he could lift a weight of half a ton as easily as a strong man could lift a hundredweight, and the soles of his feet were literally as hard as iron.

At Funfkirchen, in Hungary, a former landowner of great wealth has for many years led a similar savage life, roaming the woods by day in search of food, and spending the nights in caves or trees.

In the wildest part of the Alleghanies a party of hunters discovered a cabin nestling among the rocks on a barren hill-side. The occupant of this cabin--probably the most solitary in the world--was a middle-aged woman, of education and refinement, who retired to it from the world ten years ago.

It would be difficult, however, to find a more remarkable home than that which a fisherman has made for himself in an island off the coast of Labrador. 'This ingenious man has converted the skeleton of a whale, the carcase of which had drifted ashore, into a snug residence, which defies wind and weather; and here he leads, rent free, the life of a Jonah--only with a longer lease of the whale.

(The same article turns up in a NZ paper so I assume it originally appeared in an American publication. Beyond that, I've no idea of the source of the tales, and I don't care :)

G is for... Graffiti & Gaols.

2012-05-07T11:49:37Z

I didn't feel like writing something for G, so some themed photos.

Penitentiary, Port Arthur

Shipwright's house, Port Arthur

Richmond Gaol

Richmond Gaol, detail

Darlington, Maria Island

Darlington, Maria Island (only photos I have, sorry)

Cell door, Beechworth

Cells at Beechworth, detail.

Penitentiary Chapel, Hobart

Former court holding cells, Hobart

Former court holding cells, Hobart

City Watch House, Melbourne

City Watch House, Melbourne

F is for... Female Factory

2012-04-28T07:47:37Z

Cascade Female Factory, although I'm not going to talk about the background to the site or factories in general because I have before and there are better places to read it. So, if you have no idea what I'm about, check the links. If you do, or don't care, stay here and look at pretty pictures.

The first time I came here was about 1999, and the site was just this yard, with a fudge factory next door who did tours of the site once a week. It has changed considerably since then, reflecting the increased interest in researching female convicts, which combines two areas of history that were once neglected but are now quite popular.

I didn't think it'd been that long since my last visit here, but there are obvious developments. Some of which are noticeable from the street.

This photo is actually from 2005, but it looks the same as it did years earlier. You can probably guess from this photo what looks different from out in the street.

Mostly the area was just a lot of grass, with that stuff over in the corner.

Now looking from that back corner, you can see it has gained a two-storey, covered thing.

Also from the back corner, I did a silly panorama thing. Click on it to get the bigger version.

Before going down to the two-storey, covered thing for a closer look, some photos of bits of the yard.

The stuff in the corner is some information panels that give the history of the site over the years.

The walls are interesting, because they have blocked off doors and bits where the intermediate floors were and other stuff.

The view from the two-storey, covered thing isn't all that interesting.

Although you can see over into the next yard. Heading there now, through that doorway.

I'd spent the previous day telling people to crouch down, watch their heads, be careful of the low beams. That is not low headroom.

This is Yard 3. The covered thing is display from an archaeological dig, earlier in the century. Off to the left

is the memorial garden.

There are some plaques in there too.

As I said, the development of the site started after the late 90s :)

Looking from garden, towards the main entrance and the archaeological exhibition, which I'm going over to now.

Although it is a bit sunny, and camera does not like that.

Another new development, an information centre and small shop.

As I leave this past, look back towards Yard 1 and Mt Wellington.

Further along the road, is the remains of Yard 4 (nursery wing) and the matron's cottage.

That wall, like the one in front of the previous yard/visitor centre, is made from bits of rocks enclosed in mesh. It's another of the new developments.

And to finish off, that's the street running along the side.

E is for... Endeavour (bet you weren't expecting that)

2012-04-21T07:22:55Z

This one has taken me a while to get to. I had to edit the photos, work out which I wanted to use and then upload them (click, click, click for each one). Still too many photos for one post, so I'm doing two.

Second post will be some photos I think are interesting along with some observations on how information is passed around in groups.

Today's post is an overview of the ship as you'd encounter it on a visit. If you do get a chance to visit her and you haven't, it's worth it. I think a lot of people, at least in Hobart--judging by the number of visitors who didn't put enough money in the parking meter--don't realise what they'll be getting to see. She's a floating museum. I think something like $17 million was put into her over six years (and during a recession). The attention to detail is incredible: clothing & blanket are hand sewn, hand woven, from the original places where possible; letters are on handmade paper, hand copied from originals; all the ship's measurements are as accurate as they could make them. She might be a secondary source, at best, but a fascinating source.

Once onboard, there are about ten positions (depending on how many guides are available) each with a guide who'll tell you something about that part of the ship. If it's very busy, each group should only be at each position for 2 minutes. At quieter times "they should be through in an hour, unless they want to stay longer and talk".

I won't include the spiel for positions, because I did that last time, with day by day accounts and then one long post with all the actual information and some night photos.

So you go onboard here.

Then up to the foredeck, where I've still managed not to be stationed, so you'll have to make do with just images.

Although I will draw your attention to the flag.

Taken later in the day.

Then you head down there, to the ladder that will take you below, which I managed to avoid getting a photo of (the black mass to the left is the cover over it).

From above, it looks much steeper and the first step is a bit off-putting, but you just have to grab the rope, turn around and go down it like a ladder, watch your head there and hold the ropes on the sides.

Once your eyes adjust, the first stop below is the fire hearth, which seems to me to be a bad idea. You've come onboard, you want to look around this ship thing, but first you have to wait while someone rambles on about a stove.

Although it is an interesting stove. The bulk of it is intended to provide boiled rations for sixty sailors twice a day, every day for three years, but it can also bake bread & pies (lower right corner, easier to see in other post) and at the rear is a spit and other cooking accessories.

Late-18th century, state of the art, all-in-one cooking centre.

Around there, and the first decent view of the whole mess deck. The only real source of light here is the coal hatch.

Postion 3, and some more discussion about food and utensils and the cat. Food is important when you're out in the middle of nowhere and a long way from home.

Position 4 is the starboard side of the mess deck, where you hear about the hammocks, the other cat, why the next bit is so low and, if the guide has had time to think, how the crew were divided into watches.

The marines' hammocks (between crew and officers) in a place that is low and dark. If you see the guy on the right, he's crouching down because there's no room to stand.

Same area but to the right a bit, and this is position 4. Can you see the guide behind the fire extinguisher? (Long exposures are fun.)

Behind that, position 5 (Midi Mates Mess) is closed because there aren't enough guides. A pity, because I think it's the most interesting area, and gives a better idea about the operation of a working ship than some of the positions that were open.

So, up the ladder.

Into this bit and watch your head as you straighten up, there's a beam in just the right place, then around here

into the Officers' Mess. Draw up a chest and sit down. The ceiling is still low in here, but the average height of a man at the time was about 5'5, which is taller than me, and as you can see, I can't quite stand up in here. Around the edge are the cabins of the gentlemen

including the artists, Mr Parkinson and his friend Mr Buchan--I say friend because they both hung their hammocks in here so they must have been friendly--

and the astronomer, Mr Green (insert bit about the Transit of Venus, which is why the ship was in this bit of the world to start with).

Now through to the Great Cabin (and that door on the right is fucking low, no apologies, I almost knocked myself out) which on a sensible ship is the domain of the captain.

When I was in Devonport, I hated being in here. Visitors came through in dribs and drabs, and wandered looking at things, and I couldn't tell if they were listening to me, or if I should stop and start again. This time, they came through in defined groups, who stood and listened, and then looked about. And there was room to pace (on the right) and make grand arm gestures. It was one of my favourite positions (fortunately, as they kept rostering me here A LOT).

To the right (center in photo) is Joseph Banks' cabin. He, and his gentlemen, made good use of the Great Cabin and its table (hence the comment I started my spiel with).

He was, I'm told, 6'4 tall. The bed is no where near that long.

When you're done in here, go back through the Officers' Mess

and up this ladder, around to the right, and one cross each.

Sun! Air! Space!

Looking back down, you can get an idea of how steep these things look from the top and that's much shorter than the ladder down to the mess deck.

So you come up on the right there, past the capstan which we will ignore unless someone specifically asks about it, and past the skylight, which is the one over the Officers' Mess

to the Quarterdeck, which is the control centre of the ship.

From here, you can see right down the length of the ship, and (waving arms) right around everywhere.

The swivel guns, for seeing off hostile visitors.

Also one of my favourite positions, when I got to talk. I was rostered here first thing on my final day. You spend half an hour or an hour in each position before changing, and it's the last position and visitors take about an hour to move through the ship... so I had a lot of time to take photos.

From the quarterdeck, you down the port side of the ship (left/behind the mizzen mast here) and then across to the walkways, and don't forget to stop at the merchandise tent on the way out.

Interlude: random things

2012-04-16T11:52:04Z

Some notes from this afternoon, from things at museum that are of no interest to anyone but me so stop reading

When I got in today, I sat down to the box that I'd left two weeks ago (on account of it being Easter last week and therefore the museum wasn't open, the behind the scenes parts anyway) and the top page was a warrant signed by John Price. There are two items that fit this description, one with a registration number and accompanying description "Warrant signed by John Price" and another without a number. When I came across the latter, I assumed it was the one referred to, wrote the number on it and put it away. Two weeks ago I came across another one with the correct number, grumbled about it, wondered who John Price was that his signature was so noted, recorded the location of each item and removed the number from the first item, which was therefore sitting on top of my workbox. (It's been folded in six and has torn along the folds, so I put cardboard behind it to sort of hold it together. It stands out.) During the two weeks just gone I had read that Price was a commandant on Norfolk Island. However, on looking at the much folded piece of paper, he was a police magistrate in Hobart when he signed it. So, of course, I had to find out a bit more.

It seems he was commandant just after the revolt on NI, and oversaw the resulting trials and mass hangings, and he seems to have been, well, the man responsible for much of Norfolk Island's lovely reputation. Also the basis of Clarke's character Maurice Frere in For The Term Of His Natural Life. After the NI settlement was closed, he became Inspector-General of Penal Establishments in Victoria and in 1857 was beaten to death by a bunch of prisoners from one of the hulks (Success actually.) Obviously a popular man.

I should say one or two of the stones struck him, for he put up his hand, immediately. It was his right hand, but I cannot say for a certainty. Ashe turned round, his hand was at the back of his head. I did not positively see any stone strike him. He stooped down as he turned, and came towards me, and the whole body of the men rushed between him and myself, and stones were thrown at him, and in the direction of myself and the chief warder. (From report on inquest in the Argus)

Then I got down to recording the remaining contents of the box, which involved lists of prisoners transferred from (English) hulks to transport ships. These were interesting because they listed name, crime, age, trial details and behaviour in gaol/hulk. Nothing unusual there, but usually when I'm looking at such things, I'm after a particular person, or its just a list of names and numbers. I haven't read through a complete list, with comments. It was, yeah, interesting. I might transcribe one rather than try to give examples. (But a rather disreputable lot on the Westmorland at least.)

Next box promised to be rather dull, if heavy. Heavy enough that I decided to leave it on the shelf and just note its registration number, which identified it as an accounts book for a local business. One little problem in that its registration number was the same as for another unrelated item and I'd noted that one of these numbers was probably a typo (both had 1958 numbers, and one should have been 1959). The other item was a big book. Big as in, every person who sees it says "That's a big book". Big as in, it lives on a bottom shelf in a box with warnings about being heavy and it must only be lifted by 2 people. We'd pulled it out last year and although it had no number or description on it, once we looked at its contents and checked the date range against the list in my spreadsheet it was obviously "Launceston police records book, 1854-55".

Anyway, back to today's accounts book, I asked Ross (the Community History Guy) to help me take it out to see what number it actually had on it. So after afternoon tea, we pulled it out and opened it up, and two things were immediately obvious. It did have the correct number, it being written inside the cover, and it wasn't an accounts book. Names, charges, witnesses, result, under the supervision of Willam Gunn (police magistrate). Another police record book? So this seems to be what the number belongs with, so what about the earlier bigger book? (Insert bad words.)

Noting the date, Ross had me look for a case he knew about but we couldn't find it. We picked out a few names at random and found them in newspapers reports via Trove, including one I might read up some more on, and many pages from March 3 (drunk in the street, drunk in a public place, drunk in a public house(!), assaulting constables etc)

Country Visitors. — With the races, arrived many labouring men from the country to witness the sports, and a corresponding increase of names of offenders appeared on the charge sheet at the police-office on Monday. Forty-five offenders were introduced into the presence of the Police Magistrate during the day, that gentleman remarking that most of the delinquents were men from the country, who, receiving high wages, came to town to have a "spree". (From the Cornwall Chronicle

See what happens when you pay workers too much?

Back to the original big book with its warnings. When we pulled that out and, on closer examination, it was tables of something tallied by date. Once I jumped over it and read it from the other side (see, big!), it seemed to be noting the number of hours? worked off a sentence. Considering the years, it was possibly recording probation period work, so we grabbed a name at random and went to the archives site to see if our man was on the convict index and what was he up to on the date given. Getting sentenced to 14 days hard labour for being drunk it seemed. Back to the book and (noting the 14 next to his name) it seemed the book was recording the serving of this sentence. Ross noted that the magistrate was Wm Gunn and went to check the big-but-not-that-big police records book. I grabbed another name (Samuel Box) to confirm what we thought, and found that on the date given he was sentenced to three months hard labour for being drunk. Ross meanwhile was getting excited because he found our first guy's case in the record book and he went to find Jon the Curator. I went back to the big book that confirms Box still had 88 days to go at the end of the last recorded month, and then I found his case in the big book. And Jon comes in and gets excited too. Documents that tie in with each and provide a new perspective (in this case, the actual details of a sentence being carried out).

We went back to the archive records to see if we could find a reference to the case that wasn't in the book by looking up the conduct record for the guilty party, but there were half a dozen matches with the same name so we only checked two. I was curious to see an entry in the index for a local conviction for 1871 (after the time, I thought, when they were differentiating between Imperial prisoners and local). One of those we did look up, after the usual getting in trouble, getting TL, getting CP, had an entry in a different/bold hand noting he'd been tried for attempted rape in 1871. I went back to check the other 1871 entry to see if it was the same case, despite one being born locally and one being in import, but it was a different date and for sheepstealing. (Two guys, same not-that-common surname, convicted same year, I wonder how often they got mixed up?)

Then the "This museum will be closing in 15 minutes" announcement came over the PA and I thought it should get packed up so I could get to the library before it closed.

So what was my rather interesting (and educational) afternoon. And I wonder why my brain keeps ticking over with new ideas to write 

D is for... Dressed for the Voyage

2012-04-15T00:58:14Z

Dressed for the Voyage was a fashion exhibition I walked past on the Hobart waterfront, so I went back the next day (which was its final day) to see if it was worth checking out. It was only a gold coin donation to get in.

I asked the lady at the desk if I could take photos. She wasn't keen--she'd had bad experiences with people posting photos of her dresses under their own names & trying to sell them--but she agreed I could. So don't pinch copies of these and post them elsewhere, OK?

The idea behind the exhibition is clever. Stories about passengers on the Titanic

alongside a costume of the sort they might have worn.

Some very lovely dresses.

And not all dresses :)

This was my favourite dress, so it gets shown twice :)

On a per $ basis, better than the Titanic exhibition I went to at Melbourne museum.

C is for... things not talked about

2012-04-14T07:01:12Z

At least not until 40-50 years ago. Sort of. The Port Arthur site was developed in the 1970s, so I guess that contributed. It's a bit hard to ignore something when it's your state's premier tourist attraction, but the place has been a tourist destination since the site was closed a century earlier. And we were obviously taught about things in school because when I started doing family history it was different (school history: transportation didn't work because most of the men came from the cities & didn't know anything about farming; family history: shepherds, ploughmen, farm labourers) and of course the oft repeated line about them all being poor unfortunates who were picked up for stealing a loaf of bread or an apple.

So when I say not talked about, you know what I really mean. But it was something that happened out on the edges, in remote place Port Arthur, Maria Island and Macquarie Harbour. There are people who even today will tell you that. Like the lady at Somercotes who told us ticket of leave were given to men who had left Port Arthur, and I've seen similar comments in general history books and of course on various places on the Internet. (Reality, which of course I don't need to tell anyone reading this, is the men were sent out to work in the community, which is what makes the era so interesting. What sort of society do you have when more or less half of your population is prisoners under sentence? When the bulk of your labour force-- farm workers, clerk, mailmen, police--is prisoners of the crown?)

And that's the men. Women were even less talked about. Even as recently as the turn of this century, it doesn't seem to have been common knowledge. Comments on mailing lists, for example (Women?! Yes, and children!). The first time I came across a mention of the female factory at Cascades, in a bookshop in Hobart, late in the 1990s.

I don't know how widely known such things are now. In the circles I move in, such topics and women in particular have become very popular. For good reason, there's a lot not known, a lot that's been lost and so a lot to (re)discover.

Flicking through that chapter in the book of readings for one of my history units, I notice some changing perspectives. An extract from one book presents the women sent to NSW as being young, skilled as housemaids, cooks etc, and generally literate; rather than a wide range of ages and a larger percentage of factory workers that you'd expect if you took a true cross section of working class women. Similarly with the men, young, fit and with useful skills (allowing for the fact that occupation as given was not what they were necessarily occupied in prior to departure). Selected migrants rather than a random dumping gives a slightly different picture to that usually presented.

Interesting things going on, although I don't know how much of that makes it out to the mainstream. I haven't as yet come across any comments about female workers at Port Arthur :)

(OK there were some, house servants and wives of the civillians & military officers, but you know what I mean.)

B is for... Bushranger

2012-04-12T11:10:04Z

I'm interested in how the Australian bushranger "legend" draws on earlier influences. There's a few things going on here. First the, well I don't want to call it a code because that suggests something formal, but the idea that keeps coming up from the earliest years that there's a form of appropriate behaviour that includes avoiding unnecessary violence, treating woman appropriately and then dying game. And then the whole romanticisation thing. Easy to assume that happens after someone dies, because that's the way things work but if you did so, you'd be wrong.

Anyway, I read Dick Turpin: The Myth of the English Highwayman by James Sharpe. His argument is the highwayman as a romantic figure is primarily due to the book Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth, published in 1834, which features Dick Turpin as a gallant highwayman (who does the ride to York on his valiant black mare). This was followed by more books playing on that theme, by Ainsworth and others; toys by opportunistic toymakers and so on right through the century and beyond. He makes some good points, and it's easy enough to make up that influence coming through in the Australian scene, especially with the popularity of stories about bushrangers towards the end of the 19th century. But I think Sharpe's focus is too narrow, and he disregards influences prior to Ainsworth too easily. I shall read Graham Seal's book next, and then grumble about that being too broad :)

Anyway, it might be interesting to see the changing perceptions within the colonies, especially in the early decades. Give the above and tendency of people to embroider stories are they pass them on, it's important to pay attention to publication dates, and of course, there aren't a lot of sources from the period I'm interested.

Just to finish off, part of a letter by Donald McLeod, was published in the Colonial Times, 9 July 1830. Because of the length, I'll skip the middle paragraphs that detail the attack.

Sir,

The strong degree of feeling that has been excited in favour of the five Bush-rangers, Morton, Cowden, Sainter, Laughton, and Stuart, who are erroneously stated to have absconded from my service, and the prejudice endeavoured to be excited against me and my family, on their account, induce me to offer to the Public the following statement of facts, as it cannot now be supposed lo have any influence either one way or other on their sentence, which must have been decided upon by His Excellency before this can be published.

(snippity snip)

I should like to know in what consists the great merit of these men as bush-rangers. Moles, Ashton, and their party, were much more humane when they robbed my house in June, 1828. Are they to be praised because the interference of a merciful Providence saved my family from their shot -for it is evident from the direction of the balls, that they intended to hurt us - or is the merit theirs, that the determined resistance we made prevented them getting into the house and committing robbery or murder as they chose?

Let those humane people who interest themselves so much about such characters place themselves in my situation, and(if they value their families) judge how they would feel disposed towards men acting as those men did to me.

- I am, Sir, your most obedient servant
D. M'LEOD
Cleggin,
5th July, 1830.

A is for... April, Awareness, Austism & Aspergers

2012-04-09T09:02:26Z

of we're all quite of, so no need to read this. Which is why, when I was trying to get a diagnosis I had a lot of conversations that went:

"You?"
"Me."

With friends, with the GP I went to for a referral, with the psychologist he referred me to the first time. I went back with the name of a specific psychologist, and she agreed with what I'd worked out for myself.

Which was good, because once I had a label, I could find out more about what was going on in my head and find works to work with it.

And it bad because, with all the doctors and psychologists and counsellors and teachers I've dealt with over the years, WHY THE FUCKING HELL DID I HAVE TO WORK THIS OUT FOR MYSELF? If I'd known twenty years ago, things would have been different for me :(

Once of the things that finally made me realise I was on the right track was an article that said autism spectrum disorders are often misdiagnosed as depression or anxiety. Not to mention schizophrenia, OCD and probably a host of other stuff. Why does it matter? You can't deal really deal with something unless you know why it's happening. For me, the anxiety comes from a lifetime of being I'm doing things wrong, wrong, wrong, when I'm really just doing them differently.

So, in the past couple of years I've obviously been doing a lot of reading, and I have learnt lots of things. Like health professionals, like most other people, don't know much about ASDs at all. They certainly don't associate it with people like me who chatter and make eye contact (and very well, I was told the other day. Yay. It's only taken a few years to learn.) and don't do whatever they assume I should do/not do.

If you spend any time reading about autism, you'll come across the idea of "faking NT". NT=Neurotypical=ordinary people, so faking is pretending to be ordinary or trying to fit in with the everyday stupid world that can't handle anything a bit different. It's actually a bit of a controversial topic because it often comes with the assumption that NT=better or non-NT means "broken". And then there's the reverse idea that NT=disadvantaged.

Along those lines, have a look at this: The Discovery of "Aspie" Criteria (it's a PDF).

Figure 1: Discovery criteria for aspie

A. A qualitative advantage in social interaction, as manifested by a majority of the following:

1. peer relationships characterized by absolute loyalty and impeccable dependability
2. free of sexist, "age-ist", or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at "face value"
3. speaking one’s mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs
4. ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence

and so on. A different, positive approach.

On the subject of Tony Attwood, if you haven't already, I really recommend his conversation on Radio National. I wish there was a transcript so I could underlines things. The focus is girls & Aspergers, but his approach is positive (see above link) and he talks about why girls are missed, the schizophrenia thing & imaginary friend, that it's not a "lack of empathy" but an inability to realise empathy is needed, and other things that make a lot of more sense to me than many "experts" do.

A to Z

2012-04-07T06:15:44Z

Earlier was thinking about the things I want to write LJ posts and realised the handful of topics I have could fit into an ABC format, at least up to G. By the time I get there, I might have others.

(Except I have nothing for D. Help?)

(Also tempted to offer a bookmark to anyone who can guess the A to G topics.)

Sea Shepherd ship tour

2012-04-05T04:39:51Z

Sea Shepherd's MY Bob Barker, and a sign saying "Free Ship Tours".

Sea Shepherd is best known, at least in these parts, for their confrontations with the Japanese whaling ships, and the Bob Barker is just back from doing that in Antarctica. But they're also occupied with campaigns opposing the dolphin slaughter at Taiji, in the Galapagos Island (sharks for their fins) and some things I don't remember but if you're interested check their website.

I'd just left the Endeavour after the "familiarisation tour" as a prelude to the ship being open to the public the next day. It was cold and wet, and I was hiding under a shelter waiting for the latest squall to pass.

Not a lot of visitors going on, and it's free, and I have nothing else to do...

The difference between boats and ships: boats go on ships. I want to say these are on the foredeck but not sure that's the right term here. Anyway, you'll see where they are later.

You can have too dark or you can have blurry. As I'm going on board, I ask if they're happy for me to take photos. "Sure," says the girl with a wave of her hand, as if she wondered why I bothered asking. But no one else in the group is taking photos and I feel awkward, and it takes a few photos to work out the best setting for the lighting level, and then the lighting changes. So I just take a few photos and hope they come out OK.

Or sometimes I give in and use the flash. This is the crew's living area.

Sneaky inconspicuous photo taken while watching a 10 minute film on whale hunting. (Well as inconspicuous as you can be with a noisy, big camera.) It was a nice cosy corner, with the comfortable chairs, entertainment system, shelves DVDs (all donated).

Quick snap while waiting to go up the ladder.

Ship's bridge.

In response to a visitor's question, our guide talks about whaling the northern hemisphere, where it's legal so they don't act against it (because if they're do, they're breaking the law) but down here in the south, in Antarctic waters, Australian territorial waters, whale sanctuaries, it's illegal so they feel they're free to act against the whaling ships.

There are the boats.

A deep water harbour and working port, and a very dreary day.

Looking back towards the stern, and that's the way we went on the way out.

If I remember correctly, that's for the helicopter.

Down the ladder

And don't forget to stop at the merchandise ~~tent~~ table on the way out.

No they didn't say that :) Although they did have a table selling books and videos and stickers and stuff just here (left side of photo).

Two ships

2012-04-05T02:44:09Z

So two ships of which I have photos, but those of the rearmost are on still on the card in the camera at home. So I will do the front one first.

monissaw @ 2012-04-02T19:26:00

2012-04-02T09:27:01Z

My Script Frenzy attempt has faltered due to uncooperative male MC. He tells me:

"My name is not Joe, and I am not wandering about in the rain. I've going off to talk to Mary, in her warm, dry house. And she doesn't want her name changed either."

I let him have a look a map today and showed him interesting things, like the police office, and the gaol, and the hotels (2 of them!). And how about if I make it dark instead of raining?

Eh.

A bit silly

2012-03-28T14:14:29Z

This part of an exhibition at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which is described on their website as

Isle of Many Waters
In 1939 Frank Hurley’s short film, Isle of Many Waters, promoted Tasmania’s historic sites and rugged natural landscape, encouraging tourists to ‘holiday amidst the lovely waterways, crags and vales of sunny Tasmania’. Inspired by Hurley’s travelogue, the exhibition Isle of Many Waters presents old home movies, news reels and documentaries alongside contemporary video art to explore Tasmania’s waterways - the rivers, lakes and oceans - as sites of mesmerising beauty, personal journeys, contested power and social playgrounds.

or my version: There this big screen in the middle of the room with lots of TV screens along the sides, all showing different things.

As I was going in, the lady at the desk saw my camera and said I could take photos in the Isle of Many Waters exhibit but not in the other art galleries. So I did.

There's me.

And me again :)

And that's what it looked like at usual camera speed.

Random photo :)

2012-03-28T13:59:05Z

L'Astrolabe

monissaw @ 2012-03-26T18:12:00

2012-03-26T07:12:31Z

The last four days have been much more interesting, and fun, than I expected. I knew the Endeavour bits would be, but thought the bit in-between would be dull.

But, oh so tiring.

More tomorrow :)

Doors Open Day 2008: Cataract Gorge Cottage

2012-03-20T12:14:35Z

So this is the former gatekeeper/caretaker's cottage at the entrance to the Cataract Gorge, when you walk in from Paterson St/Kings Bridge. I think this is the most interesting photo of the lot, so you might as well not bother with the rest.

This is a photo I prepared earlier to show the location: cottage, walkway underneath that runs along the edge of the river, river in the bottom left corer, former tollboth towards the right (behind the tree) and the bridge is underneath me.

The cottage was built towards the end of the 19th century and now it's used for the council's Artist in Residence programme.

Back to the approach. Now that's a rock garden.

Now if I remember correctly, the living room is on the left, the bathroom is on the right and the very exicting bedroom is at the end of the hall.

OK maybe not that exciting a bedroom.

The hall from the bedroom, and the living room is on the right there.

Which is here, and I guess it was two rooms originally, but the wall's been removed to make it more arty or roomier or something.

There is a good view out there.

And doors out onto the verandah, so I'll go out for a look.

Looking over Kings Bridge, towards the city centre.

That way is back down the gorge.

At the back of the living room, is a door out to the kitcheny bit.

That's the kitcheny bit, and through it is another door to outside.

Which is out here.

All of the back bit, one room of which used to be a bathroom.

At least it has an odd shower.

And that's an interesting fireplace with a woodstove that obviously isn't used now.

Just to finish off, as I leave here's a view over the tollhouse.

Women's History Month: Death Masks

2012-03-19T08:05:00Z

Two lovely ladies, or the death masks of, from Old Melbourne Gaol

Frances Knorr (left)

People like Frances and Rudolph Knorr found life desperately hard in Melbourne during the 1890s Depression. Jobs were scarce, there was no state welfare and it was difficult to avoid becoming involved in petty crime.

When Rudolph Knorr was sent to prison in February 1892 for selling furniture being bought on hire purchase, his wife was left pregnant and penniless. She managed by 'baby farming' - looking after children whose mothers could not care for them.

In September the bodies of three babies were discovered in Brunswick. They were buried in the gardens of two houses Frances Knorr had rented. She was arrested and sent for trial in December. The Weekly Times described the 23 year-old woman as "white and careworn".

The public was deeply divided when Knorr was sentenced to be executed. The hangman, Thomas Jones, committed suicide two days before the event. His wife had threatened to leave him if he hanged Mrs Knorr.

Australian Dictionary of Biography
Newspaper accounts, via Trove
Wikipedia

Martha Needle (right)

Martha Needle was an attractive woman with a kindly disposition. Her friends were shocked when it was discovered she had poisoned her husband, daughters and prospective brother-in-law.

Needle was bornin Port Adelaiode in 1864 and grew up in a violent and abusive household. She showed signs of mental instability as an adolescent, but grew into a beautiful young woman and married Henry Needle when she was seventeen.

The Needles and their first child Mabel moved to Melbourne in 1885. They settled in Cubitt Street, Richmond where May and Elsie were born. By 1891 Henry Needled and the girls were dead.

Newspaper accounts, via Trove
Wikipedia

(Text in italics is from information panels at Melbourne Gaol.)

Random Floods

2012-03-13T14:17:22Z

Today I came across this little announcement, and the tone of it caught my attention.

TO THE RESIDENTS OF INVERESK

Without wishing to unduly alarm the residents of the low-lying portions of Inveresk, I wish to notify them that both the North and South Esk Rivers are rising very rapidly, and that there is a possibility of Inveresk being flooded this afternoon or tonight.

If there are signs of water going over the embankment, the Post Office Clock will be tolled for half an hour, and residents living on the lower portion of Inveresk are advised to leave their houses immediately the warning is given.

Originally it appeared in a special edition of the Examiner, although I came across it in a little book The Tasmanian Floods 1929, Compiled for the Government of Tasmania by William Judd. The 1929 Flood was the worst natural disaster to hit Launceston. In order to alert residents in threatened areas of the danger, a special one-page issue of the local newspaper (the Examiner) was printed and distributed to all the houses the day before, as in hours before. The above announcement, written by the Mayor, appeared in this issue, along with a request from other residents to provide assistance. The problems of communicating with the masses, before TV and widespread radio.

The book continues with:

It was a pitiless night. The rain was falling in torrents, and a strong wind was blowing, but the first disaster came before mid-night, in the failure of the electric supply, and the plunging of the whole city into Cimmerian darkness.

The flood waters had submerged the local station – later they destroyed it – and had broken down the Hydro-electric mains, so all hope of securing electric light had to be abandoned.

And then the dreaded summons of the alarm bell.

Launceston is proud of its centenary chimes, and of the deep sonorous notes of the big bass bell, on which the hours are struck, but few who heard it slowly tolling in the very early morning hours of the Black Saturday will ever forget the sense of impending disaster that it created, especially when it was joined by the harsh clanging of the fire bell.

He goes on to describe the arrival of volunteers with their cars, and how they waded through water and rain to rescue the residents, and then later in boats. Fascinating details of an event I'd grown up hearing about, and seeing photos from, but never had it brought to life like this little booklet managed.

Women's History Month: Guns & things

2012-03-12T08:41:37Z

These are from a display of women's stuff at a gun show. Taken through glass, with lights above that reflected off the glass, so not very good photos.

I'll let the labels provide the descriptions (and assume their owner has the details right). I can read the labels all right but at a different resolution they might be a bit harder. I'll transcribe them if they're too hard to read.

I like the little pistol on the right.

I managed to lose the caption for this one, but it's another pocket pistol.

Amundsen, from the Mercury

2012-03-09T02:35:18Z

Seems he sold his story to the Daily Chronicle, which must have annoyed the local papers but that didn't stop them filling pages for days.

The Mercury, 8th March
ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.
ARRIVAL OF THE FRAM.
CAPTAIN AMUNDSEN'S RETICENCE.
WON'T TALK ABOUT SOUTH POLE.

The Mercury, 9th March
THE SOUTH POLE.
REACHED BY CAPTAIN AMUNDSEN.
STAYED THERE THREE DAYS.
THE EXPLORER STILL RETICENT.

The Mercury, 11th March
CAPTAIN AMUNDSEN'S GREAT TRIUMPH
HOW HE REACHED THE POLE.
HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNEY.
HIS VIEWS ABOUT SCOTT.

The Mercury, 12th March
CAPTAIN AMUNDSEN'S STORY.
VISIT TO THE FRAM.
TELLS HOW HE REACHED THE POLE.
MANY INTERESTING INCIDENTS.

The Mercury, 13th March
Photos.

Women's History Month: Sherwood Hall

2012-03-05T10:38:04Z

Here's one I haven't used before :)

Sherwood Hall at Latrobe, home to "Thomas Johnson, a pioneer and settler who began life in Van Dieman's Land as a convict and his wife Dolly Dalrymple Briggs, the first part aboriginal".

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Bridging the cultural divide with Dolly Dalrymple

Doors Open Day:Fire Station

2012-03-05T09:57:44Z

The Launceston Fire Station on a lovely, bleak rainy day. I have better photos. I should find one.

I was just going to put up the photos, because repeating what we were told seems rude, but then the photos look bare by themselves so I'll a few bits as I remember them.

As it says at the top, this building was constructed in 1938. About twenty years later it was "modernised" and the façade covered over. It was reinstated fairly recently because people still talking about*.

Prior to the that, the station was in Brisbane St, apparently on a site that adjoins the current site**.

We started out the front here with Ben and Paul (I think, the acoustics weren't good) talking about this truck, which is the one they send out for most incidents. They were telling us about the hoses, and how the one at the bottom is heavy so they prefer to use the one top one that he's holding, when there was a call over the PA and Paul and the truck left.

So we were taken over to this truck, which they use for road accidents and similar incidents (like a kid getting his head caught in bars), and they indicated all the bits like the big light on top and the portable lights and the stabilisers and some other stuff.

Then around the back to show off more stuff (the back door lifts up).

Then much talking about cutting people out of cars with the spreaders, and they go out to the Youngtown site and practice on cars out there and a bus, but newer cars are different and they don't get many (any?) to practice on.

Around the side, the industrial-scale spreaders.

Upstairs, with the windows overlooking Paterson St. There are also bedrooms out the back, and a mess. They work two days of 10 hours, followed by two nights of 14 hours, then four days off.

The pool table, he says, is over a hundred years old (so from the previous building) and when they laid the carpet in here, they laid it around the table without moving it.

Two sets of gear. The righthand gear for housefires and similar (and it can withstand a flash of xxx degress for 17 seconds, I cannot remember the numbers though). The trousers/boots combo I assume they just step into and pull them up. They aim to get dressed and into the trucks 90 seconds after they get a call. The yellow gear is for wildfires. It's easier to move in.

Out the back. The righthand truck was a "spare" and the left two are the bushfire vehicles. It seems they manufacture their own vehicles, down at Cambridge.

At the top of the windows, there are foil "blinds" to pull down to provide some protection from fires.

Buildings at the back. I think the lefthand one was the gym, the other for storage.

This doesn't have its own pump, they have to connect another truck to it.

And that's it. The lights are flashing on the front of the truck, but they don't show.

*Not that I can find a photo of it with the facade, either online or at the museum. I can't even remember what it looked like.

** A new tower and station were built in the 1880s, but whether they are the same building (being the firebell tower) or at different locations, I don't know. We couldn't find a photo of the previous building/s either except for one taken in 1934 that is so close in it's not possible to tell where it is. That might even have been on the site of the current building. There are places to look for more information, but we don't care that much.

Women's History Month: Ross Female Factory

2012-03-04T13:04:47Z

It's late and I should be in bed, so I'm cheating.

Photos of outside
Photos of inside (plus a squirrel)
Information on site from Parks & Wildlife
More information from the Female Factory website

It was that or nothing. But in return, later in the month I shall write up something about the Cascades site, which I have somehow managed to avoid doing a post on at all. Huh.