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Francis Edward Story - Letters 1924
January 1924
Telephone Camperdown No. 155Leslie ManorKariahvia CamperdownVicJan 5th /24My dearest Mummy,By now you ought to be well out of Bingfield & I hope that all your worry & troubles of years is finished. It must be a great relief to you to be leaving though I suppose in some ways you are sorry. I am too but more glad than sorry I'm afraid! I hope you will have a good long holiday once you have deposited Daddy at Farnham House & mind you take a ??? good rest while you are about it.
I got back on Wednesday from my Xmas & New Year holiday which I began on December 23rd. I had a rattling good time & really enjoyed myself. Xmas was spent at Titanga chiefly in bathing in the lake & tennis. I'd tried to put in a good deal of practice there for the tournament & played solidly all day. At the tournament itself I did badly chiefly because I struck snags in the first rounds. In the open singles I met Bob Schlesinger, No. 3 of the Aus. Davis Cup team & rather patted myself on the back for getting a game from him. I enjoyed it enormously & five games ran to deuce & vantage & if I had had more practice I might have almost given him a fright! Rables & I were staying at Cloven Hills - just 15 miles out of Camp -with a old man Cole and his pretty daughter. He is reputed to be very stingy but he was very decent to us & the daughter let me drive the car so I had no grouse! One day we drove them over here for lunch R & I rode the lamb paddock to see that all was correct. We then went home again - quite a good way up b-riding (?) - the others were much amused! On Jan 31st I hired a car & drove to Ettrich which was the starting point of the Ercildoune dance. After lunch the two Currie girls, Badham (from here) & I started off the Rolls Royce & made Claw??? by teatime. We were at once hurried into the lake for a bathe - rather as though we were unclean! M. is one of the showplaces of Vic, & is perfectly beautiful - the owner, Phillip Russell, is very well off & keep some racehorses etc. The house moves on oiled wheels - one's clothes & and so on are unpacked & packed & one is waited on hand & foot which is such a change from here. There was the usual house party & the usual noise & ragging(?). The dance was one of the best I have ever been to - old Currie did us well & bubbly flowed freely. The guests were all neighbouring house parties & at midnight we had a pitched battle on the lawn in which Clawalloch proved victorious! I got to bed that night at 5.45 AM in brilliant sunshine - we very nearly had a tennis tournament in tail coats! By 11.00 AM we were on our way back to Ettrich (?) for lunch, sleep & dinner & back to Clawalloch for another dance. This was a milder ??? of the first as everyone was a bit jaded! Next day we return to Ettrich & Badham and I drove back here behind our ponies - such a comedown after the Currie's Rolls Royce! Altogether I went over 550 miles by car during the holidays and never a breakdown.
We're still at work with the harvest & the following. I have been stooking all the afternoon & and shall be at it again before breakfast tomorrow. We have quite a good crop but are late in cutting its as we had to wait for our binder. From Jan 1st we are running our C?? work on a new basis - the directors make out the weekly work list & see that it is done & Whitehead just supervises it generally. Rables & I are now in charge of the stock & as this is a slack time we help elsewhere. Moffett takes over the machinery, another is carpenter & so on, so some of us have become specialists. It's a good idea on the whole & the stock job suits me especially as we were only on b. riding for a week at a time. We have now three houses in construction & very nice homes they should be when finished. I had tea with the builders of one the other day & they tell me they can run up a house in two months - Someday I may want them!
Did you say that you had cousins called Clegg? There is a well known family in Vic. called Hammond Clegg - a daughter this Simon Fraser is one of the Melb. society push at the hand is a very attractive widow. The only Littlejohn I can trace is a headmaster of Scotch College. Melb..
I enclose three snaps taken during shearing. How first load of world was bagged & I ??? them trying to pull it out. You can see the tractor hard at it & the loop of wood (fence posts) we put under the wheels to try & make a firm bed. I'm having the general view enlarged.
Very many thanks for the coverlet which is probably in Melb. now.Love to allYour affectionate sonTeddy
By now you ought to be well out of Bingfield & I hope that all your worry & troubles of years is finished. It must be a great relief to you to be leaving though I suppose in some ways you are sorry. I am too but more glad than sorry I'm afraid! I hope you will have a good long holiday once you have deposited Daddy at Farnham House & mind you take a ??? good rest while you are about it.
I got back on Wednesday from my Xmas & New Year holiday which I began on December 23rd. I had a rattling good time & really enjoyed myself. Xmas was spent at Titanga chiefly in bathing in the lake & tennis. I'd tried to put in a good deal of practice there for the tournament & played solidly all day. At the tournament itself I did badly chiefly because I struck snags in the first rounds. In the open singles I met Bob Schlesinger, No. 3 of the Aus. Davis Cup team & rather patted myself on the back for getting a game from him. I enjoyed it enormously & five games ran to deuce & vantage & if I had had more practice I might have almost given him a fright! Rables & I were staying at Cloven Hills - just 15 miles out of Camp -with a old man Cole and his pretty daughter. He is reputed to be very stingy but he was very decent to us & the daughter let me drive the car so I had no grouse! One day we drove them over here for lunch R & I rode the lamb paddock to see that all was correct. We then went home again - quite a good way up b-riding (?) - the others were much amused! On Jan 31st I hired a car & drove to Ettrich which was the starting point of the Ercildoune dance. After lunch the two Currie girls, Badham (from here) & I started off the Rolls Royce & made Claw??? by teatime. We were at once hurried into the lake for a bathe - rather as though we were unclean! M. is one of the showplaces of Vic, & is perfectly beautiful - the owner, Phillip Russell, is very well off & keep some racehorses etc. The house moves on oiled wheels - one's clothes & and so on are unpacked & packed & one is waited on hand & foot which is such a change from here. There was the usual house party & the usual noise & ragging(?). The dance was one of the best I have ever been to - old Currie did us well & bubbly flowed freely. The guests were all neighbouring house parties & at midnight we had a pitched battle on the lawn in which Clawalloch proved victorious! I got to bed that night at 5.45 AM in brilliant sunshine - we very nearly had a tennis tournament in tail coats! By 11.00 AM we were on our way back to Ettrich (?) for lunch, sleep & dinner & back to Clawalloch for another dance. This was a milder ??? of the first as everyone was a bit jaded! Next day we return to Ettrich & Badham and I drove back here behind our ponies - such a comedown after the Currie's Rolls Royce! Altogether I went over 550 miles by car during the holidays and never a breakdown.
We're still at work with the harvest & the following. I have been stooking all the afternoon & and shall be at it again before breakfast tomorrow. We have quite a good crop but are late in cutting its as we had to wait for our binder. From Jan 1st we are running our C?? work on a new basis - the directors make out the weekly work list & see that it is done & Whitehead just supervises it generally. Rables & I are now in charge of the stock & as this is a slack time we help elsewhere. Moffett takes over the machinery, another is carpenter & so on, so some of us have become specialists. It's a good idea on the whole & the stock job suits me especially as we were only on b. riding for a week at a time. We have now three houses in construction & very nice homes they should be when finished. I had tea with the builders of one the other day & they tell me they can run up a house in two months - Someday I may want them!
Did you say that you had cousins called Clegg? There is a well known family in Vic. called Hammond Clegg - a daughter this Simon Fraser is one of the Melb. society push at the hand is a very attractive widow. The only Littlejohn I can trace is a headmaster of Scotch College. Melb..
I enclose three snaps taken during shearing. How first load of world was bagged & I ??? them trying to pull it out. You can see the tractor hard at it & the loop of wood (fence posts) we put under the wheels to try & make a firm bed. I'm having the general view enlarged.
Very many thanks for the coverlet which is probably in Melb. now.
Love to all
Your affectionate son
Teddy
April 1924
Telephone Camperdown No. 155
Leslie Manor
Kariah
Vic
April 30th 24
My dearest Mummy,
Very many thanks for the most beautiful lamp you sent me which arrived yesterday. It is most acceptable as mine was a cheap one of German manufacture & was always giving trouble - this one gives good light & is easy to manage.
I'm so glad to hear that Ralph is home at last & I'm sure you are pleased to see him. It's a pity he cannot stay longer - but man must work!
I had a very jolly Easter with the Langs but did no good at the tournament. I think I shall give up playing in them as I never do myself justice - I got to nervy & that puts my eye out. I had an amusing experience going over. I rode a horse for another fellow where he took my kit on a motorbike. He is a steeplechaser known as " Firewater" & was suffering from lack of work & too much feed so on leaving the horse paddock he ran away with me! I had three alternatives (1) to pull him in (2) to jump a gate & get him on to the ploughed land & (3) to run him into the quick sands on the edge of a lake. The last two appeared to me to be rather drastic so after a lot of trouble I succeeded in (1). After that little performance I rode on to Finmore (?) & there was no fire but plenty of water about him when I got there! He came back like a lamb when I was coming home but I was more careful & didn't use spurs.
We're going for our lives with cultivation these days & are now drilling the seed in. I had one day on the Sundercut a curious engine something like a disc plough - & had quite enough of it by the end of the day. Their horses are beastly lazy, chiefly because they have been so badly driven & it's very difficult to make them work at all. I broke the carriage whip on them & will use a stock whip next time.
On Monday I took the wagon into camp for a four ton load of super phosphate manure. On the way back the horses stopped on the hill on the road & it took us an hour to get them on again. Luckily I had a stock whip & believe me I used it & eventually they took the slope at a fast trot. We arrived in at 7.30 PM in darkness & the fellow with me had much trouble in showing me the gates. The wagon will only just go through them & it's difficult enough in broad daylight. However we managed everything all right & I was glad to sit down to a late dinner.
Today I have been cutting up logs for firewood - good hard work & the weather has been perfect for it. The logs have to be cut into sizeable lengths so that they can be easily handled on the saw bench. I shall be on this for a few days I think - or perhaps fencing.
By now you should be out of Ireland & I hope to hear good news of you in your next letter
your affectionate son
Teddy
| Date | 1924 |
| Linked to | Francis Edward Story |
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