No.4/2008 News Update. Special Antarctic Cruise Offer!
CONTENTS Pages1-2 Letter from FoM President by Mark Pharaoh Pages 3-4 Plans & Events later ‘08 (with 2010 Oz Conference)
Page Talk by author Kristin Weidenbach, report by Jim Jago
Page 4 Comment on Books Pages 5-6 Contemporary Comments, News & Views – Display airport displays
From the desk of the President 2008~Sept.~4th
Dear members and friends
I had planned to get this newsletter out later this year (ie. December), reminding friends of events exactly one hundred years ago. It would have set us alongside the Northern Sledging Party as they struggled in their attempt at exploring the interior of Victoria Land. (As you may remember, despite their instructions, they soon concluded that only an attempt on the South Magnetic Pole should be made.) Instead however, it is the 29th of September as I start. Mawson’s Notes on Doings of Northern Party do reveal that: ‘The Professor wished to start near beginning of September. Finally arranged a preliminary depot trip to commence on 10th September to Granite Harbour including Professor, Priestly, and Mackay. I did not believe in this and got out of being included. Afterwards the idea was abandoned and only one relay party to go, on 1st October. Very bad weather lasted towards end of October and the Professor with difficulty laid one [depot, using] sledge with motor[car] 10m out (5m W of Tent Island). This laid about 29th September. Weather very thick after this and Day hurt his foot so that the motor could not be got again till 3rd October when Professor, Mackay and Priestly ran out about 200 lb of stuff 13 m[iles] towards the pinnacled ice… (p. 9, Diaries (editors) Jacka).’ We have focussed on their preparations over previous newsletters, but reading them again more recently (as part of the research about the history of the Quest for the South Magnetic Pole Exhibition, opening in April 2009), it gives us a sense of Douglas Mawson prior to their journey, having only joined late in the piece, and not yet committed to the sledging work he felt to be premature. His work over the long, dark winter had kept him fully engaged. This was largely with scientific work. But what of the
#3.2008 1 more personal details that occupied any spare time? What did Mawson make of his colleagues? How easy was it with his Prof from Sydney – almost twice his own youthful age of 26? What, if anything, did Mackay, their surgeon, bring to their team, aside from medical expertise? Some of this we will never know – my suspicion personally is that in answer to the third question at least, Mawson found David to be at times embarrassing. Certainly he was often frustrating on their forthcoming journey. (This is not meant with any disrespect to David, more the typical differences between generations.) Mackay did have a special ability, his hobby of alpine mountaineering made him a doubly valuable third member. And on their sledging journey there are instances where he disagreed with the other two about the best route around obstacles encountered, and on at least one occasion on their return he was proved right, but only after they had wasted time and effort trying a different, ‘shorter’ route first. In regard to the matter of any observations about his colleagues, Mawson’s Antarctic Diaries, as published by Fred and Eleanor Jacka, had, of necessity to exclude numerous columns of numbers, undated notations, measurements etc. (This was partly a matter of word limit, but also to avoid the confusion of losing the sense of chronological narrative.) Some of the detail that was lost does include brief observations by Mawson’s about the habitual comments of his colleagues:
‘Mac you are a comfort to me Prof – all in a day’s work Adams: that is hard Priestly – What Armytage Eh What Day – laugh Adams That is to be regretted Joyce Boy O laddie Mac[s?] Roar (Notebook 1, Mawson Collection archive)’
I find these notes revealing, not so much of their content – Armytage was for instance known for his “What! What!” – but rather for that glimpse of Mawson, slightly removed from the centre of things, observing the ways of those around him. Lastly, the reason for this unprecedentedly early final newsletter of 2008 is because of an offer made to FoM, and via us, to several other friends groups of the SA Museum. It is from Aurora Expeditions, who have impressed me in the past with what I have seen (and heard) of their expertise. The 20% discount for the voyage south this summer (12th December - 7th January) is very generous. Their guest speaker is Emma McEwin, one of the Mawson family, who has helped FoM many times over the years. At least equally importantly, she is the author of An Antarctic Affair, and better than anyone can deliver insights into Mawson the man – and I should add, Paquita. As the accompanying brochure reveals, this should be a very special voyage. (I need to also make clear on behalf of FoM that no guarantee can ever be given about landing at Cape Denison, or anywhere for that matter, which is part of the excitement of going south still, where we are subject to the elements in all their glory. For those interested, there is also a FoM talk on 22nd October at the SA Museum about this, and other future voyages being planned. Cheers
Mark
#3.2008 2 PLANS & EVENTS later ’08 (with 2010 conference in brief)
Put the following Mawson-related dates into your diary th 11 October ______RSVP by October 26th if wanting to stay for morning tea. ’Imagining Antarctica’ conference in Phone 8298 1959 or 8295 1430. Christchurch, NZ: Second conference planned to be held in Hobart, during 2010: Event starts at 10.30 in the cemetery behind [email protected] and St. Jude’s Church at 444 Brighton Road, nd http://www.engl.canterbury.ac.nz/extra/imagini Brighton on Sunday November 2 . ng_antarctica.shtml ) to be contacted for info. (We hope to be able to report on the proceedings of the 2008 Conference in our next newsletter.)
______12th December - 7th January? National Portrait Gallery
21st November, National Library of 22nd October A talk by Mark Pharaoh 'In Australia there are provisional plans to have a Mawson's Footsteps: ‘A (very much) small ceremony by Sir Douglas Mawson’s Personal Guide On How To Most Easily Get to grave, but this is dependent on the arrival of a Mawson's Huts, and How Best To Then Get boulder from Arkaroola amongst other things, Back Again!' will now be held on October 22, so if interested, please phone 8207 7574 for at the Armoury. Anyone who would like to hear the latest details of this Brighton Historical this, please RSVP (08) 8207 7574. Society event to commemorate 50 years since the death of Sir Douglas. ______
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Comment on Books(talked about recently)
September 11, 2008 talk by author Kristin Weidenbach
Kristen is the author of “Rock Star”, the recently published biography of Reg Sprigg, one of Australia’s most remarkable geologists. Reg was a student of Sir Douglas Mawson and for a number of years was closely associated with Mawson as a cadet within the Geology Department, University of Adelaide; he acted as Mawson’s field assistant in the Flinders Ranges on a number of occasions. Kristen pointed out that from an early age Reg was ‘mad keen’ on geology, and even when a schoolboy would bring specimens into the university for inspection by Mawson and Cecil Madigan, another Antarctic veteran. One of the specimens brought into Mawson was what Reg regarded as a fossil, from Sellicks Hill, and he was very disappointed when Mawson totally rejected the specimen as a fossil; he was even more disappointed when the specimen was lost.
Reg Sprigg was a top class geologist and entrepreneur. He is best known the 1946 discovery of the Ediacara fauna, an amazing fossil assemblage of soft bodied organisms, found in Precambrian rocks. This was the first such discovery, and was a scientific break through of great importance. However, at the time Reg was mortified to find that Mawson did not consider the specimens represented fossils, and was further disappointed when other palaeontologists cast serious doubts on the finds. However, Sprigg persisted and by the late 1950s the true significance of the Ediacara fauna was recognized world wide. In March 2005, a new geological time period, the Ediacaran, based on rocks of the Flinders Ranges, was officially proclaimed. This was the first new time period to be recognized for 125 years. Reg’s other geological breakthroughs included (a) the discovery of submarine canyons on the edge of the continental shelf, off the mouth of the Murray, (b) the recognition that the major ancient dune systems in SE South Australia are related to ancient glacial activity and (c) the recognition of the structure of the Adelaide Hills. Reg was the founder of Geosurveys, the first Australian geological consulting company, he was involved in the formation of Santos and eventually founded the Arkaroola Wildlife sanctuary and resort. Reg had first visited
#3.2008 4 Arkaroola in the company of Mawson in 1939. As pointed out by Kristen, Reg Sprigg’s career was truly remarkable and he lived life to the full.
This is not a review, but “Rock Star” is an excellent book and very easy to read. Kristen is to be congratulated on producing such an excellent work. Additional note by the Editor Kristin also gave a very well attended talk focusing on the Reg Sprigg-Mark Oliphant talk that we previously promoted. Having managed to catch this lunch-time event, I was further struck by what an unusual and fundamentally decent man he was. (One Friend who knew him quite late in his life – without, incidentally, being really aware of his diverse accomplishments – mentioned the word ‘fun’ when discussing him as well.)
Jim Jago ______Contemporary Comments, News & Views
A Tail or Two… Sir Douglas Mawson has just recently been on the news here in Adelaide, with ABC Radio 891’s Grant Cameron interview of Dave Jenson of Mawson’s Huts. The subject was this coming summer, when a conservation team will be again heading south, and one of the objectives is to make a search for the remains of Mawson’s air-tractor. This is hoped to be found just to the west of the hut, where snow has been building up since Mawson’s Discovery (1929-31) Expedition – the last time it was seen was in footage dating back to the early ‘30s. This extraordinary monoplane briefly flew here in Adelaide, before the wings were removed after it crashed, on only the second flight it made from the Cheltenham Racecourse. Archival records reveal it was stored for a while at a warehouse in Port Adelaide, before probably being moved to the museum there. At least part of the tail section found its way (with a selection of this Port collection) to the museum at St Peters College. It was sighted there in the mid ‘60s by a colleague now working at the SA Museum – Mike can accurately be described as a true Friend of Mawson, having been involved in all sorts of manner of things to do with the Mawson Collection, including retrieving from the mid North back in the early ‘90s the impressive (and extremely heavy) lathe made famous by Hurley’s photographs of the workshop. Anyway, this section of the plane seems to have then disappeared. It is believed to look similar to that currently held by the Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania, from where the following photograph has been supplied. This artefact was retrieved from the Hut and is awaiting conservation treatment.
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D minus + D plus Another reference to Mawson can be found in the September edition of The Adelaide Review. It is a tantalisingly brief and enigmatic sentence in an article about prolific local photographer Douglas Darian Smith, whose 40,000 item collection (including a quarter of which are aerial shots) are being digitalised and then utilised with some software developed by Heritage Mapping. Active from the 1920s-‘80s, Smith ‘..reportedly changed his name from Douglas Darian to D. Darian after Douglas Mawson failed to pay a photographic bill, (p.14)’. It would be fascinating to know more of what may have occurred between Mawson and Smith. The former had various dealings with photographers, of the stature of Hurley and Wilkins, both of which relationships had high and lows. And it was clearly in Mawson’s character to question the price of something if he felt it too high. Either way, it is interesting that Adelaide may have lost one ‘Douglas’ around this period, and gained another, Douglas Sprigg – named by Reg after his Prof… It would be good to know more about this matter and Smith’s work in general, if any Friend should happen to have knowledge of this. (This reference to aerial photography over Adelaide from the ‘20s reminds me of something I had been tempted to expand on in the last newsletter, concerning the Vicker’s Vimy and Ross and Keith Smith: during their war service in Palestine they had been befriended by Frank Hurley, and it was Hurley who flew with them in this Vimy during their flight over Australia. Apparently, his footage was very rough and later mixed with shots of models to create some realism. I believe at least some of his shots were published, one showing the Urrbrae House and grounds. Note: In the previous newsletter it was reported the SA Museum case inside Adelaide’s airport terminal may catch sight of a small Australian Polar Collection display from October of this year. Well, this appears to have been delayed until November, so our apologies for any keen friends who have spent the first few days of October prowling the terminal looking for this.
W119 ‘..wind eroded surface______of gneiss… southern extremity of rocky area, Cape Denison. Figure is Mawson’- a balaclava-clad but younger one with his rocks, photograph by Hurley © SA Museum. ‘D’ is for Dawson(?) On a last, very light-hearted note, those following the antics of The Hollowmen, Wednesday evenings on ABC1, may already know that the series will end on 8 October and that the Antarctic is their final subject, specifically what one calls ‘Dawson’s Hut’. It made entertaining viewing – and hopefully prompt some viewers to check on just whose hut this really was… (For those with the necessary hardware, The Hollowmen was repeated on ABC2 the next day, at 8:30pm. Also available on iView: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200810/programs/LE0819V005D1102008T210000.htm And I would expect to see this amusing series appear on DVD, with Christmas bearing down so soon.)
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