HOLIDAYS AND THEIR USES.

Shannon News, 29 January 1929, Page 3

HOLIDAYS AND THEIR USES.

JTASMANIA IN CONVICT DAYS.

At Friday's meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Lunch Club, there was a good attendance. Th? President of the Chamber, Mr Q. S. Keedwell, presided, and expressed pleasure at seeing so many present at the initial meeting of the New Year and hoped the members would rally round during the ensuing twelve months. He extended a welcome to the speaker for the clay, the Rev. Wm. Beckett, whose subject was ' f Holidays, ." The Rev. Mr Beckett -said he thoroughly agreed with the taking of holidays and was quite sure his hearers did so too. With the increai ed pressure of modern life, it was more and more necessary that men and women should have fines of relaxation in which they could get away from home and business, and the affairs'" that were with them most of the ,year, into a new atmosphere and different environment where it was possible to obtain mental refreshment and i 3newed physical vigour.. The ' first ten years of his adult life were spent in business and he therefore had great sympathy with 1 businessmen since he knew that the strain and pressure was much greater now than it was thirty years ago, when as a junior he was engaged in commercial pursuits in the city of Melbourne. Even» at that time the need of holidays was felt. With the greater complexity of life- that need had grown greater and with it had come longer holidays, instead of. the few days a year then possible. It ought now to be possible for every man to get four weeks holiday in tinyear and that period was certainly not 'more than was needed. Mr- Beckett went- on t/> deal with some of the holidays lie had had. He had spent eight weeks in i'iji and the Islands, but as this subject had been dealt with fairly often he would pass it over. In his young manhood in 1891-92 he had been able to take two memorable holidays. In one of these he took boat from Melbourne to Sydney, visited the beautiful Hawkesbury River, then back to Sydney and thence by boat to Hobart, by rail 100 miles to Launeeston, and back to Melbourne by the coastal greyhound, the steamer Roiomahana.,

The holiday of which lie particularly wished to speak was that taka.i with a party of young men from Melbourne by boat down to Maria Island, Port Arthur, Carnarvon, New Norfolk and Hobart. These were the scenes of the old convict settlements described in Marcus Clark's famous novel "For the Term of His Natural Life," and weiv full of interest to the student of history and human nature. Carnarvon, he 'thought, was one of the most beautiful spots in the South Seas. Tho colonization of Tasmania was begun in 1803 by convicts and soldiers. In those days prisoners were transporcd to Van Dieman's Land from England for the most trivial offences—the stealing of a handkerchief or theft of a few shillings. Thus it came about that one of the most beautiful places one could wish to look upon was desecrated by its convict associations. Right at "the head of the bay stood the grim four-storied stone building built by the convicts for their own detention. As many as 1700 of them had been housed there when the settlement was in full operation. The visitors were shown over the place by one who had spent most of his years there—an old "lag." He'had been sent out for some slight offence and had never left the place, lie was full of information about tha place, and he still retained a grievance in that whereas the convicts were only allowed'seventeen minutes for dinuc-, the chaplain took four minutes cut of that to say grace. The little ceils were four feet by .seven feet iu dimensions and in these the men had to spend many weary hours, The chapel was in ruins, but it could be seen that as each man took his place a door-like arrangement was closed so that he could not see his neighbour but could only look front of him to the altar where the chaplain, attended by armed guards, carried out his ministrations. It seemed to the speaker to be. the greatest parody on religion that one's fellowmen should be asked, under such conditions, to sing the praises of the King of Kings, or ask the blessing of the Most High God. Nearby was the Black Room, where convicts who were being punished for some breach of the regulations were placed. If ever there was a ser.se of darkness felt it was iu that room. Behind two great doors one pissed into a gross darkness with a feeling of intense loneliness, and it was not to be wondered that many men lost their reason when confined there. Below the hospital was the Triangle, where every morning dffenders were flogged by fellow convicts, often times with a hundred lashes, for offences against prison discipline. Deadpan's Island was poii.ted out, to which every night a boat was rowed with th? bodies of those who had passed away. At Port Arthur they saw the narroiv neck of land which had been guarded by savage, half-starved' dogs, as relate 1 by Marcus Clark, making a tcrribb ordeal for escapees. The visit to these scenes made an indelible impression on the speaker's mind, and it was good to think of the great progress that had been made in the treatment of criminals up to the present time. Tho "cat,' ? for instance, was only used five times in England in 192(5.

Concluding, Mr Beckett said we were Jiving in a country where therewere splendid facilities by irailwaf/, motor and steamer for people to travel about and see their own country. He would like to think -that the young people were taling advantage of their opportunities because these were amongst the privileges of our life of to-day. "Holidays ore necessaiy -under modern conditions and by taking

advantage of them, we are making ourselves more efficient for service and becoming better acquainted with the land in which we live." Mr Goldsmith, in moving a hearty vote of thanks to the speaker, remarked that the cost was the chief deterrent to people travelling for on their holidays, though that possibly did not apply to the early inhabitants of Tasmania perhaps. (Laughter). Mr Bckett's remarks were very interesting and ho tendered him the club's appreciation.