February 2015 – Edition 118

This article continues to draw on an article “Not Grim at all” written by James Lerk and published in the Bendigo Weekly of 21-Feb-2014. It also takes into account my recent discovery that Grim’s brother in law George Hardy was also a mine manager.

George Hardy: George married Grim’s sister Alice Ann Heyes (b1856-1942). In the Electoral Rolls he described himself as a “Manager”, which left it open to doubt what he managed. Did he manage a mine, or a store, or a workshop?

As often happens, the answer came to me recently by indirect means. When I was searching George and Alice’s family I came across a sad little entry for Rhoda Jane Hardy, who died at the age of one in 1883 in Ringarooma, a mining village in a remote area in Tasmania.

This was the same place that Grim had started his mine managing career in the same period, making it obvious that both families had gone to the village at the same time so that Grim and George could gain experience in mine management.

Adding to this sadness for the parents would have been the knowledge that when they left Ringarooma to settle in Ballarat (not Bendigo) they would never see her grave again.

Ringarooma Parish Hall shown in the above photo was built in the 1880s, so it is possible that Rhoda’s funeral service was held there.

Obviously Rhoda’s death had not adversely affected the couple’s interest in having more children because they had three more children, Alwyn (who bucked tradition by becoming a bank clerk in Ballarat and a Bank Manager in Melbourne), Nellie Claribel and Dora Marjorie.

In a heartwarming story which I will tell you in a later article the couple also took in an orphan girl.

The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 1907 to 1909.

It consisted of 16 battleships, along with various escorts. Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military power and blue-water navy capability. Hoping to enforce treaties and protect overseas holdings, the U.S. Congress provided funds to build American sea power. The navy quickly grew to include new modern steel fighting vessels. The hulls of these ships were painted a stark white, giving the armada the nickname “Great White Fleet”.

The ships were manned by 14,000 sailors, all of whom were entertained with great fanfare when the fleet reached Sydney and Melbourne.

While country Victoria travelled into the city to meet the sailors, the sailors journeyed out to see the country. At the invitation of a local American citizen, some sailors made the long trip to Mirboo North in East Gippsland, where they saw wood chopping and ‘Aboriginal boomerang throwing’ and took part in foot races (a handsome silver-mounted emu-egg trophy was carried home by the victor) and a tug-of-war. Others travelled to Bendigo and to Ballarat, watching Australian Rules Football and visiting the mines.

About 300 sailors visited Bendigo in special trains to visit the mines, probably not realizing exactly what they would be facing.

Australian Rules Football: Victoria is the heartland of this type of football, known as “Aussie Rules”. Although non-believers from New South Wales like myself might doubt its educational value for American sailors, there are in fact similarities between Aussie Rules and Gridiron which they would have recognized.

Some of the sailors may also have seen Alexander Jerrems play Gridiron in America in the 1890s.

The sailors tour the mines: Grim was one of the mine managers who helped to explain the Bendigo Goldfield to the American Fleet visitors. He then took a group of sailors underground at the North Red White and Blue Mine.

The first thing that would have impressed the sailors was the depth of the mines. The Bendigo mines were famous for their depth, being amongst the deepest in the world at the time. By 1891 there were 19 mines which had been sunk beyond 2000 feet, and in 1892 George Lansell’s “180” Mine reached 3355 feet, making it actually the deepest in the world at that time. Grim’s Red White and Blue Mine reached a depth of 2420 feet.

Perhaps the next things to impress them were the hoists which carried the miners into the mines.

Historically there would have been a signal cord for the miners to signal the engine driver.

The speed of travel would have depended on the quality of workmanship of the guide rails of the hoist. Some hoists could have had virtually a “free fall”.

It is amazing to think that miners travelled up to half a mile vertically in such claustrophobic conditions.

It is likely that this hoist was a later development; in the early days the miners would have used the hoists which carried the loaded trolleys (see later).

The few sailors who braved the hoists would have been greeted by small tunnels used to convey the mined rock.

Although conditions would have been somewhat different when the sailors visited the mine in the early 1900s the photo is still very useful.

The photo speaks for itself, the tunnel being barely wide enough to accommodate the trolley and the roof is barely high enough to allow the miner to stand. However in the old days the roof would have been lower, to accommodate the boys who pushed the trolleys. The narrow tunnel would have made air movement for ventilation impossible, resulting in a lot of dust staying in the air.

The photo also shows the sturdy timber props used for shoring at the time. Once again it is necessary to take into account that in the early days the timbers were flimsier and not as well fitted. In fact shoring was only provided in areas where it was deemed necessary, based on a subjective judgement as to the stability of the rock. Newspaper reports in the 1800s demonstrate that rockfalls and cave-ins frequently occurred in these unprotected areas, resulting in death or serious injury.

The trolleys were taken up in the hoists to ground level, where the rock was emptied into crushers or trans-shipped into tramway trolleys and carried to large crushers shared by several mines (see above photo of a crushing and processing plant).

A chute can be seen on the right hand side of the tunnel photo, from which quartz was released into the trolley from a side passage. Small side passages were known as “rat holes”.

The term “take crib” was also used by steam train staff.

A small army die in the mines: An enthusiastic historian has compiled a list of men killed over the years in the Bendigo mining operations, derived from coronial reports etc. The list shows a frightening 830 men, the equivalent of a First World War army battalion or a moderate sized town. The Bendigo Historical Society puts the figure at over 900, presumably allowing for gaps in the records.

Presumably a similar number of men would have been seriously injured and unable to return to mining.

The mortality rate would have been similar in the other major goldmining town of Ballarat and in other towns where gold or other types of underground mining were carried out.

The Mine Managers like Grim Heyes and George Hardy had very responsible roles. On a day-to-day basis they administered the operation of the mines. They also carried out regular inspections of the above-ground and underground works, the latter including inspection of the tunnel shoring.

The managers were also expected to coordinate rescue operations when the need arose. This involved rescuing miners and retrieving bodies.

In 1911 in a fire at a Bendigo mine the Mine Manager rescued eight men but unfortunately was not able to save seven others. This was one of the worst disasters in Bendigo’s history and was celebrated a century later in a ceremony.

The small tunnels would have made rescues from rockfalls and cave-ins difficult enough, but fires would have been impossible to contain because there was no effective fire fighting equipment or fireproof doors.

In coal mining towns, where fires were comparatively common, the call of “Fires On” sent shivers down everybody’s spine. The wails of the mine sirens in Bendigo to announce an emergency would have had a similar effect, like an air raid siren. The terrifying question in everyone’s mind would be, has a relative or a friend been killed or seriously injured? Off duty miners would rush to the mine to help, and housewives would gather to offer help and possibly condolences.

The biggest mining fire in Bendigo’s history occurred in May 1938 when the whole of the surface works at the Red White and Blue Mine burnt down. Fortunately the works were empty at the time and nobody was hurt.

Conclusion: In a later article I will tell you more stories about Grim, the Heyes family, and Bendigo.

Much to do, as follows:

• Using website software called Word Press. I still need a lot of practice.
• Reformatting all the pages with copy and images with a consistent template.
• Need to decide whether to use a webpage format or a blog format.
• Improve navigation and search for ease of use.

Another improvement:

I will begin using a “mobile friendly” format with Constant Contact our email provider. So, the monthly editions will be easily readable on your desktop, laptop, tablet or cell phone.

Stay tuned….it will take many hours.