Anzac Day

My grandfather's two brothers in WW1

Jessie the Elephant

When I was a tiny tot, and a VERY demanding only child, my mother would tell me "you've got more hide than Jessie!"
Which meant nothing then, but I later found out that Jessie had been an elephant at Taronga Zoo, and indeed had a very thick hide, though a different hide to the one referred to by mum.

What's this got to do with anything?

Nothing, except in connection with my family history, I've been trolling through the old Australian newspapers which are online at the National Library http://newspapers.nla.gov.au
Oh boy, are they addictive!)
and entering one of my rellies by the name of Jessie in the search, I came on a lovely story of how they moved Jessie the elephant from her old home at Moore Park, to the new Sydney Zoo at Ashtons Park (now Taronga) on the other side of Sydney Harbour. (Here's the link to the article)

Jessie would never fit in a cage to be trucked to the new site so it was decided that she would have to walk.

Now this was in 1911, so there was no Sydney Harbour Bridge, I had imagined a very long hike but Taronga's website says the elephants crossed the harbour on a flat barge.

The other problem was the fact that Jessie had never had an outing like this before.
A quote from the article:

"It remains to be seen how the airing will agree with her.
She is not familiar with trams, or lorries, or motor cars.
She has never paraded up and down our busy streets, and the strangeness of it all may not be to her liking.
She is, however, a wonderfully good and sensible elephant, and it is not anticipated that she will give much trouble.
But, in order to keep her in a good humour, she is to be given two nurses, who will walk one on either side of her - two of Wirth Brothers' circus elephants, if they are to be had.
The only fear is lest evil communications may corrupt Jessie's good manners, and lead to her running away to join the circus"

Jessie didn't run away with the circus and eventually settled into her new zoo where she lived until 1939, dying at the age of 69.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Jessie, but on later visits to the zoo there was always an elephant ride for the children.
Of course now this is all looked on as having been cruel treatment of the elephants, but who knows, maybe they looked forward to a stroll around to break the boredom.

The open wooded green park imagined and described in the article didn't really eventuate, animals were confined in small concrete display areas for many years and it's only relatively recently that the zoo has undertaken remodelling to give them more natural and kinder surroundings.

Jessie was an Asian elephant, the latest additon to Taronga is another Asian elephant, little Luk Chai, born at the zoo in July 2009

and now for something different

For the last month I've been at this computer solid, (so solid I've injured my mouse thumb and have to have it x-rayed LOL - no kidding!!)
For years I've been collecting names and dates and snippets about my genealogy and decided it was time to write it all up and be DONE (not as easy as it sounds because people keep popping out of the woodwork)

But this week I was doing searches on some local data bases and found that one of my ancestors was on a public health committee in 1875 "To inquire into the state of crowded dwellings and areas in the city of Sydney and suburbs, so far as it affects public health"

I've just read through some of the reports and looked at the photos on the NSW State Library web site. It's so sad to read of the conditions and the poverty that existed in Sydney back then.

Here is one part of the report and the accompanying photo:

"The next place we went to was Brisbane-place, in Kent Street (owner, J.J. Parker). It consists of three two-roomed houses, about 8 ft. square and 5 ft. 6 in. high each room, and rented at 6s. These are wretched filthy hovels, having no opening in the back walls, with one small water-closet of the worst description - narrow and dirty. A deep drain has been made under the centre of the gateway, which no doubt was intended to carry off the storm waters. This property should be pulled down, as it is quite unfit for human beings to live in."



Do you know what I find really poignant - the dog kennel! no matter their own living conditions these people still thought enough of their animal to build it a kennel!

and this one:
" ... we inspected a row of cottages, which, in a sanitary point of view, are quite unfit for human habitations.
The front doors were open, and we could see that the lower rooms were not more than 6 or 8 ft. wide. We could also perceive a ladder leading to a very small apartment above; but the window upstairs does not open, and there can be no ventilation of any kind.
Some light may enter from the small panes of glass in front, but there is no sash to raise or let down, and the ingress of fresh air is impossible.
Just in front of the doors and running parallel with the row of cottages, of which there are six, is an open drain which discharges into a large hole in the wall enclosing the yard, direct into the Tank Stream.
When this sewer is full a regurgitation takes place, so that the inmates of these hovels have in front of their doors, within 3 ft. of them, a sort of tidal stream of filthy drainage, polluting the atmosphere and inviting pestilence and disease.
These cottages should be pulled down at once and should not be replaced by any others. The closets used by the inmates are beyond description. This was our second visit to this place, which, it must be remembered, is in the centre of the business part of the city, not more than fifty or sixty yards from the Exchange, and some attempt had been made to give it a cleaner appearance. The above description may therefore be taken to represent the place at its best."



but despite all - someone is growing plants in a window box....

The full set of photos is on the State Library picman data base here

It's an interesting insight to an aspect of early Sydney that I think most people would like to forget.

...so between my current obsession with history and my sore mouse thumb, there's been no sewing happening.