Carlo prepares a sumptuous repast in the High Country

In 1915,  a Ministerial party, which included Carlo Catani, traversed the country between Maffra and Mansfield and discovered a veritable tourist paradise,  with striking mountain scenery, varied with picturesque high plain grazing country in  winter snow-clad and in summer equable and refreshing in atmosphere. The trip was 133 miles, which required a number of overnight stops at which one Carlo provided the party with the evening meal.

The trip and Carlo's meal at the camp was reported in The Age, February 25, 1915. The journalist describes Carlo as of extremely optimistic temperament. The article confirms other accounts of Carlo's genial personality, his practical nature and the ease with which he mixed with all 'classes of society' as it it would have been called 100 years ago. You can read the full article, here.

Here, to use the description of Mr. Catani, was set "a sumptuous repast." Bread baked on the spot, and far superior to the product of any Melbourne bakery, was a feature of it. Mr. Catani, who had provisioned the expedition in a first class manner right through, added to it some Italian appetisers. Opening a brief bag, which had been much in evidence during the trip, he addressed the party en masse. "Who," he said, looking at a bushman who rejoiced in the name of De Courcy O'Donovan, and who was in charge of the pack horses, ''will have some Mortadella de Bologna ?" De Courcy, with the courage of the old crusader who bore his name, although he did not know what it was he was being offered, said he would try a little. Dinny and Jack, his mates, seeing Mr. Catani produce a Bologna sausage, also ventured and Ted, the cook, doubtfully said he would have a slice. Mr. Catani handed them a slice each as a trial, and having distributed tinned tunny, anti-paste salame, anchovies aux truffles and other delicacies among the party, proceeded to question the bushmen as to their experiences with the Bologna. "How do you like it, De Courcy ?" he asked "The polony was good." said De Courcy, "I'll have a little more.'' "Do you like it, Dinny?" was the next query; "Yes, Mr. Catani." was was the reply. "Well, have a little more," said Mr. Catani. "No thanks," replied Dinny, amid laughter. "How about you, Ted?" said Mr. Catani. Ted pondered, put his head on one side, and very slowly articulated, "Well, Mr. Catani, you know I can eat it." A roar of laughter greeted the verdict, and Ted had no more Bologna (1). 

There was another account in a paper of the trip of Carlo's sumptuous repast, this time describing the main meal. It was in the Gippsland Mercury of March 9, 1915, and was written by the aforementined De Courcy O'Donovan. The full article, which has a very interesting account of the trip,  can be read, here.

We arrived there early in the afternoon, and had a billy of tea and some luncheon. Then Mr Catani and I set about getting dinner. "We will have a most sumptuous repast," he said, and going to the bag which contained a lot of tinned vegetables he began picking out some tins, saying, "'We will have a leg of mutton boiled, and we will have green peas; we will have asparagus with melted butter on it; we will have plum pudding," and, pulling out a small bottle, he said, "We will have capers with the mutton." Someone remarked - I think it was the Surveyor-General -"I hope that the dignity of the Ministerial party will not be lowered by capers." (2).

Bryce's Hut, c. 1930 - where Carlo prepared the sumptuous repast for the Ministerial Party.

Image: Victorian High Country Huts Association Facebook page

De Courcy O'Donovan's article sets the sumptuous repast at Bryce's Hut, The Age journalist sets the event the next day at a camp erected by the lessee of the Plains, Mr Phillip's, of Mansfield. Or were there two sumptuous feasts?  It doesn't really matter, but in the interests of historical accuracy, I feel obliged to mention it.

Footnotes

(1) The Age, February 25, 1915, see here.

(2) Gippsland Mercury, March 9, 1915, see here.

Carlo witnesses Halley's Comet

Carlo, actually witnessed the rare Halley's Comet! My star engineer witnessing the most famous shooting star, how fitting! Halley's Comet, as you would know, can only be seen about every seventy five years (the next opportunity you may get to see it is 2061). Carlo saw it in 1910, apparently that year it was 'only' 22.4 million kilometres from earth and was the first time it was captured on camera. There is an interesting article on  Halley's Comet on the Space.com website, read it here.

Carlo's experience was reported in the Weekly Times of April 23, 1910.  It is transcribed below, or you can read it here, on Trove.

SEEN FROM MOUNT BUFFALO.
From Bent's Lookout, at the "Gorge," on Mount Buffalo, on Sunday morning about 5 o'clock, the Minister for Public Works (Mr Baillieu) saw Halley's Comet, and expressed his indebtedness
to Mr Catani, Chief Engineer of Public Works, who had called him up to view it.

"Viewed by the naked eye," said Mr Catani, "the comet looked like a tadpole diving for food. The body seemed to be about 2ft. long, and the tail about 4ft. long. At the junction with the body the tail appeared to be about 8in. wide and tapered off to a point. The best view was obtained from Bents' Lookout at the Gorge, but it could be clearly discerned from the verandah of the new State hospice just completed on the Mount. The situation approximately was ten degrees above the horizon, a little north of east."

Yarra River flood of July 1891

The Yarra River flood of July 12, 1891, left 1,000 people homeless. The Age of July 13, 1891 had a full report of the damage the flood caused (read it here) but here are a few stories- a house in Cremorne Street, Richmond had water to within a few feet of the roof, in Dover street, the water was  within a foot of the top of the some of the street lamps..... The Johnston Street bridge.... as a rule is considerably over 50 feet clear of the flood level, but last night the water was within 14 feet of the decking.  The flood also submerged 207 houses in South Yarra - the worst streets being  Clara, River, Tivoli and Karlsberg (The Australasian July 18, 1891, read full report here)

Great flood of July 1891 -  Looking east from Princes Bridge

State Library of Victoria Image H12675

A Board of Inquiry into the Yarra River flood of  July 1891 was established.  The Inquiry was investigating  (1) the causes and extent of river floods in and about Melbourne, and the extent to which they are contributed to, or intensified by, artificial or preventable causes , and (2) the measures that might be adopted for controlling or mitigating the effects of such floods, and for preventing, future damage therefrom.

The Board members were Mr Clement Hodgkinson, chariman; Mr. W. Davidson, Inspector general of public works; Mr Stuart Murray, chief engineer Victorian Water Supply department; Mr A. C. Mountain, city surveyor of Melbourne; Mr William Thwaites, engineer in chief to the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works; Mr P. J. Nolan, city surveyor of South Melbourne; Mr H. Tolhurst, city surveyor of Collingwood; Mr A Clayton, C. E., city surveyor of Richmond; Mr H.T. Haynes, city engineer of Hawthorn; Mr William Calder, city surveyor of Footscray; Mr A. V. Heath, borough surveyor of Port Melbourne and Mr. T. B Muntz, C. E., engineer of the shire of Malvern. (The Argus, October 14, 1891)

The Great Flood of 1891 - Punt Road Richmond.

State Library of Victoria Image H12674

The Inquiry heard from a number of expert witnesses - Carlo Catani, being one and his friend, Ettore Checchi being another. Ettore, Carlo and their friend Pietro Baracchi,  had journey from Italy to New Zealand then onto their new life in Victoria in 1876. The other evidence that was given by the expert witnesses can be read in The Argus of October, 14 1891, here.

Carlo and Ettore's evidence was reported in The Argus of October 21 (see here) Ettore's evidence is interesting as it shows the huge volume of water that swept down the Yarra during this flood.

Mr Ettore Checchi of the Victorian Water Supply department, the first witness examined submitted a number of plans showing the levels of the floods at different points of the river. At Warrandyte the volume of flood water was 1,650, 000 cubic feet per minute ; and at Dights Falls he estimated the volume to be 2,290,300 cubic feet per minute. Other authorities had formed different estimates as to the volume at the last-named and a mean average of 2,167,600 cubic feet per minute was given. At Gardiners Creek the mean average as to the volume of the flood water was 2,206,200. At Prince's-bridge the discharge would be practically the same at at Gardiner's Creek. The discharge of water at the St Kilda road was 495,800 cubic feet per minute, with a volume of 147ft per minute. The mean volume of water at the Saltwater River was 1,188,600 cubic feet per minute. The total discharge of water at the junction of the Saltwater River was 2,899,000 cubic feet per minute, with allowance for diversion at Prince's-bridge only. The total discharge of water into the bay was 3,395,000 cubic feet per minute. (The Argus of October 21, see here)

Mr. Catani of the Public Works department,  said there was a discrepancy between the levels supplied by him and those furnished by the officers of the Harbour Trust as to the flood waters at the Queen's-bridge. Above and below the bridge the same level of water he found obtained, the abutments of the bridge offering no obstruction to the continuous flow of the water. The levels he had marked on his plans were in agreement with those obtained by the Railway department. From his own observation he had fixed the levels of the flood of 1891. (The Argus of October 21, see here)

One of the solutions to stop the Yarra River flooding was to widen the river and straighten it's course and this work, between the Princes Bridge and the Cremorne Railway Bridge, was undertaken by Carlo Catani and the Public Works Department in 1896 and 1897, you can read more about it here. This work also led to the creation of Alexandra Avenue and the Alexandra Gardens, two other projects of Carlo's.

Kelso Street, Richmond, July 1891 flood. Photographer: Paul and Gerald Turner.

State Library of Victoria Image H96.160/1996



Twenty nine houses were 'rendered uninhabitable' by the flood, and you can see why by this photo.
Clara Street, Hawksburn, 1891 flood. Photographer: Cyril Robert Stainer.
State Library of Victoria Image  H2002.130/6

There are many photos of the 1891 flood on the State Library of Victoria website, www.slv.vic.gov.au

Where did Elvira, Eugenia and Enid attend school?

We know that Carlo's sons attended Melbourne Grammar, but I wondered where his daughters went? Carlo and Catherine had three daughters - Elvira May, known as Vera, (born May 31, 1888); Eugenia Anastasia (born August 13, 1895) and Enid Marguerite (born November 3,  1899). I did some research on Trove and fortunately schools in the past often published reports of examinations and speech days, so I have found a few references.

Elvira attended the Strathclyde Ladies College. In December 1900, there was a report of  a Speech Day at the Strathclyde Ladies College and Elvira received a B for Conversational French. In October 1901, Elvira passed a French examination at the  Alliance Francaise of Victoria. The only other report I could find of Elvira's school days was in January 1902 when the examination results for the Strathclyde school were listed in The Australasian, and Elvira obtained  a D for French. In the 'Extra subjects' Elvira received a prize  for Drawing, a  prize for Conversational French and an Alliance Francaise Certificate. (The Australasian January 18, 1902)

The City of Stonnington has a history of  education in their area and it has this very short history of the Strathclyde Ladies College. In the 1880s, Daniel and Martha Connelly opened Cornelia College for Ladies in Horsburgh Grove, Armadale, which later moved to Albany Road.  The School was taken over by the Misses Rudd in the 1890s and renamed Strathclyde. You can read it, here.

Eugenie attended the Harborough Girls' School, which was a 61 Rose Street in Armadale. The fourth annual prize distribution of the Harborough Girls' School and Kindergarten took place on December 17 1903 and Eugenie, who was in Kindergarten,  received a First Class prize for writing. If this was the 'fourth annual' prize night, I presume the school only started in 1900. This is supported by a report of a function held at the school on December 10, 1914 to farewell the Misses Knights, who, are a period of fifteen years are retiring from the school. (The Argus, December 21, 1914) It was co-ed school and possibly just a primary school.

In 1910,  both Eugenie and Enid were at Lauriston Girls School - Enid was listed as receiving an Honour Certificate and Eugenie received an Honour certificate and the Scripture prize. (The Argus, December 19, 1910)  According to their website, Lauriston Girls' School was established in 1901 by Margaret and Lilian Irving, daughters of the eminent Victorian educator Professor Martin Howy Irving. 

In 1913, we find a report that both Eugenie and Enid were at the Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School.  Enid was in Form IV and was awarded the '2nd standard prize' and also received a prize in the Intermediate Division of the Diocescan Divinity Examination. Eugenie received a hockey stick as a Games Trophy. (The Argus, December 20, 1913)  In their Speech Day report held December 15, 1915, they had the following, lovely tribute to Eugenie, who had been school captain,  after her tragic early death at the age of 19, on August 1, 1915. How brilliant she must have been  and how tragic it is that she died so young.

Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School Speech Day report, December 1915
The Age, December 18 1915

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154921390

I have created a short list of articles that refer to the school days of  Elvira, Eugenia and Enid Catani, you can see it here, on Trove.