ESH 01 - Sixty years on the Rocks The Memoirs of Professor Alan H Voisey

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SIXTY YEARS ON THE ROCKS THE MEMOIRS OF PROFESSOR ALAN H. VOISEY

Edited by H.J. Harrington, A.J. Yeates, D.F. Branagan and G.H. McNally

Published by The Earth Sciences History Group Geological Society of Australia Inc. A.N.A. House, 301 George St., Sydney December 1991

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Copyright: Alan H. Voisey and Earth Sciences History Group, Geological Society of Australia, Inc., 301 George St., Sydney December 1991 ISBN 0 909869 82 0

Set up by the editors Printed by the University of Sydney Printing Services

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Frontispiece: Alan Voisey (centre) with Vic Cottle, Alf Kleeman, Mrs Hossfeld, Paul Hossfeld, and Bill Smith ready to set offfromAdelaide, April 1936.

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CONTENTS

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction PART I —— LEARNING 1 The University of Sydney daring the great depression (1929-1933) 2 Economic recovery and the Victorian goldfields (1934) 3 The Aerial geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (1935) 4 The Aerial Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (1936) 5 Master of Science (1937)

vii i 1 3 5 15 21 31 37

PART H —— TEACHING 6 New England University College (1938-1952) 7 Antioch College and American Universities (1952-1953) 8 The University of New England (1953-1964) 9 Eastern Michigan University (1964-1965) 10 The teaching of Geology in schools and the Wyndham Scheme(1962) 11 Macquarie University (1964-1971) 12 The mining boom and transition to industry (1970)

39 41 45 51 57 61 67 75

PART m APPLYING 13 Mining Finance Corporation (1970-1971) 14 ICI Australia (1971-1975) 15 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (1975-1979) 16 Oakbridge Limited - Ravenshoe and Herberton 17 Era South Pacific, Minerol Investments and Other Companies (1978-1987) 18 Negri River Corporation (1980-1984) 19 Sedimentary Uranium, Cracow Gold and Sedimentary Holdings (1979-1987)

81 83 87 93 97 101 103 107

PART IV — REMINISCING 20 The Australian Geological Surveys and Geoscience Societies. 21 The Universites Revisited, Addenda, Corrigenda and other Matters Publications of Alan Voisey References

109 Ill 117 119 123

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PREFACE At the first David Memorial Day Symposium at Sydney University on 10 May 1988 Professor Voisey mentioned to H J. Harrington, then Chairman of the Earth Sciences History Group of the Geological Society of Australia, that in a desk drawer he had an unfinished draft of a manuscript that amounted to a set of his memoirs. Professor Voisey subsequently sent the manuscript to Dr Harrington who partly edited it and arranged for it to be typed fear archival preservation. The executive of the History Group, then in Canberra, began the process of preparing the manuscript for a limited printing, as it believed Professor Voisey's memoirs contain material of interest and significance to the present generation of Australian geologists. In 1990 the executive powers of the Group passed to members in Sydney. This group has continued the editing, final preparation and printing of the memoirs, and wishes to pay tribute to the hard work of the previous executive members, to Dr Ken Williams and Chris Branagan for computing assistance, and to the co-operation and patience of Professor Voisey, who has accepted some pruning of his text, in the interests of economy. We are sorry that only a limited selection of the large collection of historically significant and technically excellent photographs taken by Professor Voisey over the years can be printed. We are grateful also to the artist Ken Emerson, who has generously given permission for the reproduction of a number of his excellent and very appropriate, Warrumbunglers cartoons. David Branagan (Chairman, ESHG, Geological Society of Australia Inc. November 1991).

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am most grateful to Larry Harrington for his friendship and help over many years and particularly for his initiative in arranging for me to do something creative and get much pleasure in my "twilight" years. I greatly appreciate the honour of having my work prepared and that a copy will go to the archives of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. As one of the first of those appointed to the Aerial Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia in 19351 feel I was involved so much in its pre-natal years that this means a lot to me. Further, I am delighted with the interest of the Earth Sciences History Group of The Geological Society of Australia. I wish to thank Tony Yeates and his helpers, particularly Mrs Margaret Hunter who struggled with my writing and typed most of the manuscript. My sympathy and thanks go those other unsung typists who have laboured through so much of it I am also grateful to David Branagan for seeing the work through to thefinalprinting. I could not finish this work without recording my gratitude and thanks to my wife, Phyllis, who, in one way or another was involved in almost everything I did - whether she approved or not, over more thanfiftyyears. Besides caring for me and our children, Yvonne and Lynette, and where possible for our grandchildren, she welcomed and entertained at home my colleagues, particularly geologists - dirty or not! Her many relatives did much also to enrich our lives and keep me interested in the family history, after retirement. On 11 April 1991 Sam Carey rang mefromHobart to wish me a happy 80th birthday. I reciprocated from Sydney for his 80th on 1 November 1991. We are now getting somewhat shaky in the legs, but he, who never left a stone unturned, told me that he has had a steel joint implanted to replace one knee. I will be content to struggle on with a walking stick! Alan Voisey, 19th November, 1991.

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INTRODUCTION Geologists, the world over, belong to a club. It has no name and no rules but to qualify for membership a love for the study of the earth and its relationship to man is all that is required. They like to get together, preferably "in the field", and to bring home specimens to gloat over, dissect, analyse and interpret. By the very nature of their investigations they have great reverence for the past - and for those who have been the pioneers and contributors to geology. Numbers of books and articles have been published about these great men. Some writers have dealt with Australian geologists up to the time of Edgeworth David and into the exciting period of the 1930s but very little with those since then. It is my purpose therefore to add to the list many of my contemporaries - those, who in their own ways and in many areas spread geological information, added to it and enriched the experiences of those with whom they came in contact. I will be concerned mainly with Australians, particularly those working in New South Wales over the fifty years from 1930 to 1980 with a little spilling over at each end as I started to study geology in 1928 and am still doing so in 1991. The title Sixty Years on the Rocks is appropriate because of my love of fieldwork -1 never became a black box man, it is probably also appropriate in that while I enjoyed myself immensely doing geology I never made a fortune doing it. A significant change which can be noted in the geological profession since I began is that with increasing numbers of geologists there has been a loss of identity - a change from the individual's achievements to those of the group to which he belongs. In David's time there were few, if any, geologists in Australia who were working specifically for companies - now they are in the great majority. Team effort has become the usual way of carrying out investigations, and although the chief geologist may get some recognition in the event of success, there is far less personal identification with a project than there was in the past. For this reason I am concerned with writing about my fellow geologists who worked with me or within my knowledge. While this is the main theme, I think it worthwhile to consider the changes in working conditions, the building up of geological knowledge, and the great development of the mining industry over the years. To achieve these ends I have had to write in the first person, and cannot really avoid making this work to some extent an autobiography, though I hope that I can keep my position as being "The Observer" and not so much "The Observed". The backdrop for the characters has been provided by several authors but the most relevant is The Rush that Never Ended by Geoffrey Blainey. His very useful discussion of earlier publications set out in his bibliography relieves me of the burden of this kind of research. Other references dealing mainly with individual geologists and institutions are listed also. Not many of Blainey's men were trained geologists - most were prospectors and miners, and many will never be remembered by name, but they comprise a very strong fringe to the geological ground and were just as dedicated I feel so personally involved with so many of Professor David's students that I must make reference to my contacts with them. Apart from all his achievements, David was a man who was admired and revered as himself, and loved by many of those who knew him. His influence among his students, even those who only took one year of geology, was great. He was a shining example, in his own way, of life, and in his enthusiasm for geology which was so infectious. During his lifetime and in the fifty years since his death people have been proud to be able to say "I knew Professor David." He was in the Geology Department during the time I was there from 1929 to 1933, and I treasure the memories, even the last conversation I recall when I visited him in his room. As it was his custom to rise and receive all his visitors, he attempted to do so, but arthritis slowed him. When he saw who it was he sank back and said "you must please excuse me, I am alright standing up, and all right sitting down, but at my age one does like to preserve the status quo". I knew all his D.Sc. students, except H.I. Jensen very well indeed, and I even corresponded with him. In particular, I had a close association with W.G. Woolnough while on the North Australia Survey (AGGSNA) for which he was consultant; I met W.N. Benson on several occasions and corresponded with him - he was an examiner of my D.Sc. thesis; T.G. Taylor, on his return to Australia, was met on several occasions, and he opened our Geography block at The University of New England; as the holder of a Linnean Macleay Fellowship I had a long association with A.B. Walkom. L.A. Cotton and W.R. Browne were my University teachers and guided my academic and research work for much of my academic life. Of David's pass graduates Matthew Fleck (1919) was a cousin who first showed me round the University of Sydney; G.J. Burrows (1909) and B.T. Dunlop (1919) taught me Science at West Kempsey Intermediate High School; Florence

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Middleton (1918) taught me Mathematics, and Valerie McMullen (1918) was also on the school staff. Marie Bentivoglio (1918) gave me lectures on Geography Teaching Method at the Sydney Teachers' Training College. Tom Hodge Smith (1921) Mineralogist, and H.O. Fletcher (1927), Palaeontologist, at the Australian Museum, were close friends. Graduates of the Department of Geology who studied under David made up most of the staff of the New South Wales Geological Survey. I knew all of those listed below except T.L. Willan, and received much inspiration and help from a number of them over a period of years. They were:- (Dates in brackets were their years of graduation) E.C. Andrews (1892); W.S. Dun (1892); L.J. Jones (1903); A.C.Lloyd (1908); E.J. Kenny (1917); T.L. Willan (1920); H.G. Raggatt (1921); H.P. Whitworth (1922); F.W. Booker (1923); C. StJ Mulholland (1923): L.F. Harper, (not a graduate), I also knew. The graduates of the David era included many future university teachers, some of whom became prominent professors. Among them were: W.G. Woolnough (Geology) University of W.A.; D. Mawson (Geology) University of Adelaide; W.N. Benson (Geology) University of Otago; L.A. Cotton (Geology) University of Sydney; C.E. Tilley (Geology) University of Cambridge; T. Griffith Taylor (Geography) University of Toronto; F. Debenham (Geography) University of Cambridge. Though not actually taking up geology as their life's work, a number of other graduates made contributions to the subject over the years, not only by their research, but on their actions in keeping the subject alive. Rev. R.T. Wade (1904) carried out research on fossil fish; W.J. Enright (1892), though in the legal profession, guided all visiting geologists in Hunter River geology; Marcel Aurousseau (1913) was with us at many meetings over a long period of years and contributed to research. There were many others. The author of one of the few Australian geology textbooks was C.A. Sussmilch (1900)- Geology of New South Wales 1914, Angus and Robertson. He wrote a number of papers on geology and became Director of the Sydney Technical College. Special mention must also be made of Mr Shearsby, a very well known personality, who did not attend the University, but who was met by almost every geology student who ever visited Hatton's Corner at Yass, to see the Silurian fossils. The "name dropping" above is intended to demonstrate how few geologists there were in New South Wales in the late twenties and early thirties of this century. I repeat that I knew almost all of them and was on very good terms with many, over a number of years. The same could be said for many others in the group. They met quite frequently. To me they were outstanding personalities, each of whom had something to offer to the subject and to one another. This is not to say that they were all friends - there were rivalries and differences of opinion on almost every topic. This, of course, led to the advancement of knowledge, and the students and younger members gained much geological knowledge, and at times much amusement, at scientific meetings,1 where arguments took place between the elder statesmen. Despite the friendliness, a well accepted pecking order, combined with respect for the great men, and also for the elderly (if not coincident), was understood. Between those of similar status, however, few punches were pulled. Long-standing feuds, based on different interpretations of geological phenomena, were well known within such a small community of scholars.

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PART I ---——« LEARNING 1 The University of Sydney during the great depression (1929-1933) 2 Economic recovery and the Victorian goldfields (1934) 3 The Aerial geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (1935) 4 The Aerial Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (1936) 5 Master of Science (1937)

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Student Fieldwork in comfort. Laurie Waterhouse supervises Philip Game's work at Cudgegong, done in the Governor's car.

Professor Cotton chides Len Hall and others for taking a fence.

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CHAPTER 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION Geology, still supported by the great discoveries of the 19th Century, rated highly in the public mind in the "twenties", fueled by the enthusiasm of David and his students and associates. Not only were the graduates in geology ambassadors for the subject, but many of those who had only done one year were so impressed that they worked their knowledge into courses which they taught, and if the opportunity offered, did even more. One such disciple was William Kennedy McConnell. He was appointed to West Kempsey Intermediate High School, where he taught Geography and Economics. For a small fee he took several interested students, including myself, to his home for a short course in Lithology in 1927. In 1928 he suggested to his final year students in Geography that they change to Geology for the Leaving Certificate Examination. For me this fitted in well with Chemistry, though I regretted leaving Geography, which I regarded as my best subject The increasing value of Chemistry and Physics, and rapid progress in knowledge in these fields having been recognised by educational authorities, these were preferred to Geology as subjects taught in New South Wales Department of Education schools. Only the private schools, mostly those catering for girls, retained Geology as a major subject for the Leaving Certificate. While accepting it as a subject for the Leaving Certificate, its retention in departmental schools - as a substitute for Chemistry or Physics- was strongly discouraged. Teachers like that outstanding exponent, the late Heather Drummond, usually inspired students to take the honours course, and some went on to the University. Unfortunately, those students who had not also taken Chemistry or Physics were at a great disadvantage if they chose to take the science degree course. A pass in one or other of these was a prerequisite for entry to the second year. Without a good knowledge of Mathematics, including the calculus, it was very difficult indeed to qualify for a Bachelor of Science degree. The plight of weaker students holding New South Wales Department of Education scholarships was exacerbated by the policy of the department to encourage them to take Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics with only of Botany, Zoology, Geology or Geography to make up the required four subjects for the first year. Entry to the University of Sydney, then the only university in New South Wales, was never meant to be easy, and even though an appropriate pass in the Leaving Certificate Examination set by the New South Wales Education Department was accepted, the University also had its own Matriculation Examination for others not so qualified. It was necessary to pass in one ancient language (Latin or Greek) to enter the Faculty of Arts, and one modern language (French or German) to enter Science. Griffith Taylor (1958, p.34) was particularly bitter on behalf of Laby (who was later Professor of Physics in the University of Melbourne): "He became the first lecturer in a new branch of Physical Chemistry without knowing a syllable of Latin rhymes. ...He was one of many able men whose success was delayed by the dead hand of Classics, that irrational obstacle in the way of higher education". Over twenty years later, with Classics still deeply entrenched, the Sydney Professorial Board was highly amused when a well known Classics professor opposed the recognition of Chinese in this context because "it has always been our custom to insist upon at least one ancient language for matriculation in Arts". My main worry was to matriculate for Science and I had to have a pass in French. I managed to make it with a "B", but this was the narrowest squeak I had in my life, and I have never forgotten my French teacher, Maude Jensen, later mother of Ross Stewart, who helped me to make it Like so many others at the onset of the Great Depression, my only chance of getting to the university was by means of a scholarship, so I welcomed the letter in February 1929 offering me a scholarship at the Sydney Teachers' Training College, with the note that I might be allowed to take the science course. The scholarship entitled me to an allowance of eighty pounds ($A160) per year, together with a grant for necessary textbooks and field excursion expenses, not exceeding five pounds per annum. Exemption from university and college fees was included. At our first meeting at the Teachers' College we were interviewed by lecturers who advised us about subjects we should take. Although I had taken first place in the Honours Geology list at the Leaving Certificate Examination, I was advised not to take Geology as it might jeopardise my career as a teacher. After much debate however, I decided to take the risk and chose Chemistry I, Physics I, Mathematics I and Geology I as my first year subjects, and this was approved. Somewhat surprisingly to those of us who came from the country, we found that there was a division among the students at the University into two groups - those who were resident in the University Colleges or were financially independent, and those who were on scholarships. The only real effect of this was more or less unconscious closing of ranks, which meant that many friendships were made closer by the separation and were retained through life.

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Most of the College students took professional courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Engineering or Law and only a relatively small number became involved in teaching. Very few of the scholarship students had taken Geology, Botany or Zoology before, but they had all taken Chemistry and Physics. The private or Great Public School (GPS) students often lacked Chemistry and/or Physics and were about to suffer acutely as a result. Mathematics was also very variable, and often weak, in the schools. Although, theoretically, a student could start Chemistry or Physics without taking either in Secondary school it was a very difficult year. It was possible to cope with one, but few were able to make the grade with both, and it was necessary to pass in all four subjects in order to proceed to the second year. Geology for many is not just a field of study but a disease and an incurable one. While my main opponents for class honours were early identified - mostly women from private schools, many of the scholarship group took to the subject and made the pace very fast indeed. This came out early, with enthusiasm being measured mainly by the weight of the specimens collected on the Saturday Geology excursions. The change from school to University life was felt by all and generally enjoyed. Lectures were spaced through the mornings, and 3-hour practical classes were mostly in the afternoon. However First-Year Geology had a 4-hour per week system in the mornings for two terms, with the third term free. Lithology and Mapping were in first term and Micropetrology and Palaeontology in the second. Final practical examinations were held at the end of each course and, together with marks for excursion essays, constituted the practical work assessment for the year. By third term we were able to see fairly clearly what the field was like and who were the chief competitors for credits and distinctions in the subject. The Geology Department was a superbly managed organization, very close to its zenith, retaining much momentum from thefirstquarter of a century of David rule. After two years' leave, and two more years' freedom from lecturing and administration, Professor David had vacated the Chair of Geology at the end of 1924, after holding it for 33 years. He remained a revered and loved person in the Department until the time of his death in 1934, giving occasional lectures, but spending most of the time writing his Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia. The academic members of the Department of Geology in 1929 were all former students of David. They were:Professor - L.A. Cotton; Assistant Professor - Dr. W.R. Browne; Lecturers - Mr. L.L. Waterhouse, Dr. G.D. Osborne; Part-time Lecturer - Mr W.S. Dun; Demonstrators - Miss Dorothy Powell, Miss Florrie M. Quodling; Attendants - Mr. P. Crawford, Mr. H.G. Gooch, Mr K.M. Walsh; Linnean Mcleay Fellow - Miss Ida A. Brown. The attitude of staff towards the students differed greatly from that in the Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as far as I was concerned, and I know that this difference was noted by many others. It was one of friendliness, understanding and confidence, not only towards the more able students but to all, and this is really what constituted the difference. This was due to the influence of David, whose sympathy for his fellow man in general ,and his students in particular, spread through his staff. Each staff member interpreted this feeling in his or her individual way. Professor Cotton was not only the ultimate authority, but he was always available to help anyone in trouble, and actively did so. For a man of his ability and attainments he was very modest and greatly underrated by some of his colleagues. He was a soft, sympathetic and very lovable man. He was able to drive a car and owned a very old model called "Cuba". Assistant-Professor W.R. Browne was more awesome, and the guardian of academic purity. All bowed to his opinion and sought his help. He was the leader in research, and few pieces of work were published without his stamp of approval. He was regarded as the disciplinarian in both scholarship and conduct. His skilfully applied wit was sufficient to bring both students and staff to heel without the exercise of any punitive action. First year lectures for many years, including the ones I attended in 1929, were given by these two. Dr. G.D. Osborne was in charge of the practical classes, ably assisted by the demonstrators, notably at this stage by Miss Dorothy Powell. Osborne was one of the bright products of the Department, and entirely devoted to it and its objectives. Being the youngest of the senior members he was closer to the undergraduate students, and highly respected by them. He was an excellent teacher and an outstanding researcher. Mr. L.L. Waterhouse had a restricted teaching role, being concerned chiefly with students of economic geology and engineering. Consequently, he was little known to the undergraduates in Arts and Science. He was not regarded highly as a researcher, but he was a lucid and informative lecturer. He was a sincere friend to me over many years and I thought a great deal of him. Nothing was too much trouble for him when anyone was in need. Mr. W.S. Dun, who was palaeontologist to the New South Wales Geological Survey, was part-time lecturer in this subject during the period 1921-1933, taking only the senior classes. Though he did not have much free time available for students we regarded him as the distinguished visitor as he was, and looked, aided by his venerable white beard. His lectures were good, but increasingly inaudible, and it was whispered that he had a whisky or two on his way to class. Though this was probably true, all felt very sympathetic when it was realized that he had been dying slowly with cancer in his throat.

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First Year Geology excursions were great events. It must have been surprising to local inhabitants to see over a hundred students walking behind a leader, swinging hammers and stopping at intervals, to receive lectures and to beat at rocks with their little hammers and put pieces in the bags over their shoulders. We had half day excusions to Bondi and the Hornsby volcanic neck, and one day excursions to Prospect, Glenbrook and Narrabeen. The staff were all good lecturers. They prepared material and exhibits and provided synopses of all lectures and practical classes. In every way they had our respect and trust However the atmosphere of the Department, developed over the years of the David, Woolnough, Benson, Cotton-Browne and Waterhouse period was somewhat puritanical. Cotton, Browne, Waterhouse and Osborne were convinced orthodox Protestants, and practised their faith not only on Sundays, but in their working lives and personal relationships. Alcohol was one of man's greatest enemies, and smoking an unfortunate addiction. None of them smoked, drank alcohol or used naughty words - and those working with them respected their views. For years ahead their successors deviated littlefromthe straight and narrow path. With this went dedication to science in general and geology in particular. There was always the desire to help and a reluctance to fail anyone. Students worked because of the enthusiasm exuded by all around them, but there was a thinly disguised belief in the other Science schools that the Geology courses were made too easy. It is not surprising that I never shared that view. Chemistry under Professor Fawsitt was not too difficult for those who had done it at school, and presumably the same was true of Physics, where Major Edgar Booth was in charge of ourfirstyear class, assisted by demonstrators. He made the subject interesting, with practical illustrations and jokes, to which the students never failed to respond. Later he became a forceful person in the University of New England. The Physics Department was one of the earliest cradles of Geophysics. Booth gained his Doctor of Science degree for pioneering work in this field. In third term, tension built up among the first year student group. For most, just one failure meant "back to the Teachers' College, for the one year course for failed University students and a primary school appointment". All four subjects had to be passed in order to enter Science II. Non College students, many of whom were on bursaries, and others with good Leaving Certificate passes, were also keen to do well. Of course, there was a residual group who just hadn't managed to cope with the University type of education, and had already given up, but did not say so. Sam Carey, as always bubbling with enthusiasm, shook hands with Ron Broadhead, myself and other competitors forfirstplace in Geology I, and said sincerely "May the best man win!" He didn't. Dorothy York took the honour and Sam and I were fortunate to tie for second place, with Broadhead and Maxwell also in the High Distinction group. The choice of second year subjects was a problem as, armed with the knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, most of us wished to make changes. Having decided that I had reached my limit of incompetence in Mathematics I was determined to drop the subject, which meant as a corollary that I could not go on with Physics, because Maths II was a prerequisite for Physics III. I wished also to take Geography I. I was warned by the Education Department course adviser that I might be giving away the chance of becoming a Science Master, but with the spectre of a failure in Maths II, I was thankful to receive permission to take Chemistry II, Geology II and Geography I, being thereby committed also to Chemistry III and Geology III for the third year. The survivors of the first year settled down to consolidate their positions, having confidence now in their ability to finally get the coveted degree. There was more acceptance by the older university inhabitants and we infiltrated into the sporting and social activities and became more aware of those in other Faculties. Union Night, a debating group working as closely as possible to parliamentary procedures, provided entertainment on Wednesdays. It was a useful training ground for law students, with a plentiful sprinklingfromthe Faculty of Arts, but only a few courageous souls from Science, Engineering and Medicine. Many of our potential judges, politicans and leading citizens spent countless hours debating important topics in Union Hall. I recall some such as: "That this house envies the South Sea Islander"; "Socialism is an empty dream"; "Co-education is a failure". Geology excursions were no longer one day affairs - they were usually seven to ten days in length, and because of the small numbers, both second and third year students were usually combined into one group. Excursions were usually held in the first vacation, at the end of May and early June. Our second year excursion was to the Tallong area near Goulburn and the third year one was to Jenolan Caves. Other alternatives were to the Yass, Maitland and the Gerringong areas. The Tallong excursion was a most memorable experience. Led by Professor Browne, the men camped beside a creek on a farm, the women staying in the farm house. It would not have been proper in the circumstances of the times for the women to have camped near us. Alcohol was absolutely forbidden - and indeed was unavailable, and for most of usfinanciallybeyond our means. Professor Browne, noting a card game with a mixed party at the farm house remarked that he really didn't think that the girls ought to be taught to play for money. The men took this rather badly, as the women were expert poker players and had skinned them out. Daily we went walking, but for longer distances such as Tallong Gorge, we were packed on to a lorry. At night discussions were held at the farm. On the last night a concert was staged. The girls - probably with their poker winnings, bought rolls of crinkle paper from the local store. As it was in short supply they planned their dresses

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accordingly, much to the delight of the men students, and the obvious displeasure of the staff. Another outstanding turn was a conjuring and memory session by the Great Mystic S. Warren Carey which left everyone dazed, incredulous, and academically scared. Professor Browne had his evening plunge into the creek beside the camp, much to the horror of most of us, because of the very low temperatures. Carey, however, said that he was prepared to go for a dip before 7 a.m. Few believed he would, so he accepted bets. It was so cold during the night on our canvas stretchers that we kept a fire going continuously. Carey took his dip, but while we were thawing him out in front we found his costume had frozen on to his back. We had to keep rotating him like a bird on a spit. The friendships formed, and understandings reached on these excusions lasted us all our time at the University and in many cases right through our lives. On our return to the University we were given six weeks to write an essay on the excursion, and this counted in our final assessment. The Geography I course was a mixture between the policies of Griffith Taylor and the recently appointed Professor McDonald Holmes, and we were made aware of the problem as we received lectures from the professor and practical courses from Griffith's sister, Miss Dorothy Taylor. Single day excusions were run on very similar lines to those in Geology. Chemistry II included both Inorganic and Organic branches of the subject, and although I found some difficulty with the Organic branch I realize in retrospect what an important period in science we were going through. Plastics are now of great importance but to us they were only theoretically possible. It was fascinating to see how it was possible to manufacture an almost infinite number of materials of various combinations. The means whereby the requisite radicals could be added or subtracted were developed in the laboratories and later widely used in the rapidly growing plastics industry. Living in Sydney during the first three years for me was novel, interesting and at times spartan. My first year with one of my mother's old friends and her mother at Parsley Road, Vaucluse, was easy, with only a few memorable events -1 had a boiled egg every morning for breakfast and I can't remember the evening meals, which presumably were satisfying. A notable achievement, especially for one not good with his hands, was my building of a wireless set using only hammer and nails and a saw. I bought a coil, a holder for the galena crystal, a cat's whisker to touch it and a dial with some wires and plates attached - the total for about two pounds. I borrowed the headphones from the house radio, as the ladies were sufficiently well off to buy one. My machine worked very well. The other memorable period was 'stew-vac' while I was studying for the final exam. It was a cicada year and the many trees were full of them; the chorus was deafening and not conducive to study. To avoid the amount of travel I decided to move closer to the University, and thanks to my parents and the Anglican clergyman at Marrickville I obtained a room in a boarding house in Wardell Road. The people were interesting, but the rice pudding was awful, and we noticed similarities between the servings not eaten and those on the plates of later arrivals. I suggested mixing salt in what we left on our plates. This brought immediate results, so once again I changed my location. This time help came from three fellow students, Claude Blick, Ray Cairns and Tom Maxwell, who were happily settled with a Miss Clifford in a small terraced house, still standing in Northumberland Avenue, Leichhardt. Full board was only twenty two shillings and sixpence (2.25 dollars) and travel was only one penny (concession fare) from the University. Management was later taken over by Mrs Hutchins, whose very personable daughter, Barbara, became famous in her time as one of Australia's earliest women fliers. In November of this year, 1930, on Melbourne Cup day, Tom Maxwell missed his dinner and came into the room muttering unkind words about some drunken mates. The group had pooled resources and had placed a winning bet on the horse. This unusual windfall demanded a celebration at the University Hotel. Tom, the more experienced drinker, had to put his drunkenfriendsto bed at the pub. As a necessary precaution in these bad times he had collected all their valuables and tipped out a collection of watches pens and small change on the bed. He rang their homes to say that the friends were staying the night with him. The above story might be of little interest today, but for financial reasons students were unable to have many such orgies, and the few occasions stay in one's mind. It may have been some sign of improving economy that Faculty Balls and other dances were held in the Farmer's Blaxland Galleries and several other similar centres in the City. Most of us managed to work in some activities other than the academic. Failing, as expected, to get into the Faculty cricket team, I made it into the hockey, rugby union and rugby league teams. As goalie in a team which always won easily, hockey gave me little exercise, but I made up for this at football, playing rugby union on Wednesday afternoons (at the expense of Practical Crystallography) and Saturday mornings, and rugby league on Saturday afternoons. I used to start intensive study on Saturday night, bed at midnight, then work again at 5 a.m. on Sunday with little break until 6 p.m. Sunday evening. I then used to visit my distant cousin David Lee and his parents at Ashfield. This routine was broken just before the Michaelmas Vacation when I did a disastrous diving tackle playing the med students on University Oval. I broke several bones in my leg, an accident confirmed by a number of the opposing team who were interested in diagnosing the problem. It seemed obvious to me, as my foot dropped down and swung round as they carried me off. At least I was close to Prince Alfred Hospital, and I was taken in by the back door. I watched with interest while a woman doctor pulled the leg out straight and set it in plaster - and again later when a more senior doctor

8

decided that it was not a good job and had the plaster cut off and wound on again. I went home to Kempsey with my crutches for the vacation, and did most of my third term similarly inconvenienced. I was able to sit down to do much of the practical geology (mostly blowpipe analysis), but practical physical chemistry, though achievable, was certainly a more difficult operation. 1931, the third year of our Science degree course, was a difficult one for students as well as for the majority of the community. The parlous financial state of the Government had led to a reduction in the salaries of public servants and in the allowances of Education Department students. Our "absent from home" allowance of eighty pounds was reduced to fifty five pounds. Though this put greater pressure on us there had been a fall in prices, which was some compensation. One strict rule in the regulations for the Degree of Bachelor of Science was that two major third year subjects had to be passed at the same examination - deferred exams or posts (held usually in the January, following those in the November) were regarded as part of this examination. In other words most of us had a "second chance". By the time we sat for the final exams there was one odds-on favourite, Sam Carey. We were all shaken when he did not appear for one of the Geology papers. He was in fact talking to Professor Cotton in his study, having copied the wrong time into his diary and thinking that the examination was to be held in the afternoon. Suddenly remembering the time, Professor Cotton locked him in the study, put a staff member on guard and went to the Great Hall. Fortunately none of us had left the examination, so he flew to the Registrar, and after some persuasion with an easier agreement from the rest of us Carey was marched under guard to the afternoon session - penalized by losing two questions from his choice and allowed to proceed. Even so the favourite came home, beating Dorothy York by a short head and me by a long one. However, we were consoled by the fact that each of us gained a High Distinction. In order to take the Honours Course for a fourth year it was necessary to take a year's leave from the Department of Education and to agree to take the Teachers' Training Course in the fifth year. The Department refused to leave me on their books, so that I had to pay University fees because Geology was "not a teaching subject". I would have been permitted to stay on if I agreed to take Chemistry - a subject for which I had required the deferred examination to pass, and consequently could only have obtained second or third class honours. Though I saw the point, I never forgave the Education Department, and spent much time in subsequent years trying to get Geology accepted as a teaching subject in the State School curriculum. At this point I will break away from the academic sequence and deal with other matters which obviously were of great concern not only to me but to most of my associates. The Great Depression was well under way before we started the University course. In my case my father's business had been closed and he became Warden of a Church of England Hostel for High School students at West Kempsey, on a salary of thirty shillings (3 dollars) per week, and keep for himself and his wife. Sam Carey's mother, with four children, struggled with a small business in Canterbury, and generally most of us had to live on our Education Department Scholarships. At this time, as previously, most families had always functioned with only one "bread-winner". Few married women earned money. Consequently, the percentage of 100% unemployment applied effectively to many families. Fortunately for me, mother had taken out an Assurance Policy when I was a baby, to mature when I was 21 years of age. It came at the right time when my scholarship was suspended, and though only amounting to 40 pounds (80 dollars) it enabled me to live in Sydney for the required two terms of the Honours year. During the third term and the long vacation we did our field project and wrote it up. Sam Carey had to work continuously coaching students in a number of subjects for the Leaving Certificate at, I recall, two shillings and sixpence (25 cents) per hour. Any excess over his personal needs went to help educate his sister and brothers. Unlike students today we as a whole had little interest in politics, unless we were personally involved. It was however impossible to ignore Mr Jack Lang, who won government for the Labor Party in New South Wales in the depth of the Great Depression. The New Guard of old soldiers was formed as a militant group well to the Right, to protect the population from the menace of the Left. I had been watching the approach and final meeting of the two extensions of the arch of the Harbour Bridge with interest, and recall the great opening day in 1932, when I made the decision to dodge the crowd and go to Bondi for a surf. Consequently, I missed seeing de Groot beat Premier Lang to cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony. It was about this time that there seemed to be a political awareness coming in to the University. Personally, I recall no interest at all in politics, but was somewhat surprised with the emergence of a Labour group. It competed for members with the Christian Union, Evangelical Union and the newly-formed Free Thought Association with Professor John Anderson as its prophet I remember that I was pleased with Governor Philip Game's dismissal of Jack Lang as Premier on 13th May 1932, probably more because of my indoctrinated traditional British Conservative background than any conviction that our financial position would thereby start to improve. Like others, I blamed Lang for the closure of the Savings Bank of New South Wales, and even though we couldn't afford to pay our overseas debts, we didn't like the idea of his blatant refusal to do so, and after all my only money (five pounds) was locked in the bank. Just as many believed that Gough

9

Whitlam was leading us along the path to ruin, the majority of voters seemed to believe that Jack Lang had succeeded in doing so. They then elected a Conservative government under Mr Stevens. Most of the girls who were not living at home stayed in hostels, usually run by religious organizations within reasonable distance of the University. When in funds, usually after the monthly Education Department pay day, young men took their young ladies to the pictures or a local dance. In order to double their outings many girls formed groups, with a secretary, who invited the young men to join in some activity, picture party, dance or bush-walking trip. In this way the boys were not supposed to feel obligated to pay for their girlfriends, though each of course knew who was responsible for putting his name on the guest-list! Most hostels had regular monthly dances. There were a few main functions, the Faculty Annual Balls for example, but it required a lot of saving of pennies for Education Department students to go. There was a feeling among them that they were merely up-graded G.P.S. functions. Transport was always by tram. One problem was getting back to one's boarding house, particularly if the girl happened to be living some distance away. Apart from the cost, which was often the main problem, there were not many trams running after midnight Those few operating were at hourly intervals. The main marathon which I remember was one from Penkivil Street, Bondi, to the Boulevard, Lewisham. It was a very eerie feeling walking down Cleveland Street at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning in the days of the razor gangs - but the few people about, probably in similar straits, were not interested in an obviously impecunious young man. My more usual walk was from the University to Lewisham. I still have a vivid memory of a 1.30 a.m. Sunday morning in City Street Newtown. The only other soul in sight was walking ahead of me. I was carrying two balloons but had not had an over happy parting at the gate. Venting some of my ire I burst the balloons. The figure ahead did not even look behind but took to his heels - his shoes clattering loudly as he made for Newtown Bridge. It was a scary time in the big city, as so many people were hungry and hunger leads to desperate acts. Although Sydney had large numbers of people who relied on hand-outs of food and/or the dole, there were also many who took to the roads. They walked from farm to farm living on what they could get from the locals, who had plenty of vegetables, dairy products and meat but no money. The impact of unemployment was greatest when it hit one's family or one'sfriends- in the 1930s it was a new and very unpleasant experience. I avoided getting hungry by managing my meagrefinancescarefully. I used to walk odd tram sections to save pennies, and I never had a "restaurant" meal, except for those at the boarding house. If I stayed in the city without going back for the evening meal, I shopped carefully down Cleveland Street. I well remember that my standard meal on those occasions was one four penny piece of fish, two pennyworth of potato chips, a banana and a lamington, at a total cost of tenpence. There wasn't very much I wanted to buy, but one peculiar hangover which stayed with me was that I never felt I could afford to spend money on books, and I have never spent more than necessary on clothes. When I needed to read something I looked for the book in a library. However I never needed to borrow any clothes. During the fourth year of the course we had the opportunity to make closer contacts with students in the junior years. In this group were a number of people destined later to become well known as geologists. Among them were Philip Game, Duhan Garretty, Fred Hanlon and Jack Harrison. In the 1932 first year class, and destined to figure later, were Ken Mosher, Lyn Noakes, Ted Rayner and Joe Whiting. The Honours year was a happy one for most people, as they were freed of burdensome subjects and able to indulge themselves by doing work which they enjoyed. The fourth or honours year consisted of two terms of lectures, practical work and seminar's with one term and the long vacation available forfieldwork and preparation of a thesis thereon. However there was also some time to participate in outside affairs. Carey set to work to found the Students' Geological Society which grew astonishingly under his guidance. I was elected President of the Science Students' Association and was thereby a Member of the Undergraduates' Association. I also became a committee member of the Science Society. Sam and I both took an interest in the Royal Society of New South Wales and attended its meetings. Then came trouble. Sam Carey developed an abcess in his middle ear and had to have a delicate operation on his mastoid. He was given little chance of survival so we went to Lewisham Hospital to bid him farewell. He discussed his problem but was confident that he would win. There were no suitable antibiotics in those days, so a long critical period followed the operation. On our next visit we found a cheerful winner with macabre stories of his fellow patients - one of whom on coming out of the anaesthetic saw MORTUARY printed on one of his sheets and woke the rest of the ward with a most unholy yell. In spite of the set-back, and thereafter with hearing in only one ear, Dr. W.R. Browne suggested that Sam Carey follow up the ideas of W.N. Benson on the Great Serpentine Belt of New South Wales. As he lived in Sydney Carey had to travel to Werris Creek each time to carry out hisfieldwork. Having no money available for travel he used to earn his way by acting as a drover on catde trains, and camping out with his meagre equipment of swag, billy can and quantities of nee. During the next six months, as we worked on our Honours areas, Carey moved from farm to farm making many friends, ending up with headquarters at Currabubula Post Office with Mr. McCarthy the post-master as a friend and supporter. Carey was still remembered vividly and with affection in that district in the 'sixties and early 'seventies'

10

when Larry Harrington and I held field camps there for New England and Macquarie University students. They particularly remembered that he ran between outcrops and did not climb fences but jumped over them! I lived in Kempsey but was more highly mechanised, as I purchased a second-hand bicycle and was able to pedal out to my assigned area between Dondingalong and Moparrabah, west of Kempsey. Neither Professor Browne nor Mr. Waterhouse owned or had learned to drive a car, so they too had to use push-bikes to supervise our work. Knowing what a problem Mr. Waterhouse had, nearing the age of 50 with chronic arthritis, I really appreciated his dedication. One problem which Carey and I, and indeed all Australian geologists then had, was the lack of a suitable base on which the geological data could be plotted. At that time there were very few good topographic maps, though the military map grid on a scale of one mile to an inch, had been established. Other than these the State was covered only by the cadastral maps prepared by the Department of Lands. These were of two kinds - county maps on a scale of one mile to half an inch, and parish maps on a scale of one mile to two inches. They showed property holdings as numbered portions, and mining leases. Streams were marked where they were picked up in the survey of land boundaries, but the river courses were not always accurately drawn. The field geologist attempted to locate the corners of the portions and to identify fences. The last-named enclosed properties consisting of variable numbers of portions. "Location of rock outcrops" had then to be determined by pace and compass, or tape and compass traverses from identified pegs. For more accurate maps on larger scales plane table surveys were generally used, but they were very time consuming and indeed almost impossible for individuals, as a staff man was needed to move from point to point In spite of the difficulties indicated above, students and staff of The University of Sydney were encouraged to carry out research involving field mapping in order to qualify for an Honours Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, or a Doctor of Science degree. University staff and students were not restricted by government departmental budgets and regulations and other requirements, as were members of the Geological Surveys. On the other hand they had no facilities to help them and in most cases very limited finances. This was particularly so in the case of students. Individuals later became identified with the regions where they carried out their work. W.N. Benson published a series of papers on the north-western slopes or "Great Serpentine Belt"; W.R. Browne and D.G. Osborne mapped much of the Hunter Valley, and Ida Browne the South Coast. For their collections of publications and a thesis, each received a Doctor of Science degree. H.I. Jensen specialised in petrology, so did less field mapping, though he collected widely to acquire his material on the alkaline rocks. Of course, because relatively little was known, there was no shortage of research projects, and the geologists frequently had the excitement of finding new kinds of rock, previously unknown fossils, and new combinations and structural patterns. The other side of geological research projects, that of related literature, was just asfragmentary,as there were so few references. Accounts of geological work in New South Wales were mostly confined to a small series of publications: 1.Publications of the Geological Survey of New South Wales - Memoirs, Records and Annual Reports; 2 Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales; 3 Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales; 4.Reports of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science - Section C Geology. Up to the "thirties", and even beyond them, very few New South Wales research papers found their way into overseas journals. In looking for overseas material for other projects - for example two that I was given in my fourth year in 1933 were "The origin of basic segregations in granite", and "Explanations for the formation of gold nuggets" - there was a very limited number of periodicals to which reference could be made. Those from Great Britain and the United States were: Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London; Mineralogical Magazine; Journal of Geology; Bulletins and Proceedings of the Geological Society of America; and Economic Geology. There were no periodicals on geophysics, geochemistry, tectonics, tectonophysics or other specialisedfields.Even more restrictive was the small number of textbooks available for study. For first year University classes we had later editions of: Lyell's "Principles of Geology"; Geikie (1903) "Textbook of Geology"; Smith "Minerals and the Microscope"; Watts "Geology for Beginners"; Dana's "Textbook of Geology" and "Manual of Mineralogy"; Iddings "Rock Minerals" (1911) and "Igneous Rocks" (1909). Harker "Petrology for Students" (1908) was used for senior penological work, but only Zittel's "Manual of Palaeontology" was available for our work on fossils. Of course there were other geological texts, but they were very few indeed, when compared with those available in later years. This paucity of material^nd limited points of view and different methods of approach, meant that the views of only a small number of people, such as Lyell, dominated and limited thinking for very many years. Apart from books on the more conservative branches of geological concepts, there were some which had particular interest in presenting other possibilities than those strongly accepted, as based on "the present is the key to the past". One of these was that by Alfred Wegener "The Origin of Continents and Oceans", Methuen London (Translation) 1924, which put forward his views on the possibility of "continental drift". 1 1

Considering the limited background of text literature available it is understandable that all the lecturers prepared their lectures from individual papers in the journals, and their own geological experience, and not one of the prescribed text books. Examinations were based on lectures, and the textbooks, though were generally useful, were used only for checking on some of the material missed or improperly recorded in the lectures. It was a time when outstanding contributions were being made by women. Ida A. Browne, having had a Linnean Macleay Fellowship, had just received her Doctor of Science degree for work on the South Coast Germaine A. Joplin had gained a Fellowship to Cambridge University to study under Professor C.E. Tilley, and Alma Culey had published two papers in the Royal Society's Journal. Although she did not contribute so much in research, great influence especially on first year students - was exercised by Dorothy Powell, who ran the practical classes under the watchful eye of G.D. Osborne, who was also at that time the most active and productive field worker in geology. In retrospect it is easy to recognise the effect that enthusiastically run-field excursions in geology had upon the interest of students in research. Their opportunity to actually do research was demonstrated by the gaps in knowledge that these visits disclosed. The direction of research followed by each student was generally determined by his lecturers and in the case of geology in particular by the supervisor of his honours, and later higher degrees. The first papers published by most of Sydney's geology graduates were derived from their honours thesis. Strict refereeing by the staff, notably W.R. Browne who for many years ruled with an iron but helpful hand, kept a high standard for those times. I chose my area and had it approved because I lived at Kempsey and knew something about its geology before graduation. The rocks represented in the vicinity were known because of the reconnaissance work of Dr. Woolnough published in 1911. Mr. Waterhouse was very helpful, but it was Dr. Osborne who made the first visit to Yessabah with me in 1932. It was a 20-30 mile push-bike ride from Kempsey. The various attitudes and ideas held by European and to a lesser extent by American geologists greatly influenced Australian approaches to the inteipretation of geological observations in Australia. The separation of geological periods by structural unconformities was hoped for, if not generally accepted. Too little was known about palaeontology to regard breaks in the record as determining the boundaries. Problems here arose as to which forms of life were the most reliable. In New South Wales a number of unconformities had been identified, others - which were theoretically thought to occur, had not been identified in the field. In particular, the Upper Palaeozoic sequence presented the most problems probably because it had received most attention from the few doing research in the field of stratigraphy - W.B. Clarke, T.W. David, W.N. Benson, W.R. Browne, H.G. Raggatt. C.A. Sussmilch and G.D. Osborne had each contributed greatly to knowledge of the sequences in various parts of northeastern New South Wales, but correlations between them were uncertain. More difficult still were correlations between these sequences and the accepted standard successions overseas. Many of the Australian problems were not confined to the continent but were shared by the countries described by Suess as Gondwanaland. The Glossopteris-Gangamopteris flora of the coalfields was different from the Catamites (?) flora of the northern hemisphere coalfields, and recognised as Permian not Carboniferous. Suites of marine fossils were also different from those in Europe, where the facies were not the same as those in Gondwana. I gained First Class Honours and the University Medal in Economic Geology, and Sam First Class Honours in Petrology, a Deas Thompson Scholarship and a Science Research Scholarship. We shared the John Coutts Scholarship for proficiency in the Science course. I was forced to return to do my professional year at the Teachers' College. Because he was now partially deaf, Carey had to relinquish his Education Departmental Scholarship, much to his delight, as he was thus able to take the two research scholarships. No student could hold more than two scholarships, so I inherited the whole of the John Coutts Scholarship, worth seventy five pounds. With the fifty-five pounds from the Education Department I was now almost wealthy, but I had a certain amount of trouble leading not quite a double but a one and a half life - as I was expected to spend half my time in the Geology Department and attend full time at the College. Carey's research in New South Wales was terminated by his departure for Papua - New Guinea to take up his position with Oil Search Limited, seeking oil in the Wewak area. Mine unfortunately was not terminated so suddenly, because at the conclusion of my course I did not get a teaching appointment until the following June (1934). The year at the Teachers' College was an awful anti-climax for most graduate students. Its main virtue was the opportunity to see more of those students who had done different subjects at the University. In particular I saw something of Bill O'Neil and Alex Mitchell, later senior members of the staff of the University. Dr. Marie Bentivoglio, herself a Geology graduate, was an inspiring character in charge of Geography Method. It was at a time when Benito Mussolini was at his best reorganising Italy, and like so many others at that time she thought the Fascists were going to be saviours of Italy. Few other lecturers inspired us, although we had the utmost respect for some of them, such as Professor Mackie and Dr. Cole, who were outstanding scholars. The man we all feared was the Janitor, who was the terror of all students over many years. Once a week we were treated to a health and exercise session with Major CookeRussell, one of the all-time great characters in this environment.

12

At the University I worked in the Vestry, a room attached to the old Geology Building, on the left side of the courtyard close to the top of the University steps on Parramatta Road. I can still remember what was a historical meeting between S.W. Carey and W.N. Benson, who was paying Sydney a call. Benson had mapped the Currabubula area as part of his Great Serpentine Belt project before he had gone to New Zealand. Carey had mapped in much more detail and had Benson straggling to remember rocks he had described more than twenty years before. We continued to attend Royal Society meetings down town, joined by the group of Honours students, including Philip Game (jnr.), who occasionally took us home to Government House for supper. Incidentally, I was horrified to find that he used the billiard table, suitably covered of course, to sort his rocks on. Philip Game also took the Economic Geology special course and during one vacation I joined him and Mr. Waterhouse on a visit to his honours field area at Cudgegong. As Sir Philip Game used his own car for official work, young Philip was given a magnificent old Crossley with a big crown thereon. It was the vehicle used by the then Duke of York, later King George VI, when on an earlier visit to Australia. It was much easier for Mr. Waterhouse as supervisor, and a great advance on the pushbike. We all stayed for a week at the Cudgegong Hotel and then whenWaterhouse departed, Philip and I camped beside the creek and went exploring and mapping the area. On one occasion I thought I would arrange a treat for three teenage young ladies, daughters of a Bank Manager in Mudgee, and so suggested to their parents, who were old family friends from Macksville, that they ask us round for dinner. Philip and I put our evening clothes in the car and wore our old ones into the field, but we got lost, had car trouble and running very late had no time to change. The whole family in evening dress draped the steps as we emerged from the magnificent Crossley in our old shorts, dirty singlets and sandshoes, and they almost fell down. We had our baths and cleaned up and good evening was had by all. Philip soon struck geological trouble in recognition of his rocks and were they horrible in hand specimen. He brought them back to the Department for sectioning. They were nearly all volcanic tuffs and breccias. He went on to do an excellent job of mapping and gained first class honours. A Science Journal was started by a committee of undergraduates in 1924, but was taken over by the Science Society in 1926 - this body, which also included members of staff, was one of the oldest faculty societies in the University. There were gaps in publication times. Surges of enthusiasm produced numbers of issues and then these would fade away. The geologist G.A.V. Stanley was on the Editorial Committee in 1925. 1933 was claimed to mark a new era as there had been a lapse of five years. The 1933 Volume XII No.l contained papers by Dr. E. White, N.D. Jeffery, D.J. Lee, A. Boden, B. Cortis Jones, A.F. Harper, B. Selby and E. Rayner, all of whom were to distinguish themselves in their special fields in the years that followed. This issue was well supported by members of staff. In Geology Dr. G.D. Osborne contributed "The New Crystallography" and "Crystallographic Notes". From the undergraduates came "Water Divining" by S.W. Carey and "Recent Movement in Eastern Australia" by A.H. Voisey. This edition recorded the publication inl932 of Professor T.W.E. David's "Geological Map of the Commonwealth" and an accompanying book of Explanatory Notes. As a member of the Science Society Committee I was a strong supporter of the Science Society and felt its existence threatened by the emergence of those concentrating on individual subjects. Hence, I was a not over enthusiastic member of the Students' Geological Society which Sam Carey had inaugurated in 1931. As its first President he instituted meetings, excursions and social activities and on the basis of its well thought out operations it has remained active to the present day.

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CHAPTER 2 ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND THE VICTORIAN GOLDFIELDS The Great Depression did not lead to the loss of geological jobs, for the simple reason that apart from those in governmental organizations they were few and far between. Students taking geology at the Universities could only look to the geological surveys or educational institutions as had been done by those who had preceded them. One of David's students, G.A.V. Stanley, not related to Evan Richard Stanley, who was the first government geologist in Papua, had been engaged as a cadet geologist by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to look for petroleum in Papua and the mandated Territory. Recommended by them he joined the Australian company, Oil Search Limited, and commenced work in 1930. In 1934 the field party in the Sepik River area was increased to four geologists. In 1933 Carey and I were approached by Mr. E.L. Walter to work there under Stanley. I was still under bond to the New South Wales Department of Education, but Carey, who had been released because of his loss of hearing, was delighted to accept a position. Economic recovery for geologists could well be said to have started at this point, and though jobs came slowly at a rate initially of only one or two per year, geologists became employed by private industry and there was a slow increase in numbers required by governmental agencies. At the end of 1933, having completed the Teachers' Training College year, I was under bond to the Department of Education to take up a teaching position and expected to be appointed to a secondary school at the beginning of 1934. There had been some ominous warnings before I left college as, although we were supposed to be appointed to secondary schools we were given crash training in primary school work at the Balmain and North Newtown Demonstration schools. We were shown how to run a one-teacher school in the bush, and it was apparent that this was where some of us would end up. When 1934 came, however, the position was even worse, as the Government did not have the money to make the new appointments; indeed they had not been able to give positions to all those who had completed their courses at the end of the previous year. Hence after all our work we were unemployed,with no indication of when we would be given a job yet still unable to seek work elsewhere because of our bond. As positions became vacant because of resignation, retirement or death, ex-students were appointed in order of merit to whatever position turned up. It was realized that primary school teaching was better than none at all, even for graduates. Being in the first group according to the College Merit list at least I could expect a shorter wait. This meant that I could spend some of my time at home in Kempsey, and I had plenty of field-work to do, as I had commenced work for the Master of Science degree while holding the John Coutt's Scholarship. Having started on a study of the Upper Palaeozoic rocks in the Macleay Valley I now wished to see them in other areas to the north, particularly at Drake, where they had been recognised by E.C. Andrews, and at Silverwood where H.C. Richards, W.H. Bryan and F.W. Whitehouse of the University of Queensland had described some very interesting rocks. I had saved about thirty pounds and hoped that this would see me out until I received a teaching appointment. Mr. Huntly Scott, who had been manager of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney at Macksville, and a friend of the family, had transferred to Stanthorpe in Queensland, not far from the Silverwood area. He offered to have me stay with him, so I went to Stanthorpe in February 1934. He had an interest in a graphite deposit at Rivertree and to see this and other geological features he drove me round, and I was able to examine the Permian beds there. I was also able to catch up with Mr.R. Hamilton who was principal of the Warwick Technical College and a keen amateur geologist. He knew the Silverwood Lucky Valley intimately and drove me to all the important places. I was able to make a comprehensive collection of fossils and publish a paper on this area. One of my most memorable experiences was a short visit to Brisbane in order to talk with Professor H.C. Richards, Dr. W.H. Bryan and Dr. J.W. Whitehouse about Silverwood, and with Professor Richards and Mr A.K. Denmead of the Queensland Geological Survey about the Brisbane Schists. The generous help and friendship given to me as a young graduate was something I shall never forget. Dr. Bryan, with his friend Professor Herbert (of Botany), drove me over areas of each of the four main units - Rocksberg Greenstones, Bunya Phyllites, Neranleigh Series and Fernvale Series and showed me the alkaline plugs of the Glasshouse Mountains. Later Alan Denmead invited me to his home and told me all he could about the Brisbane Schists. While in Brisbane I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. E.O. Marks, a well known medical man who had made some revolutionary observations on geomorphological matters, and who again was most helpful. Dr. Whitehouse agreed to look at some of my Upper Palaeozoic fossils, and later identified a number of them for me. On my return to Kempsey I was able to organise much of my material for publication and take some further visits by bicycle to various parts of the Macleay District. My father, being the Warden of a Church of England Hostel which had been set up by Archdeacon Curtis, who had been in charge of the Bush Brotherhood, was in contact with clergy in the northern area of NSW. The parochial district including Mallaganee, Tabulam and Drake was cared for by Rev. Schmitzer, who lived by himself in the Lodge at Tabulam. It was thought that he would welcome my company. Consequently, I went up to stay with him for a few weeks in June. We became good friends and because of my doubts about religion we had no shortage of conversation.

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His housekeeping left much to be desired, so I was able to contribute something here. Again I found that my fieldwork was limited by lack of transport, so Schmitzer assisted me to get to geological areas of interest with his old T-model Ford. As Sunday approached he found that he was short of time in the preparation of his sermons. We agreed that if he did geology during the week I would take his sermons on Sunday. When the time came I didn't think he would be game to let me loose, knowing of my heretical views. However, he held me to it, so being a beginner I took the first verse of Genesis as my text. I have never since proceeded beyond this point, but have sometimes wondered whether I had conceded too much in the cause of earth science. I discovered that there were real ecclesiastical problems in the district. The Bush Brothers were high church Anglican and had impressed the Mallanganee parishioners. These enthusiastic followers insisted on addressing their new priest as "Father Schmitzer." The Tabulam folk remained more conventional Church of England and called him "Reverend Schmitzer". Higher up the mountain the Drake members were definitely Low Church and called him "Mr. Schmitzer." The services had to be conducted to suit each group, in order to keep sufficient numbers for the church to survive. Indeed it was clear that Mr. Schmitzer lived very close to subsistence level. At his request I gave Rev. Schmitzer the benefit of my opinion on the conduct of his services. I think he did very well to cope with such a wide spectrum of views in his flock, but fortunately as an ex-Roman Catholic priest he was well versed in most of the required procedures. From Tabulam I moved up to Cheviot Hills Station, north of the village of Drake, on an invitation from the Smith family, and from then until now have always felt welcome on this lovely property. Mr and Mrs Arthur Smith were delightful people who had three daughters, the youngest of whom, Dorothy, was still at home. She was to me an extremely intelligent and dazzling woman who was very interested in the geology of the area. (I was distressed in 1987 to hear from her husband, Rod. Ramsay, also a friend of many years, that she had died the previous year). I spent my days walking round the hills guided at first by E.C. Andrews' paper on the Drake Gold and Copper Field, and then adding my own observations and building up a map, later published. Another group of Smiths, cousins of those at Cheviot Hills, occupied the Boorook area near the old silver mines. Mr. Clarence Smith owned Boorook Station and his son Mr. Purvis Smith, Sandy Hill Station. Purvis showed me the fossiliferous sequence down Sawpit Gully and again I was able to amass a comprehensive collection of fossils. I returned to Cheviot Hills and on one fateful Saturday in July, when I called in on the Hunter Smiths, who lived in Drake, I received a message that a telegram had arrived from the Department of Education telling me to report at the Public School at Greta in the Hunter Valley on the following Wednesday. This, of course, was good news -1 had a job, but I could not get there by Wednesday. I arrived after school had started on the Monday following. An obviously harassed, and not altogetherfriendly,headmaster pushed me infrontoffifthclass and said "Don't talk to them!" Greta, situated on the Greta Coal Measures mapped so brilliantly by Professor David, is a great locality for a geologist with interest in Upper Palaeozoic stratigraphy. It had also been a busy coal-mining town. The Depression led to the closing down of the mines, with consequent unemployment for most of the residents. There had been nothing to do for several years before I arrived. The only people in work were the public servants, postmaster, station master and the teachers. The doctor had a Government subsidy. The only hotel was a relatively quiet place offering full board with washing for one pound five shillings per week. Besides the headmaster I was the only male member of staff. There were also three women, all staying at the hotel. My predecessor had had a nervous breakdown, and was allegedly in an asylum. This did not surprise me in the least. The headmaster's wife had been threatened with violence if the headmaster punished the children. The town looked sad. People had lost morale and just lounged about looking for something to do. The children, even for those times, were very poorly dressed. If they had footwear this was referred to as "dole boots." I am not sure how many children had any breakfast, but at lunch time a number of women would arrive with kerosene tin buckets of vegetable soup. This was given out to the children, none of whom appeared to have anything else to eat. In the evening the children wandered from home to home to see what families had anything available. It was occasionally a little difficult to find out to whom the children belonged. There wasn't much point in getting married. There were no breadwinners. The Government grudgingly, of necessity, handed out a very meagre dole. I walked round looking for rocks and calling in on families where I recognised the children. There was little of comfort in the houses. In spite of the good soil few vegetable gardens were in evidence. However I must go back to myfirstday. I found myself quite unable to teach the fifty children in the fifth class on my arrival. Quickly sensing that I was new to the game they all dug their pens into the wooden desks, then claimed they couldn't work because their nibs were broken. I tried to cane some of them when I found the implement, but my obvious reluctance to hurt them was greeted with more laughter than tears. At the end of the day I stood with my back to the door and wouldn't let anyone out until he had obeyed me for at least five minutes and sat with arms folded. It was an exhausting day. I subsequently tried to get the children on side by organising games for them in the playground and here I had a good response. They revelled in the attention, but back in school I could make little headway in spite of my efforts to create interest. I made charts and did all that I had been taught at the Teachers' College. Alas! It was theory which didn't stand up at all in practice.

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Tuesdays were days of turmoil when the churchmen came to give lessons on religion. It took the whole staff working tranucany to hold the children down. I gathered that they were not altogether keen on the King or Government We did not have anyflag-salutingceremonies in the mornings - just marched the children into the classrooms and did our best to keep them there. Some items in the syllabus gave me more trouble than others. Singing was probably the worst, as I only knew "God Save the King , Home Sweet Home" and "Waltzing Matilda". The first was definitely out, there was little undersmndmg of the second and so it was "Waltzing Matilda", on a regular basis. The syllabus also prescribed religion which had to be non-denominational. I though it would be safest to start with Noah's Ark. To test their knowledge I asked the class, Who built Noah's Ark?" Not satisfied with the blank looks after I had repeated the question several times with increasing emphasis on Npah, I asked one girl to stand up and answer. Her reply was "Jesus"; I knew I had an openfieldto work on. I was now becoming wealthy and received a cheque for seven pounds thirteen shillings a fortnight. I was able to visit Sydney for weekends occasionally and seek advice on teaching techniques. I began to feel, however, that my teaching days were numbered, but I sought help from a distant cousin, Amos Lee, a secondary school inspector. He did his best to advise me, but I have to admit that I still believe that teachers are born and not made. One name given to me when I was appointed to Greta was that of one of David's earlier students, W.G. Enright, a solicitor in Maitland who was the "agent general" of the Geology Department in the Hunter Valley. This very impressive gentleman, who graduated in 1893, did me the honour of asking me to his home, discussing local geology and playing tennis with me. It was one of the brightest spots in my mercifully short stay at Greta. During the University vacation in September 1934 a geology excursion to the Hunter Valley was planned for the last week of the school term. I looked forward to meeting some of my old lecturers and the students. Just after the arrival of the students in Maitland - transported on this occasion in the cars of staff and students - Professor David died. Dr. Osborne and other members of staff returned to Sydney for the funeral leaving Miss Quodling in charge. I joined the party after school. It was a tragic week. Dr. Osborne, while returning to Sydney on the Saturday with four women students in his car hit the end of the Wyong bridge over the railway and all the occupants were injured. Duhan Garretty in the car following, with another group, was quickly on the scene. Molly Bartlett was the most seriously injured and died in hospital. I returned unhappily to Greta for the third term. The only ray of hope came from Professor Cotton, who, with Dr. Osborne and other staff members had been looking for something to help me escape. He told of the likelihood of a geological survey of northern Australia being undertaken, and advised me to write to Sir Herbert Gepp who was organising it I did this and shortly after received a reply offering me not only a future position as assistant geologist on the survey, but also an immediate one with a mining company in Victoria to work with Dr. Loftus Hills. I was overjoyed and left Greta within the week. I had little guilt about departing, as I knew that there were so many exstudents still unemployed and in line to take my place. I agreed to repay my bond, which was assessed at about 140 pounds. It looked easy as my salary was more than doubled in the Victorian position, at eight pounds per week. I did in fact pay it off within the year. Sir Herbert Gepp's offices were in Collins Street, Melbourne. His efficient secretary, Miss Summerhays, greeted me and conducted me into his presence. I could feel the aura of power and was impressed by the talk which he gave me instructions to a young man which would enable him to succeed in business. Myfirstassignment was to Castlemaine, to look over two gold leases which had cost him 40 pound each - the Nimrod and the Eureka. They were almost due for renewal or forfeit. I was to spend a fortnight there and then tell him whether to drop them or hold on. His attitude was that he was a businessman who did not know enough about geology to make such a decision. He did not require a report - he only wanted an answer. For me it was an important job and I was clearly responsible. In principle too it was a lesson in relationships. The directors of a Company were responsible to the shareholders and had to make the vital decisions. "The buck stopped there", so the most senior servant of the Company had to collect the facts and make a firm recommendation. In the absence of Dr. Loftus Hills, Consultant to the group for which Sir Herbert was responsible, I was the senior and only geologist. I proceeded to Castlemaine and, probably with the help of Miss Summerhayes, who knew everthing, found a boarding house. Taking my hammer with me I looked for the Nimrod. I must have had some background on the geology for I recall recognising that the Nimrod - an open cut - was made up of "spur reefs", not "saddles", and that the gold was associated with the quartz. The quartz looked very white and "hungry" and there didn't appear to be enough of it. I think, and in retrospect I hope, I took samples in the manner in which I had been taught and had them sent off for assay. It was not difficult for me to reply "No, don't renew the lease". Strange to say the only recollection I have of the other area was that I also returned a "No" answer.

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After this initiation into the life of an economic or mining geologist I moved to Victoria House, Kyneton and met my two fellow workers, a surveyor Mr. Reid and his assistant, Ian MacLennan. I had been looking forward to meeting Dr. Loftus Hills, who had experienced a stormy time in the Tasmanian Geological Survey, and who had an extensive and colourful geological background. He had apparently been employed as a geological consultant to Sir Herbert Gepp, who represented one or more English mining companies, which wished to explore the possibility of further gold mining in Victoria. One of these, Nigel Van Ryn Mining, was my official employer. It was the beginning of the mining revival, and Dr. Hills had been commissioned to advise on the best prospects worthy of study in Victoria. He had first considered Ballarat, but had rejected the area because most of the mines were connected underground and to dewater any one of them meant dewatering the whole of the Ballarat field. Moreover, the gold there frequently occurred in large pieces - the bonanzas of the "Indicator Veins" - which were more liable to be stolen by the miners. He recommended some areas in Bendigo and others in the Castlemaine - Kyneton area. Here basalt sheets had once covered the folded Ordovician rocks and streams which had flowed through them. The "deep leads" were gold-bearing alluvial deposits in these buried watercourses. He thought one of the most prospective areas was under a low basalt-capped ridge between Taradale and Malmsbury, and we did much of our mapping around this. Loftus was no disappointment, and he remains in my mind as one of the most interesting people I ever met. He was a most knowledgable and able geologist, an infectious story-teller, but at times an impatient and unreliable fellow. He would appear at the office in the morning, quickly look over our work, read a few letters, break off to tell us the latest funny stories and depart, leaving half the letters unread and none of them answered. I soon got into the habit of reversing or shuffling the ever-growing heap. Presumably he caught up at intervals when we were away, as I don't have any unhappy memories of suffering on account of his neglect In contrast to his tall angular figure his wife was dumpy and fluffy, and a delight to meet even when she, characteristically I suspect, put salt instead of castor sugar on the trifle when I was asked to dinner. The work we carried out for most of the six months we were together was aimed at mapping as precisely as possible the axial lines, or "turn-overs" as they were called, of the anticlines in the Ordovician strata in the Taradale - Malmsbury and Castlemaine areas. Within these structures the "saddle-reefs" were developed and consequendy the folds were prime exploration targets. Reid operated the theodolite and his assistant carried the staff in order to produce a tacheometer survey of the ground. It was my job to use the clinometer and compass to determine the strike and dip of every visible and reliable outcrop of slate within range. Such a procedure was one of the first I had learned at the University, but I soon found that there were problems. In the first place the rolling hills had a covering of soil and a good crop of grass. Secondly the dips were steep (ranging from 45° to 90°) where rock outcrops were found. Finally downslope movement of the soil - "soil creep" as it was called in class - altered not only the dip but sometimes the strike of the slabs or flakes of slate. It was a case of "decisions, decisions", but errors were often corrected when we plotted the results, as statistics usually determined the general dip, and variants could be discarded. I was impressed in the early stages that the dips at the crests of the folds were generally vertical and never horizontal - a fact which gave me a real interest in rock behaviour and in the "abnormalities" which were normal in the anticlinal folds. Alluvial flats and basalt-capped hills were natural boundaries to our Ordovician outcrops, but more importantly so were the lease boundaries. We were only legally permitted to map the areas enclosed by leases held by our company, and these were acquired seriatim on the failure of the locals to comply with labour conditions. Regularly on our return from a day's work we would receive a message from Melbourne that the Warden had made certain leases available, and we must immediately peg these and make application. We would then set out with loads of pegs - hardwood 3 inch x 3 inch x 4 feet in length - and carry these to the appropriate corners after we had managed to locate them. We then had to dig channels 3 inches deep along the lease lines and put notices on the post. This work was only possible because it was summertime in Victoria and the days were very long. The situation had unfortunate repercussions, because most leases were held by local farmers with the idea of selling them to the big company that was doing the survey. When the company froze them out without any payment some became very irate and since they could not prevent our entry on to the property, where possible reacted by some such action as placing a bull in the paddock where we were surveying. We developed a response: I tied numbers and flagging on to the steel pins. While I was measuring the strike and dip the surveyor set up his theodolite on the opposite side of the fence from the bull and the assistant kept worrying the bull like an apprentice bull-fighter in a distant corner of the paddock. I would place the pins on my measured sites in order of numbers and change places with him. While I entertained the bull he placed his staff on the points in order of the numbers on the pins. As usual we did the plotting at night after tea in the office. Even when no bulls were involved I found this method of survey most useful, for it enabled all parties to have rest periods rather than waiting for someone to finish a job. While I was measuring the dips the surveyor set up his theodolite. Then, while the assistant was taking the staff round I could have a "breather" or, as was more usual, a scout round, deciding what was to be mapped next. When I set off again to measure dips and put in the pins the assistant

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could have a rest and the surveyor attend to his notes or rest likewise. I found later on that this method using numbered and flagged pins worked even better with the plane table. As well as extracting what information he could from the Mines Department literature, Dr. Hills employed a local miner who had a flair for such work to go through the Castlemaine and Kyneton newspaper files, extracting information regarding each of the mines in the district at the time when they were being worked. He would arrange all the information relating to each mine and I was able to use this to build up plans of each of the mines as it progressed, and to some extent to localize the ore-shoots on the basis of the weekly records of output The Taradale - Malmsbury area is a low basalt tableland which had been sporadically worked for gold. By plotting gold recoveriesfromindividual shaftsfromthe records it was hoped to identify anticlinal lines where reefs were situated. It was then proposed to drill through the overlying basalt at points indicated by our survey in an attempt to locate a series of saddle-reefs along the anticlinal axes. Our second major survey was more normal and to some extent more satisfying. Owing to changes of plunge in the anticlinal folds the reefs tended to outcrop along the axis like a succession of Vs or Ys. Surveying along the axis provided data, not only of the dips and strikes, but also of the mine workings on the reefs. These were open cuts, shafts and collapsed stopes. Most anticlinal crests had been broken by faults and the "legs" or concordant reefs met at the crest to form a quartz cap or major reef along thefracturein the crest. Even morefrequentwas the asymmetrical development of the "leg" reefs, one becoming much bigger and overriding the shorter one. The fact that there were workings on most of the exposed reefs was some indication that they would be auriferous at depth, but we had no means of telling whether some of the workings had been onrichsections of reef, or whether they had been put down in the hope of finding ore. The company had some interest in the Red White and Blue Mine at Bendigo, and I had the opportunity of seeing this working and to get some idea of the field. At some stage also I was privileged to meet the Director of the Victorian Survey - the great William Baragwanath - a charming little old man at this stage, but one who knew a great deal about the gold-fields and our problems. The climax to our work was a meeting in a Hotel at Castlemaine of Sir Herbert Gepp, Dr. McLaren (an English mining consultant advising the English investors), Dr. Hills, Mr. Reid and myself, in order to account for our work, and to persuade Dr. McLaren to undertake drilling and further operations to test out the results. After a good dinner, and preparatory to our meeting with Dr. McLaren, Sir Herbert instructed the maid to make sure our room was warm and comfortable, for as he pointed out, Dr. McLaren was very ill and needed to be put into a happier state to give us a satisfactory answer. He had gone to the trouble to procure the best possible cough syrup which he pressed on the doctor whenever he coughed, which was frequently. Dr. McLaren was definitely very ill and unhappy, and not at all in a mood to be persuaded to do anything enterprising. He turned down all our propositions flat and died at Ceylon on his way back to England. Dr. Hills by this time had begun consulting work for the Emperor and Loloma companies in Fiji, and I was due to join the Aerial Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia on 1st April 1935. We had worked with each other so well that he offered me a partnership in private practice with him. I had a struggle to decide, but I had agreed to join the Northern Australia survey and felt I could not break the agreement, especially as I had been paid an extra pound a week by Gepp on the promise to do so. Accordingly I went back home for a short holiday before travelling to South Australia en route to the Northern Territory.

The author, Dr. Loftus Hills and Jack Lockington at Taradale, Victoria.

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Third Class 1934 - Greta Public School. The reason for my flight to the Northern Territory.

Marree Hotel in its heyday.The Birdsville Mail stands ready.

Esmeralda Station - AGGSNA Headquarters, 1935.

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CHAPTER 3 THE AERIAL, GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA - the first year (1935) The Aerial Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (AGGSNA) had as its prime objective the investigation of mineral possibilities in the less known and less accessible parts of the Continent lying above the Tropic of Capricorn. It had historical significance as it was the first occasion in the history of Australia that three governments pooled their resources to explore a large region, aided by the most modern methods then available to science. This action of the three governments - Commonwealth, Queensland and Western Australia - later led to the establishment of the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources Geology and Geophysics. It was Sir Herbert Gepp, previously general manager of Electolytic Zinc, who in his capacity as consultant to the Commonwealth Government conceived the idea of the Survey, and he was the obvious choice as its Director. A ministerial committee was formed consisting of Senator A.J. McLachlan (Commonwealth), James Stopford (Queensland), W. Forgan-Smith (Western Australia). They were joined by A.C. Smith (Prime Minister's Department) as Secretary, and by P.B. Nye (previously Government Geologist of Tasmania), Executive Officer Dr. W.G. Woolnough (Commonwealth Geological Consultant) and J.M. Rayner (New South Wales Geological Survey). The co-operation of the Royal Australian Air Force was obtained for the production of aerial photographs at a cost of 4,000 pounds. A contract worth 3,500 pounds was entered into with the Electrical Prospecting Company of Sweden to carry out some of the geophysical work under the direction of Mr. S. Horvath. The budget provided for the first three years was 750,000 pounds, with the Commonwealth providing 575,00 pounds and the State governments 60,000 pounds each. Cloncurry was selected as the field headquarters of the Survey, partly because it was the centre of the Australian Inland Mission and hence pedal radio network contact could be maintained with the operating parties. The plan was that between field seasons the Northern Territory party would move to Adelaide, the Queenland party to Brisbane and the Western Australian party to Perth. They could thus work in collaboration with the state Departments of Mines and perhaps with the universities. The geological parties were envisaged as consisting of a senior and junior geologist with field assistant(s) and cook. Each party was supplied with two utility trucks. P.S. Hossfeld, who had previously worked on the oil search in Papua New Guinea for the Commonwealth Government, was in charge of the Northern Territory Party. C.S. Honman, previously a school teacher ,was senior geologist in the Queensland Party; and K.J. Finucane, previously a geological consultant, was in charge of the Western Australian Party. The geophysical appointees were R.F. Thyer, E.L. Blazey and L. A. Richardson. Sir Herbert Gepp had also taken an important part in the introduction of geophysical methods into Australia by means of the Imperial Geophysical Experimental Survey, which in 1928-9 did some excellent work on the brown coal fields of Victoria, the copper-nickel deposits of Tasmania and the graphite bodies of South Australia. Lacking public stimulus at that time the Imperial Survey did not attack the more difficult problem of searching for gold deposits. The New South Wales Department of Mines however did follow the geophysical theme on gold and tin-bearing deep leads. Further investigations on the gold deposits of Western Australia were carried out by theSwedish Prospecting Company under contract to the W.A. Geological Survey. It was as a result of this work that contracts were arranged by AGGSNA with the Company. The surveys involved Electro-Magnetic, Racom, Self-polarization and Resistivity methods. The Committee for AGGSNA made the further important decision that the surveyshould be confined to metallic minerals, particularly gold. I left Kempsey for Adelaide, via Melbourne, by train on 28th March 1935, rejoicing in the luxury of a sleeper at Government expense, after so many years of sitting up second class. Delaying in Sydney to arrange for Dr. Ida Brown to identify some of my Drake specimens, and to farewell members of the Geology Department, I also called at the Australian Museum to arrange for my rock and fossil collections from Kempsey and Drake to be catalogued, and said farewell also to Tom Hodge-Smith, Oliver Chalmers and Harold Fletcher. Fortuitously the Arthur-Smiths, including Dorothy, were staying at the Metropole Hotel, so I was able to see them also, before a brief personal visit to Mittagong. We had to change trains at Albury (because of the break in gauge, a relic of colonial rivalry, which persisted for many more years), and there I happened to catch up with Nye and Honman, also on their way to our meeting in Melbourne. Hossfeld and I met in Melbourne at midday at Carlyon's Hotel and spent the afternoon in the Commonwealth Offices with the others discussing future exploration plans. After a short visit to my Melbourne Voisey relatives, I called in to see Sir Herbert Gepp. Hossfeld and I then took the train to Adelaide on 3rd April and went straight to Weymouth Motors to see our two blue 30 cwt Dodge Utility trucks, complete with built-in water-tank behind the seat, and other accessories. Our next visit was to the shops for some suitable tropical clothes and a good tin trunk.

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At the Adelaide Museum we were introduced to Mr. Norman Tindale, a pleasant young anthropologist with an interest in geology, and received some advice, as he had been on several expeditions to the centre. From him it was a short walk to visit the Geology Department at Adelaide University, where Paul Hossfeld had taken his science degree. We had a yarn to Dr. C.T. Madigan and then went to see Sir Douglas Maw son, with whom we conversed while Lady Mawson was busy hurrying him off to catch a train to Melbourne. After this very eventful day I took the train to Gawler to meet some distant relatives - the Duncan's. Next day back in Adelaide I booked into the Grosvenor Hotel (very comfortable bed and breakfast, seven shillings; lunch two shillings; dinner two shillings and sixpence - moreover there was hot and cold water in each room!). Hossfeld and I spent much of the day buying equipment and checking spare motor parts at Weymouths. We then interviewed Mr. William Smith who had applied for the position of driver - mechanic on our expedition. Dr. Campbell, Superintendent of the Dental Hospital, and Mr. Hossfeld's brother-in-law, put on a party for us, inviting also Tindale and the well known geographer Dr. Charles Fenner. Fenner and I spent part of our time discussing the history of Australian peneplains and the role of faulting. On the Saturday morning we interviewed two candidates for the position of cook and chose Mr. Frank F. Marcard according to my notes - "a decent strong clever chap" - but there is no mention of any evidence of his ability as a cook. Sunday was spent in exploring Adelaide and Glenelg - the Glenelg tram being a wondrous vehicle - the seats all padded, polished wood panelling, no footboards - conductors walked down the aisle between the seats, and most mysteriously the doors closed before the tram moved off. Monday and Tuesday were shopping days. It required much calculating and more imagination to order as much of our eight months supply of food as we could carry on the vehicles, including tinned jam, various meats and other cooking necessities. I also squeezed in another session at the Museum with Tindale. We were all packed up and ready to leave on Wednesday morning, just a week after our arrival in Adelaide. Hossfeld and I were in the first vehicle and Smith and Marcard in the second. We reached our objective - the hotel in Hawker - at 8p.m. Next day we travelled over the rough and sandy track to Marree. It was my first experience of the difficulties of driving in sand. Fortunately I was not at the wheel, not having learned to drive at this stage. After much digging and shovelling we reached Marree somewhat late, at 9 p.m. Thursday. Marree consisted then of one hotel, two stores and a small number of houses. It was, however, an important rail centre, and here was the start of the Birdsville Track. There were many camels in yards close to the railway station, ready for loading from "the Ghan" - the train from Adelaide to Alice Springs-due next morning. Afghans occupied a special section of the village and were the camel drivers brought into Australia with the camels, which had previously been so important in early Australian transportation. No Afghan women appear to have been brought out with the men. Owing to our late arrival no meal was available at the Hotel. However after we had scooped the dust out of our ears and had a rough wash we were led to Scobie's store, where the proprietor sliced up some devon sausage and his wife made us some tea in the kitchen. Bill Smith, our mechanic, had previously had some unhappy contact with Scobie - not surprisingly, as Smith had lived in Birdsville and his sister had run the hotel there. It was a small closed community In spite of the distances involved the inhabitants of Marree and Birdsville could be regarded as neighbours All went off happily however, but we learned that Bill Smith was known locally as the "Wonder of the West" Having filled our tummies we lit our candles and climbed the hotel stairs to bed. In the morning showered, shaved and fed we looked round the town which we learned had a population (black white and middles) of about 170 souls. The Afghan section consisted of galvanised iron houses on the east side of the railway. We counted 40 camels and saw piles of luggage lined up. Surrounding the buildings in all directions was a flat expanse of sand and gravel with no grass or herbage. Starkly rising above it was the rubbish dump, consisting of bottles with a sprinkling of tins. It was too early in our history for there to be any remains of cars of trucks. r I e W c l e S 3 8 toey were loaded and chained to the flat top on the very long mixed train and settled into our sleeping car for die journey to Alice Springs. We departed at 8.20 a.m. Friday and travelled over the desert - it being quite some time before we came to any vegetation. Everything green had been eaten by the goats and camels within told 11131 n t h e G h a n h a d Z f i k K SetdementS -, We h a d " ^ wheels. It certainly felt like that. We learned J S ^ - S K W e r e dU 1 e H t L S f d T T n g ? e U n e s 311(1 w e w e r e a c t u 3 l l y h e l d UP fOT a s h o « time near Irrappatana. A P JSnf1t u , h e f ? W h ?? c h a n g e s i n P 3 ^ l e d to t h e ^ k s bumping into each other, and t S n g at the y e d bUt e r y m a r k e d reaction In r u of all the bumps I had a good night's sleep ofthe S T ^ S T K 3 on the plain train.which The only difference m scenery the nextover morning woke wasbrown that the chocolate-coloured gibber was on the western side hadbychanged to the when easternI and theuphght plaLwas on fern Tins phenomenon was due to die fact that when looking towards the low sun we saw only the shadeTsile of S E but when looking away from the sun the illuminated side was visible - hence the change

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We buret through Heavitree Gap to reach Alice Springs on Saturday evening to be met by Mr. Carrington, the Deputy Administrator of the Northern Territory, and Dr. Riley. We then went round Alice Springs looking for somewhere to stay. Kilgariff s Hotel (ten shillings per day) did not have enough room for us all, but Miss Golder found a couple of rooms for us at her boarding house. Marcard went back to Kilgariffs and Hossfeld, Smith and I shared a room (at eight shillings per day). We returned to the railway, collected our trucks and other goods and were happy to get to bed. Next morning, Sunday, I climbed Goat Hill to get a view of the town and take photographs. There were about a hundred buildings, including a fine post office and some other well-built government offices, two hotels (Kilgariffs and Underdowns), an open air picture theatre, three churches; and a variety of small shops. The population was then about 300. The tree-lined Todd River, usually dry, improved the scenery, but water was obtained by sinking wells and windmills were scattered through the town. After lunch Marcard introduced Hossfeld and me to a big dark impressive man, who was at that time the editor of the Sydney "Sunday Sun" newspaper, Eric Baume. He had been to the Granites, had written two books called "Tragedy Track" and "Hie Half Caste" and was preparing another. Marcard had been featured in the illustration of "Tragedy Track". The Granites, about 360 miles north-west of Alice Springs, was the site of gold discoveries sporadically worked since 1900. Charles Chapman, owner of the Burdekin Duck Mine, which produced 130 ozs of gold from 79 tons of ore in 1932, had settled down in comfort in Alice Springs. We called on him, a short plump man with a small moustache, and he produced some specimens and a complicated instrument which he alleged could detect underground water. He was one of the few people at this time who could afford to own an aeroplane. We also met another well known character, David Smith, the government engineer, who was reputed to be the fastest driver in the Territory. He was a pleasant little man, more like a bank clerk than a racing driver. On Tuesday we checked our material, loaded the trucks and sent Bill Smith and Claude Golder, whom we had employed as an assistant, off to set up our camp at Arltunga about 70 miles to the east. Smith left Golder there and returned to Alice Springs. Hossfeld and I spent Tuesday evening with the David Smiths having a good game of bridge. I think they had few acceptable social contacts other than visitors like ourselves. On Wednesday after getting some work done by Mick O'Brien, Hossfeld and I left for Arltunga early in the afternoon We called in at Arltunga Police Station, making the acquaintance of Constable Murray. We had heard that he was called "Killer" for his drastic treatment, while he was stationed at Barrow Creek, of Aborigines who had murdered a man called Brooks at Brooks Soak . He and his wife were our nearest neighbours, and we became goodfriendsover the next few months. Murray had a pedal wireless set and sent messages for us to our Cloncurry headquarters. We were often to visit the Murrays because we could then be in contact with the outside world. The story of The Baby Wireless Transmitting and Receiving set was given by Ion Idriess in his "Flynn of the Inland". "The machine could be easily carried, easily installed. It could be easily mastered by the bush mother. It was worked by a pedal. The generator was simplicity itself and a marvel of efficiency. It could be phoned up from any mother station, but transmitted its own messages by morse. The generator which supplied the power for the transmitter, was operated by foot, like a bicycle, and could generate a power of about 20 watts at a pressure of 300-400 volts. The gears were enclosed in an oil-tight casing filled with oil, thus minimizing wear. The transmitter was 'crystal controlled', the crystal maintaining the wave length at a definite value, and keeping the note steady, thus making the signals easy to read even if the generator was driven unevenly". "The receiver is a two-valve regenerative circuit usually known as the P.I. - Tetrode values being used. The Wbattery is a 1.5 volt dry cell, and the "B" battery consists of two 4.5 volt C batteries connected in series; thus giving 9 volts. One set of batteries gives from four to six months service. By plugging a larger coil into the receiver broadcast programmes can be received. Ear phones are used but also a small loud speaker. The cost of the instrument is under 60 pounds". What impressed me was the fact that the keyboard was marked with letters like those on a typewriter and the message was sent by just pressing the letter keys. However the message went out in morse, so it took longer for some letters to go off than others. It really was an amazing instrument for the times, and was obviously a great boon for people in the outback to keep in communication, and especially important when combined, as it was, with a flying doctor service. We reached our camp at the Cross-Roads Hut - a broken down galvanised iron building near a well. Next morning we thought we should look at the local geology and drove over a rough track to the White Range, where we found two prospectors, McLaughlin and Marshall. They were evidently having some trouble, as each complained to us about the other stealing his gin. We saw a wurley and several Aborigines clad in the most filthy garments. They attracted some of the flies, but it made little difference to us as we were also covered in them. Hossfeld explained that these annoying insects were flesh eaters and would devour the skin round any cut, and from the edges of our lips and our eyes. He had bought small bottles of resorsin infriar'sbalsam which we carried to seal any open injuries. I soon realized that we had to have netting veils to keep flies out of our eyes and mouth. One could not pour out a drink without hundreds diving in to the liquid. Eating in or out of the camp without draping our veils over the food was virtually impossible between dawn and dusk.

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We observed Good Friday (19th April 1935) by going with Constable Murray to Paddys Rock Hole where the Anthropologist T.G.H. Strehlow had a camp. Hossfeld, who was interested in Aboriginal archaeology, identified some artifacts indicating the former presence of an Aboriginal camp. We were handicapped through lack of maps, but knowing that we would soon have to guide the air force photographers we were faced with doing some quick map work. We therefore decided to make a rough traverse, about 30 miles long, of the winding tracks which we knew encircled the area taking in Claraville and Ambalindum cattle stations. Our method was not very accurate, but it worked. I sat in the back of the truck with a compass and took a back reading on an object until it was lost by a turn in the road. I yelled out the reading, and Hossfeld noted the distance from the meter on the dash-board. We managed to close the traverse, the error being only 1 in 150. We were later able to identify the points on aerial photographs. The most successful mining operation then current was that of Mr Heck Jenkins, whose camp was about six miles northeast of our camp. Together he, his wife and a family friend, Souter, had discovered a series of small rich gold veins during the previous year. They had erected several buildings, the main one consisting of saplings put together like a large tent, the whole thatched with stalks of gum leaves. A section was surrounded on all sides with fine wire gauze and used as a kitchen. It was possible to eat there in peace away from the flies. We were shown some specimens of gold and a gold-tipped pick which had been used to dig out the metal from the narrow but very rich veins. Heck Jenkins and his wife I guess were in their early forties at this time. I learned later that before her marriage Mrs. Jenkins was Elsie Goodrich, and had been one of the best horse-women in Australia. They were inveterate travellers and for many years had been searching for new opal fields, having done a stint of opal mining themselves. They had a magnificant collection which they delighted in showing us. They had taken the collection to the British Empire Exhibition, and I believe that Mrs. Jenkins caused much interest in Monte Carlo with her necklace. I particularly remember one large gem about 2 inches across which appeared to be a picture of a magnificent sunrise. Even now I would recognise it. Many of the stones came from Lightning Ridge, and they had a supply for sale, done up in packets at various prices per carat. Hossfeld and I decided to buy some. I only spent ten pounds but, because my father had been a jeweller and I was interested in gems, I made some good selections and closely guarded my collection of 50 stones, releasing them slowly, as years went by, to my wife and daughters. Mrs. Jenkins mothered everyone and indeed she became known as "Ma". What is more she treated everyone alike, even the Aborigines, and this was really unusual in those days. Nevertheless she was at times a real tartar and a tough bargainer in business. I heard of her dealing with an Afghan in buying a camel. The narrator, probably the Afghan, thereafter always regarded her with awe. There were those she liked and those she disliked. I am glad to say that I was one of her likes and she mine, and we became very firm friends. Her husband, as could well be imagined, since they were well suited and very happy, was a very quiet and unassuming man of great competence. He was universally liked and respected Mr. Souter, always unshaven and untidy, and with only one eye, would have made a good Long John Silver except that he had retained both of his legs in spite of being shot through both knees during the First World War He had been a vaudeville actor and the way he told stories made this easy to believe. He confessed to having become a hopeless drunkard and the Jenkins had rescued him. I found out later that it was impossible for him to be near a hotel without drinking himself out of action in a very short time. He was happy to stay in the bush. While showing me over the mine workings he was stung in his good eye by a fly. The eye immediately swelled up and I had to lead a totallyJ blind man back to camp. The owner of Claraville Station, Larry Rosenbaum, was proud of his bullocks which he grazed along the Hale River I was more interested in his yard of camels. He used to ride one and have his luggage packed on a train of them behind him on his visits to Alice Springs and other neighbours. He ran a small store - the last one for those travelling east. We bought a supply of fresh meat from him. x ? m i ! f L W e S t / ClarauvilleJTa reaUy homestead on Ambalindum Station belonging to the Cavanagh Family Mr and Mrs. Cavanagh and their three children made a very pleasant family. Mr. Cavanagh had been assaver at the UP T h e Stad0n 1 ^ F ^ F S ^ ^ .OOO square miles S Z 2 3M catde and 1,000 sheep. Four years of drought had hit him and his neighbours very badly, and had greatly reduced tfieir herds. MrsXavanagh and the little children spent long periods down south because of Ae neceTsity f S aU preferred life on the MacDonnel Ranges. There were all comforts in their concrete house w h i c h ^ v w S b w wire gauze from the flies. They also had a pianola and a wireless set. protected by

j S * US10 ^ W i m f k e ^ i n , r o d u c e d u s t 0 ^ T u ™ r family at The Garden station. Hossfeld and I did much reconnaissance over the area, in particular the White Range, looking at old workings and becoming acquainted with what were to me new but exciting rocks: m a g n i f i e d metamorphics, gneisses, schists, amphibolites and pegmatites of Pre-Cambrian age. Q u a r t z - ^ b b ^

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progressively changed into streaky quartz schists and quartzites, and we had great arguments about whether the amphibolites were altered sediments or igneous intrusions. The long awaited event took place on 26th April. It rained. I had a big wash. True it was with only one quart of water, and flies crawled over me all the time, but I felt much better. I discovered that many of my scratches were filled with grass seeds, but these were extracted and the spots dabbed with methylated spirits. Shortly after, Dr. W.G. Woolnough, with his two companions Rutherford and O'Brien, arrived just after breakfast Dr. Woolnough and I had a lot to talk about. He had earlier written a paper on the duricrust which covered so much of the Australian land-surface and which was broken down and polished by wind to form the gibbers. An interesting note in my diary reminds me that as the wireless was working we listened to Mr. Jack Lang's policy speech from the Auburn Town Hall. We had some busy days getting maps ready in anticipation of the arrival of the Air Force planes for the photography. In the absence of news of their coming we set off on 6th May for a visit to Lindsay's place in the Harts Range, continuing our vehicle traverse from Claraville Station. Constable Murray came with Hossfeld and me. We had a lot of vehicle trouble with the sand, but a major disaster occurred when we broke a spring in the truck. We had a spare spring but no box-spanner to undo the inaccessible bolts. We could not do any satisfactory repairs so just had to set off on foot to do the 16 mile walk back to Claraville with one billy of water and millions of flies. Just before dark I made some amateurish observations on the stars, which were very bright and sharp in the clear desert night. Guided for two hours in the dark by these we reached Claraville, just as our rescue truck was arriving. On Friday 10th May the Minister for the Interior, Hon. Thomas Paterson, accompanied by S.A. Senator Albert Badman, and Members of Parliament Arch Price, Fred Stacey and Alex McEwin, together with the Deputy Administrator of the Northern Territory ,Mr. Victor Carrington, the local Federal Member for the Territory, Mr. Adair Blain; and the engineer Mr. Dave Smith arrived at our camp at Cross-roads Hut. They stayed for the night and I had a good talk with Senator Badman. In the morning after we had taken photos all round, they departed for Tennant Creek, the Granites and Tanami. Our next visitors formed somewhat of a contrast. Our prospecting friend Mr. Marshall came by with his camel train, gins and goats. He was out looking for dingoes, as the Government paid well for dingo scalps. Such hunters were given the name "doggers". They usually bred numbers of dingo-like dogs and scalped several when money ran short The success of Jenkins' gold mine had leaked out to the world, most probably because of messages between Hossfeld and Cloncurry headquarters. We had not realized at the time that so many others listened in on their "pedal radio" sets, which they had acquired only during the last year or so. As a consequence we experienced a mild gold rush, and as Cross-roads Hut was on the main road, we met just about all of them. First were Messrs Ballard and Chase from Bendigo Mines Ltd. Chase (locally nicknamed "White Goose") looked worried after racing round the hills, but nevertheless pegged out leases all round Jenkins' Mine and spent some time trying to persuade the family to part with their claims. On 22nd May Mr. Nye arrived and we spent some days showing him round and going over our maps. We drove to Winnecke looking over Johannsen's Mine and had a mug of tea with a prospector called Garland, who chased two gins out of his hut to make room for us. It was decided that our party split up, Hossfeld and his field assistant Claude Golder moving to Pine Creek, while Smith and I stayed at Arltunga. As neither party could justify retention of a cook, Marcard was made redundant and consequendy sacked. In view of the fact that he should never have been employed in this capacity he had little to complain of, and was soon doing much better for himself guiding hopeful prospectors to the Arltunga area. In spite of most unseasonable rain visitors such as Du Bois, Cooley, Lewis and Mengersen passed by. Hossfeld and Golder took off for the North early on the afternoon of 6th June. The Air force planes arrived in Alice Springs on 16th June and Smith and I met Flight-Lieutenants Sims and Carr at the then rather primitive air field. I had my first flight standing up in the cockpit of the two seater Wapiti with Carr, while Sims was pilot. I was able to point out the main geographical features and indicate the area we wanted flown. We spent nearly two hours in the air, and I was gready excited at what I could see of the geology. I was able to solve some problems which had worried us from the ground and actually wrote a paper as a result of the trip. I confess that I was not at all comfortable on this flight, firstly because I took the force of the wind in my face at 10,000 feet, and had icicles growing out of my nose. In addition, whenever the plane banked to turn I had to hang on to the' wood and canvas ledge at hip level and wondered whether I would be tipped out We had one parachute between us and it was quite inaccessible in the tail. We left Alice Springs for Arltunga the next day at 4.20 p.m.,but in the dark missed the turnoff and landed instead at Love's Creek Station. Mrs. Bloomfield gave us a good welcome and an invitation to stay, which we gratefully accepted. A few days after we had settled back to work, along came another important visitor with a train of camels and servants. It was Dr. C.T. Madigan and I was delighted to see him and get some first hand discussion on the area he knew so well.

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Being equipped with a motor vehicle I could not avoid having a crack at him about his antiquated, if romantic, form of transport. He merely replied that going east he would be much better off than us. As there were no roads in this direction and we had already wrecked our vehicles within a few miles of the camp, his point was well taken. The June weather had now become quite cold, with a daily range from 35°F to 45°F, with occasional early morning readings below freezing point. As the air was dry and there was no moisture to freeze we had what are known as "black frosts". At least the cold discouraged the flies, who stayed in bed, and later we really appreciated their absence. Even in this clear and isolated area I did manage to catch a virus, and had several unpleasant days with the common cold. However this enabled me to complete my reading of the very tattered pages of the books of records from the old Arltunga Battery, lent to me by Constable Murray. Two more lorry loads of prospectors, led by Marcard, went by on 26th June, but a few days later Messrs. Underdown, Wyatt, McDowell and Cooley arrived for the night. It had been pouring rain all day, and as this was most unseasonable none had any cover or protection against it Wyatt brought back our wireless set which we had left him to mend. The flow of prospectors continued. Bill Smith was an excellent companion, being a good mechanic, cook and handyman. We became close friends and always stuck together. It was not lonely just being with him. He taught me to drive over the rough roads and I was able to get a licence - no tests were required - when I later went to Alice Springs. Harry Bloomfield (from Love's Creek) and Ted Hayes (from Undoolya station) had pegged out a lease. We arranged with them for some meat supplies - they had thousands of stock on their properties. On the invitation to visit the Homestead again, Bill and I spent the first week-end of July at Love's Creek. Apart from the pleasant company of Mrs. Bloomfield and Jean, I was greatly excited by being able to walk the geological section across the Proterozoic, Cambrian and Ordovician rocks of the Ross River originally described by Madigan. Mapping at Arltunga continued until 18th July, when we received directions about our move to Pine Creek. After a farewell visit to Love's Creek we packed up and moved back to Miss Golder's at Alice Springs. After having our vehicle checked and leaving unneeded spare equipment we left for Pine Creek on 24th July. The road, if it could be so described, running north of The Alice was generally only two deep wheel ruts in the sand with few duplications, other than on the salt pans, which made it impossible to overtake a vehicle except when crossing the pans, or at wells. It was also difficult to pass cars going in the opposite direction as the sand was deep in between the wheel ruts. There were, however, very few vehicles and most of the travellers knew one another, or introduced themselves. The following extracts from notes made on this trip - Bill Smith doing the driving - may perhaps give some picture of the Territory in those days. After winding through twelve miles of brown rough hills with patches of mallee and mulga the road came out on to the Burt Plain. Here we met a camel and horse train and then Toby Jones' (Harris Scarfs traveller) truck which had a broken axle being repaired by Thomas and O'Brien. The "speedway" followed the overland telegraph line and we were doing 40 m.p.h. when a truck passed us going south. There was nothing ahead except galvanised telegraph poles and dead mulga. Mobs of poor store (ie unfattened) cattle wound their way south through the many termite mounds. The Harts Ranges were visible as distant blue hills to the east. Then 40 miles north we broke a spring but were able to strap it up! The road ran monotonously from one side of the telegraph line to the other, through patches of mulga and spear-grass. Spinifex appeared around the Burt Well with only a few mulgas breaking the stretches of spinifex and red sand. At Ryan's Well (76 miles) we saw the first building since we left Alice Springs amid outcrops of granite boulders. Alroy Downs Station (Mr. Conniston) could be seen through mulgas at 80 miles, while near Prouse's Gap we saw a truck lodged in a small gully off the road. Box trees, sometimes numerous and forming "White Box Swamps" interspersed with mulgas and cork-woods continued to Tea Tree Well where George Matthews and his family were living. Similar country surrounded Central Mount Stuart which could be seen to the west at 121 miles north. We passed Walsh who had started yesterday, and then had some trouble crossing the Stirling Sand Hills. Then came whip-stick mallee and spinifex between flat-topped dark red hills before we reached Barrow Creek Hotel (174 miles north) at 5.15 p.m. Here we changed the broken spring, met Mr. Muldoon, the Mining Warden, and had tea with the Clarks, who ran the hotel. We saw the old Police Station from which Constable Murray had departed on his unfortunate hunt of the aborigines a few years before - and the graves of two men speared by Aborigines in 1874. Hop bush was added to the patchwork of mallee, mulga, white box and spinifex north of Barrow Creek, to the Wycliffe Well (230 miles) and then to the Wauchope. Rising spectacularly beside the road, about 250 miles north of Alice Springs were the reddish-brown Devil's Marbles granite tors amid the quartzites. Thousands of termite hills on the flat country added some variety to a landscape that had now become monotonous, enlivened only by some very bumpy patches of road reaching into Tennant CreelT We took a short drive to Mount Samuel - an ironstone knob and the site of an early gold discovery, and looked out over the ^ f ^ noting Honeymoon Range in the distance. Tennant Creek settlement had a police station, a post office, a hospital a hotel and a very primitive shopping centre. Of special interest to me were Schmidts' Battery, Fazel Deen s Battery and Gorry s drilling plant.

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We met Dr. Woolnough, Fletcher, Brown and A1 McDonald (the New Zealand boxer) and stayed at the Survey's camp. After seeing Mrs. Bonney's plane at the aerodrome we went on to the Old Telegraph Station. There, about 5 miles north of the town trucks were lined up around the only local water well. The demand was too great and as the well was replenished every night it paid to be there early in the morning. It cost about fourteen pounds for a 40 gallon drum of water in the town. The hotel, around which the settlement grew, was erected before water was found. Up to the time of our visit no fresh water had been found in the town. We passed Banka Station (Mr. Ambrose) then again met the unfortunate Mr. Walsh who had broken a tooth in his crown wheel. We met the three "Bohning boys" mustering at Helen Springs (412 miles) and learned how to cook a good steak on a shovel. We passed the old telegraph station and were given news of the other half of our party already settled in at Pine Creek. From here north to Newcastle Waters big changes in vegetation occurred. Open mitchell grass, black soil plains, impassable in the wet season, were followed by bloodwoods, bullwaddy, guttapercha, lancewood and bauhinias spinifex gradually giving way to Mitchell and Flinders grasses. Newcastle Waters (490 miles) sported an aerodrome, hotel, telegraph office, store and several houses. A night at the hotel refreshed us. We left Walsh and Treloar mending their truck again, and made for Daly Waters through bullwaddy and guttapercha, then crossing 12 1/2 miles of unbroken grass-covered plain. Brush turkeys (bustards), snipe, corellas, galahs and kite hawks were abundant as we left the plain for picturesque avenues through lancewoods and coolabahs, past Dunmara Station (Healeys) and thence to Daly Waters Aerodrome and Pierce s store (580 miles). The forest gradually changed to eucalypts, bauhinias and long grasses. At 620 miles there were turnoffs - west to Birdum, the railway terminus, and east to Boorooloola. Mataranka on the railway (661 miles) had a hotel expertly run by "Mum" Fisher. She possessed a great collection of pot plants, 370 goats, 100 pigs, 40 ducks and fowls with only Aborigines to help her. The old Elsey Station,, made famous by Mrs. Aeneas Gunn in "We of the Never Never" was 25 miles to the east. The original buildings had been eaten by termites but the new homestead was owned by Mr. Giles. The Mataranka hotel had an open plan structure with no ceilings. Walls between rooms were of standard length galvanised iron starting a foot above the floor. Needless to say it was very noisy. When talking stopped snoring began. We left early, chasing two blue-necked cassowaries which ran infrontof us for over a mile. Afrightfulbumpy sandy road ranfromMaranboy siding (716 miles) to the tin battery, which was working, and about 38 men were scattered about the tin-field. We met Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman and their children at the post office. The eucalypt forest remained fairly thick, broken by stretches of pandanus palms along water courses whose rocky beds were often quite difficult to cross. Katherine (746miles) was the largest settlement north of Tennant Creek, on the railway, and with a relatively large hotel run by the O'Sheas. I heard that this establishment served free beer at Christmas time, a real, but charitably unintentional Irish joke, as these were the days before refrigeration and the hessian covered cool safes were ineffective in a hot moist climate, so the beer was generally undrinkable. Horizontally bedded Cambrian limestones provided a visual change and some character to country rapidly losing its charm in the monotonous low eucalypt scrub which made the remainder of the trip to Pine Creek of little interest Pine Creek was somewhat of a remnant town - a telegraph station, a hotel, two stores (Ah Toy's and Sargent's), a few houses and shops and an inconspicuous residence of "ill fame". The town had a butcher and lots of pigs, which seemed to have escaped his knife, and could no longer be caught, and it seemed to be a "rookery" for kite hawks. Beds at the hotel had each leg in a half jam tin, half full of oil to prevent ants climbing up. One was warned not to hang up hat or clothes on the pegs. The reason for this best expressed by an extract from Ernestine Hill probably inspired by personal experience:"Curse of the north is a strange, smallest emmet on earth, the Singapore ant. Processions of countless millions travel in single file to cover in clouds, to riddle and devour, to bite in Chinese torture of red hot pins -fromthat dark brown line of devils no escape. CarriedfromSingapore in the bales and cargoes offiftyyears they have invaded stations east and west forfivehundred miles. They have eaten out the Darwin railway for a mile each side and sacked the little towns - many a time the people of Pine Creek and Katherine have abandoned their houses to camp on the flat, while travellers at the hotels, the legs of their beds in jam-tins havefledin their pyjamas screeching into the night. They demolish everythingfromday-old chicks to peanuts in the ground. They can survive arsenic, creosote, kerosene, boiling carbolic, flood,fireand D.D.T. A king and queen can breedfivemillion in three days. Theyfloatacross water on each others drowned bodies or walk on the meniscus-film, so minute are they and so light " We by-passed thefleshpots and hazards of Pine Creek on this occasion and went to the base camp which Hossfeld and Golder had set up at an abandoned homestead called Esmeralda. A sign had been erected - HEADQUARTERS AGGSNA, RRR and SGC - the last two meaning "Rural Road Reformers" and "Silent Gear Changers". The roads did need our attention, and led to competition in double declutching our 1934 model vehicles. After a couple of days unpacking, settling in, and exchanging information, we visited Mr. Ross who was Manager of the Enterprise Mine, which was in operation and had a small mining staff. On Thursday (1st August) we carried out a traverse of the f

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workings of the Caledonian mine, and then surveyed the road between Pine Creek and Esmeralda, cutting across the bends and removing the necessary small trees to do so. We had another Ministerial visit, this time by Paterson and Blain, together with Messrs. Brown and McMahon. Examination of the mines around Pine Creek occupied the next few weeks, the main ones being the Copperfield, Eleanor, Monarch, North Enterprise, Union Reefs and Lady Alice. We mapped the geological units as we went, using the aerial photograph mosaics supplied by the Air Force. There were no directional guides on the mosaics, so we plotted a line by climbing two distant hills which we could identify and lit fires taking directions each way. This base line was our only guide. An event on 20th August was the arrival of Charles Ulm's "Faith in Australia" at the Pine Creek aerodrome. In September we could feel the approach of summer, and field work became less pleasant; by October the going was worse as the noon temperatures were consistently in the nineties (Fahrenheit), and often reached the century by midafternoon. The weather itself worried me less than the fact that my hammer got too hot to carry, and that I couldn't hold any rock specimens after about 10.30a.m. What made conditons really uncomfortable was that the high temperatures were maintained at night. It sometimes stayed up in the nineties till 8 p.m. We looked forward to the last effort of a sea breeze which used to hit us at about 8.30 p.m. on most nights. We had little time for sport, heard little or no music, because of the poor reception, and the only news came in letters from friends. As the technical staff were somewhat older than myself, I was occasionally a little lonely, but Hossfield and I got on well and played a curious game of whist on some evenings. Our main night sport, however, was the chasing of marauding bandicoots that insisted on disturbing our slumbers. We were quite unprepared for illness and only had a small Medical Cabinet with us on our travels. In any case for small but very painful problems, such as tooth ache, one could hardly summon the flying doctor to come hundreds of miles to us. One such emergency, which was minor for everyone except the cook, Treloar, occurred at "Esmeralda". Treloar had teeth which had deteriorated to the stage when they bore a resemblance to gorgonzola cheese. One day a cavity penetrated a nerve with painful consequences, so a party of sympathisers drove him to Pine Creek to see the bush nurse. Unfortunately, Dr. Fenton the flying doctor, had gone off with the forceps and as the nurse could not undertake the extraction he was hurried to the local hotel in the hope that large doses of alcohol would prove effective. Unfortunately, back in the camp he still complained bitterly about the pain. Bill Smith (recall his title of "The Wonder of the West") decided to operate, so he boiled a large pair of pliers in the billy can. Two solid citizens held down Treloar's arms and legs. After some exploration the offending molar was located. There was a great struggle and Bill reeled back with the top part of the tooth, which he had broken off level with the gum. When the victim ceased running round yelling he appealed to me. I noted a pink thing which I thought to be the nerve coming out of a hole in the tooth and I remembered my dentist in Adelaide had given me a stick of guttapercha to fill a hole if necessary. It occurred to me that the cavity ought to be sterilized so I put some cotton-wool on the end of a steel pen nib and poked this up into the hole where the nerve was. The patient jumped but stayed put, saying that no-one could hurt him any more. Having melted the guttapercha over a candle flame I poked this into the hole. He jumped again. After I had pushed some more in to seal the tooth properly Bill and I both prayed that he would survive. After an uncomfortable night the pain eased. Three months afterwards when the dentist at Tennant Creek removed the root he remarked that I hadn't done a bad job. During our next slay in Adelaide Hossfeld's brother-in-law put him in a white gown and gave him some practice at the dental hospital. Undoubtedly the patients were relieved to receive attention from the superintendent and this senior black-bearded specialist, instead of the the young university students who usually did these simple tasks. Not wishing to receive such attention, I screwed up my courage in Adelaide when I saw a notice "Dentist - extractions five shillings". I was doubtful about the health of one of my wisdom teeth This the dentist extracted in five pieces - not bad at a "bob" each. Unfortunately, when I examined the wound later I realized Cated W I O n g one 1 stiU h a v e originaL 1936! " At any rate we had a good selection of forceps with us in On 30th September we made contact with the geophysicists when Horvarth and Jack Rayner paid us a call. Afterwards Paul Hossfeld accompanied them to the Evelyn and Eureka mines. At this time I was not convinced of the value of geophysics for our work believing the prospects and mines we were examining were too small to be useful targets, and t0 ^ " e r advanced with our geology before the geophysicists were called in. Our next visitors were Sir Herbert Gepp, Mr. Stopford, (Queensland Minister for Mines), Mr. Nye and Mr. Bell (Northern Territory Director of Mmes). They came in a Dragon Rapide plane piloted by Squadron Leader Jones. We were fortunate enough to be able to get into the plane for a flight to the Daly River, Fletcher's Gully, Buldiva and Noltenius Billabong. It P m fP ' ? e & S f U m e 111 a ^bin - and being the youngest member I sat on a fruit case. However S - the vegetation pattern, buffcloes

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ErSL I P M*- > P 8 the Iron Blow, Fountain Head and Zapopan Mines. Darwin was> a very interesting little town with fascinating characters as well as buildings. Once again I must m

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reter to bmestine Hill for a more adequate description of Darwin than I could give. She wrote:

i L i °p S y' P ^ y ^ third time dying. As J.T. Mackenzie a pearler triend of Broome observed to me, there was "only one thing to do, drop a bomb on it and begin again". Little did we dream that a grim prophecy was spoken in jest. "Shabbiest seaport of the Australian coast, far out in isolation, with a monthly ship to Singapore calling for subsidy not ttade, it existed on Government pension with not a single industry to keep it alive " "In its glorious setting Darwin was unloved and unlovely. Apart from a few old faithfuls, there were only two classesthose paid to stay there and those with no money to go. "A thousand white people included three hundred Government officials and three hundred unemployed men who camped in the greenwood and, except for two days wharf labouring per month, lived on the dole. "Of a thousand coloured people six hundred were Chinese and the only real street was Chinatown, a crowded Asiatic quarter of stores, cafes, laundries, peanuts and pak a pu. "Of all our Chinatowns, from Ballarat to Broome, Darwin's was most faithful to the Flowery Land and most picturesque to see. Its roots were deep in Territory history." Darwin was no different when I visited it for the first time in 1935. Lieutenant Colonel R.H. Weddell was Administrator under direct control from Canberra. A.M. Blain, who had travelled with us from Adelaide on the "Ghan", was its Member of Parliament but with no vote in the House of Representatives. Norman Bell in Ernestine Hill's terms was a "Director of Vanished Mines". Our first visit was to Colonel Weddell, whose wife brought in the morning tea. We moved on to Superintendent Stratton and then to the Department of Mines, renewing our acquaintance with Norman Bell, and getting help with the records we wanted from Mr. Giles, descendent of the great exulorine family. , , W h

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We stayed at the Victoria Hotel, run for so many years by Mrs. Christina Gordon. It was a memorable experience. In those days heavy drinking started after lunch and continued until late at night. It was too hot to sleep in the crowded confines of the pub. Fortunately Bill Smith and I had a room on the verandah, though we had our sleep interrupted by one of the more inebriated guests who thought that my bed was a urinal. The dining room was very hot and stuffy but only those wearing coats were admitted. Those without coats and ties were served on the verandah. The alternative hostelry was the Don. It had not been so highly recommended, being regarded as a little rough. The Post office was run by one of the local characters nicknamed Curly, because he didn't have a hair on his head. (He was killed during the Japanese air raid on Darwin in 1941). Coconut palms were new to me, and I enjoyed seeing the beaches and the Botanical Gardens. After the all-too-short Darwin trip we returned to Pine Creek, to map the hornfels surrounding the granite near the Esmeralda mine, recognising the limitation its position placed on the continuity of the gold reefs there. Samples for assay were collected and sent off, before leaving for our return trip south on the 28th October, hoping to get home before the monsoon rains set in. On our arrival at Tea Tree Well we received a telegram telling us to stay there and await instructions. These were to return north to Grove Hill to report on the Golden Dyke Mine. Our tyres were almost worn out and one jack was damaged so we decided to go on to Alice Springs to refit. It was Monday 11th November before we set out on our rushed trip north, changing over to Jones' Buick truck at Newcastle Waters with the temperature at 112°F. We boarded "The Sentinel" at Birdum for the trip to Pine Creek. "The Sentinel" was a steam-driven train with a chain-drive in the forward carriage. Our travelling companions included Mr. Giles, manager of Elsey Station, an aboriginal couple, a Chinese woman and some fowls, pigs and dogs. We transferred to the ordinary train at Pine Creek for Grove Hill and the Golden Dyke Mine. Here we experienced the comforts of mess huts with Messrs Cornell (Manager), Hodgson (Accountant) and Harrow (Engineer)and were catered for by the Chinese Cook. Armed this time with aerial photographs, mapping of the area for us was a new delight in spite of the humidity and high temperature. There had been an accident in the mine workings and although we did not think there was much to see, honour demanded that we go underground to see the situation. Consequently Bill Smith, Claude Golder and I spent the morning sitting quietly below being careful not to sneeze loudly. There was a 40 foot wide open stope within a hundred feet of the surface, the walls being held apart by long tree trunks eighteen inches to two feet in diameter. The lateral pressure had been so great that one of these had given way and spread outward to give afringeof splintered wood about six feet wide. It seemed obvious that further ore extraction here was not to be. We left the mine on 27th November and were given another farewell party at the Enterprise mess at Pine Creek. Besides the mining group, His Honour Judge Thomas Wells, the storekeeper Mr. Selman, Mrs. O'Neill and Sister Styles (later Mrs. Bob Thyer) were present Leaving Katherine on Ron Brumby's truck we travelled most of the night to

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reach Newcastle Waters and our own vehicle. Again travelling as fast as we could, we reached Tennant Creek at 9 p.m. and set off again at 4 a.m.,arriving at Alice Springs ahead of the monsoon, at 5 p.m. on 30th November. Thence we went by train to Quorn, then with our own truck drove back to Adelaide arriving on 5th December. My holidays started on 15th December.

Jenkins battery and well near Arltunga

Bill Smith, Dr W.G. Woolnough and the flies at Arltunga

The author tries out a new method of transport.

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CHAPTER 4 THE AERIAL GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA The Second Year ( 1936 ) During my holidays, which lasted until 28th January 1936,1 returned to my parents at Kempsey and had some time on the beach at Crescent Head. The work I had done towards my Master of Science degree was unfininshed, so I thought it advisable to visit the Drake area once more, and continue mapping, particularly the Permian sequence down Sawpit Gully, near the old silver mines at Boorook. Back in Adelaide we had an office in which we compiled our maps and reports, and prepared for the next field season, which had to await the end of the rains in the centre. Two junior geologists were added to our team - Alfred Kleeman and Victor Cottle both of Adelaide - two people who remained my friends over the years, but who could hardly have been more differentfromone another. Alf was the dedicated student, destined to become a worthy member of academia and author of numerous papers on petrology. Vic was a very big strong man, prepared to take on anything and anyone, a lover of his subject and determined to succeed as an exploration geologist, which he did. Mick O'Brien and L.S. Treloar whom we had met in 1935 were re-engaged, and C.R. Barrett, J.S. O'Halloran and Peter Webb completed the "junior" group. For thisfieldseason Hossfield was accompanied by his wife. We added a large Dodge truck which was loaded in Adelaide. The new geologists, Bill Smith and I left the city on 8th April 1936, Hossfeld and his wife a week later. We reached Marree at 10.30 p.m. and caught the Ghan next morning, even though we had to delay it for half an hour loading on the trucks. I was thrilled to have my 25th birthday in Alice Springs, happy to be earning 510 pounds per year. We played tennis with oldfriends,but I had some troubles, as I had shaven off my beard and no one seemed to recognise me without it. Claude Golder, who had been Paul Hossfeld's field assistant, was staying at his sister's boarding house. He was covered in bandages. He had been driving a truck which had been losing some fluid. He crawled underneath in the darkness to see whether it was water or petrol and struck a match. It was to be some months before he was out driving again. The track to Arltunga had twenty seven creek crossings. We had difficulties with twenty of them - on several occasions having to unload the big truck. It took us three days to cover the seventy miles. Mrs. Murray gave seven filthy and unshaven men a welcome afternoon tea and cakes on arrival at Arltunga - the cakes being most welcome after the days we had on bread, butter, mutton and no salt. The Cross-roads Hut, which had been occupied in our absence, had acquired a verandah, but was infested with snakes mostly carpet snakes and not venomous, but unwelcome bed-fellows never-the-less, and most of the party preferred to use their tents. We were wondering whether we would have the camp set up to Mrs. Hossfeld's satisfaction when a telegram via the Police Station's pedal wireless told us that they had been bogged in the sand outside Marree and consequently would be a week late. We wondered what one could do with a week's holiday in Marree. I set about introducing Alf and Vic to the geology of the Eastern Macdonnell Ranges. This time we had aerial photograph coverage, so it was possible to map the geological features. We worked around White Range, Mount Chapman, Winnecke and Claraville. We had a welcome visitfromDavid Smith and H.A. ( "Matt") Ellis, of the Western Australian Geological Survey, and formerly a geologist in Darwin. Ellis was a very worried man and all because of Lasseter and the story of his claim, which was briefly told by Geoffrey Blainey. Ellis doubted the existence of Lasseter's gold reef, but the story of the Lasseter's death caught the public's imagination, and the WA government had dispatched him with an expedition into virtually unexplored country near the Western Australia border to search for the supposed ore-body. He did get back, and it was a most relieved man that I met later in Alice Springs. In his report Ellis concluded: "It cannot be too strongly urged that "Lasseters' Reef' is likely to be held out as a bait to mining investors for many years to come, and it is necessary to urge just as strongly the need for extreme caution when contemplating any investment in a mining venture, the basis of which is a fabulously rich gold reef in Central Australia, which, more than likely the prospective investor will be informed is probably "Lasseters' reef'. The coming of a woman into the camp could not be expected to be well received. More buildings were required and these were not very easily constructed. A bucket of water if available might suit a man for washing, but not a woman. However, we did the best we could, even putting up two "fly-proof eating rooms. As second in command I had a small tent to myself plus stretcher and table. The group was to be pleasantly surprised, because Mrs. Hossfeld was a charming woman who "mothered" everyone in the camp. She fitted very easily into the life, rough though it was at times. Geological work was expanded around the Arltunga area with the larger staff and more was seen of the Harts Range area. By the end of May it was thought safe to move, so the party set off north again. There were now many more vehicles on the road. The stop at Tea Tree Well was memorable, because Mrs. Hese provided excellent meals for

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travellers. Tennant Creek had also grown to some extent and this time we stayed at the hotel. This meant having a bed on the verandah. Water was now more abundant and to have a shower one dipped a bucket of water out of a tank in the back yard, carried it into an enclosed corner of the verandah and poured it into a leaky can tied by a rope, which ran over a pulley. By pulling the can up over one's head before all the water ran out one had a chance of getting wet. I was awakened in the morning with the feeling that I was being eaten alive, and I was. A large sulphur-crested cockatoo was sitting on the end of the bed chewing my big toe! We followed the only track north again to Daly Waters, Mataranka, Katherine and thence to Pine Creek, which looked much the same as when we saw it last. On this trip I took more notice of the termite hills which form such widespread and spectacular features of the landscape. They take on different colours according to the nature of the soil. There are a number of different ant species, if one is to judge from the sizes and shapes of the hills. These are usually between one and two metres in height in the Centre, but they are up to three metres high in the Pine Creek area. Between there and Darwin and in Arnhem Land, they form elongated hills running approximately north and south, and so get the name of "magnetic ant-hills". Ernestine Hill was in good verbal form when she wrote of another scourge of the Territory: White Ants! "Of all living creatures, the termite is most destructive to man's hardwork, and of all termites the North Australian Mastotermes darwinensis is most primitive and most ruinous. It virtually owns Australia north of Capricorn extracting a revenue duty of forty per cent on production". After spending some time exploring mining areas around Pine Creek we moved to Fountain Head, calling in on Thyer and Oakes, who were carrying out a resistivity survey. We left our camp among the cabbage gums near Fountain Head on Sunday morning 7th June and made our way through eucalypts, huge ant hills and long brown grass to Brock's Creek. The rusting machinery of the old Zapopan mine on a flat was the first sign of the mines. The large area covered with slime dumps and the old boilers, pumps and ruins showed that here was once a busy mine. Passing a cottage with beautiful bougainvillea we arrived at the Federal Hotel with "Frances Haynes" above the door. Fanny, as she was known throughout the north, was reputed to be one of the fattest and one of the kindest-hearted women in the Territory. She had helped many a prospector, and was especially interested in the Howley mines. We crossed the railway line to the other dwelling place and met Constable Johnstone, who gave us directions how to reach Tipperary Station. Leaving this metropolis of two houses and a few smaller sheds we made for Burnside Station, about a mile away, and here we found the manager's wife, Mrs. Wilson, very neatly dressed, showing two gins how to pin cabbage leaves over the cabbage hearts by means of wooden pegs. Two little children in cowboy's suits viewed us from afar. Several buildings on the station had been made by Chinese workers of bamboo and "Chinese Grass", the former being used for the walls, and the latter as thatch. Both materials were introduced from China, the grass being used as packing and the seeds subsequently germinating. Both plants now flourish here, with various Bamboo Creeks now a feature of the country north of Pine Creek. From Burnside Station we careered off towards Tipperary Station through long grass and a varied assortment of eucalypts. Bamboo and pandanus palms made most creek crossings rather picturesque. We were particularly musical and, of course, our theme song was "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". It was in fact 36.6 miles - but only 16.9 miles from the Daly River turn-off where the sign-post says "TIPPERARY 10 MILES". Tipperary station was owned by Mr. Burns, then an old man and nearly blind, but still with a sense of humour. He told us that the station had once been enhanced by coconut palms and other plants, but the white ants had eaten everything "Indeed", he said "they are so bad that we are afraid to stay in bed too long in the mornings". Mrs. Burns was a very sweet old lady and most hospitable. She even took the joint that was cooking out of the oven to give us and it was only 2p.m. Brock's Creek pineapples were for dessert. Mr. and Mrs. Burns' three sons did the mustering and cattle work over 2000 square miles with the aid of Aborigines. Trouble was had with some of the wilder natives who speared the cattle on occasions. We were given more meat - fresh meat this time - but were unable to arrange for a regular & & supply at the Daly. We left Tipperary and returned to the Daly River turn-off and camped nearby. The rock here was found to be a basalt probably Cambrian, the same age as limestone seen at Tipperary, and there were more horizontal sediments along the road Shallow hght grey soil occurs between the basalt boulders and this supports only scattered and stunted trees and shrubs. From the air, the previous year, I had noted the tree distribution was even but sparse, and the park-land effect had suggested to me it was a granite area. On Monday morning, 8.6.1936, we took down our mosquito nets, which as usual we had hung in a line from a rope tied between two trees, repacked the trucks, and after finding our way with difficulty through grass, usually about four feet high, but up to about twelve feet m places, we eventually reached the road from Stapleton - about 40 miles from what were possibly Cambrian sandstones, the Proterozoic slates and tuffs, similar to the f T ' W ? r e f ° " 0 w e d u t ? w a r d s A e D a l y Kver Police Station. At Noltenius Billabong, we recalled the tragic story ofthe prospectors who, while working at the Copper Mines were speared by Aborigines Tin-bearing pegmatite greisen dykes cross the road here. The old chimney stack of the Daly River Copper Smeltef, S e J y i n S

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and the huge opencut, were passed, and seven miles further on - about 62 miles from Brocks Creek - we reached the Daly River Police Station. On arrival at the Daly River Crossing we called on Constable and Mrs Pryor at the Police Station and Hossfeld pitched out a camp site on the gravel flat close to the bamboo covered high bank. Using his New Guinea experience of pidginEnglish he instructed the local Aborigines, who were attracted by their curiosity, on how to make bamboo huts. Before their completion, however, we experienced strong winds down the valley and decided to move up on to the higher bank and clear an area on which to put our tents. It was an interesting spot and we spent nearly four months there. We had happy but intermittent contacts with the groups of Aborigines camped in the area. These people then had very little contact with the European inhabitants other than for business, and there was a lot of mutual respect but, to be fair, this was more on the traditional colonial lines than that which would be acceptable in the 1980s. They worked on the peanut farms and traded with us in fish, crocodile eggs, wild fowl and crocodile hides. They also came with us on the trucks to assist in clearing tracks. Payment was made in tobacco, flour, tea, sugar and other items of food. They were very little interested in clothing as it was rarely cold - loin cloths being the done thing for men and Brunton's flour bags for the women who wished it They had very lethal spears made out of flattened and sharpened angle ironfromthe old experimental farm fences and were expert in driving them with wommeras. They gave me some lessons, but I gave up after nearly beheading the cook when I sent onerightthrough his tent The Aborigines' main quarrel with authorities arose when police entered their camps looking for lepers. When found these were taken in to Darwin for treatment - perhaps over a long period, and this upset family life. We used to lend them shot-guns to get ducks for us. Whereas we had trouble getting near the flock, they always brought in more ducks or geese by far than the cartridges issued. We developed a taste for barramundi. A fisherman would wait for hours with three pronged spear (with wire used from the fences) on an overhanging branch and woe-betide the fish which swam underneath. We were even entertained by musicfroma real didgerido. Meat was a problem. We sent a truck seventy miles over a very rough track to Adelaide River every month for mail and supplies and then collected a bullock and or several goats which were caught, slaughtered and dressed by the Sargent girls. We would get one meal of fresh meat - the rest we rubbed in coarse salt and left it out in a hammock of wire netting to dry. Of course it attracted all kinds of flies. When the meat was properly salted the maggots quickly shrivelled up and when dry the meat was edible - after being whacked round a tree-trunk to soften it up and soaked overnight. We then had the choice of soup, stew, corned beef or roast mutton (hot or cold) or burdekin duck (shredded cornbeef in batter). Otherwise our food was canned or boughtfromthe Aborigines. Our greens were cabbage and apples, broughtfromAdelaide River, on the same monthly trips. In the humid conditions up north the "drip safes" which were effective in the Centre were inefficient, so no cooling mechanism was available. The butter came in tins, but on stabbing with a tin opener it squirted out and resembled olive oil. As the cook said "If any of youse blokes wants butter youse can open it yerselves". After our dry times in the Centre the previous year we really appreciated having the Daly River beside us. In spite of the crocodiles we dared to swim and wash our clothes in it. Being the dry season we had no weather problems other than the heat, and indeed field conditions were quite good. Geologically wefirstsurveyed the old Daly River Copper mine area. I attempted to examine the workings by descending one of the shafts on a rope. Unfortunately it cut into the loose mullock and I received a flow of sharp rocks on my head. As blood ran into my eyes and mouth I yelled to be hauled up. When they saw me they nearly dropped me again. However after I was cleaned up, had my head shaved - by the mechanic - and wounds inspected they were found to be very minor. I looked like a convict for some time afterwards. We spent some weeks making our way south to Buldiva and Muldiva and carried out a wide search for tin, which was being worked at Collia. Kleeman and Bennett formed one party, and Webb and Cottle and I also took different sectors of the region. We took samplesfromall mining areas and mappedfromaerial photographs. In August, and again in September,Kleeman, O'Halloran, Webb and I surveyed and sampled the Fletcher's Gully area. One week in September Hossfeld, Kleeman and O'Halloran went to Buldiva and had a most uncomfortable time, getting lost, staking all four tyres, and being unable to get up the steep Jump Up hill. Theyfinallyran out of food, except for the bag of cabbages they were taking to a party camped there. Fortunately, a brush turkey lost a peek-a-boo contest with Hossfeld, who stalked him while the remainder of the party salivated in apprehension. Cabbage and turkey soup saved the day. The last straw came when a crow-bar bounced up and broke O'Halloran's wrist and several ribs. As he insisted on medical attention the party struggled back to the Daly River camp. It fell to O'Brien and me to take the patient to Adelaide River siding so that he could catch the weekly train to Darwin, which was due in on Saturday 10th October. The train ran nearly 9 hours late and the day was very hot. O'Halloran drowned his pain and sorrow, aided by O'Brien. We were also entertained by a local Irishman racing a Russian peanut farmer along the railway tracks with a Swede as judge - this group having been brought up to the railway-siding Hotel from the disabled train on a quadracycle.

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The relieving engine from Darwin did not interfere with other uses of the tracks, but when the train did arrive the drivers stopped the locomotive at the station and left the long line of trucks with the passenger car at the end in distant darkness down the line. When departure time looked imminent O'Brien and I took the now heavily inebriated O'Halloran down the line and found the carriage at the top of a steep embankment. We hoisted him to the top with some trouble and got him on to the step when he gave a yell and lurched backwards and we rolled to the bottom of the embankment. This happened once more, but on achieving a successful ascent on the third try, we found that the train had gone. There was nothing for it but to drag ourselves back to Adelaide River for the night and as there was not another train for a week all we could do was to take him back to the Daly. Although he grizzled from time to time, we were able to use O'Halloran for odd jobs around the camp, and for carrying the staff on the surveys with his good hand. The ribs healed up eventually but he had to have the bones in his arm broken and re-set when he returned to Adelaide two months later. It was not to be expected that harmony would always prevail in a camp for such a long stay, and cracks began to appear in the system. A quarrel arose between Smith and O'Halloran, so in order to minimise trouble in the camp Hossfeld arranged for me to take them down to Buldiva, a situation I didn't really relish, as there were too many fire-arms involved. Almost everyone in the Territory owned one or more guns, usually well displayed, though there was some reluctance to use them in the spirit of the American wild west We were saved at Buldiva partly because I was on good terms with each man, but mainly because there was no hotel where they could get added courage. There was not always such reticence. On an earlier trip we spent a convivial evening with a small time grazier named Liddy who also had a mine he wanted us to examine. As we started for our camp - three stretchers lined up beside the dry creek - he yelled out "I'll come down and wake you at 3 o'clock". The reply was - "If you do we'll shoot you". On such visits to little known-country we slept with rifles within reach beside the bed. True to his word Liddy came down at the promised hour, beating a kerosene tin. My neighbour grabbed his rifle and sent off shots in the general direction of the noise. Liddy fled, but there was much abuse for the shooter, as the noise of the shots, so close to their ears, woke his neighbours too suddenly. Treloar, the cook, left on 22nd October and Harry Wilson took his place. As there wasn't anything much to cook this didn't matter much. The banyan tree warned us of the approaching wet - green leaves coming out towards the end of October. Big storms started to come up south of the Daly on 1st November and we collected one with heavy rain on the 4th. We left our camp at 10a.m. on 7th November but only got as far as the Copper Mines before getting bogged. We didn't reach Adelaide River until 11a.m. on the next day. The storms had become more frequent during the month, so it was decided that we could not risk driving to Birdum. We put the trucks on the train at Adelaide River. The big truck slipped off the loading ramps and we had great difficulty getting it on the flat car; but the utility was no trouble. Hossfeld, Cottle, Kleeman and I, together again, went to the Iron Blow and Woolwonga mines. Kleeman and Cottle then stayed behind with one utility to finish some of the , and the rest of us prepared to move south. O'Brien had a quarrel with Hossfeld and left. The train, according to ancient custom, did not go past Pine Creek that day, so this time we could not avoid spending the night at the hotel. Being forewarned, I checked that there was oil in the jam tins to deter the infestations of ants. We also had to be sure that our bed clothes did not touch the walls or floor. One of the boys hung his hat on a peg and paid the price. Those tiny ants had a very disproportionate sting. After breakfast the train set off for the south. Apart from observing what scenery there was, we had occasional games of cards with Dr. Fenton - already a local hero, with many exploits and bureaucratic encounters. The train, I recall did not pull out of Mataranka until the driver had asked the doctor whether he had finished his drink. Fenton's slightest desire was law. We continued south to Birdum on the train. On unloading we found that O'Brien, after his quarrel with Hossfeld, had thrown away the key of the utility. Smith had to break the lock to get the vehicle moving, and Mr and Mrs. Hossfeld then left for Alice Springs. When the rest of us, who were to travel south with the big truck, took delivery of it we found that the universal shaft was broken. After a lot of trouble, official and otherwise, a replacement shaft arrived by air and we left 9 days later - not a bad effort really under the circumstances. A problem had arisen while we were in Birdum, as the railway water had been condemned, and it was impossible for us to camp. We had to stay at the hotel - but officaldom reached out to say that the field assistants would not be paid travelling allowance. They were not pleased, so we started the 1,000 mile trip in an unhappy mood - Birdum did not possess any forms of amusement - and in November even the beer was hot With the delay m our departure the wet season had caught up with us so we really had to hurry. We left Birdum near midnight and drove on till 3 30a.m. when we rested near Dunmara. Leaving again at 7 a.m., we reached Newcastle Waters for lunch then travelled on till nightfall. We were up and away at 6.40 a.m. next day, passed through Tennant Creek but came to a sloppy stop at Gilbert Well. We worked hard on the truck for four hours, managing to free it by 6

We had some sleep and set off again early next morning. All went well till 5 p.m., in sight of Central Mount Stuart, when we encountered a sea of water extending in all directions. The truck sank to its axles. Tempers were by now very

34

much frayed. Smith and I decided that we should try to keep moving in case conditions got worse. Wilson and O Halloran decided that they wouldn't, as it was outside union hours and they weren't getting the travelling allowance. Smith's Irish temper took over, and as he was on my side we lined up - fists up and water to our knees. Smith's pugilistic feats having been earlier demonstrated we had a bloodless victory. We toiled away for two hours and gave up in the darkness. There was no dry land but fortunately we had stretchers with long legs, so we lay on these and talked about our troubles to a chorus of thousands of much happier frogs. On waking at dawn we set to work once more and managed to get the vehicle on to more solid tracks, still submerged, by 7.30 a.m. and slipped along to Tea Tree Well for lunch. Thus rehabilitated we reached Alice Springs on Wednesday night. We took half a day off and unloaded the trucks and were still moving our material to the Works Department when Mr and Mrs. Hossfeld returned from the Jervois Ranges. O'Halloran was dismissed and Wilson left Kleeman and I spent the next week making a plane table survey of a gold prospect at Simpson's Gap. We took samples which fortunately were not very rich - because even in those days there is no doubt that Simpson's Gap would have been environmentally taboo. We left Alice Springs on the Ghan at 9 a.m. on Tuesday 15th December, sharing in the send-off of Harry Bloomfield (Love's Creek Station) and his wife nee Mary Hayes (Undoolya Station). I just managed to get home for Christmas. We started work on the maps and reports in Adelaide in January 1937 and I was lucky to get the time to spend a day at the Australia - England Test Match,in which there were a number of "all time greats" including Bradman, Hammond and Verity. By this time I had had enough of the long field seasons and was on the look-out for a less remote job. During the preceding two years the country's economy had greatly improved and there were more jobs offering, even for geologists. I was urged by Carey and strongly tempted to join Oil Search Limited, to work in Queensland. There was another position available seeking gold in the Solomon Islands. However, I had applied to the Linnean Society of New South Wales for a Macleay Fellowship, to conduct research on the Upper Palaeozoic rocks of Australia. On being offered this fellowship I decided to move to the academic side of geology and accepted it. While in South Australia I took the opportunity to study the sequence of Permian rocks at Hallett's Cove and to get available information from the Geology Department, at The University of Adelaide. I had been communicating with Dr. A.N. Lewis of Hobart for some time, so was happy to accept an invitation from him to visit the interesting Permian sections in Tasmania. Consequently, when I resigned from the North Australia survey at the end of February 19371 went to Victoria and thence to Tasmania, as a research student in stratigraphy and palaeontology.

Main North Road, near Banka Station

Travelling near the Union

35

Surveying Daly River Copper Mine - Kleeman and Webb

Geophysicists Oakes and Thyer at Fountain Head

Matt Ellis and Vic Cottle

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CHAPTER 5 MASTER of SCIENCE WORK In order to qualify for a Master of Science degree I had to add to the work on the North Coast which had been accepted for my Honours thesis. I had worked in thefieldin the Drake area and other places in north-eastern New South Wales and south Queensland, and as mentioned in the last chapter, I saw other Permian sections in South Australia On the night before leaving Adelaide I heard that Bradman had reached his century in the Melbourne Test match against England so inevitably, on reaching Melbourne, I rushed straightfromthe Spencer Street Station to join 100,000 others at the Cricket Ground. I arrived just in time to see Allen knock out Bradman's middle stump. I was, however, privileged to see an excellent days batting from Gregory and Badcock. I also called in at Bacchus Marsh and walked some of the sections there before visiting my relatives in Ballarat. I then took boat and train to Hobart to meet Dr. A.N. Lewis. This remarkable man, son of a former premier, had obtained a Doctor of Laws degree for a great mass of work; he had assisted in the preparation of a contour map of the Hobart area; had become the only authority on the Pleistocene glaciation of Tasmania; and had published research papers on the Permian sequences, being one of very few, other than the Geological Survey who had studied them. For several weeks he showed me all over the State, visiting almost every accessible Permian section. Not only this, but we had a good look at the Mt. Lyell Copper area, where, as everywhere, he was well known. He was interested in everything. The results of our work have been published, so will not be dealt with further. Returning to New South Wales I settled in to the Geology Department of The University of Sydney once more, and from then on worked closely with Dr. W.R. Browne. The Macleay Fellowship awarded to me was worth 400 pounds per year for full time research on the approved ffild, and was renewable for some years subject to satisfactory performance. I started preparation of the paper on "The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks of Tasmania" for publication. My next move was to buy a car so that I could move round more easily in the region in which I had previously been so restricted by lack of transport A fortunate piece of assistance came unexpectedly when Mr. Jack Richardson brought to the Geology Department a collection of marine fossils collected by his uncle, Mr. R.T. Cox of Kimbriki, near Wingham on the North Coast. These were passed on to me and I was very delighted to see among them Linoproductus springsurensis, previously described by F.W. BookerfromQueensland rocks. I immediately sought permission to visit the collection site and was invited to stay at "Colraine", Kimbriki by Mr. Cox. I stayed for several days and made an excellent collection of fossils, as well as the acquaintance of a young lady who soon afterwards became my wife. During the remainder of the year most of my field work was carried out in the Manning River District, and I was able to correlate the Upper Palaeozoic rock sequences there with those inthe Macleay River areas I had worked on earlier. Phyllis Cox and I were married in January 1938 and spent most of our honeymoon in Tasmania, much of it with Arndell Lewis and his wife. The wives had some rough times in the Tasmanian bush, but took it well, though I have never lived down the fact that I got a geological paper out of my honeymoon. A few weeks after our return I left my wife -1 can't remember where - and drove Dr. Browne and Professor Cotton on a trip to New England. This was important, because neither of them had travelled very widely in the State. Dr. Browne was particularly concerned with many of the igneous rocks that he was writing about in "editing" Professor David's book. He had been interested in the New England basic volcanic rocks, many of which had been mentioned earlier by W.N. Benson and H.I. Jensen. Professor Cotton had worked in the tinfieldsnear Inverell many years earlier. An interesting part of the drive was from Walcha to Nowendoc, 80 kms of rough road. We made an interesting discovery of some breccias which we agreed were Carboniferous (glacial) till near the serpentinites, and reached Nowendoc in time to settle into the hotel. Unfortunately there didn't happen to be one, so we threw ourselves on the sympathy of the police officer. He had a spare bed on the verandah which we agreed should go to Professor Cotton as he had recently had pleurisy, so Dr. Browne and I had to occupy the only other accommodation - the cell. This had no furniture but it gave us some protectionfromthe cold night. The car seats were removable and we filled two sugar bags with dead grass as pillows. We spent a most uncomfortable night. The news got round the University about our incarceration. Browne's answer to the question as to why we had been put in gaol was merely "because we had broken into the till"- not an Irish joke perhaps, but certainly a geological one. After my wife had forgiven me for desertion we made good use of the old car - a 1924 Dodge tourer, which had cost me 55 pounds (1937) and which we called "Bertha". For much of that year we travelled throughout the North Coast and New England regions making basic geological observations and collecting all the fossils and rock types that I could. It was possible to drop the front seat of the car and put a mattress in. Adding a primus,fryingpan, billy can, hurricane lamp and a few other essentials, we were able to camp beside the road, and when we needed to write up the work we

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would spend a few weeks at my family's Crescent Head house. The differences between those days and the 1980s relative to camping conditions are most significant. Then there were very few cars on the roads, which were almost all gravel and often badly corrugated, and camping grounds provided nothing more than odd rarely-serviced toilets and dressing sheds at the beach. We used the creeks for water, even for drinking, and secluded spots were sufficient toilets for the very few travellers. Swaggies were very much fewer than a few years earlier in the Great Depression. Caravans and motels were unknown, while hotel rooms were primitive in the country, and too expensive for the average citizen not on an expense account. We explored many minor roads and tracks, taking turns at driving. The roads were generally narrow. One of our most hair-raising experiences occurred when my wife, driving round the bends of the road near Copmanhurst at an excessive 15 miles an hour, met up with a log-hauling bullock team. She stopped feet away from the leading bullock and both white faces glared accusingly at each other. We had to back off as such a procedure is somewhat difficult for a team. Cars were solid but less reliable in those days, but we learned how to undo petrol pipes and blow out the dirt, to patch the tyres and even nail the doors back on again (after they were left open when someone got out to take down the sliprails or open a gate!) With the news that the University College which opened in Armidale in 1938 would be extending its offering from Arts to Science in 1939,1 thought it would be politic to show some interest in a position there. Consequently, we drove to Armidale and mapped some of the local rocks, finding many aspects of general interest to my major project. I made application for the position of lecturer in Geology, even though I had heard that overseas experience would be required and competition tough. One of my University friends, H.F. Consett Davis, who had similar designs on the position in Biology decided that he would get overseas somehow, so took a position as steward on a ship and, in the time available, managed a round-the-world voyage which included visiting the main centres of research on his project on the Embiids . When it was necessary to take the products of my fieldwork for further study and writing up to Sydney we took over the flat which had been occupied by Consett Davis and his wife Gwenda at Chalier Steet, Rose Bay. I took the fossils to Harold Fletcher at the Museum and the rocks to the University, where I was given a room in which to work. There was great rejoicing when I heard that I had the Armidale position, so I hurried to get the material ready for publication.

England v. South Australia, Adelaide, 1937.

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PART II 6 The New England University College ( 1938 - 1952 ) 7 Antioch College and American Universities ( 1952-53 ) 8 The University of New England ( 1953 - 1964 ) 9 Eastern Michigan University ( 1964- 1965 ) 10 The Teaching of Geology in Schools 11 Macquarie University ( 1964 - 1971 ) 12 The mining boom and transition to Industry (.1970.)

"Booloominbah", Armidale. New England University College, and later The University of New England.

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Dr. A.N. Lewis, Bill Crowther and Dr. Crowther guiding me through the wilds of the Tasmanian Permian in search of an M.Sc. and a job in academia.

The first geology class, New England University College, 1939. Mary Hindmarsh, Kitty Miller, Rae Anthony, Frank Rickwood, Sylvia Willoughby, Joan Bates.

The laundry at "Booloominbah" converted to Science laboratory and offices, 1939.

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CHAPTER 6 NEW ENGLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ( 1938 - 1952 ) I was delighted to receive the appointment as Lecturer in Geology and Geography at the New England University college, as I wanted a settled position and also to continue research work. I believe that I was the first man to get a University lecturership in geology in New South Wales for a period of twelve years. It was to be another twelve years belore the next permanent lectureship in geology at the College was filled. The New England University College was established as part of The University of Sydney under the Amendment of the University and University Colleges Act. Transfer of the property known as "Booloomimbah", just out of Armidale from Mr. T.R. Forster to The University of Sydney was made official inl937, and the College was begun in this building. Arrangements had been made between the New South Wales Government and the University Senate - in practice, the Vice Chancellor, and Dr. Edgar H. Booth, the First Warden-elect, for the setting up of the organization and the appointment of staff for teaching in the Faculty of Arts. However the establishment did not receive the approval and blessing of the Professorial Board in Sydney, which retained responsibility for courses, teaching and examinations. Because of this lack of support any contact had to be made between individual lecturers: the New England lecturer had to ask the Sydney staff individually what each intended to teach. In the present days of large numbers and multiple classes with more text-books and teaching aids, such a situation would not be so difficult, but then it was the habit of many lecturers to talk from a minimum of notes. It was difficult for them to tell anyone else what they intended to lecture on in months to come. All the examination papers were set and marked by the Sydney departmental staff and results included in the Sydney University lists. Progression to second and third year courses was not approved by the Professorial Board, some members protesting, from time to time, that it was never intended that complete degree courses should be given in New England. The Board as a whole, however, did not prevent this until it came to Honours courses, which were not given in many subjects in Armidale until autonomy was granted in 1954. Until then the courses and regulations concerning them were those of The University of Sydney. Even though I received the full support and much help of the Geology staff in Sydney, all formerly my own teachers, there was a strong conservative attitude prevailing, probably related to the fact that few changes had occurred since David's retirement, and there was the desire to keep things as they were. Nevertheless I managed increasing concessions within the system over the years, but I had no freedom to make any significant changes during 15 years. I was only permitted by the Geography Department to give first year courses, and received the minimum of assistance from this department This was understandable and acceptable, in that I had only done thefirstyear course myself. Accommodation was the first problem, but the laundry of "Booloomimbah" was allocated to Geology-Geography and Biology. Consett-Davies had die "clean linen room" and I had the "dirty linen room", but they were almost identical in plan. The main room (including copper and tubs) had five benches and stools - sufficient for the 6 geology and 3 geography students in thefirstyear. It was fortunate that there was not much equipment required to teach my subjects in 1939. The main instruments necessary for the three years were penological microscopes. Micropetrology was taught in the first year and this was the main problem. The total amount of money received for equipping and maintaining the Geology and Geography Department over the first three years was 300 pounds ($600). I bought three simple instruments for 150 pounds, two second hand ones for 35 pounds and borrowed two reject ones from Sydney. Other minor items, such as survey instruments, were all second-hand. I used my own rock and fossil collections, went out and collected more, and was given lots of minor items from friends, including those at the Australian Museum, who most fortunately lent us wooden crystal models. I managed tofindenough textbooks and lecture notes and practical books of my own to prepare lectures. "Bertha", my sturdy Dodge tourer could hold all the geology students, and the country surrounding Armidale was ideal for first year excursions. At the end of the year Frank Rickwood gained a Distinction and the other five received credits. The Geography students passed with a push -1 mean a "post"! ( this was a repeat examination in February following a single F in the November examinations. Posts' were approved first by a Department and then by the Faculty). In the second year ( 1940) I had to give all the courses in Geology I and Geology II, as well as those in Geography I, and as this was the first year of the war it was a very anxious time. The members of staff were placed in reserved occupations, but Consett- Davis refused to accept this, went to Sydney and enlisted as a labourer. When asked to return he said that he could be forced back but would tell dirty stories instead of lecturing. In the face of this he was allowed to go. Being recognised as one of our most brilliant scientists the military forces tried to protect him, but in spite of their efforts he was killed in an aeroplane accident in Papua New Guinea in 1944. The lower sports field at the University was named for him as a memorial. His wife was an Associate Professor of Botany until she retired about 1973.

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There was a strong move to take the University College over as a Military Hospital at the end of 1941, and there was a period of anxiety about the future of the College for several months, before political representations saved the day early in 1942. Because of the fear of possible air raids the staff and students dug slit trenches in the university grounds. Many of the staff and some senior students joined the Volunteer Defence Corps. Though I had taught mapping I learned a great deal from attendance at Army schools, and I happened to be with the Field Survey unit at Kyogle with Major Clews at the time of the Coral Sea battle. Apart from war-time problems, teaching went on and for the third year work in 1941 Miss Elizabeth Basnett, a university medallist in Geology, specialising in Mineralogy-Petrology, was appointed to assist me as a demonstrator on a salary of 100 pounds and keep. We gave all the courses in Geology I, II and III together with Geography I, with the Sydney Geology Department still setting the course content and marking the exam papers. It was only possible to keep up because Sydney University was so short of money that the various departments had been unable to acquire expensive equipment which New England would have had no chance of duplicating. Nevertheless, the College students had a comparatively small selection of literature and no opportunity to broaden their experience by visiting museums and attending lectures given by the various scientific societies, so they were still somewhat disadvantaged. In spite of these deficiences, the first geology graduate, Frank Rickwood, qualified for honours - and after some time helping the war effort in a chemical factory, gained First Class Honours and the University Medal in Palaeontology from the University of Sydney. He had a brilliant career, which included a Senior Lectureship in that Geology Department, followed by work as an oil geologist in many countries throughout the world, becoming a Vice-President of British Petroleum, North America, and later director of a number of major companies. He was also awarded an OBE. With the close of hostilities numbers of servicemen came to the University College, many supported by the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. Classes became much larger, and the development of Geology and practically all other parts of the institution was stepped up with increased financial grants. Excursions played a great part in the lives of geology students and staff in Armidale. During the first year all the students could fit into Bertha, but afterwards they were taken round in buses. In Geology I the excursions were to Dangar Falls, Hillgrove, Yarrowick, Wollomombi-Point Lookout, and Tamworth. These were added to when Rockvale, Dummy Creek and Tilbuster were organised by later members of the staff. The second and third year students were accommodated in the week-long Sydney University excursions to Yass, Jenolan, Hunter Valley and Tamworth-Currabubula, usually run by Professor Cotton in person. When our student numbers increased, excursions to New England and North Coast areas such as Barraba, Taree, Gloucester, Drake and Macleay Valley were organised from 1959 to 1970. Lunches were an event, with the grilling of steak, chops or sausages over an open fire and with tea made in large billy cans or kerosene tins. On the longer trips we all slept (or tried to) in tents, firstly because they were cheaper than hotels, secondly because there was not usually any other suitable accommodation, and thirdly because it was good experience for students who might have to camp out later. We usually put up with chaff bags filled with straw, but as all became more prosperous stretchers were provided. Students were rostered for all the chores, so we had to endure the efforts of the bad cooks and enjoy those of the good ones. The weather was not always kind, but even on our worst night, with an almost full bus lost in the wilds near Copmanhurst, strict discipline and organization meant that all had dry sleeping conditions and good cooked meals. One of the most memorable excursions was in 1947 but this time all were booked into hotels. Professor Cotton was not well and about to retire, so I volunteered to take his third year students, as well as mine, to the Macleay Valley with Kempsey at base. Helen Pirie (now Mrs. Robin Oliver) of the University of Adelaide, had come from New Zealand to take the position of demonstrator, and she assisted in the organisation and stayed in one of the hotels. As my parents lived in Kempsey I stayed with them. It was a mistake. The Sydney students, some recently discharged from military service, were different from the youthful group I was accustomed to leading, and they felt somewhat neglected by being exiled to the bush. The result was some wild parties. These wouldn't have been so bad if several of the less experienced participants had not been rather sick in their rooms, much to the annoyance of the hotel domestic staff, who complained to Helen, who passed this on to me. I was reluctant to imposefinesand in any case I didn't know who were particularly responsible. However I addressed the group and asked the guilty members to see me - then turned my back and walked away. A number of men and one woman (who wasn't quite sure what the crimes were, but had a guilty conscience) came out to me. I explained that I could impose fines but those would go to the Universities coffers - whereas the injured parties were the maids. However, I would not fine the students if they were prepared to set up a fund for the alleviation of domestic distress. They readily agreed. It possibly cost them more, judging from the very good reception I received when calling in later at the hotels. Some members of this excursion group were to become very prominent in their fields - and I can't remember whether they were the offenders or not. They have been my Mends and colleages up to the present time.

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Because they were still short of funds many of the ex-servicemen students took various jobs in the university vacations. It was an opportunity to get practical experience and not to be missed, so I got in touch with various mining companies and for several years accompanied these students and organised their work. We were all paid generously for those times, efforte ^^ 8 with these mature students to realize that mining companies suitably recognised my 0611

h e l p e d m y

s t a n d i n

In the long vacation, January - February 1947, we went to Broken Hill and continued the Central Geological (combined Broken Hill companies) Survey's mapping for North Broken Hill Limited on a scale of 100 feet to the inch, using their grid north of the de Bavay Fault. It was good experience in metamorphic petrology and structural interpretation, making particular use of drag-folds. In the January - February 1948 vacation a group of students worked for North Broken Hill in the Mt. Lyell - Zeehan area of Tasmania, while I accompanied another group and mapped the areas round Hie Great Lakes and Arthurs Lakes for the Tasmanian Hydroelectric Commission. The following year (January - February 1949) we were again employed by North Broken Hill Limited, in association with a Bureau of Mineral Resources geophysics team carrying out selfpotential and resistivity surveys. For a number of years from then onwards some second or third year students were able to arrange vacation work with mining companies, as were thosefrommany other universities. These arrangements helped considerably to integrate academic and industrial activities, and to give students some idea of the kind of work involved in taking positions in industry. Psychologically they were useful in putting students in a position where they sought information from workers outside the academic environment, and thus gave them respect before they themselves acquired an exalted position by virtue of a degree. Professor L.A. Cotton for a number of years was consultant to the Gunnedah Colliery, whose Chairman of Directors was the Hon. Hugh Wragge. By applying the technique used by David to map the Greta seam he used a hard band of porcellanite to calculate the positions of the Huskisson and Melville Seams. (Such porcellanite-tuff marker beds was later used extensively in the mapping of the Bowen Basin in Queensland). Cotton took me over the Gunnedah ground on one of his visits, and I eventually inherited the work, which only required occasional visits when difficulties arose in locating sections of the seams or their extensions. Several longer periods involving plane table surveying were required, when drill holes were needed to determine whether the area had the capacity to supply an electricity plant on the site. There was thus the opportunity for students to see a coal mine and get experience in this industry, not only in vacations but on excursions which took in the mining project. The Australian National University held a seminar in Canberra on 25 and 26 September 1950 on the theme "Geophysics and Earth Structure" during the visit of Professor J.T. Wilson, Professor Geophysics in the University of Toronto, (He was the adviser for the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences). All the geology professors in Australia were invited, and also a number of lecturers and interested parties such as Dr. Haddon King and Dr. R.C. Sprigg. Professor E.J. Bullen, Dr. G.D. Osborne and Messrs. H.S. Thirlaway, C. Kerr Grant, J.M. Rayner and R.F. Thyer were present. I had the unexpected pleasure of introducing Professor W.H. Bryan of Queensland to Professor E.S. Hills of Melbourne to one another. I knew both well and could hardly believe that two people so active in their Universities had never met one another. Professor C.E. Marshall of Sydney was in the Chair, and it fell to me to take notes on the discussions and write them up for a small article in the A.N.U. News, March 1951. Tuzo Wilson visited each Australian University, gave lectures and discussed his views with staff and students. The Broken Hill geologists gave him special treatment, taking him over the region by plane and even his exceptionally strong constitution wilted under the strain. He left me hooked on "geosynclines" with a commission to write up the Australian scene which he said was quite unclear to overseas geologists. Thanks to Carey he, however, returned to Canada a devoted convert to the subject of continental drift, and was destined to make outstanding contributions to this field of study. Carey was a very persuasive man and if he missed achieving anything in life it must have been in politics. This reminds me of a more conservative geologist who rather ostentatiously walked out of one of Carey's public lectures. When questioned later about his action he replied "I had to. If I'd stayed anotherfiveminutes I would have begun to believe all that garbage". Tuzo was more mobile-minded. I spent the next few years working on Australian geosynclines and became enamoured with the ideas of Marshall Kay. These led to the content of my Presidential Address to Section C at the Perth Meeting of ANZAAS in 1959 and to my later meetings with Kay in the U.S.A. By 1948 the accommodation problem at Armidale was eased by the erection of the large Belshaw Science Block in which there was a large geology laboratory, workshop, staff study and a place for the Woolnough Library, most of which had been given to the College by Dr. W.G. Woolnough. There was also an increase in the staff - a lecturer in geography, Mr. Ellis Thorpe, and two demonstrators being appointed.

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In 1946 Helen McRoberts, a temporary lecturer in Geology replaced Margaret Colditz (who had followed Betty Basnett as Demonstrator). In 1951 John F.G. Wilkinson, who had just obtained his honours degree at Brisbane, was appointed as a permanent lecturer, along with Alan Spry, who carried out research as well as occupying a technician's position. They were followed by Ken Campbell, another Brisbane honours graduate, as lecturer in palaeontology in 1952. The staff was expanding rapidly. Because of the fact that geology was not taught in schools in New England or the North Coast it was necessary to create some interest in the subject among the local population. Consequently, I gave lectures and practical courses in many of the towns, supported atfirstby the Workers Educational Association of The University of Sydney. By giving talks at the schools I managed to get some recruits - and also acquired the children of some of my friends. Meantime there had been many changes in the Geology Department in The University of Sydney. With the retirement in rapid succession of Cotton, Browne and Waterhouse, the resignation of Germaine Joplin, and Ida Brown's marriage to W.R. Browne, only George Osborne and Florrie Quadling remained of those who were in the Department when I entered it over twenty years before. Professor C.E. Marshall took over from Professor Cotton in 1949: Dr. Harold Rutledge from Edinburgh replaced W.R. Browne, and Dr. John Dulhunty followed L.L. Waterhouse. Dr. H.S.S. Thirlaway (Cambridge) was appointed a full time lecturer in geophysics. Frank K. Rickwood and Patrick G. Coleman (Western Australia), both of them with experience in petroleum geology, took over stratigraphy and palaeontology. R.L. Stanton who had been with Broken Hill South Limited for 18 months, and had then been carrying out research in the Department, was appointed Temporary Lecturer. Obviously these changes affected the course given in Sydney and consequently in New England, even though Professor Marshall gave me more freedom in selection of material and in marking of the exam papers. The biggest problem I had to face was the introduction of geophysics. I had to brush up my physics, then read up on geophysical theory, and then prepare lectures on the topics given to me by Dr. Thirlaway, who was most helpful. Fortunately my earlier experiences on the North Australian Survey gave me material which I was able to use to illustrate some of the theory. Sydney was slow in getting sufficient finance to buy instruments, but I was able to acquire an Askania Magnetometer which had been used by Dr. Edgar Booth in his pioneering work, and was able to illustrate its use in the field. Frank Rickwood helped me with the courses in Petroleum and I had little difficulty in delivering these. In 19521 was fortunate enough to be awarded a Fulbright Travel Grant and a Carnegie Grant for work in the United States. I was offered an Assistant-professorship in the School of Earth Sciences at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. The geology professor had died and I was chosen from the applicants so that I could hold the position until a permanent appointment could be made. The Carnegie Grant enabled me to visit other universities. At the same time John Wilkinson was awarded a Shell Post - Graduate Scholarship at the University of Cambridge to do a Ph.D. on a dolerite sill that had been drilled and cored at Gunnedah. Ellis Thorpe was left in charge of the New England Department and taught Geography, while Reg Mathews was appointed temporary lecturer for 2 years to handle Geology. As the American academic year started in September I did not have to leave before June, so it was possible for me to give critical lectures, particularly those in Geophysics and Petroleum Geology, before I left in 1952 and after I returned in 1953.

Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio.

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CHAPTER 7 ANTIOCH COLLEGE AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES (1952-53) A flight to North America was a very different experience in 1952 from what it is today. Regular flights had not been established for very long, and the planes, propeller-driven of course, were relatively slow. The plane had bunks for sleepers, but though it was comfortable to be able to stretch out, the noise of the propellers made a decent sleep impossible. The refuelling stops were Fiji, Canton Island and Honolulu. Navigational aids were primitive, and if the plane missed Canton Island it didn't have anywhere else to land within petrol range. The fares were the same for the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver - and there was afreeflightfromone to the other. Of course, the Fulbright Foundation paid the fare. Because I wished to get as good a picture of the geology of the west coast as possible I booked a flight to Vancouver on the air-line that flew to San Francisco and thus had a low level flight by a DC 3 over the volcanoes, Shasta, St Helens, Adams, Hood and Rainier, with views of other ranges for good measure. Tied up with the air-line costing was the rail fare which was the same for travel on each of the main railway lines from west coast cities to Chicago. I thought the trip just south of the Canadian border, through the Rockies, would give me the best series of views, and I believe that it did. As I was interested in sediments in particular environments I alighted from the plane in the early hours of the morning when we reached Canton Island, crawled through the barbed-wire fences left behind after the war, and collected a "sickness bag" of coral sand, which I later searched for foraminifera. I had met a woman professor of psychology on the plane and I was able to be of some service when we were going through customs at Honolulu. We all had to carry Xray photographs of our lungs, before being allowed entry into the United States. The professor, who was returning from a visit to Australian relatives, had trouble explaining away a scar showing on her lung as something very ancient and innocuous. Noting from my passport that I was a doctor they appealed to me for confirmation. I said that to my best knowledge it was quite OK, so we went through. We only had a half day at Honolulu but were booked into an hotel. The professor and I, with a young lady whom we were befriending, hired a taxi which took us round the city for a couple of hours, and apartfromgeneral features, such as Pearl Harbour, I learned a great deal about volcanoes and rates of erosion. I was transferred on to a smaller plane at San Francisco airport and really enjoyed the flight to Vancouver, being able to take photos close to the volcanic craters. I was very pleased that Professor H.E. Gunning of the University of British Columbia (beautifully situated close to the water ) was able to see me, and I met other members of his staff, including Professor Okulich, who had been working o n Archaeocyathinae.

Train travel differed greatlyfromwhat I was used to in Australia A black conductor was in charge of each Pullman car. He regarded you as his personal care - and, of course, expected to receive a reasonable tip when he got you to your destination. Instead of two-person cabins there were double decks of bunks longitudinally along the car, with curtains against the corridor. In Chicago Professor L.L. Sloss from North Western University collected me and took me to his home for a very memorable evening. He, with co-authors Krumbein and Dapples, was responsible for numerous publications on sedimentary petrology which we were then using in Australia . I wished to discuss such matters with them and other major contributors to sedimentary petrology, such as P.D. Krynine and F.J. Pettijohn, while in the United States, and was later able to do so. In the morning I was delivered to the appropriate station for the continuation of my journey to Xenia, Ohio, the nearest railway station to Yellow Springs, which was a small university village built round Antioch College. We had been given a large apartment, appropriately in Limestone Street, by the College, at nominal rent. It was a couple of months before my wife and two daughters Yvonne (12 years) and Lynette (7 years) were due to arrive, as they had to travel via England by boat. We had to struggle with family finances and borrow to get their fares, so flying was impossible. During the next few weeks I learned about margarine as a substitute for butter;frozenvegetables; milk in cardboard boxes; canned beer; and the fact that you had to go to a drugstore to buy coffee or alcohol. I met John Lounsbury who was assistant-professor of Geography, holding the Earth Sciences department together while being considered for appointment as its permanent head. He helped me settle in and get an idea of what was required of me. Very conveniently the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America was to be held in Boston in November so I was able to go to New york to meet the family who were arriving on 9th November on the "Georgic". I left Yellow Springs on 6th November, visited the Carnegie Corporation staff and spent the afternoon in the Geology Department of Columbia University with Professor Marshall Kay, whose Memoir on Geosynclines had made a big impact on my thinking; I also met Professor Beecher and other members of the staff. On 8th November Marshall Kay drove Professor Teiichi Kobayoshi of Tokyo University, (who was also visiting him) and me to the Lamont Seismic and Oceanic Research Laboratories, and to see the basic rocks of the Palisade Sill and the Triassic sediments along the Hudson. I was also favoured by some time with Professor Maurice Ewing, who showed me successions of sediments takenfrombore coresfromthe floor of the Atlantic. I was very excited as I recognised structures which had puzzled me in the Upper Palaeozoic sequences in New South Wales.

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I met my family at the wharf and after getting a few glimpses of the 5th Avenue we all joined the train for Springfield, Ohio, at Grand Central Station . I left the train at Albany and took that to Boston for the Geological Society Meeting. Before we parted I suddenly remembered thespecimens of the Palisade Sill and Manhatten Schist I had collected. My wife being absent from the compartment, I wrapped my treasures in her underclothes and forgot to tell her. Fortunately she didn't unpack till she reached Yellow Springs, or I might have lost them! As almost everyone who matters in the North American continent attends the G.S.A. meeting each year I was able to meet many of the authors of the text-books and publications we had been using in Australia. Gilluly, Billings, Mason, Rodgers, Longwell, Bateman, Hess, Simpson, Dunbar, Bowen, McKinstry and many others, some of whom I was to meet again were present. I also met some Australian graduates - Peter Howard, and Brian Skinner from Adelaide, Charles Phipps from Sydney, and Dorothy Carroll from Perth. There was also Professor J. Tuzo Wilson, geophysicist from Toronto, Canada whom I had met in Australia a year or two before. I had a special interest in the so-called Squantum Tillite at Boston, and was able to see it in several places, and hear arguments on the spot for and against its glacial origin . The problem was exactly the same as that in Australia where there have been challenges against the glacial origin case put forward by David, and accepted by so many of his followers, including myself, for some of the Hunter and Manning River District rocks. I was fortunate in being able to attend the Appalachian Excursion, through New Hampshire and Vermont, seeing many new types of rocks and getting more closely aquainted with a number of geologists, some of whom had already made their mark, and others who were destined to do so. Returning to Yellow Springs, under the guidance of John Lounsbury I bought a 1941 de luxe model Cadillac. It was solid as a tank - with much old fashioned thick steel - just the kind of vehicle I needed to protect us from the traffic, which was much denser than what I was used to in Australia. We took every opportunity to drive round Ohio and neighbouring States, visiting many small universities - most of which had geology departments - and becoming acquainted with the middle and lower Palaeozoic rocks which dipped very gently off the Cincinnati Arch. The nature of the limestones and of the dolomites was very new to me, as were most of the fossils. Antioch College had been established by an eminent American educationalist, Horace Mann, in 1853. It admitted students without discrimination as to sex, creed or colour; put women faculty on a par with men; emphasised the physical health of its students; stressed the importance of character as well as of academic proficiency; minimized the importance of grades as an incentive to study, and even provided a few elective courses. All these aspects, and others which emerged as the College developed, were features of the institution in which I found myself. These matters, within the context of the American educational system, which was then unknown to me, gave me plenty to think about over the next nine months. The Administrative Council was made up of students and both academic and administrative staff. Students had much more to say and do than in an Australian university. I didn't subscribe entirely to the system, as I was less trusting than my American colleagues. Examinations were not supervised, as honesty was important and expected. I was more concerned until I realized that nobody seemed to fail, and the students were able to assess their own work and discuss their grades with the teacher. I did approve of the variety in academic appointments - an Italian professor of Life Sciences (Federighi); Roumanian professor of Engineering (Barbulesco); an Indian professor Social Sciences (Chattergee); a Negro professor of Music (Anderson), and now an Australian professor of Earth Sciences (Voisey). I was introduced into the multiple choice system of examining and was quite impressed by it because of its ease in marking and the chance of morefrequenttesting. I was, however, shocked by the fact that few final examinations had any essay-type questions. Students objected to having to write even a few pages on any topic, even in English. What was to prove of great use to me later, though it required a second academic year in America to make me see its merit, was the Credit system, which involved the breaking up of traditionally coherent subjects, e.g., History, Chemistry, Geology into a number of smaller units to which credit points, based on class time and difficulty were allocated. Grades were A, B, C, or D (of value 4, 3, 2, or 1). This was general, not only to Antioch, with only slight modifications to most other American Universities. At Antioch a minimum of 250 credit points was required for graduation,, together with a grade point average of 2.0 or above i.e. to average a C. However, what made Antioch College one of the best known and innovative universities in the United States was its Work-Study Plan. All students had to combine an academic programme with a job programme, spending approximately half their time at the College and the other half in some kind of outside work. This was arranged by the University, and students were spread all over the country - as male nurses, assistant engineers, clerks, shop hands and field assistants. Usually two students held one job. When one was at the College the other was out at work. Courses were given twice during the year - once for student one and the other for student two. During the first two years any type of position was allocated, but m later years these were closely related to the student's special field. For instance senior geology students would spend their half of the year with a mining company or geological survey. Because of the extra years taken for the degree and the variety of experience, Antioch students were, hopefully, more mature than those from other institutions. I did notice that most were ready to talk on almost any topic, and did so - whether they were well informed on it or not

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Integration between those of European and Negro stocks had made progress in Yellow Springs, but we noticed ^ w s it. For instance, though schools were mixed race, Antioch had its own small school for the cnildren of staff, which was used for teacher training - but was also an excuse for staff to keep their children away from the less prosperous local mixed school. The children of the Negro Music professor were necessarily accepted. It was more surprising tofindthat the main segregation was in the churches. They were distinctly black and white, and our negro professor was not accepted in the white church - a matter which concerned him and some others on principle. A student cause cetefrrfr was with the local white hairdressers who refused to cut the hair of the blacks. I had some sympathy with the hairdressers on the grounds of difficulty - perhaps they should have charged more for the more difficult jobs - but the hairdressers complained that if they attended to the blacks they lost white custom. While everyone appeared to agree with integration while the children were young, they had the great fear that this would lead to marriage - so when they became teenagers they discouraged continuation of thefriendships.Our two daughters, aged 12 and 7, were fascinated by the black children, and became morefriendlywith them than the whites who were already involved with their own local groups. We were pleased because these children were so well mannered and were trained to help in the house, and ours learned much from their example. Besides as we were only staying for the academic year we didn't have to face the marriage problem. Conditions in America have changed somewhat since 1952, but Spencer Tracy's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" portrays the situation envisaged by parents very well indeed. Now I come to think about it I can't recall having anything to do with any black geologists. There were hardly any, and still are few. It was a recovery timefrom"McCarthyism", and Antioch politically would have been regarded as being well to the left. However, a Mathematics lecturer who had openly opposed the execution of the Rosenbaum's lost his position on the Antioch staff. In Australia I was very anti-union. I was nevertheless somewhat shocked that he did not receive the support of the staff, up to the point when he was proved to be guilty of an offence or even of possessing Communist sympathies. It was quietly suggested to me that I should not express my feelings on this point. An interesting aspect of this was the fact that his wife, who was working in an aeroplane plant at Dayton nearby, was not affected. The lecturer's problem was that it was unlikely that anyone too leftish for Antioch would be appointed elsewhere. Of course, recalling similar situations in Australia's academic institutions, I could hardly afford to be too smug. At election time the students strongly supported Eisenhower against Nixon, and had the slogan "We like Ike but nix on Nixon." 111

Ohio State University,with a large Department of Geology, was within a couple of hours drivefromYellow Springs, and we made a number of visits to it and to the homes of some of the staff. Among thefriendsI made there were Professors Spieker, Lamey, Summerson, Schopf, Bates, Goldthwait and Carmen. I lectured there on "Denudation Chronology - Ages of Peneplains." The University of Cincinnati was also within easy driving distance to the southwest. Professor John Rich was chairman and Professor Ken Caster was an outstanding palaeontologist and author. We stayed one weekend with the last-named and his wife Annelese, and heard much of their life in Brazil. We departed in a snow storm on this occasion, and had a most hazardous and exciting trip home on the icy roads. When snow fell in Yellow Springs early in December it was a new experience for the family and the children were very excited at snow-balling, building snow men and going to school amid the ice and snow. It was less amusing crossing the ice-covered roads, on which it was almost impossible to stand, and we often had heavy falls. Red Cardinal birds stood out in the white landscape and one night we were treated to Christmas carols by Professor Anderson and a group of choristers under our window. As there was a holiday period over Christmas we decided to drive south to Florida. We went through Kentucky and Tennessee to Knoxville and reached Daytona Beach. We did not book ahead but stayed in motels, which for us were very novel, because there were none in Australia at this time. Probably appealing to the child mind these were often built with particular designs, such as log cabins or wigwams. Certainly our children had much to say about our choice - but on many occasions we just had to take what happened to be available at the time when we decided to stop for the night. The horizontal limestone of Florida has produced a peculiar karst type landscape - lakes being very prevalent and often quite large. We crossed the peninsula to Clearwater, and had a tourist trip on a boat spongefishing.We then followed the coast of the Gulf of Mexico through Talahassee to Panama City, Florida. We had miscalculated our finances so I had decided that we ought to wire the bank in Yellow Springs to send us some three hundred dollars to Pensacola. Arriving there we were relieved to receive the telegram on the afternoon of December 24th but shocked tofindthat there had been an error in transmition and it only said "three". Despite the error it was all I could get, so I spent half of it on a telegram back to the bank, "Ridiculous error please send three hundred dollars to Birmingham Alabama". We then returned to the car and turned out our pockets, children and all, and found about thirty dollars, which was enough to pay motels and petrol to Birmingham, and possibly one meal. We started Christmas Day 1952 happily, with ourfingerscrossed that we had no unforeseen expenses. As we carried bread, sardines, margarine and somefruitwe were able to manage for the day, but it was dull fare and started the children singing "We're off to Alabama with a sardine for our tea". We arrived in Birmingham and paid for our motel room - ate

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the scraps and sighed with relief. Fortunately, 26th December was not a holiday, but the city was half an hour behind Yellow Springs in the time zones. When our money had not arrived by noon I rang up the Professor of Geology whom I had yet to meet, and relying on our universal geological club, told him of our plight. He laughed, assured me of his help and asked us to his home for the afternoon. Having three dollars left we went into Woolworths, sat up at the counter, and stretched it to a chicken dinner for four. Professor F.G. Andrews' home was a replica of that in "Gone with the Wind", with big white columns and the appearance of an estate. He sort of apologised for it, saying that it was inherited from his father. Later in the day his mother told us that she could recall her father being released from gaol after the civil war. The black servant in white starched apron, however was still present, and it was clear that something of the traditional Southern way had been retained. Professor Andrews lent me $200, but, of course on our return to town, $300 was waiting at the post office and all was well again. We then turned northwest and found our way to St. Louis University and Professor Ken Brill who looked after us, took me to the Ozarks and cheered us on our way back through Illinois, amid now heavily falling snow. The pumps, very widely scattered through the oil-fields, were features of the otherwise flat farming country. Shortly after our return my wife was careless enough to fall down some stairs on her way to our apartment while loaded with parcels, and broke her leg. We had planned a trip to Canada during the short vacation at the end of March. We stopped at Springfield on the way so she could get the cast taken off, and she was still able to limp along. It was our first experience of the thaw. We will not forget the Kings Highway in Canada, which we met after crossing the lakes. It was under construction, and with snow and ice on the hills and mud and water on the roads, we were in and out of muddy stretches on our way to Sudbury. Fortunately the construction engineers had tractors or bull-dozers, according to conditions, to drag us through. Towards the end I met a man driving his wife and about 6 children in the opposite direction. I stopped and warned him not to go on. He looked a bit silly and said "I have to. I live there". I asked him what the road was like between there and Sudbury. He walked round my car as if looking for something. He then gave me a sorrowful look and said - "But you haven't got any oars!". Some distance on I saw his point, as the road was under water as far as the eye could see, and there were no helpers in sight. However I could see where the road went with the help of telegraph posts. The road was solid enough and so we slowly proceeded, reaching the town well after dark. We located our motel but as there was water all round our cabin we had to walk the planks to get there. The woman was worried because a skunk had died underneath it. But there were so many other smells we didn't notice. The cabin was comfortable with stove and brown coal blocks. There was a bucket under the bench to serve as a toilet - and the proprietors ran in and out from time to time to see if it had been in use. We were tired enough to sleep well and then observe the delightfully desolate landscape in the morning. I was very well received by the geologists of the Falconbridge and International Nickel Companies. Dr. Lockhead of the former drove me across the basin and took me through the geological section on the southern side. Dr. Zurbrigg of INCO showed me the drill cores and discussed the problems involved in the occurrence of the nickel sulphides in the norite and other ultra-basic rocks. I spent a morning down one of the Falconbridge mines. We returned to Yellow Springs via Ottawa, Thousand Islands Bridge over the St. Lawrence River, Syracuse (N.Y.), Pittsburgh (Penn.) and Columbus (Ohio), getting a good look at the open-cut coal mining areas on the way. In October on the invitation of its President, Dr. Mcintosh, whom I had met when he visited Armidale, I travelled to Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, meeting Professors Hawley, Joliffe, Ambrose, Berry and others. I accompanied Professor Hawley and some of his staff and students to the classical Precambrian sections at Bancroft I have never been so greedy geologically, filling bags with the most exciting mineral and rock specimens I had ever seen. After giving some to Antioch College I posted about a dozen boxes of them back to Armidale for our collections. I was very interested in Hawley's work on polished mineral blocks, as it was the same field on which Doctors FJL. Stillwell and A.B. Edwards were working in the CSIRO laboratory in Melbourne. I had only slight knowledge of it, but could appreciate its future importance in metalliferous mineralogical research. A graduate excursion with Ohio State students took me through the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sections in eastern Ohio. The Indiana Geological Field Conference at Madison enabled me to see in detail the richly fossiliferous Silurian and Ordovician sections, and Professor Ken Brill of St. Louis University showed me the Cambrian to Carboniferous sequence in the Ozarks of Missouri. Two major excursions however were of outstanding importance to me. Professor H.H. Hess arranged for me to visit Princeton University and join their graduate excursion, under Professor E. Sampson, from 1st to 12th April 1953. There were also other visitors - Professors A.W. Jolliffe (Queens) and T.G. Andrews (Alabama), and two Toronto students Bruce (Toronto) and Phipps (Sydney). The trip was most comprehensive, going down the Piedmont to North Carolina through the Ridge and Valley zone across the Appalachians to Alabama and back to Princeton Apart from the stratigraphical sections, right through the Palaeozoic, there were the ultra-mafic rocks of the serpentine belt and a number of economic mineral deposits, rutile at Roseland (Va) tungsten at Townsville (NC), spodumene at Kings Mountain (NC), iron ore, coal and limestone near Birmingham (Alabama), zinc at Jefferson city (Virginia), and copper

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at Ducktown (Tenn). Running through the whole geological picture was the structural setting of the Appalachian Fold Belt and its geomorphological expression. The second memorable excursion was with North-Western University graduates to the Northern Michigan Iron Ore district,from28th to 31st May. It was led by Professor Howland who had invited me to join them. Krumbein, Dapples and Sloss, with James (U.S. Geological Survey) accompanied the graduate students. The Precambrian sequences were particularly interesting to me, because Professor Cotton had spent a term of his stratigraphic lectures to us in our second year at Sydney dealing with the Grenville, Keewatin, Huronian and Keeweenawan rocks of Canada and Northern Michigan. We were able to see excellent exposures on pavements levelled by the moving Pleistocene ice sheets. The Keewatin pillow lavas were beautifully displayed near the ore loading wharfs at Marquette on Lake Superior. A number of different kinds of unconformable relationships between the rock formations were a feature of the expedition. Krumbein gave us some enlightening talks on the rhythmical character of iron ore zones to which he later attempted to give mathematical expression. Before we left Yellow Springs to return to Australia we made time for a trip to the west, setting off on what was to be a 3,000 mile run. We bought sleeping bags to save motel costs, but there were only a few occasions on which we could use them. Ourfirstgeological stop of importance was at the University of Kansas at Lawrence (Kansas), where we met the head of department and author of a palaeontology text, Dr. R.C. Moore, and the petroleum geologist Dr. C.G. Lalicker. We next called in at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, and were shown the Geology and Geophysics Departments by Dr. Van Tuyl, who was preparing to retire from the school, having been there since 1922. The University of Colorado at Boulder had a very new Geology Department, and it included a good set up of instruments, including X-ray machines. We had a look at the huge open cut Bingham copper mine, then moved on to the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, beautifully situated on a mountain slope. As expected, the Department of Geology had a large collection of dinosaur bones. Its chairman, Professor Armand Eardley, who wrote "Structural Geology of North America" was another of the leading geolgists of his time. He invited us to a party at his home, on the slopes of the Wasatch Range, overlooking the city. He was leader of an excursion run by the Intermountain Petroleum Geologists of the Geological Society of America which I had timed to join. (25 - 27 June, 1953). The excursion was excellently planned, including a volume detailing the geology, with mileages given for each exposure, and comprehensive notes on the geology of each stopping place. Unfortunately, I had drawn 48th place in the procession of 65 cars and had at times to go at over 60 miles per hour, and in others to crawl or stop. I didn't have time to note the rocks in the cuttings and by the time we reached the scheduled stops the cars infrontwere moving off. On the last morning Professor Eardley told me that he had done his share of the work and suggested that we follow him to see the Snake River Gorge and Phosphoria Formation. He showed me the position of the great thrust sheets and the complicated structural features of the area. This suited us very well and we had the pleasure of more time with this charming man. I learned more about the geology then, in a shorter time than I had done on the excursion. Reluctantly we left him and drove on to Yellowstone Park to see the geysers. These were, of course, very spectacular and geologically interesting for all the family. The moose and the bears provided excitement for all, but I could not induce anyone to sleep out, so we slept in safety in a small wooden cabin. It was appreciated that while the bears were protected the visitors were not. We had to move south quickly through Idaho to meet Professor Speiker and his students from Ohio State University ,who were staying in Ephraim in Utah, on their annual long excursion. Here were textbook illustrations of all kinds of geological faults, horsts and graben, unconformities, overturned beds and minor structures in Tertiary and Mesozoic sediments. These could be clearly seen and photographed because they were formed so recently that erosion had not had time to destroy their form. It was easy to pick out the various stratigraphical units from their colour, resistance and general appearance. One could well understand how such a visit influenced E.C. Andrews when he saw similar situations on his North American visit, after he had written his landscape papers of 1903 and 1904. He became uncertain of his earlier views, as indicated by his paper of 1910, and looked for more faults in his interpretation of the formation of the different highlevel land surfaces of eastern Australia. These he had previously attributed almost solely to successive periods of uplift, and introduced the concept of a Koscuisko uplift Leaving Ephraim we went further south through the Red, Bryce and Zion canyons, identifying the main rock formations, and over the Kaibab Plateau to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We then drove past the Vermilion Cliffs to the Navajo, crossed the Canyon and followed the rim to the hotel and camping ground on the South Rim. From there we went on to Flagstaff, visiting Edwin McKee at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and hastened eastwards through New Mexico and Texas, stopping briefly at the newly-built Geology Department in the University atAlberquerque. We passed numbers of oil derricks and pumps along the Turner Turnpike between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, thence went quickly through the tri-state mineral area round Joplin (Mo), seeing only the dumps as the land was flat, and it was

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difficult to identify any geological features. We reached Yellow Springs in the middle of July 1953, sold our faithful old Cadillac, in which we had travelled over 21,000 miles, for $200, and took a train to New York to board the Georgic for a voyage to Southampton. A few observations on other aspects of our American visit may be pertinent. I have already mentioned that we had our first experience with motels which had then been operating throughout North America, but had not been introduced into Australia. There were a number of Shopping Centres on the margins of the major cities which were new to us then our main one of conventional pattern was some miles out of Yellow Springs. Easy parking was a feature of these areas as it is today: parking meters were in all the towns. We also had ourfirstexperiences of Drive-in picture theatres - and of course drove off forgetting to detach the ear phones. Perhaps of even more significance was television. We were able to afford a small set, which of course kept the children quiet until they were forcibly removed to bed. It was not long before these "amenities" were to make their impact on our fellow Australians. Other minor things were hamburgers and pizzas and service of food on trays which were attached to the car - a procedure which apparently did not have continued acceptance.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND L. A. COTTON SCHOOL OF GEOLOGY

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF NEW ENGLAND AUSTRALIA ZONE 8 SHEET No. 310 (8936 I & IV)

BOGGABRI FIRST EDITION 1964

Scale 1:100,000 BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE Voisey, A. H. 1964: Geological Map of New England 1:100,000, Boggabri Sheet (No. 310), with marginal text. The University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.

Published and copyright retained by The University of New England, Australia, March; 1964.

For notes on this map series see back cover.

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CHAPTER 8 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND (1953-1960) The return trip to Australia by the Georgic to England; train to Naples and the "Cathay" to Sydney had only a few events of geological interest. We visited Cambridge University, and stayed at a lovely Inn beside the Cam River. John Wilkinson, who was on leavefromArmidale to do his Ph.D., showed us round the University. In the evening we drank beer beside the Cam and cider in his "digs" till 3am - departing for Scotland the next day. We enjoyed the train trip through the Alps and at Naples visited the ruins of Pompeii. This was, of course, a thrill for any geologist, as was a visit to the Temple of Jupiter Serapis, made famous over a century earlier by Charles Lyell, who used it to demonstrate changes between land and sea during historic times. Arriving back in Sydney we bought a new Holden Station Wagon and drove to Armidale. At long last we received the news that autonomy would be granted to our University. The bill to establish The University of New England was passed in December 1953 and its life began on 1st February 1954. The University Council was established in November with Sir Earle Page as Chancellor, P.A. Wright as Deputy Chancellor and R.B. Madgwick as ViceChancellor. I was very delighted to be elected by the student body as its member on this first council. For the original lecturers-in-charge of their subjects at the former New England University College, 1954 was a very anxious year, because all the professorships had to be advertised throughout the World. The very heavy teaching and administrative loads that they had carried had cut down their possible research outputs, making them possibly less competitive. Although it became known that several had very close calls, practically all of them succeeded in getting their chairs and I was most relieved to be one. At last the chance to change the content of the curriculum in geology had come, but we made these changes very slowly. To assist us to do this I circulated a questionaire to a number of people outside the university, asking what inclusions or extractions they would like us to make. By far the majority said in general terms that they wanted a good all-round geological education. Specialised techniques, such as those required by mining companies, could be provided by the companies themselves. I wished to follow the lead of Sydney, which had earlier introduced a double third year. This enabled geology students to avoid Chemistry III and less relevant biological subjects, and to get some geophysics, without having to drop geology to get pre-requisite qualifications in physics and mathematics. The beginning of 1954 found the other senior members of the New England University Geology staff to be J.F.G. Wilkinson, returned with his Ph.D. from Cambridge, and K.S.W. Campbell, who was now confirmed as lecturer in palaeontology. R.J. Mathews, temporary lecturer in economic geology, had moved to a permanent lectureship in the University of Melbourne. While New England was preparing to spread its wings and get out of the Sydney seat, the members of the Geology Department there were beginning to settle down with one another. Tragedy struck when the brilliant Harold Rutledge was killed in an air disaster at Singapore on 13th March 1954 at the age of 33. Dr. Osborne, who had not been in good health for some time, died in 1955. These two were replaced by T.G. Vallance and G.H. Packham, talented Sydney graduates, specializing respectively in petrology and stratigraphy. Later in 1956 the staff there was greatly expanded by the addition of Howard Wilshire(Calif.), F.G. Larminie (Trinity, Dublin), Ken Glasson (Syd.) and Alan Day (Syd.). As the New England Department was no longer dependent on the doings of those in Sydney these additions meant merely that we had more friends and associates. The whole geological community had commenced to expand rapidly, and this was to continue for some years to come. Of the geology students enrolled in the New England University College between 1939 and 1953 one student was admitted to the B.A. degree and 53 students to the B.Sc. As already noted, their degrees were listed with those of the University of Sydney; and no honours or higher degrees were awarded at Armidale before autonomy. The first geology Bachelor of Science graduates of the University of New England were B.A. Engel, G. Rose, B. Sheedy and K.L. Williams. Engel and Williams went on to Honours, and made a big contribution by agreeing to take their degree from the new University. Because they had started the course before autonomy they would have been permitted to take the prestigious degree of the University of Sydney. Their decision was a great help to the morale of the department. Both have since carried out much research and teaching in geology and became Associate-professors in Newcastle and Sydney repectively. Geoff Rose, always known as Toby , moved straight to the New South Wales Geological Survey, and later did a major piece of work in keeping the 1:250,000 mapping programme on the move after Cliff McElroy became Director. He was promoted to the position of Chief Geologist, then Director of the Survey, andfinallybecame Director of the NSW Department of Mines and Energy. Brian Sheedy made his mark as a teacher in the New South Wales Department of Education. Graduates in subsequent years provided a number of staff to the University and new Colleges of Advanced Education, but those who chose to become geologists with mining companies have made comparable progress in the industrial field. It was gratifying that the Department also acquired candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree from other universities. Two Fulbright post-graduate students from the United States carried out research in the Department In 1956 A.M. Cvancera from North Dakota worked on Carboniferous brachiopods, under the guidance of Ken Campbell, and in 1962 J.T. Whetten worked on the Upper Palaeozoic sequence at Currabubula.

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The continuing research work of members of the New England University staff is recorded elsewhere, but the impact of research students who came from other Universities to do higher degrees was very stimulating and helped greatly in building the reputation of the Geology Department. In 1956 Keith Crook came from the University of Sydney. He descended upon us, armed with innovative ideas, resulting from his tutelage by Dr. Gordon Packham, but with his own additions. With this solid background he greatly added to the understanding of the origin and conditions of deposition of the sedimentary sequences in the Tamworth district. In my own case he gave me much to think and argue about, and much material to discuss with overseas geologists when the opportunity offered. He gained his Ph.D. degree in 1959 for his thesis on "The Geological Evolution of the Tamworth Trough". The University of New England received a cruel blow on 28th February, 1958. Hearing the fire-engine in the early hours, I looked out towards the University and saw the glow of fire. I selfishly thought "I hope it's the womens' huts". It was however the large Science Belshaw Block. This contained the main Science laboratories, including that of geology, in which were all our microscopes, slides and other equipment, the Woolnough library and all the mineral collections. The building was completely destroyed, only the grinding apparatus and some of the bulk rock collection in the basement being saved. Effectively all that remained of the Geology Department was a collection of teaching fossils in the third year laboratory, plus three staff rooms in the Booth Block. The data, maps, card index and mineral collection which I had been getting together for the study of the economic geology of the region for many years had all gone. The Chemistry, Physics and Biology departments were similarly devastated, and we all had to attempt an almost standing start with the new academic year two weeks away. Help and sympathy came from many sources, particularly the Geology Departments of Sydney and Queensland Universities, which gave us specimens and reprints. The University of Queensland allowed us to buy 10 microscopes which had been ordered by them in order to enable us to continue teaching petrology. Gifts of money were received from Mt. Isa Mines Limited, Thomas Hardy and Company and Mr. J. S. Proud. The University approved a grant of 10,000 pounds for replacement of equipment - about half the cost of our losses. Teaching started on time in first term as usual, using various rooms and laboratories in the remaining buildings. Dr. H. J. (Larry) Harrington joined the New England staff as lecturer in April 1959, bringing with him a wealth of experience in structural and general geology with a New Zealand flavour.He also brought a love for field work, based on leadership of Oxford expeditions to the Arctic, the Himalayas, and three expeditions to Antarctica. His knowledge of mapping methods and geological survey experience greatly accelerated the mapping programme of the New England region, which had been a major necessity in the absence of any base geological mapsup to that time. He also started the Department's long involvement in Antarctic research in the Ross Sea region, the Mountaineering Club, and became closely involved in the planning of Robb College and the other residential colleges. New timber buildings for Geology and Geography, to replace that lost in the fire, and costing 170,000 pounds, were commenced in 1959 on the day that Harrington arrived, but were not occupied until 1960. They were officially opened at a ceremony immediately following the Conferring of Degrees. There were three principal guests, Professor L A Cotton, Dr. W.R. Browne and Professor Griffith Taylor. We called the geology portion of the Building after L A Cotton, the northern wing after W.R. Browne and the southern after L.L. Waterhouse ( who unfortunately could not attend) The geography section was named for Taylor. One exciting social event was the showing of Antarctic slides in colour by Harrington, because Cotton and Griffith Taylor had been South with Shackleton and David, and most of the other guests had worked on collections made by them and by Mawson. A special feature of the new bunding was a rockwall which depicted a section of the rocks composing the New England Plateau. Sixty different rock types and some fossils were set m the wall and a number of rock structures were illustrated. It was constructed in freezing weather with Harrington and myself helping and supervising the stone-masons, all working in deep mud in a particularly wet year Geology and Geography - the earth science twins - were each organised into their own building for the first time They now were separate entities and each had what could be regarded as adequate staff, students and equipment WoA on palaeontology and stratigraphy had been energetically pursued by Dr. Campbell over a number of years with contributions particularly from B.A Engel, J.W. Pickett and J. Roberts. Petrology under Dr. Wilkinson was furthered by J.R Stewart, R HVernon, B W. Chappell, R.S. Boesen, GJ. Greaves, K.R. Yates, V.M. Bofinger, M.J. Abbott, J ' . Johnston and J.G Faulks. Stirhng Shaw from the University of Western Australia gained his Ph.D. for "The Petrology of Portion of the New England Batholith, Tenterfield, New South Wales". Drs. Stanton and Harrington had several students each doing honours degrees, and others starting doctorates. AN ANU INTERLUDE ? ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ o n preceding and following my return from America in 1953. Because of the effects of the fire", I was unable to take a full sabbatical year in 1960, so I applied for 3 months leave to cairy out research at the Australian National University. I had been attempting to develop f s t i S t ^ Wales When I had visited Johns Hopkins University, B a l t i m S S f e s s o c Z s t ^gjnodels showed me his experimental work with clays. The problem with models which I found most difficult to solve was how

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to scale down material strength with reducing size. This was in the days before plate-tectonics when so little was known about the ocean floor. Much of the data which was used in the formulation of this theory also emanated from Princeton through the work of Professor H.H. Hess. I deem it a great privilege to have known this man, and to have been able to spend some very treasured hours with him, not only on myfirstvisit but also on a later one. I write more about him in a later chapter. Back to my visit to Canberra - my wife and I were given a comfortable university flat at Manuka, and I was allocated a room in the Geophysics laboratory block in the Research School of Earth Sciences (which owed much to Tuzo Wilson). I managed to get some technical assistance in the construction of a box with drum and rubber belt, in which I placed several different kinds of material, intended to represent oceanfloorsediments, and produced miniature island arcs, and related faults and folds, which I attempted to match with those that had been mapped in reconnaissance fashion in Northeastern New South Wales. On the matter of strength no one came up with any quantitative method of calculating the scaled down value, but I ended up using flour, which had the lowest strength I could use. I did not think the results I obtained warranted publication. While at ANUI learned a great deal about the projects which were the concern of the other members of the Geophysics Department. In particular, I spent a lot of time with Messrs Doyle and Cleary, the seismologists. I had previously borrowed one of the small seismographs, which had been used in connection with the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. I had a concrete block set in the foundations of the new Geology Building at New England University, in such a way that it was isolatedfromthe building and its vibrations. The instrument was set up later, and while the "bugs" were not eliminated in my time we did manage to get results which were very useful in teaching. I could always determine when the cleaners came to work in the mornings and when staff and students started work at night and left in the early hours! One of the main projects under way in the Geophysics Department at ANU was the age-dating of rocks, using the helium method. We were present when the first good results were obtained - an event celebrated by a great party at Professor Jaeger's early colonial cottage at Queanbeyan. Jaeger's hobby was the collection of ancient farm machinery and related iron-ware, not generally improving the appearance of the surroundings, unless one is prepared to accept rusted iron-work as an art form. The palaeomagnetic work carried out by Ted Irving and his associates was already very well advanced, and was in a small building well awayfrominterfering apparatus. Related to this, Dr. Germaine Joplin, who had gonefromSydney to the Australian National University, and a small group including myself, spent several days on a visit to the Tilba Tilba area on the South Coast with an air drill worked by a technician collecting rock cores, properly oriented for detailed study. Another trip, this time in a four-wheel drive vehicle, was made to the Snowy Mountains. It was not entirely geological but had a bias towards biology, namely the collection offishcalled trout for dinner and breakfast. NEW ZEALAND AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO Through attendance at meetings of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science I had made the acquaintance of a number of New Zealand geologists. At the earlier meetings I had many discussions with Professor Bartrum of Auckland, who shared an interest with me in changes of sea - level, and the development of wavecut rock platforms. Professor Benson of Otago University, Dunedin had been to Australia several times, and I had also becomefriendlywith Professor Frank Turner, who had been with Benson in Otago for many years before moving to the United States. In fact at one stage I was tempted to be an applicant for Benson's position, on his retirement, but was warned of the teaching load he had been carrying, and refrained. This position however was taken by one of Benson's brilliant young graduates, Doug Coombs . The arrival of Larry Harrington rekindled my interest in New Zealand geology, and I also made contact with Professor David Brown, another New Zealander, who had recently started the Department of Geology at ANU, when several Armidale graduates were appointed to his staff. Professor D.S. Coombs invited me to spend a term lecturing in his department at the University of Otago in Dunedin at the end of 1961, and provided my wife and myself with a V.IP. university apartment. During our stay we were well entertained and taken to many interesting places in Otago, and I was able to join in the geology excursions. Dr. Doug Campbell, the palaeontolgist at Dunedin, introduced me to quite new Mesozoic marine faunas, and Dr. Coombs took me over the Permian and other sections, and to the seipentinites. These had, of course, been interesting to his predecessor, Benson, after his work in The Great Serpentine Belt of New South Wales, and had been the subject of Harrington's Ph.D. thesis. Bryce Wood of the New Zealand Geological Survey had been to the Antarctic with Harrington, and was making a structural analysis of the Otago Schists for his doctorate. He took me over his critical sections and some of the Precambrian outcrops. He later joined the University of New South Wales. Having hired a car we drove through Te Anau and the glacial valleys almost to Milford Sound - but the road had been closed in case of an avalanche. We drove then to Mount Cook, where we stayed for a couple of days and had a walk over the Tasman glacier and the moraines. We then crossed the mountains and stayed at Greymouth, going south to the Fox Glacier and spending the night at a most interesting wayside hotel. The local population, of about six people, was

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in its small parlour. The only one who could play the piano was a timber worker who had only recently lost two fingers. It was most entertaining watching him trying to organise his playing of the ancient piano he knew so well so that he could "hit" the notes that didn't play with thefingershe didn't have. We returned to Christchurch via Reefton and the coal-mining areas. At Christchurch Professor Max Gage and Dr. Pat Suggate from the Geological Survey gave us a geological welcome and trips round the volcano in whose breached crater is the port of Littleton. We survived the trip by boat to Wellington and were well received by Professor R. H. Clark and Dr. Bradley. The latter took us on an unforgettable trip to the volcanic area of Mount Ruapehu and the surrounding country. Again all the geology was quite new to me, as the Tertiary and Pleistocene rocks in Australia are relatively insignificant. At Auckland Nick Brothers took me round the local geological areas of interest and we had a good look over the city and saw numerous scoria cones. Larry Harrington and Sir Edmund Hilary, the conqueror of Everest, had married sisters, the daughters of J.H. Rose, President of the Alpine Club. He asked us to his home, and as Sir Edmund and his wife lived next door we met them also during a most enjoyable evening. Even though I had seen the famous Mesozoic and Tertiary sequences and structures in Utah and Arizona, those in New Zealand added entirely new dimensions to my geological outlook, especially in terms of active tectonism, volcanism, the importance of the Cainozoic Era, and geosynclinal development ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MAPPING AT NEW ENGLAND The need for high level research work in economic geology began to be recognised by the major mining companies in the "sixties"; however several years earlier, in 1958, the appointment of Dr. R.L. Stanton, who had cut his metallic teeth working for South Broken Hill, enabled the Department at Armidale to offer a specialization in mining geology. Max Richards, who had gained a First Class Honours degree carried on his research, and graduated Ph.D. by submitting a thesis on "Banded Ore Formations and Ore Genesis, Broken Hill". Mt. Isa Mines supported N.J.W. Croxford, of their research staff, to work in the Department, and this gained him the Ph.D. for his thesis on "The Mineralogy of the No.7 Lead-Zinc Orebody, Mt. Isa and its Interpretation". The Company also very kindly invited me to Mt. Isa and its geologists took me over the mines and the surrounding country, and added a visit to their McArthur River deposits. I had spent my 25th birthday in the Territory and missed my 50th there by one day, but was excited to find that many of my old associates were remembered by die storekeeper at Rankin Springs and I was brought up to date with their movements. The rocks at McArthur River, shown to me by Gordon Battey and Bob Cotton were new to me, and exciting in that it was a glimpse into conditions in Precambrian times where there had been very little structual disturbance . While overenthusiastically hitting the original discovery of zinc silicate there, I felt a bump in the chest and bled profusely. It was twenty two years later that an X-ray located the steel chip off my hammer. During those twenty two years the mineralised sediments have provided much material for study and debate. The change in concepts of ore deposition was started by Haddon King, and followed-up by Dick Stanton and his students. NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH Progress not only in Geology but in the whole field of Tertiary education was accelerating. My small university department now had a bigger staff than that of the University of Sydney when I started work there only 30 years before. Research was the order of the day - and night - as all were enthusiastic, and all were extremely hard workers. Research students had their own particular areas and supervisors allocated in their honours year. As they progressed they chose their specialfieldsof interest for the master's and doctor of philosophy degrees, under Wilkinson in igneous petrology, Campbell in palaeontology, Harrington in structure and geophysics, and Stanton in metalliferous economic geology. Now many of the post-graduate students had motor bikes to get them to their field areas - a big advance on the old days of "Shank's ponies" and push bikes. The New Englandfieldareas were rugged, and roads were muddy, but years were to pass before the University got a four wheel drivefieldvehicle. Topographic maps were still few and poor To try to get a bird's eye view of the country there was an epidemic of sky-jumpingfromaircraft with some minor accidents - such as when Barrie McKelvey, a doctoral student, did a bouncing act on a barbed-wire fence and had to eat off the mandepiece for some time. Another student, John Lindsay, fell with a cord dividing his parachute into two lobes. When he pulled the emergency chute the fault was remedied but he took quite a long time to get down. John, after completing his Master of Science^degree went to the United States, graduated Ph.D. at Ohio State University and joined NASA the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, and EXXON Research. He is the author of "Lunar Stratigraphy'and Sedimentology . 5

v

3

A concern associated with the growth in the number of Honours, Master's and Doctoral students was that most of them went to appomtments immediately after they had submitted their theses. The result was that the theses remained unpubhshed in the library. It was impossible for the senior staff to try to publish them ^ ^ t ^ ^ S t part because of the work-load associated with the explosive growth of the University from 1959 Harrington solved the problem neatly. From the Australian Research Grants Committee he raised money for the production of nine mao sheets covering the geology of the northern Tamworth Trough and the New England Tablelands The maps were

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compiled by him and Dr. Kerry Burns and current research students, and were then draughted and printed in Hobart. Texts were written to be presented on the back of the map sheets. They briefly summarised the many man-years of research work that had been done over a period of 20 years, and in all cases the texts amounted to the equivalents of fairly large papers in journals. I wrote the text for the first sheet (Boggabri) as a test-run and an example. Harrington did not put his name on any of the maps, but the whole project was an enormous amount of work for him for some years. Hie maps were all sold very quickly and the project actually made afinalprofit of over 1,000 pounds for the University. Harrington also encouraged the New South Wales Geological Survey to continue the systematic 1:250 000 map series for the State, and arranged for current Ph.D. students, mainly his own students, to do most of the compilations of the sheets covering the New England region. This was done in association with State Survey officers, whofinishedthe mapping of some sheets that had not been completely covered. In that way the accumulated research results were not lost, but became available quickly to a wide cross-section of the mining industry, the general public and the geological fraternity. The maps were valued, as shown by the way in which they sold out Ken Campbell, after ten years at New England, during which time he made a tremendous contribution to the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the region, decided to move to the Australian National University at Canberra. Not only was Ken an excellent teacher but he contributed greatly to the administration of the department, and above all to the welfare of all with whom he came in contact He was a great loss and we sought a strong palaeontologist in his place. We appointed a very different successor in the person of Graeme Philip, a graduate of Melbourne with a Ph.D. from Cambridge. His specialfieldbecame conodonts. John Wilkinson, who had joined in 1951, was given a personal chair, and the later arrivals, Dick Stanton, Larry Harrington and Graeme Philip were elected to associate professorships. They were all very different and independent, even fiercely so, but it was easy to see that they would ill progress much further in their chosenfields.Wilkinson has since retired from the Chair at New England and Stanton has a personal chair. Campbell has the Chair in the Australian National University and Philip is in private practice, after holding the chair at the University of Sydney. Harrington refused offers of Chairs and continued his research work on the incredibly complex and puzzling structures of New England. He was however able to concentrate on structure and tectonics when Associate Professor Ron Green arrived from Professor Carey's department at Hobart to head a new Department of Geophysics. Harrington was also able to free himself from the teaching of sedimentology and sedimentary petrology when Barrie McKelvey was appointed to a lectureship in thosefields.Later he moved to the Bureau of Mineral Resources for research, prior to retirement in 1990. The Department had matured very rapidly from the time it entered its new building in 1960, and its influence was strong. Successive crops of research students, most of whom had been Teaching Fellows, went in succession to lectureships in the Australian National University, Macquarie University, the University of Sydney and the large Department of Geology in the Darling Downs Institute of Technology, and so the Armidale Department had a significant effect on those institutions for some years. The Geology staff in 1960 was:Professor : A.H. Voisey DSc (Syd); Senior Lecturers: J.F.G. Wilkinson MSc (Qld), PhD (Cantab); K.S.W. Campbell MSc (Qld), PhD (Qld); Lecturers: R.L. Stanton MSc (Syd), PhD (Syd); HJ. Harrington MSc (N.Z), PhD (Oxon); Teaching Fellows : B.W. Chappell BSc HI and Medal (N.E.); J.W. Pickett BSc Hon 2 (N.E.); S.E. Shaw BSc Hon 2 (W.A.); W. Manser BSc (Syd); Research Assistant: H.W. Gutsche BSc (Syd); Research Assistant B.C. McKelvey BSc (Syd); Demonstrator : S.M. Richards BSc (N.E.); Technicans : D.J. Cameron, N. Petrasz, W J. Vivian; Secretary : Heather Roan. Mrs Roan was far more than Departmental Secretary. She worked in that position for decades and became an institution, in the Department and the University, attending cheerfully and efficiently not only to typing but to much of the administration. She mothered and helped the students, so that generations of them remember her with the greatest affection and respect

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The Belshaw Block on fire The Geology laboratory was on the top floor, the near end.

Nick Petrasz helping to retrieve type fossils from remains of the Belshaw Block. Combined Armidale -Sydney Excursion, 1946.

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CHAPTER 9

EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY (1964-65)

Dr. John Lounsbury, who took charge of the Department of Earth Sciences at Antioch College after my return to Australia in 1953, had moved to a similar position in the much larger Eastern Michigan University of Ypsilanti, Michigan. He invited me to take a Visiting Professorship there in 1964-65 at a salary ($10 000) which was sufficiently above my own to enable me to take my wife and younger daughter, Lynette, with me. I was very unsetded, and well overdue for sabbatical leave, which the University readily granted. I considered taking up a position in the United States or moving to another Australian University (such as Macquarie in Sydney where a Department of Geology was being set up) after having been 25 years in Armidale. I decided to sell my house and furniture and risk the future. Doing so enabled us to see much more of the world on our travels than was possible on the previous trip. Perhaps I should add here that it didn't seem to be so much of a risk, as I imagined that I was well covered by superannuation, even though it was the FSSU scheme, not the New South Wales Superannuation Schemefromwhich I had been excluded when I became a professor. How wrong I was. We left Sydney on 31 July 1964 on a BOAC Boeing 707, and visited Singapore, Bangkok, Delhi, Beirut, Athens, Rome, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Copenhagen before arriving in London a month later. The highlights of the trip included volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago, karst limestone and land devastated by quarrying and tin dredging in the Malay peninsula, the rift valley of Lebanon and the archaeological delights of Byblos and Jeita Grotto in Lebanon. I was interested in the stone used for buildings and statues: in Greece it was solid marble, but in Italy cellular travertine was prevalent. I had previously thought that the white hair of the statues was due to pigeons, but I found that it generally resultsfromdissolution of calcium carbonate and its redeposition in a purer form. I was impressed by the similarity of deeply entrenched streams in the plateau near Madrid to those of the New England plateau east of Armidale. Of course we also visited the usual tourist sights on the way, and suffered some of the usual tourist maladies. We were delighted to meet an old Sydney University colleague, Frank Gay and his wife, in Paris, and while in Germany I visited John Pickett, one of my UNE graduates who was undertaking a Ph. D. study at Frankfurt. He showed me around the region and we visited Heidelberg University, where Professor Ramdohr showed us his great collection in the Mineralogical Institute. We arrived in London 31st August and saw as much of London as we could in a few days, meeting Professor Rex Prider (of Perth) and his wife. Leaving the women shopping, Rex and I visited the Geological Museum, Imperial College and the Natural History Museum. As I was interested in the rocks of the Welsh Geosyncline the family and I took a train to Chester and thence to Llandudno. After a day trip through the three passes round Mt. Snowdon, noting the Ordovician slates, we took the train to Aberwystwyth. Professor Alan Wood of the Geology Department showed us over the University buildings and the students residences, which are rented out to holiday makers during university vacations. I enjoyed a walk round the rock platforms over dipping Silurian rocks, showing turbidite sedimentary structures. The train journey took us on to Swansea where Professor Frank Rhodes met us, booked us into the Dragon Hotel, and then to his home for supper. Next day he drove me north and showed me over the Carboniferous coal measures, the Millstone Grits, Old Red Sandstone, Silurian Ludlow fossil beds and the Ordovician rocks at Llandulno. It was a most useful and pleasant excursion. Back in London we had more outings with the Priders and saw some of the city, the Victoria and Geology museums, Australia House, Madame Tussaud's, the Planetarium and Petticoat Lane. We left London on 14th September and had a relatively uneventful flight westwards, noting icebergs near Newfoundland and the glaciated character of part of the Canadian Precambrian shield, which was dotted with innumerable lakes. After a drop down to Boston, for passport inspection, we flew on to Detroit Metropolitan Airport where we were delighted to see the Lounsburys. It was about 3.30 pm Detroit time but our watches said 8.30 pm (London time). We were settled in to a modern basement apartment in a new block. I reported for work at the University of Eastern Michigan on 15th September 1964. The University had evolved out of a teachers' training college. It was especially oriented towards education, but had broadened its offerings considerably and was what one could call a typical American University - quite unlike Antioch College. Geography was the larger part of the combined Earth Sciences Department, having John Lounsbury, "Bud" Sinclair and several other lecturing staff. The Professor of Geology was Larry Ogden, and he and his wife looked after us. We have remained in contact with them ever since. Ypsilanti could be considered a satellite town of Detroit. Factories produced parts of cars for the main assembly plant,s and many of the university students worked in them and did academic work part-time. Students had to complete a

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minimum of 124 semester hours to attain a bachelors degree. A semester - hour is the credit granted in a course meeting once a week for one semester (16 weeks). Courses average 3 to 4 credits and a standard load is 15-16 hours per semester. The University prescribes a minimum of hours to be taken at Eastern Michigan, but will accept the remainder from other institutions. On registration day students choose courses - consistent with the prerequisites etc at times suitable to them. Enrolling officers with cards made up in packs according to the number of places available sit in line and students collect the cards they require. When cards run out for individual courses late students must choose the other courses, or postpone until the next semester. If the demand is very great additional classes may be added, though this is not usual. The normal teaching load for members of staff averaged 10 to 12 contact hours per semester. I was given "Historical Geology" and "Physical Landscapes", and also "Geography of Australia" for undergraduates and again for graduates - a total of 11 contact hours. Lynette enrolled for several secretarial courses and had a most enjoyable time mixing with the students and being "adopted" by the boys from one of the Fraternities. There were many residential houses for the Fraternities and Sororities which are a feature of most American universities. Antioch College would not accept them because they distinguished between groups. I was accepted as a member of Phi Beta Upsilon, the Professional Fraternity in Geography, and was duly initiated on 15th January 1965. Besides my lectures in Ypsilanti, Professor Willard Parsons, head of the Geology Department at Wayne State University, Detroit - only an hours bus trip away, invited me to give a 4 hour course for a semester on "Principles and Problems in Geology" to the graduate students there. I enjoyed this weekly visit and also meeting the rest of his staff. The University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, was only a few kilometres from Ypsilanti, so I was able to see quite a lot of the staff there and also gave several lectures. The whole countryside, with its numerous little lakes, became highly decorative in the fall and the Lounsburys took us on a delightful drive north to Horton and Higgins Lake in Central Michigan, among the coloured maples and other deciduous trees. We bought a 1959 Plymouth Suburban Station Wagon and drove to the University of Illinois at Urbana, where I lectured on "Continental Growth". Larry Harrington and his wife were there and they took us to dinner and showed us around. The Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in November 1964 was in Miami, Florida, and in such a setting was a most memorable event. The lectures were given in the Deauville Hotel. I stayed in the luxurious SherryFrontenac next door. In spite of the existence of a large pool and lots of glamour I preferred to swim in the ocean. However the slope of the sea-floor was so gentle that I was almost out of sight of land before I could sit down and get wet. I had forgotten that the racing cars used Daytona Beach to the north at low tide. The GS A lectures were interesting but not as memorable as the people. I was delighted to meet Harry Hess again. He invited me to his room together with a small group of young "foreigners" for a drink and talk after the evening session a get-together that lasted well into the wee hours. I had never seen anything like the Everglades before. There were numerous alligators, birds and masses of hungry mosquitoes in the "hammocks", and it was a great education seeing a peat-forming environment at close quarters. The showpiece was the excursion to Puerto Rico, which provided a new range of rocks and structures, more easy contacts between the visiting geologists, and excellent geographical data. LaiTy Harrington and David Branagan of Sydney University, were present as was Rhodes Fairbridge, who had been on the staff of the Geology Department in Western Australia. The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was scheduled for Montreal during the last week m December so we set off Canada on the 22nd, hoping for a white Christmas. We called on one of my New England students, John Lusk, who was attending McMaster University in Hamilton, met his Swiss wife and went to their apartment for dinner. He showed us round the university and drove us to Toronto. We went to Montreal the next day, having booked into the luxurious Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Christmas Day was drizzly, miserable and foggy, with only traces of left over snow. We missed out on our "White Christmas" but made up for it well and truly in the New Year Being a delegate from Australia I was in the offical party and attended all the functions. Phyllis and Lynette were well looked after by the women in the Beaver Room while I went to lectures. We spent New Years Eve in Ottawa with the Ted Irvings, whom we had known in Canberra days, and enjoyed a turkey dinner with them on New Years Day. Lectures started again on 12th January at E.M.U. Ypsilanti I then had a quick trip to Michigan State University East Lansing to lecture. I was also invited to give some Distinguished Lecturer courses at Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana, to mark their pntenary of Science Teaching, and was honoured by receiving a Centennial Award for signi&ant conmbuUons to the field of science". My wife and I were treated magnificently at Notre Dame. W ? w £ e S j f ^ K i f 1 R o s Q U ™ ™ d ^ geology staff, including Dr Gutschick, and had a most comfortable room in the hotel which had been given to the university by a grateful graduate. On 24th Febniary John Lounsbury drove me on a nostalgic trip back to Antioch College at Yellow Springs where we stayed wiflfa^Dr Alexander. It was the time of THE BIG SNOW. Eleven inches fell during the J I ^ S ^ S S L and brought everything to a full stop. We left Yellow Springs at 8 am and did the trip home a U b o « S Z s ^ r hom

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which really tested John's temperament, as he never liked driving under 100 m.p.h. Fortunately the road plough was just ahead of us so we made continuous progress. The number of cars stuck beside the road was astonishing. We heard later that the Automobile Association had received 20,000 calls for assistance, but the rescue vehicles couldn't move. We were lucky enough to find an open exit off the Freeway and reached home safely at 4 pm. Broadcasts told people not to get sick or have afire,as no ambulances or fire-engines could move. We had a quick trip to Queens University (Kingston, Canada), met old friends, and I was taken on an excursion over the Precambrian Grenville Series by Professor Wynne Edwards, who was then head of the department I attended the annual meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science in Ann Arbor on 19th March and gave a paper entitled "The Contents of the New England Geosyncline". I then had a good look at the Silurian and Ordovician sedimentary sequences on the Michigan Basin Geological Society's Annual Field Trip to Lake Simcoe in Canada. From the point of view of geological knowledge of eastern North America the highlight was the field excursion to North Carolina from Chicago between 20th and 27th March, 1965. This was run by two old friends, Drs Dapples and Sloss,for the North-Western University (Chicago) students. We used to share a bottle of Scotch or Bourbon among four or five senior staff before dinner each evening to help us recover from the exertions of the day. On one occasion we didn't get much out of a bottle of bourbon. Larry Sloss hadn't pressed the cork down before he packed it in his suitcase so the bourbon ran out and soaked through his clothes. We could smell him at a distance for the remainder of the excursion. Dr John Whetten, who had spent a Fulbright year with us at New England, was now Professor of Oceanography at the University of Washington, Seattle. He invited me to give some lectures there in his department and to the geologists. On 1st April I set out on the hazardous trip to Seattle. Taking off from Detroit the plane was hosed down with hot water to take some of the ice off the wings. At Minneapolis the runway was bounded by two metre walls of snow and ice. Spring, however, had come to Seattle and the flowers were out. I had a room, or rather a cabin on a research vessel, and really appreciated the experience. Several bus trips into and over the snow-capped mountains gave me a new experience of this volcanic province. The bands of ash were reminiscent of those in New Zealand. I thought back to the time I flew over these volcanic cones in 1952, en route from San Francisco to Vancouver. On the way back we flew round Chicago for an hour and I thought I had missed my connecting flight, but all planes had been delayed, as a group of tornadoes had moved through, going east. When we were eventually airborne and nearing Detroit the tornadoes could be seen in line like the teeth of a comb - some touching the ground and some not. I hoped the pilot would not go through. He went close, then turned south into Ohio and went round the storms, coming into Detroit from the east. Lightning kept glancing over the plane so we had to draw the blinds. We landed in driving rain. Back in Ypsilanti I found the family very scared, both for me and themselves still in a very heavy storm. At last the thaw came. We had been hoping for several months that the temperature would rise to zero and allow the ice and snow to melt. The bad time was when there was melting in the day andfreezingat night, leaving a layer of very slippery ice over the roads. We had a short trip to Washington and New York, staying with Professor Marshal Kay and lecturing to his students at Columbia University on "Geosynclines". We had one memorable night at the Latin Quarter with the John Conollys - followed by late supper at the El Chico in Greenwich Village, went to bed in the Roosefeld Hotel at 2.30 am and rose early to take the train to Boston. I gave a lecture on "Rocks and Island Arcs" at Harvard University in the afternoon, and on "Petroleum in Australia" at Boston College next day. We were well looked after by Alan Jopiing, who was then on the Harvard staff. After lecturing back at Eastern Michigan we went to stay with Charles and Dorothy Vitaliano of the University of Indiana at Bloomington. We had another lecture tour to Bowling Green University with Professor Don Owen and also a visit to Columbus, Ohio to renew our aquaintance with Professors Goldthwaite, Summerson, Schopf and their families. Much as I enjoyed my work in America I decided not to seek a permanent position there. My mother, aged 85, was still alive in Australia, and our elder daughter lived there. We felt we could not remain happy awayfromthem for any length of time. We had also been somewhat anxious when our younger daughter received several offers of marriage. We would not have been keen on leaving her in America. However in her case also, the call of her homeland was too strong to ignore. The break had refreshed us all and, although I was even more aware that I might not get the Macquarie chair, I was prepared to continue my work at the University of New England. I had also acquired much new teaching material and hundreds of slides and photographs. There are so many universities in North American and so many variations in standards, especially in the larger institutions, that each is keen on getting known and to be recognised as having a strong staff and good curriculum. There is much competition among their students to receive research places in the accepted high-level universities. Being a visiting Australian, who had been in contact with my geological colleagues over many years, it had been easy for me to gain acceptance and be invited to lecture. However, as this had meant that I had been away from Eastern Michigan on a number of occasions and had to leave my work to others I felt somewhat guilty. However I was cheered

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by a letter of thanksfromJohn Lounsbury and particularly by one which I receivedfromDr Bruce Nelson, Vice President for Instruction: "Dr Lounsbury has passed along to me the schedule of your visits to other universities during the present year. I am much impressed by the contacts which you have been able to make and feel good about the fact that, although you have been primarily representing your home country, you have also been a representative of Eastern Michigan University. We have gained muchfromyour presence here this year and hope you also feel that the experience has been quite rewarding". Before we set off for home we had a visitfromour daughter Yvonne, her husband and Margaret Gwynne, a family friend. After seeing some of the local sights they joined us, making a party of she. With the help of Bud Sinclair, who ran annual trips to Central America for his geography students, we arranged an excellent programme for seeing much of Mexico. We spent a few days at New Orleans on the way and returned quite happily to Armidale via Tahiti and Fiji. As we only had enough money left to buy a car and not a house, we rented a university-owned apartment, opposite the Armidale Teachers' College.

Krumbein, Dapples, Sloss and Howland of North Western University, Chicago on the whisky - a go - go excursion.

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CHAPTER 10 THE TEACHING OF GEOLOGY IN SCHOOLS Because of public demand, and under the guidance of the New South Wales Director-General of Education, Dr. Harold S. Wyndham, the curriculum in the New South Wales secondary schools was revamped in 1962, while I was at the University of New England. A new concept was introduced to prepare young people to understand life better in an age that was becoming increasingly scientific, and to prepare for the inevitable changes which were ahead of them. These changes in the schools followed naturally on the great expansion of the universities as the deliberate policy of the Menzies Government in Canberra. I was delighted to be appointed as the geologist on the syllabus committee charged with preparing the new four-year science course leading to the School Certificate. This involved a large number of lengthy visits to Sydney from Armidale for meetings, but it was a real labour of love, as I had been fighting for such changes for many years. Instead of teaching the Sciences separately and predominantly as Chemistry and Physics, the Wyndham plan provided an intergrated course involving also elements of Biology and Geology. This provided a maximum amount of basic general knowledge for those whose only science instruction could well be this course, but it also had to provide a basis for more specialised study in senior secondary and tertiary work. I recall that at our first meeting we looked around us and asked ourselves what were the essential things to be taught first - plants, animals, food, minerals, electricity and so on. We then had to work out lessons and practical courses and to put them together to form a systematic and readily-followed sequence. The form of the syllabus was completed by 9th November 1962. The problem then was how to get the information to teachers, who had to face great changes in context and methods. No text books were available, as the material was not based on any earlier publications. Professor Harry Messel had set up a Nuclear Research Foundation in the University of Sydney, in connection with his teaching in the Department of Physics, and he conceived the idea of financing the production of a text book to fit the new programme. He set up a committee and brought in not only the members of the Education Department's syllabus committee but many other well known Science teachers, and all worked on a crash operation to produce the necessary text A Pilot Edition of the book appeared in May 1963. Three thousand free copies were distributed by the Nuclear Research Foundation to science teachers and interested secondary and tertiary level educationalists. In addition, twelve hundred half-volumes of the book, containing the first 29 of the 58 chapters, were used in trial classes in some forty schools in New South Wales. Following the receipt of suggestions for amendments and revisions, the editors and a small number of others rewrote the book, and the First Edition of "Science for High School Students" appeared in time for teaching for the year 1964. Of course many other books on the new Science syllabus then appeared, and there has been no further shortage of teaching material. As usual I had to fight hard to secure for Geology what I considered was a fair share of the syllabus. Apartfrommy strong bias in its favour, I thought that a strong base for developing an interest in Science was to start from the descriptive side of plants, animals and rocks and then to use Chemistry and Physics to explain the various phenomena associated with their growth and development. A major consequence of the inclusion of Biology and Geology in the State Schools meant that there was no longer a bias against graduates with a knowledge of these subjects. Indeed there was an immediate shortage of teachers. New departmental trainee teachers were encouraged to take them and this led to an increase in the enrolments in the various Universities and later set the stage for the large numbers entering Macquarie University in 1967. In July 1972, a year after I had retiredfromMacquarie University, I received a letter from a former New England student, Milton Slade. After doing three years at New England University College he went to Sydney in 1951 and gained First Class Honours in Geology. As he was then under bond to the New South Wales Department of Education he was unable to continue his research, and thus became a Science teacher. He later obtained his Master of Science degree (from New England) and at the time of writing he was on the staff of the Armidale Teachers' College (now a College of Advanced Education). He wrote as follows: "Over the last few years I have been compiling data on different aspects of geology teaching and timing in a historyinterest revival period The part which eludes me is the inclusion of Geology as a compulsory part of the School Certificate Syllabus in Science. If my memory is correct you were the main person concerned and your place on the original syllabus committee was decided because you had been advocating geology as part of the general school curriculum in New South Wales for some time before. I understand that you were asked to enlist the support of Barney Grout- Smith, but he was not interested, and finally you had the opportunity of addressing the science panel." It is perhaps relevant for me to quote long extractsfrommy letter in reply. "In reply to your request re History of Geology [teaching] in the schools I can make a couple of what I think are definite statements but can also do some speculating. I don't think there was any one person responsible for including geology as part of the general school certificate. I think it was included simply because of the idea of General Science as

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opposed to combined Physics-Chemistry. To add Biology meant also the adding of at least some Geology to make a Science course a complete coverage. Who first came up with Science as a subject would be hard to determine - after all someone also put up Social Science. Certainly Wyndham himself was aware of Geology, being a friend of Dr. Osborne (I first met him at a party in Osborne's home). Probably Bruce Hamilton who was a graduate in Geology from New England and a schools' staff inspector had some say, but I wonder whether Grout-Smith was on side or not. I didn't see him or know where he was. Lack of opposition to Geology was probably quite a factor. There were more Biology and Geology science graduates I suspect in the secondary schools than Physics and Chemistry graduates. Few Education Department students made them major subjects, and fewer stayed on. So much for the inclusion of Geology! You evidently are not aware of the method of election of members to Syllabus Committees. You could get this information in detail probably from the secretary to one of these committees in the Department. Each University nominates people for the committees on request and the Department selects the individuals from the submissions, e.g. I think in the first instance Sydney had its nomination accepted for say Biology, NSW for Chemistry, Sydney for Physics and New England for Geology. (Possibly someone in the Department suggested me from the panel submitted but this is as far as any preference for my presence went.)" I might add that the University was careful not to put me on the panel for the Fifth and Sixth year Science Syllabus Committee later on. It was probably quite fair and above board like the Headingly cricket pitch. I never did get to first base with the senior syllabus content. Once on the syllabus committee I was able to keep Geology going. I accepted the ratio of, I think, 1:7 in time. The main thing was to keep a strand going. I have always been unhappy about the alternatives offered in the Fifth and Sixth years of secondary schools. I would have been prepared to accept quite a small share but would have like to see good integration with the other three subjects. None of them live completely alone, and I feel that the loss of either Biology or Geology emasculates the whole Science concept My contact with the secondary inspectors and earlier communications with Departmental officials did not really concern the introduction of Geology as a secondary school subject as it was there even in my day. It was, I think, in the hands of each headmaster to determine whether it was offered. I have never been in favour of teaching Geology without Chemistry and Physics. My submission to the Department concerned Teacher Training. Until the early 1950s teachers were permitted - though somewhat discouraged by TC advisers - to take Geology as a first year University Subject Thereafter progress was opposed, but not normally prohibited, though students were warned that it might affect their promotion. The Department preferred to risk a student failing and withdrawing from the University than letting him go through in Geology and/or Botany. You, I believe, had some experience in this regard. In the early or middle 1950s under Mr. David Verco, who was in charge of secondary teachers training, Departmental students were prevented from taking Geology in the first year. This of course prevented them from switching to do the 3 years in it. I had individual interviews with various officers, many of whom I knew one way or another (e.g. Ted Barker and I were in the Science Debating Team at Sydney University), culminating in a meeting with the Science Panel. My point was that a student graduating in Geology was broad enough in Science to be able to teach Chemistry and/or Physics to the fifth year. This of course is subject to debate, but I felt that as Chemistry Departments failed many students, and only strong mathematicians could cope with Physics, the Department would be better served by helping students to graduate in Biology or Geology. "Failed Uni students" who had been forced to do subjects which "Blind Freddie" could see they were incapable of passing, were actually doing much of the science teaching. These disgruntled teachers were not likely to encourage their pupils to take University courses in Science. In the fullness of time the science teaching did go to Biology and Geology graduates and, as I wrote above, [they] were in favour of giving general science courses. Without them the Science Courses under the Wyndham Scheme could not have been given. The turn against teaching Geology in the Fifth and Sixth years of the High Schools was due very largely to strong i Messe1 BuUer S Z S w "^ V W ' ' Aleamder and company, became more organised, and marshalled its forces, with Birch (Biology) doing nothing to help Geology. Their weakness still remains in that I suggest that the Department has few graduate teachers of Chemistry and Physics. Thanks partly to our evening and ^ ^ f m A ?r l 0 t g t y K a t ^ c q u a r i 5 « m a R y G e o l ° g y graduates [among secondary science teachers] and more on the way. At least the collapse of the Mining Boom of 1968-1970 did much for Geology in education.

I think that if you look at the composition of some Departmental Committees you will see that they are not representative of the present Science teachers in the schools. The worst thing for Geology would S r e v e S o X oW afJT* f b J T **m *a n*y W ° U l d m e a n * * A e s i t u a t i o n w a s as it w E for over 50 y ^ s G ^ o g y n0t h " ^ P ^ N T A L ^ o o l s . I repeat I could not agree on Geology without the others as I have seen so many First Class Honours Leaving Certificate students in Biology or Geology fail absolutely m First Year at the Umversity. The big University boys have it sewn up by the genuine ^ ^ S ^ ^ y S 1

T

&st ^ ? h H y f S WOn,t p a s s W refused S ^ S ^ ^ ^ S tor the Secondary School Science course and have repeated the annual harvest of failures. I have feltbitter about this for

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over 30 years. In the end I couldn't live with it, but I feel I have left a time bomb behind in the numbers of Geology teachers who will steadily flow in. You are in the right place and I am delighted that you have been a civilising influence on the hill. We enjoyed our life in Armidale very much over the 27 years. I just didn't wish to spend my whole life there until retirement". After I had accepted the Macquarie Chair, but before I had started to prepare courses for the commencement of teaching in 1967,1 was fortunate in being able to attend a "Symposium on Undergraduate Geological Training" held in the Geology Department of the Australian National University in Canberra. In July 1965 a letter had been sent by Professor David Brown to a number of mining companies in Australia, suggesting that some form of discussion might usefully be undertaken "to consider the role of universities in the training of geologists for industry and other nonuniversity avenues of employment, particularly with regard to the content and orientation of undergraduate courses". The response was both "swift and encouraging" and was attended by more than 80 delegates. Practically all the influential geologists of the time were there, including Sir Harold Raggatt, Dr.N.H. Fisher, A.K. Denmead, F. Canavan, R.C. Sprigg, R.F. Thyer, D.G. Moye, J.M. Rayner, Dr M.F. Glaessner and the university Professors C.E. Marshall, Beryl Nashar, A.F. Wilson, A.R. Alderman, J J. Frankel, R.T. Prider and E.A. Rudd. Some of the points made by the contributors and extractsfromtheir remarks are noted below. Sir Harold Raggatt - If there is one thing sure about the demand for geologists it is bound to increase. For example, it is inevitable that higher yielding oil reservoirs than those currently developed at Moonie and Barrow Island are sure to be found soon. This demand is going to be reflected in the universities and schools, and it means that the Head of a Department of Geology has no mean task in assembling courses suitable to supply the demand. The most acute problem is not the content of the geology courses which is the responsibility of the Professor himself but a question of the degree of influence which can be brought to bear on the teachers of supporting subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and Biology to provide suitable courses for the trainee geologist There are two basic requirements which I would seek in a graduate geologist: -1. A thorough grounding in the basic principles of geology. 2. Graduates ought to be able to express themselves clearly in both spoken and written English. Professor Prider (University of Western Australia) - On the conclusion of an Honours year a student is better equipped to enter the geological profession and a sounder judgement can be made of his initiative and consequently of his potential as a research man. One of the main deficiencies of the present system is the fact that students in the first year are required to read 4 units. Most have read physics, chemistry and mathematics at school and irrespective of their desire to be geologists or botanists, physicists or zoologists they nominate for physics, chemistry, mathematics plus one other. This means that the man interested in geology will often not do any biology in his first year, which prevents him from majoring in botany (say) if he discovers later that he would like to specialise in palynology. On the other hand, should he take a biology course in addition to geology it means that physics, or mathematics or chemistry must be deleted, so he is prevented in this casefrommaking geophysics (or geochemistry) his main interest. What I would like to see is thefirstyear curriculum altered to consist of 5 units Mathematics I, Physics I, Chemistry I, Biology I and Geology I. Professor Brown (Australian National University) - added a note: "The odds against the brighter students enrolling in Geology I in theirfirst-yearat university are even greater in those universities where mathematics is offered in the form of Pure Mathematics I and Applied Mathematics I (eg. University of New England and the Australian National University). Under the present arrangements, wherebyfirstyear students take four units, the best of these students almost invariably opt for Chemistry I, Physics I, Pure Mathematics I and Applied Mathematics I. During the four years in which the National Undergraduation Scholarship scheme has operated at the Australian National University, only one scholar (out of 40) has elected to include Geology I as a first year subject in his course". Frank Canavan (Broken Hill Proprietary Coy.) - commented: "it should not be forgotten that most students studying physics and chemistry have considerable experience in their subject prior to entering university; in the case of geology, however, few high schools in Victoria teach the subject and those which do, tend to teach it frightfully. This throws a heavy burden on the university staffs and I feel that strong efforts should be made to have geology taught more widely and much better in the high schools. I would like to see candidates for the Ph.D required to spend at least one year in industry, between their Bachelor's and Doctoral studies. I would also like to see more emphasis placed on the potential role of women in the geological profession, not only in laboratories and libraries but also in the field. I consider that the Australian geology departments on the whole are producing graduates more suited for research work than for industrial employment". Professor Joe Frankel (University of N.S.W)\stated "....the new secondary school syllabus in N.S.W has geology at matriculation only as an option; so that we cannot be sure that students entering Geology I will have a geological

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background* . Professor E.S. Hills (Uni of Melbourne), who was unable to attend the symposium, wrote that the Dutch universities, under the chairmanship of Professor Emil den Tex (formerly at Sydney Uni), were also undertaking a review of geological training. In Great Britain too a great deal of consideration was being given to the re-vamping of the structure of geology departments. He had the impression that a considerable range of organizations might emerge, ranging from universities with Schools of Earth Sciences to institutes within the departments of geology. Dr N.H. Fisher (Bureau of Mineral Resources) noted: "The introduction of geology into the secondary school syllabus in N.S.W. has already caused a considerable upsurge of interest in geology, and I believe that in a few years we will have no shortage of young people coming to the university wanting to study geology. I hope that Victoria will follow this lead very soon. The schools are undoubtedly the most appropriate place to establish an interest in geology and to encourage this interest, and these problems will become less acute when the new syllabus is properly taught". There was a lot of discussion regarding the things which should be included in both undergraduate and graduate courses for specialised aspects of geology - research, mineral exploration, surveys, petroleum and natural gas and so leading to the official abstract"As a result of discussion between representatives of a wide spectrum of geological interests in Australia there is a majority agreement that the basic undergraduate training for a professional geologist should extend over four years. It is felt by the representatives of the industry that such an extension of the present three year course could be employed to equip the student with a better understanding of the practical application of geological and geophysical principles. In terms of staffing, equipment and accommodation however, this would place an additional burden on the universities which should be shared in some measure by industry". I was one of the minority which did not support the extension of the course to four years stating:"In New South Wales the high school course has already been increased in length by one year and to add another year to the course of undergraduate training would mean the addition of two years. It seems unlikely that such a four year course would be approved, so that continuation of the present system should be recommended, even though four years is considered necessary for the training of a geologist. But greater flexibility of courses within the Faculty of Science would be of benefit. One concrete way of encouraging the student to complete the fourth year would be through the award of cadetships without any requirements of a bond". I conclude with my own contribution, in which I summed up the contributions to the symposium, largely because it illustrates the background to the major changes which I would soon to be able to put into operation at Macquarie University. "First, it is necessary to find students. It is difficult to get good students, but the teaching of geology in secondary schools has helped to attract students into the geology departments. Mathematics, chemistry and physics get the best students because these subjects have caught the attention of students while in secondary schools. Among the 50% of students who fail thefirstyear, many do so because of difficulty in mathematics and are thereby eliminated from taking geology. But such students could be useful geologists, though the present university requirements and prerequisites preclude many students from making a career in geology. Regarding the curriculum, it is not always possible to turn out people competent in geology and geophysics because prerequisites necessarily cut into the time available to teach the necessary courses in geology and geophysics. "Package deals" circumscribed by prerequisites are undesirable, but the student should have a wider choice of subjects. Students should not be required to take specialized courses in palaeontology or crystallography unless they are particularly interested in these subjects. The universities have a prime responsibility to carry out research, and some specialized courses must of necessity be at a higher level. But the problem is, at what stage should the student begin to specialize? This problem is treated differently at different universities, but it is tied up with the question of whether a three or four-year course should be given So far,tinsmeeting has not presented a solution to this problem. There appears to be a trend in the universities towards Schools of Earth Sciences. This is a necessary trend, as the amount of time the universities have to train geologists is restricted, and as much time as possible should be devoted to the training in courses related to the students future profession. Geologists should be required to do only those courses in mathematics, chemistry and biology that are relative tottaimngas a geologist This would cut out a lot of extraneous course work and leave more room for the introduction of specialized courses of the type suggested by surveys and industry. It is unfortunate that a student should be required to study a subject m which he has no interest, merely to satisfy a universitv regulation pertaining to prerequisites. 1

y

h

Regarding the question of alternative courses, there is a problem as to how they can be offered Each soecialtv must be given scope to progress as far as possible, but if all the subjects that could be put into a c S be a ten-year instead of a four-year course. In view of this, students should only do the c o u x L ^ t e ^ Z t interests, and m this way, the overall course could be compressed. d l IOAAOW

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m e i r

The comment made by previous speakers that the average graduating student is unable to express himself in writing may be justified, but it is debatable whether geology departments are responsible for teaching the student how to write and express himself. However, a department is responsible for giving the student the idea of how to organize his material. In regard to the introduction of geomorphology into the undergraduate curriculum, this is an important subject, but whether it comes within the scope of a geology department or a geography department is a debatable issue. As for geophysics, the question is how to include it in the undergraduate training. It is essential to make a student aware of the application of geophysics to geological problems. As for field work and mapping, training of this type is essential, and universities are partly responsible for such training. Much of the training is already being done in the universities, but most geology departments are unable to give their students as much field training as they would like, because of the restrictions caused by the number of students involved, and by other commitments and requirements. In conclusion, the following points are important. Publicity is essential, and people must be made to take an interest in geology as a cultural subject A person should not be regarded as educated if he does not have some understanding of the history and evolution of the earth. There is a national need, particularly in view of the dependence of this country on mineral resources, for people to be aware of the part that geologists play in national development; and this point of view must be expressed to students while they are in the secondary schools. Attention should also be drawn to the stultifying regulations in universities regarding the background courses or prerequisites that must be taken. All delegates to this conference should go away and think deeply about what we feel every geologist should know, as against what some geologists have to know. In other words, we should decide what is essential to the basic training of all students. Where is the cutoff point for basic training and where should we start to give the student specialized training? Delegates from industry should give some thought to ways and means by which they could materially assist the geology departments in training undergraduate students. Industry should see that students get summer jobs as part of their training. With reference to the avoidance of field work on the part of some students, this is not limited to geologists but is merely part of a general trend away from the country towards city life. Joint action is required to publicise the need for changes in the undergraduate curriculum; and the Geological Society of Australia might set up committees in connexion with the teaching of geology and geophysics. There has been a tendency at this meeting for those representing geology departments to defend what they have been doing. These representatives are probably quite right in doing so. However, the departments concerned should look critically at what has been said at this meeting and should make such changes in their courses as seem feasible and appropriate. As for the content of courses, this will be under consideration for some time to come. It is to be hoped that this will not be the last meeting of its kind. Undoubtedly a great deal of good has come out of this conference".

Dr. Sam Cohen and Sir Harold Wyndham (originator of the Wyndham scheme for secondary schools) at Macquarie University.

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Continental Drift Conference, 1958, at the University of Tasmania, Hobart.

"Well, if whole continents con drift...

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CHAPTER 11 MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY (1964-71) During the 1960s it became apparent that there was need for a third University in Sydney, because enrolments were increasing so rapidly in the others. Some 51% of the students in the University of New England werefromthe northern suburbs of Sydney, and the people there wanted their own University. The New South Wales Government purchased and resumed 332 acres of land at North Ryde in the northern suburbs of Sydney for about $4,000,000. The Commonwealth Government provided $4,200,000 for Capital Works. Mr P.G. Price, a senior officer of the New South Wales Education Department, was entrusted with the selection of an advisory committee to advise on the establishment, and I was delighted to be invited to join, along with two others who had gained experience in establishing the University of New England. This group, with several others, was later appointed to the Interim Council. The University, consisting of Council and Convocation, was established by the Macquarie University Act 1964, which by proclamation commenced on 12th June of that year. The Interim Council had a most interesting series of meetings, as it had to construct all the regulations, decide upon courses to be given and methods of teaching, and many other matters including academic appointments. The position of Vice-Chancellor was an immediate problem, because several of the people who might have been expected to be interested in it had already been appointed to the Interim Council. It was felt that some might not wish to apply. For instance, the Deputy Vice-Chancellors of the other three Universities were on the Council. The Chairman excluded from a Selection Committee all members of Council thought to be eligible by way of qualifications and age, and all were deemed to be applicants whether they agreed or not, together with others from outside the Council who cared to apply. A very acceptable choice was Alexander George Mitchell, Professor of English at The University of Sydney. I pay tribute to the integrity of the Selection Committee as I never did learn the names of any of the other candidates. The Hon. Mr. Justice Rae Else-Mitchell was invited to be Vice-Chairman of Council. The structure of the new University gave us a very interesting time, because practically all members had ideas about changes that should be made. Many had followed the discussions which had led to changes in the newer British Universities. In thefirstplace it was agreed that the University would provide courses for full-time, evening and external students. It was thought that in the Australian Universities, Faculties were too big and Departments too small. Moreover the divisions between subjects had become much more diffuse, and there had been a big growth of specialised studies within and between them. It was also thought that there ought to be opportunities for students to spread their studies over broad fields, if they so desired, or to specialise strictly. Much morefreedomof choice was desirable, and strongly supported. In retrospect it was amazing how much consensus there was among a most diverse group of people. The suggestion that there should be a separate College for external students was disposed of quickly, in view of the experiences of the University of New England, and it was agreed that there should be no distinction between degrees, however they happened to be earned. While it was envisaged that there would be Colleges of Law and Medicine within a few years, and appointments of these fields had been made to the Interim Council (Sir Edward Ford, Wallace Freeborn and Howard Morris Saxby in Medicine and Edward William Howitt and John Francis Lincoln in Law), it was decided to form only a College of Arts and Sciences in the first instance. It was then agreed that the following schools within this College be set up to commence undergraduate teaching in 1967:- Behavioral Sciences; Biological Sciences; Chemistry; Earth Sciences; Economic and Financial Studies; Education; English Studies; Historical, Philosophical and Political Studies; Mathematics and Physics; Modern Languages. It was further decided that the body responsible for academic matters would be the Academic Senate, which in the developmental stage of the University would consist of the Vice-Chancellor, one of the two Deputy ViceChancellors, the Professors and the Librarian. The Registrar would be Secretary of the Academic Senate. In view of my past experiences with my academic colleagues I was most relieved to get acceptance of a School of Earth Sciences, at this early stage, but was shocked some time later, when, during my period of absencefromthe Council, other advisers prompted it to recommend that the first two chairs should be in Geography and Geophysics. Being convinced that Geology had to be the basic subject in a school of Earth Science I was forced to conduct a very spirited fight on its behalf, and succeeded in getting an agreement that the chairs should be in Geography and Geology or Geophysics - the choice in the latter case to be determined by the calibre of the candidates. Having taken my stand on Geology I felt that I had thereby disqualified myselffromapplying for the chair.

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My sabbatical leave took me away from council meetings for the period July 1964 - August 1965. On my return from my sabbatical year overseas I settled back into the University of New England and did not apply for the Macquarie chair. However I felt distinctly unhappy about it, as I had become very much involved, and the opportunity to set up such an institutionfromthe start greatly appealed to me. Therefore, I accepted a position on the Selection Committee. On the day before the Committee was to meet Professor Mitchell asked me whether I really was interested or not. I explained my position to him, and I am afraid was too easily persuaded to give him an application, which he took to the meeting. I, of course, decided that I had business elsewhere. I was really delighted when he rang me after the meeting and told me that the University was offering me the chair. Rumour reached me later that my oldfriendand rival Professor Samuel Warren Carey had given me very strong support. A later leakage gave me the names of some much younger contestants, all of whom, I am pleased to record, were subsequently appointed to comparable or more senior chairs. The professors appointed in October 1965 had the opportunity to determine the regulations for the geology degree. As to the degree itself it was soon realized that we would have great difficulty in offering more than a Bachelor of Arts. There was much support for the view that students should have as much freedom of choice of subjects within the College. A strong reaction against the restrictions of the Faculty system which allowed little choice was felt in varying degrees by all. On the other hand it was agreed that at least one subject had to be studied in depth. My personal attitude, obviously based on my views of geology, was that there should be the opportunity for geologists to study geophysics - and this necessitated the introduction of smaller units, such as those in use in American Universities under a credit-point system. However we did not wish to block the entry of students from other Universities. Indeed, by removing some of what we thought were objectionable restrictive regulations, we would be able to allow students to proceed with their courses and get their degreesfromus. I devised a method based on 24 credit points per year on the basis that each course in Sydney University would have a fixed rating eg., taking Sydney University's course in Science I each comparable subject at Macquarie would have 6 credit points; in Science II 8 points; and Science III 12 points. Total 72. This did not receive immediate support from Arts subject lecturers, as it didn't quitefitthe regulations of Sydney's certificate degree course. However a compromise motion was narrowly passed, accepting the principle that a degree could be given for an approved 68 credit points with not less than 12 at third year level standard. Because it was then possible to select unitsfromthe various schools, courses could be constructed to fit a number of different aspects of Geology. In particular, a course in economic geology could include requisite mathematics, geophysics, mineralogy, economics and so on, while petroleum geology could include courses in biology and chemistry as required. However regulations had to be made to prevent studentsfromtaking a course for which they had insufficient background, e.g. parts of the mathematics offering were needed to understand senior courses in geophysics; inorganic chemistry, done either for the Higher School Certificate or forfirstyear university, was required for mineralogy and petrology. Those courses which were needed in this way were called prerequisites, but they had to be prescribed with caution and sparingly, to avoid too much restriction of choice. After some experimentation and experience of students' needs, additions and modifications were madefromyear to year. Increasing staff numbers led to the offering of a wide diversity of courses over the next few years which saw the introduction of second, third and fourth year programmes. Sixteen years later it was decided to award a Bachelor of Science degree, based on the units taken. Though students had thefreedomto take subjects outside their respective fields of interest, most had preferred to do as much as possible within it, and the advocates of a general broad education had only limited success in their predictions of its success. I took up my appointment as Professor of Geology and Head of the School of Earth Sciences on 1st April 1966 and spent the rest of the year preparing to start teaching in 1967. Staff appointments made were: Professor of Geography Arthur James Rose MA (NZ); Lecturers in Geology - K. Burns B.Sc. PhD. (Tas), S.E. Shaw B Sc (WA) PhD (NEV Technician- G R^Cox; Secretary - Irene Turnbull. Kerry Burns and Stirling Shaw had both been members of the Geology staff at The University of New England, and I had supported their applications, because I was sure of their ability and enthusiasm, and because they had the necessary specialfieldswhich were to be the basis for early courses. In particular Burns had a mathematical background and an interest in geophysics and computing. Shaw was a very S^oSolf ° S ^ m i s t r y . I was able to cover stratigraphy and the early stages e X p e n e n C e m

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laboratory and for distribution to external students - large numbers of each sample being prepared to allow for future losses and expansion. Fortunately we had the opportunity to plan the layout of the first year laboratory. This had to fit into the modular plan for the whole university, the basis of which was laid out by the University Architect. The benches were arranged so that each student had a set of drawers for rock collections and power points were placed in convenient positions for microscopes, lights and other equipment. Side benches with sinks and water supply were arranged along one side. A preparation room was included at the rear of the laboratory. Because the courses were to be given to day students, evening and external students, different teaching techniques were required. I decided to experiment with a method much in use in America - that of building the course round a suitable textbook - thus avoiding the need for students to take copious notes and also the need to send out large amounts of material to external students. The book which I regarded as most suitable for the courses I had envisaged was "Strahler" which I was able to divide into Earth Science A (3 credit points) and Earth Science B (3 credit points), the two being comparable to Geology I in other Universities. By introducing multiple choice tests at intervals on specified chapters, a short note of directions was sufficient to indicate what should be memorised and what should be understood. Internally, the tests were supervised, but external students were on an "honour system" while working at home - but supervised when at the University. The multiple choice tests were all, of course, marked by computer. Recording of tests and students results were computerised, and various checks were made - for instance if the results of any of the external student's unsupervised work differed by more than 20% from their supervised, I questioned their honour and watched them. Adjustments could be made for students who for good reasons missed any tests and so on. Computing made it easy to mix in the various tests with variable weightings, and candidates were listed in order of merit. The numbers of students to be enrolled at Macquarie University, year by year, were decided by the University Commission on an EFTS (i.e. equivalent full time student) basis. Evening students counted as one half and external students as one quarter of a full time day student. Within the total enrolment the Heads of Schools considering their teaching faculties were able to decide what numbers they were prepared to take in each category. Because all of my staff were ex-New England University and we had all had sufferedfromsmall numbers of students, we agreed that we would take all those offering. This was not well received by our colleagues, who had not shared our country problems, and were more keen on restricting their class numbers. We also undertook to offer evening and external courses in geology and geography during subsequent years. In particular, we took large numbers of evening and external students - in fact the three groups turned out to be nearly equal. These decisions to take many students were most fortunate ones for the School because they meant that there were good numbers of students in subsequent years of the course. Staff from year to year were allocated according to student numbers. The School of Earth Sciences grew rapidly, and within a few years had staff in Geology, Geography and Geophysics comparable or greater than that in the older and larger Universities. In none of the other universities did Geology staff exceed those in the basic science subjects of Chemistry and Physics, as they did at Macquarie - though let me confess that I do not really feel that this was entirely a satisfactory balance in the University. The following list shows the staffing position in the School of Earth Sciences at Macquarie University in its fourth year of teaching. Its composition partly reflects the balancing of views within the School and partly the student demand. A second Professor of Geology, PJF. Howard had been appointed, and there were two Associate Professors E.T. Linacre and J J. Veevers. The nine Senior Lecturers were - G.C. Bischoff, A. A. Brownlea, K.L. Burns, M.T. Daly, T.R. Paton, A.S. Rundle, S.E. Shaw, J.A. Talent, and R.H. Vernon. Lecturers were - T.W. Beed, R.L. Blackwood, A.P. Campbell, M.F. Clarke, P.J. Conaghan, P. Crabb, P.H. Curson, Katherine P. Doddridge, T.H. Green, H.W. Gutsche, R.J. Henderson, R. Higgs, P.A. Krinks, J.V. Langdale, R.J. Lewis, J. Lusk, D.E. Owen, C. Mc A. Powell, P. Shanker, J.W. Tayton, S.S. Webster, M.A. Williams, covering a wide range of geological, geophysical and geographical specialties. Nevertheless some part-time Lecturers were needed to fufill our demands: they were B.E. Hobbs, J. Mills and A. Ritchie. There were four Senior Tutors - R.J. Blong, R.H. Flood, M.J. Garrett, and J.H. Rawling; four Tutors - B.A. Badcock, A.R. Dell, I.R. Plimer, and Colleen E. Taylor, and one Part-time Tutor - R. King. Catharine Holland was our only Research assistant. Part-time Honorary Associates were AJ. Hargraves, N.J. Mannix, A.L. Mather, G.H. Taylor and AJ. Wennerbom. At thefirstgraduation ceremony at Macquarie University one Master of Science and twenty seven Bachelors of Arts in Earth Science were admitted to degrees - the greatest number from any school. From then on the school has produced many geologists, geographers and geophysicists. It can be readily realized that while I had previously tried to maintain contacts with all my fellow geologists, their numbers now began to expand at such a rapid rate that it was impossible

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to know them all. It is not even possible to include brief notes on the Macquarie Earth Sciences staff, so numerous are they. After living for 27 years in a small country town we found life in the city very different, as did the other members of staff who had come down from Armidale. First we had to buy a house, and fortunately found one about 5 miles from the university, close to a growing shopping complex called Carlingford Court. A bus running regularly to Epping Station stopped outside, but generally I drove to work. The staff during the preparation year were housed in the 27 dwellings taken up by the Government when it appropriated the site. Most of these buildings we found useful at least during thefirstfew years. Earth Sciences shared premises with Behavioral Sciences and here we assembled our rocks, fossils and equipment, prepared our courses and ordered our library books. Fortunately, MissTurnbull, our Secretary, was very experienced and a tower of strength during the time I was in charge of the school. It was a very busy and exciting year when we got to know each other and came to terms with the city of Sydney. Some of the social events were noteworthy and most enjoyable: on 30th March we had the Ceremony of Laying the Foundation Stone (using Bowral Syenite, which I helped to select in a local stone-mason's quarry). The following year, on 31st May we had a Ceremony to mark the Beginning of Teaching in the University - The Governor unveiled a plaque. Teaching had in fact started on 6th March 1967, after a couple of days of great interest to learn what the students' selections were. They discussed their programmes with staff members seated at tables in the laige central room of thefirstnew Macquarie building, which then housed all the staff, and contained lecture rooms and other facilities. We settled in to the new building and watched the others go up - all in bare grey concrete. They were improved later, when mercifully hidden to some extent by the vegetation, particularly the tall gum trees. In thefirstyear, 1967, the School of Earth Sciences offered Earth Science A and Earth Science B to day, evening and external students, and in addition Lithology and Elements of Geophysics f or day students only. Man and His Environment was designed to cover Human Geography, Earth Science B, being largely Physical Geography, also counted in this discipline to make up its credit points. Students were advised not to lake more than 9 credit points in the school - if they were intending to specialise in Geology - as they would need strength in the otherfieldsof science. Geophysics was introduced as a first year option to give students a taste for it early. Pre-requisites or co-requisites (done concurrently with the course) were prescribed for the more advanced offerings, eg. besides the prerequisite of Elements of Geophysics, Calculus I was a prerequisite, or co-requisite, for Exploration Geophysics and Geophysical Field-work to be taken in the second year. Similar provisions made for special fields, in this and other disciplines, overcame the necessity for a four year science course to some extent, and allowed assimilation of a subsidiary disciplinein this case Geophysics, within three years, instead of the necessity of tacking it on the end after the student had obtained a grounding in Mathematics and Physics. Arrangements were made for giving practical courses andfieldwork for external students through provision of Vacation Schools. They were also served with regular lecture notes and instructions and taped material by mail. Sometimes lectures were taped especially for the purpose, and in other cases tapes were taken directlyfromthe lectures actually delivered to the internal classes. Having such a large staff brought with it much administrative work, which was not difficult to handle because it was initially a labour of love, but getting sufficient finance for teaching and the research needs of the individuals was much more of a problem. Recognising the above I had to continue my long-standingfightfor what I regarded as a fair share of the available funds. I never did accept the idea that Geology was a low level subject which did not need expensive l . f ° equipment, in the first year, but I had requested $12,000 and $8(X)0 so regarded these grants as madequate. To be fair, I did get increases in subsequent years, but I was never quite satisfied. My personal weakness was that I had never been an "instrument man", so I leaned over backwards to get the best equipment which members of my staff requested. Consequently, when the Vice Chancellor asked me to S X « ^ university by financial gnn.pa to Sydney. r e C

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You will recall that the Committee of Advisers to you, with regard to development, reported against the appointment of a Professor of Geophysics on the grounds that this University could not afford to give him the necessary equipment Considering the recent newspaper reports on appointments and shortages of geophysicists this failure by the University to meet an important developmental need must be regarded as unfortunate. However, the appointment of Dr.Howard as Professor of Geology in thefieldof Mineral Exploration instead was a major contribution which softened the blow. Provision of adequate money to enable research at a high level to be prosecuted is highly desirable and would give a good return to the industry for the investment. The Mining Industry in Australia is at present at an interesting and vitally important stage which is quite unprecedented in any country. Earlier mining booms in America and Africa occurred before scientific techniques were anything like as highly developed as they are today. The acceleration of knowledge in recent times has been so great that each year has added so much that it is necessary to continually keep under review almost every phase of the operation. Those concerned with the maximum development of Australian industry in a modern age must be concerned with ways and means by which these techniques could be applied. They must be concerned also that some persons or organisations are in fact aware of the possibilities and in a position to advise upon them. In many branches of science and industry it is not uncommon to find that the University departments are the places which are expected to keep up with and even advance knowledge in particular areas. In cases where more attention was needed the CSERO was commissioned to undertake special research. A major contribution to the understanding of ore deposits was made by the CSIRO under Dr. Stillwell and Dr. Edwards and their successors. Certain types of research are still the concern of this organisation. Unfortunately, it is not a teaching institution, and consequendy does not provide for industry trained personnel who are capable of using the instruments which the organisation is able to provide. The mining industry has to face a series of problems arising sequentially as it develops. At the moment we are mainly in the exploration and discovery stage with the long established mines producing and some of the newer ones about to do so. The developmental stage will follow, and then, as the richer ores become exhausted, methods of dealing with lower grade ores become of increasing importance. As mines are made deeper, problems of rock mechanics will arise, and skilled and expertly trained mining engineers will need to be available to meet them. Detection of ore-bodies which differ less and less from the country rocks in their properties becomes an increasingly complex problem for the geophysicist. Sophistication of methods of geological and geochemical work will lead to more and more discoveries. It is mv submission that the Universities should be in the forefront of research and that the CSIRO should continue as at present to concentrate on certain particular problems. There has been a recent falling off in the capabilities of Universities to carry out this role and unless help from outside the University is forthcoming thev will cease to be regarded as of any significance. The reasons for this failure arefirstof all the lack of sufficient qualified personnel to press their case with the University authorities or with the Research Grants Committee. Industry did not employ many geologists because the rich ores they were exploiting were easy to get. Few economic geologists were appointed to University staffs. A notable event, however, was the support given to the University of Adelaide by Broken Hill Proprietory Company in the appointment of Professor Rudd to the Chair of Economic Geology. Several other Universities made lecturing appointments in economic geology but most of these have now resigned their positions in favour of more lucrative ones in the mining industry. Macquarie University, with one Professor and four lecturers in this area now, has by far the largest group of people in Australia devoted to research in ore genesis. With a senior lecturer and four lecturers (concerned mainly with exploration) in geophysics the School of Earth Sciences is poised for advanced work in training and research in this area also. (N.B. It is hoped that a professorial appointment is imminent). In the other Australian Universities it would appear to be impossible to make any major additions in the fields of economic geology and exploration geophysics. Over the years Professor Rudd only succeeded in getting one lecturer. The Universities of Monash and LaTrobe have not yet entered thefieldsof geology and geophysics. The second major drawback to both teaching and research is lack of funds for equipment and travelling. Research funds at the moment are very small, because few of the people concerned have had sufficiently long

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records to attract major grants. Because of the relatively small size of Geology Departments and the view held by many other scientists that they did not require expensive apparatus it has been very difficult to keep up at all with new developments. The position is accentuated because mining companies have become prosperous and are able to buy costly and highly sophisticated machines for their own use. They have had to get personnel from overseas and (have to) attempt to train operators themselves. Significant among new developments is remote sensing - a technique which enables the operator to record many different features not visible in aerial photographs or detectable by other cheaper means. This is an area which literally screams for attention by University-trained people. It is far beyond their dreams in the light of expected and predictable earth science allocations. A similar situation exists in geophysics. The only way University staff can even see much of the modern equipment is by visiting or working for mining companies. Considering that industry is at our doors asking for graduates the position is almost ludicrous. It means that our graduates, though trained in theory, are not in any position to further developments in vital areas. Recognising the acceleration of knowlege and rapid changes in techniques mentioned above I think it is easy fn appreciate mv concern for the future of University contributions to our National development with respect to mining. I would like to add this note since I am forced to take two different attitudes according to the circumstances. In the Academic Senate I have to play down the costs of geophysics and other developments in order to get them started. In doing so I am not dishonest, but living in the manner to which I have been accustomed for the last 31 years spent in Universities. I am used to a poor man's income and over these years have managed to survive and make some minor contributions on it. In the industrial sphere with millions being spent on mining, with Australia already earning over $1 000 000 000 per annum from the industry, I think I might be excused for feeling that there is no longer any need for living as if we were in the depression years. Indeed, it is now very much in the interests of industry that a new look at the situation should be taken. I have been responsible for the training of an appreciable number of geologists at present engaged in the mining industry and in the past the total amount of money given me for the use of the department by industry has amounted to $1 000 plus several grants of this order to a member of staff over 30 years! In the present situation would it not be in the interests of Australia's development, and indeed of shareholders, for me to be thinking in terms of $500 000? I would like my views to be conveyed to anyone (particularly in this case to members of University Council) who might be interested in helping us to help the development of the mining industry. If the specific question is asked as to what particular things we need I would be prepared to make detailed submissions. Having regard for the immediate situation with staff at present available I would ask for help in: Research Mineragraphic Microscopes; Geophysical equipment; Geochemical equipment; Vehicles for field work; Remote sensing equipment; Staff for work on remote sensing; Travelling expenses to enable staff to visit mining areas. (This could be covered by contributions by individual companies, e.g. Anaconda gave me a trip to see their operations in Western Australia and this was most valuable to me.) In conclusion may I comment that it is very hard for any individual and even harder for a group of people to keep up with the changes in sciences, applications of scientific discoveries and economic development. I submit that during the last few years it has become a vital matter to support geology departments in the Universities, whereas in the past they did not warrant anything like the same degree of help, simply because the opportunity for them to contribute largely to the economy was not there. Now it is any response to this letter. Certainly no money became available from any outsidefinancialgroup in At the age of fifty nine, and after thirty two years of university teaching, I was getting stale and less tolerant of the r i i r ^? n P ™ conventions. My ideas on democracy do not run to one man (or woman) one vote" for all meetings. It is the basis of the election of our politicians, but much of the benefit is lost with few parties and less choice of candidates, because of the select number involved in pre-selection. It is quite inappropriate m groups where the individuals are definitely unequal e.g., the home, the business, the army and the university. Not aH sporting teams elect their captain by popular vote. The early meetings of Macquarie involved voting by members of council who were all leaders in particular fields and all had equal votes, though each looked to l e S S

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those of their number who had special knowledge of the topic concerned. There was not always unanimity but all accepted the majority vote. I supported the view that the position of the Head of School should rotate, because a number of disciplines was involved, and my experience told me that few professors could be unbiassed in relation to their own specialty - and in my view neither they should be. Overseas I had seen the influence of the Deans, who were in charge of groups of disciplines e.g., Science with Chemistry, Physics, Geology and so on. They had great influence in the degree of development, by controlling finance regulations and other matters, often without proper consultation with the head of the discipline. Because of my biassed view of Geology I could see much benefit to a school by having, say, three years with a head Geologist, the next three with a Geographer, and the next three with a GeophysicisL It would serve as a brake on any excess favouritism, to know that you might be followed by someone who had the chance to indulge his own discipline. The council was all in favour of the limited term, but gave the first appointee five years to get the school started. While I had thought of the rotation as being semi-automatic and in the hands of the Vice-Chancellor, others had thought of taking votes. The matter of election was left open. As the organization of schools proceeded, school committees were formed, eventually including not only all members of staff, but representatives of the students and other schools. In spite of the fact that the Head of School "shall be chairman and executive head", he was bound by decisions of the school. The idea of electing the Head from among the Professors of the School did not appeal to me, mainly for the reason given above. It did not occur to me, even at this time, that it would ever be open to others of lower rank. I was, and still am, used to the idea that a Professor who has worked his way up and been appointed to the top position is highest in status - if not necessarily the most competent all his (remaining) academic life. In the particular case of Earth Sciences I expected that Jim Rose, the Professor of Geography, would automatically follow me and thus change the emphasis I had given. I was becoming more and more jaundiced by the attempts to erode the power of senior staff, which is part of the unfortunate Australian habit of "lopping the tall poppies", naturally so - as I had become one of them! The efforts to exercise "student power" and the increase of student protest demonstrations, often supported by dissident members of staff, worried me as a member of the Discipline Committee of Academic Senate. A group of students raided a meeting of Academic Senate on one occasion, giving us need for a real show-down, not assisted by a sympathetic meeting of staff members outside our meeting room. We were helped considerably by having Mr Justice Else-Mitchell in the Chair. The sentence was a reprimand by him. Admittedly I had no trouble within the School of Earth Sciences, partly because traditionally we had all tried to cooperate with our students, and always received a good response. Bare-footed, scruffy, long haired, generally unhappy students were strange to me, and did not appeal. I was not encouraged by the experiences of Professor Dave Brown of AJSLU. who confronted them and was abused. I even contemplated turning up for my last lecture bare-footed, unshaven and in shorts - but I didn't do so - because at the time I don't think they would have noticed. As one who had tried to liberalise the universities, I was being hoisted on my own petard. However, I was cheered by the responses of the more mature students, and gave them my views in the November 1970 edition of the Macquarie Part Time Centre Review entitled: "Why should so much be given to so many so soon"? "At the time of joining the teaching staff of Macquarie University on 1st March 1966,1 was strongly in favour of tertiary education for all who could conceivably profit by it. University quotas are necessary, but, at least, in the Wyndham Year I did not turn away anyone who wanted to study any of the earth sciences. I have tried to avoid doing so ever since. My views have now changed to some extent even though there is still a shortage of geologists and geophysicists. I wonder whether even the secondary-school education as we now know it is as necessary as it used to be for the earning of a good living or the enjoyment of a good life. If we are considering likely ways of life ten years hence we should perhaps consider what should be known. Protests by so many students appear to be mounted on almost any pretext and if any one grievance happened to be settled there can be little doubt that another would be found. There are many reasons for student unrest, and many of us older ones believe that rather than improving conditions this may well lead to the destruction of many communities in which a majority of people are now leading a reasonably happy life. Educators must be very self critical and consider whether the nature of the education imposed upon students -1 would prefer to say offered to them - might not be contributing to the obvious discontent My personal view is that the increasing tendency to lengthen the educational process is one of the main factors. A majority of students starting school at five years of age is getting tired at fifteen and feeling unable to cope

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with the work, or even becoming interested in it at seventeen. When the ragged survivors do get the Higher School Certificate many of the parents tell them that unless they can get a university education they will not be able to make a good living. Even after the lengthening of the High School course to six years there is a strong feeling that a science degree should be spread over at least four years, and to be acceptable to industry postgraduate work is desirable. Is it really necessary for us to require our young to spend seventeen years of their lives in order to enable them to secure a comfortable living in a modern city? Can we blame some who wish to go back to nature, let their hair grow, adopt the relatively simple ways of life of some other primates and sit under the fruit trees without even wishing to learn how to climb them? The tragedy now is that there are not enough trees and we have to educate some of our number to do research on how to kill the fruit flies. While man continues to breed at the present rate he is condemned to organize his resources so that he may stay alive in the city instead of starving in the country. We are faced with the necessity to improve our technologies and to provide for a minority the lengthy educational process which will enable a relatively small number of highly trained people to maintain reasonable living conditions for the rest in an increasingly polluted environment. There will always be some students who will wish to go on and join this group, but a far larger number would be happier to drop out much earlier and earn a living more easily. The decision to provide tertiary colleges for students who cannot be admitted to universities is a partial recognition of this situation and technical education must be involved heavily in this advance, particularly for part-time students. We should perhaps ask ourselves some other questions: Is it as necessary to be able to read, write and do arithmetic in an environment of television, radio, tape recorders and computers, as it was ten years ago? (We once expected a good wife to be able to cook and sew.) Does the teacher earn as much or live as full a life as a builder, a clerk, an electrician or a shop assistant? Can we afford to keep so many people educating the others for so long? Can we really justify the number of people required to teach small groups? Can we afford small classes in the schools and tutorial systems in universities, though they may well be more effective? Increasing education votes of necessity take money from other governmental services such as hospitals, transport, water supply, and even opera houses. Is it really desirable to spend nearly half the income of the State on education? In spite of the complexity of modern life we should try to get away from the apparently prevailing idea that "professions" are better for our children than the "trades", irrespective of whether they have the ability or interest to cope with them. Each person only needs one skill to earn a living, though he may wish to acquire several so that he can have a choice of which he prefers to use. A major problem is to get a student interested in one line of study early enough to allow him to develop his ability in the chosen direction. It is questionable, however, whether students unable to choose should be given volume in breadth for any lengthy period in the hope that an idea will follow. Because of increasing leisure as a result of shorter working hours, adults, if they wish, may continue studies. They can study for pleasure, they can study to improve qualifications, or they can leam new techniques so that they can change their occupation if they so desire. If we can provide sufficient courses to cope with adult demands in variety, quality and quantity there should be less necessity to crowd so much into our children in their adolescent years or to keep them longer at school. Over-concentration on their studies has contributed to the obvious immaturity of so many university students compared with those of the same age who are engaged in other occupations. The achievements of external students at the University of New England and at Macquarie University have shown how adults already in employment respond when they are strongly motivated and the desire to learn is strong. The credit-point system allows students to specialize and consequently to enjoy what they are doing. Those with some spare time can progress more quickly than others. Only students who enjoy working in some area should be at a university, for they are generally the only successful ones. The protesters are obviously unhappy and want something else. The fact that the more mature student is generally the better one suggests that there should perhaps be a break m the teacher-student educational system as we now have it. For years I have supported students who wished to have their National Service deferred until they finished their studies. I now wonder whether it would not be better for most of them to have a break at the age of seventeen or eighteen, returning some years later, knowing what they really wanted to learn and having a real desire to study. In the past such a return was virtually impossible, but now both part-time and external courses are available.

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CHAPTER 12 THE MINING BOOM AND TRANSITION TO INDUSTRY ( 1970 ). Most people would probably regard the mining boom as having begun with the recognition of payable deposits of nickel ore in Western Australia by Roy Woodall of Western Mining Corporation, in January 1966. This was followed by a number of gold, copper and uranium discoveries, and parallel oil and gas finds in Bass Strait by Esso-BHP. Exploration companies were formed at an increasing rate, the variety of minerals being sought widened, and at last there was a demand for geologists far in excess of supply. Senior geologists with the state Geological Surveys were in great demand, the NSW Survey losing nearly two-thirds of its staff between 1968 and 1970. The losses from university geology staffs staffs were much less. For one thing they were not so close to industry, and few had been really interested in Economic or Mining Geology. There were some, however, who were prepared to take on some short-term consulting work, particularly when this impinged upon their special fields as, for example, the petrology of the ultra-mafic rocks, which were hosts to the nickel minerals. Such consultation posed a problem for the university administrations. In many fields, particularly in Medicine and Engineering, members of staff undertook private work to a greater or lesser degree. How different were the geologists! At a meeting of A.N.Z.A.A.S. in Melbourne in 1967,1 was having coffee with Len Hall in the Southern Cross Hotel. Len and Dick Relph had resignedfromthe NSW Geological Survey in 1962 to form one of the earliest of the Australian geological consulting companies. On this occasion Len introduced me to Mrs. Millie Phillips. She mentioned that she wanted to set up a mining company and asked me how she could do it My reply was "first find a mine". Her answer was that she had yet to set up a company in order to raise the money to look for one, let alone buy one. I was quite unused to business dealings, floating companies and the like, and it took me some time to realize fully that producing metals meant more than just identifying a suitable mineral deposit and putting up a treatment plant. On our return to Sydney she visited me at Macquarie University and told me that the moves for setting up a company had been put in train and asked me where she might look for suitable targets. I suggested the search for petroleum in the area around Moree. I also put her on the trail of sapphires in New England. As the sapphires were in the Eocene gravels overlain by basalt I advised pegging over basalt near areas where sapphires were found in adjacent creeks. Naturally Mrs. Phillips wanted to go in for nickel, so I introduced her to some members of my staff as I was getting too busy with academic matters to do too much outside work. Stirling Shaw, being a Western Australian and wellacquainted with the ultra- basic rocks of the Central Goldfields, accepted an assignment to go across and peg out likely available areas, which he did very well. Kerry Burns sought other areas and Gunther Bischoff had a look at the petroleum possibilities. International Mining Corporation N.L. was floated in December 1970, having acquired properties in the name of Mrs. Phillips's private company, Milstern Exploration Pty. Ltd. I was given the opportunity to buy 1000 shares at 10c and 1000 options at lc. These were thefirstand only shares that I ever bought It was, as I found out later, a most profitable investment. Activities started accelerating and I was beginning to notice some shortage of staff for odd jobs, though they were all careful to be present for lectures, demonstrations and scheduled work. I had been offered $12 000, plus extras, to advise a mining company, without having to give up my University position, and this figure was more than my Proessor's salary at the time. If I had thought I could do this without undue interference with my university work I might have tried, but realistically it would have been impossible for me to cope. I kept the Vice-Chancellor informed in general terms of the outside activities of myself and staff, and pointed out that overseas many Universities gained high reputations, because of the extra-mural work of their staff, and used the Colorado School of Mines as an example. Professor Mitchell was quite shaken at my mention of the $12 000, but agreed with my conservative academic view that there had to be some limit imposed on such work. The issue as to what staff members could properly do as consultants, and what they should be paid might become critical. What had to be well understood was that outside work must not interfere with University commitments. It was clear, however, that it was impossible to police this, and really all that he as Vice-Chancellor and I, as Professor, could do, was to see that teaching was not neglected. There was no way of determining whether it interfered with research, as some staff members didn't do much in any case. As far as the students were concerned I had long been aware that they respected a lecturer who had practical experience more than one with only theory. Students were not under restraints about taking on outside work, except in regard to scholarships, and a number, remembering of course that many in external and evening courses were of mature age, worked as consultants for companies, and at least one became a Director. While there were some signs of unease in the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales, some of the staff members there indulged rather heavily in mining affairs, apparently without violating any rules, if indeed rules existed at all. Some science professors at least, following long established custom in medicine, had been consulting in their special

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fields. For some time Professor Charles Marshall had been carrying out really important work on coal-washing which revitalised the industry. There was some feeling that staff members should not become directors of Public Companies - though inevitably many were directors of family or private companies. Frankly I didn't know what restrictions, legal or moral, applied or should apply to academic staff, and I still don't. To add to my confusion the Registrar of the University of Sydney, Mr. Hugh McCredie, rang me to ask whether I would be interested in becoming a director of Sedimentary Uranium NJL. Of course I had to turn it down, but it is of some interest to note that while in the act of writing this chapter I was elected to that position together with Mr. McCredie - just 10 years later. In late 19691 was sounded out by Robin McQueen, a representative of Mining Finance Corporation (MFC), then part of the Slater Walker Group, to see if I would carry out some work for them during my forthcoming sabbatical leave. I had thought to spend this with John Lounsbury again, but this time at the University of Arizona in Phoenix. The MFC offer, as it developed, involved my appointment, on my return from leave and retirement from the University, as one of the company's directors, with special responsibility for advising on the broader aspects of exploration policy. This was a most exciting invitation, given my life-long interest in ore deposits and their formation, and my previous experience of mineral exploration in Victoria and Northern Australia. Following these discussions I advised the Vice-Chancellor of my decision to retire on my sixtieth birthday, 11th April 1971, and worked on finishing up all my outstanding university projects, prior to departing on ten months sabbatical leave. MFC agreed to pay for most of my trip, in return for me doing some work relevant to the future of the Corporation, but I was left to arrange the programme as I wished, attending conferences and visiting universities. It was recognised that I could do most good by renewing contacts and making others who could give us information if we should need it in the future. Before I left Sydney to go overseas the Macquarie University Council approved the position of a Professor in Geophysics, and it was suggested that I might interview any overseas candidates and to get personal opinions on them if possible. I could rest happily that my departure from the university would not leave any unauthorised gap. There would be many possible highly-qualified geologists to fill my position as well. OVERSEAS ONCE MORE - THIS TIME FIRST CLASS My wife and I left Sydney on 19th June 1970 and flew first to Johannesburg via Mauritius. In the business centre of the city we called at the Anglo-American office to see the Chief Geologist, Dr Whiteside and also met D.G. Cooper, Mining Geologist on Selection Trust. We discussed the prospects of Coalex, as they had previously been interested in a joint-venture proposition. I was somewhat embarrassed to learn that they knew more about it than I did, and I realized that I had not been properly briefed. We had dinner with the Irish family, relatives of Mike McAlister (of MFC), and learned a great deal about the employment of blacks and their relationship with the whites in South Africa. Phyllis was thrilled when a waiter arrived at our hotel room with a beautiful vase of flowers, arranged by Mike McAlister to appear on her birthday. It looked as if working for a major industrial corporation might not be too bad. We flew on to Cape Town for the Geological Society of South Africa meeting and the Gondwana Symposium, staying in the spartan comfort of Fuller Hall, the womens' college of the University of Cape Town. I visited the Geology Department (Chairman - Professor Simpson) and was impressed by its well set up museum and by the old fashioned manners of the students, so very differentfromthose in "more culturally advanced" countries. In a letter to a friend at the time I wrote: "There are about a dozen universities in South Africa, each with a relatively small geology department. Most teach in English but a number use Africaans - following on from the schools. Instead of State and Catholic schools, here there is a dual system of English-speaking and Africaans speaking and there is some compulsion to stick to one or the other. In a relatively mild sort of way - such as that existing in Northern Ireland there appears to be more of a problem between the English and the Africaans than between the Europeans and the Bantu. As in America the effects of the Civil War are remembered with much the same heat as the Battle of the Boyne. The Geological Society of South Africa agreed on an English speaking procedure and the Africaans did as well as they could. Everything here is written in the two languages - English one end or one column and Africaan the other. The printing costs of this division must be really appreciable in the economy - road signs, advertisements all in two languages. (Only Swaziland is worse as it has to use three.) "They are both very sure of their relationships with the native inhabitants and say that they are on the side of the Europeans and against the communist-inspired groups in the north. They are standing up well under the circumstances but say that they had no idea that sanctions would last so long. Their version is obviously slanted in the white direction but they do not seem very worried about local trouble. Bond says he has done field work all over the country f d ,ha? n f c e r f ™ ^ o r w o r r i ed for his safety. There are very strong ties between the English of Rhodesia and the English of South Africa and ties with the United Kingdom are far stronger than those between Australia and the United

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Kingdom. The papers deal with news from England and in a very minor way with the U.S.A. One feels far more involved with the old British Empire in this Republic than one is in Australia." Discussion at the GSSA meeting was mainly on the theme of water supply and water resources, but true to instructions from Ron Vernon I listened carefully, if unintelligently, to John Ferguson's papers on the carbonatites (of Canada!) Dr. Ferguson wass one of the petrology lecturers at The University of Witwatersrand, and was considering the possibility of moving to Australia (to the Bureau of Mineral Resources). I didn't get much that was useful from this meeting, except contact with a number of the survey and economic geologists - some of whom, as I predicted, did not stay to attend the Gondwana Conference. The group as a whole was rather dull, but interesting people included Professor G. Bond from the Geology Department of the University College of Rhodesia and Dr. I. Goldberg, a consultant for Anglo-America, who gave me some good first-hand stories of Rhodesia. The arrival of the participants in the Gondwana symposium heralded a marked change in tempo. There were over 200 of whom 100 were from overseas - 28 nations being represented. Organization was carried out by the publicity staff of CSIR., backed by governmental finance and aided by all facilities. The Pakhuis Pass excursion, north of Cape Town for about 200 miles, along the western margin, helped me to get some idea of the geological structures and gave me my first view of the Dwyka Tillite, which resembled the Kullatine tillites of the Macleay and Manning areas very closely. Thus I began to believe in continental drift - now universally accepted, but at that time time awaiting confirmation. After the Cape Session of the Conference we left our nunnery and travelled for 5 days on the South African railways bus tour, along the Garden Route to Durban, followed by a 6 day tour along the Garden Route to Durban, and another 6 day tour through Swaziland to the Kruger National Park, visiting Hluhlue (pronounced Slewie) on the way. The high ridges of Table Mountain Sandstone which had been running north-south turned suddenly to east-west with a great fault marking the change. There was an intensity 7 earthquake the previous year in this area which wrecked several towns. The folds continued to East London, giving some spectacular scenery. The "coastal plain", several hundred feet high, was cut by deep gorges like those in the Hornsby Plateau near Sydney, making road and rail transport difficult. Thorn scrub on the high flats changed dramatically to rain forest in these little gorges, much to the delight of the baboons which greeted us, as we crossed water-courses at the bottom. In places, giant cactus forests, like those in Nevada, took over. We were then startled to go through great forests of blue gum and pine. The coming in of the rocks of the Karoo System brought physiographic changes, but of greater interest was the Bantu homeland of the Transkei. This rather bare area is dotted with villages of rounded mud huts, with thatched tops and many people around them. The whole extent of the region is unbelievably tidy. The people are occupied and engaged in grazing cattle, sheep and goats with odd pigs. They live largely on meal made from corn, and trade for wives with the cattle. Soil erosion control is evident everywhere, and even though a major drought was on, water ran in the streams. Again the scenery was spectacular between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Professor Lester King collected me in Durban and drove me to see an excellent section of the Dwyka Tillite. I was surprised at the sections of Ecca Series and the overlying Beaufort (famous for its fossil vertebrates) which closely resembled our Burindi-Barraba sequence in the New England. We had to produce our passports to enter the kingdom of Swaziland - which was a British Protectorate. The standard of everything except the cotton and sugar-cane cultivation dropped sharply. However, we paid an evening visit to the Casino. This, of course, was introduced as a source of income for the Swazis - none of whom were present Evening dress was in order and it all looked very professional - too much so for us, as the betting unit on the tables was too high. We settled for the poker machines, which made us feel somewhat at home. The road then went through more rugged country than I had previously seen, past the largest asbestos mine in the world at Havelock. A 13 mile trip by wire takes the asbestos to the rail-head at Barbeton. I was able to follow the Precambrian units on the proof copy of the new geological map of South Africa,which I had been given at the Conference I had not realized that Mozambique was separated from South Africa by a steeply dipping continuous ridge - of Jurassic acid volcanics. From the air I had previously noted the gently-dipping Cretaceous and Tertiary beds forming questas with the dip towards Lourenco Marques. From Barberton we went through the tropical citrus-growing region of the Low Veldt to Kruger National Park. I was glad I hadn't worried about a telephoto lens, as we were close enough to all the animals, except the lions, to fill up the frame. It is much more interesting looking for animalsi in their native habitat than seeing them in the zoo - but after two days everyone had the feeling - Oh! its just another giraffe." The trip to Jo-burg enabled me to see superficially the succession of quartzites, cherts, jaspilites etc. in the Transvaal System of the Precambrian which unconformably overlies the older gneisses. We just touched the edge of the Bushveldt Complex and crossed over the main coalfields in the Ecca Series. We once again setded in to an austere Womens College this time at Witwatersrand University, and the Gondwana Conference reconvened. We became very friendly with two Argentine couples, Professor and Mrs. Amos from La Plata and Professor and Mrs. Camacho from Buenos Aires. The three women kept together and enjoyed themselves mightily.

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I had one day with a group at the West Rand Consolidated Uranium and Gold Mine - one of the oldest on the field went down to over 5,000 feet and collected a piece of banket in situ. The uranium is finely disseminated through the rock and only detected by Geiger counters. Professor Bain of Amherst (U.S.A.), given the credit for first recognizing the occurrence, was presented with some green diamond specimens at a party given us by the Chamber of Mines. I was impressed by the spacious Geology Department at Witwatersrand University, and in particular by its excellent museum and mineral-teaching collection. At that time the department had only three to five permanent lecturers, and these were obliged to teach 15 to 20 hours per week. There was a real shortage of geologists in South Africa, but it was not nearly as acute as in Australia. The design and layout of each department I saw was closely related to the needs of the subject, rather than the restrictions on activity imposed by Macquarie's modular designs. Every building I saw provided much more comfortable living. Hie Wits block was magnificent, housing Geology, Economic Geology and Mining - just what we needed at Macquarie. In the museum in the basement at Wits were beautifully laid out specimens and displays, excellent for teaching - all the specimens of the Bushveldt and every other suite being labelled and well lit There was also a strong-room displaying the largest gold crystal and diamond specimens. The teaching value of this set-up was so great that, after seeing things in this relatively small country, I wondered why the Macquarie buildings had to be shrieking poverty. We left Johannesburg on 28th July and reached London at the end of August, after visiting Las Palmas, Lisbon, Zurich, Munich, Stockholm and Oslo. The geological highlights included incredible volcanic conglomerates in the Canary islands and the Lofoten Islands above the Arctic Circle in Norway. In Oslo I visited the Geology Department at the University and talked with the petrologist-geochemist Professor Rosenquist. I then went to the Geologisk Museum and had a long talk with the Director and Professor of Geochemistry, Dr. Knut Heier, who had worked in the Australian National University, and who supervised Trevor Green's work. He gave me some idea of the geology of Oslo. Palaeozoic rocks exposed along the foreshores of Oslo Fjord were quite a change from the battered Precambrians seen over most of Scandinavia. The tip from Oslo to Bergen was a geological spectacular, with interesting geography and history thrown in for good measure. The Trolls lend a touch of "something different" in Scandinavia, and we were very taken with them. The Australian bunyips should be glamourised a bit more. On arrival in London I renewed contact with Philip Game, Mineralogist at the Btritish Museum of Natural History . We spent a day at his farm in Borough Green, Kent where he had several acres of cob nuts. David Brown of ANU and Drs. Robin and Sue Wass were also visiting the Museum. Most of the geologists of Imperial College were away but I had a long talk on the organization of Mining Engineering with Professor R.N. Pryor and came away with a calendar which I can now interpret. He brought up-to-date his dossier on Roger Higgs. The Mining Engineers oppose altering their regulations to give much choice of subjects because they like keeping coherence in the group. I went up to Cambridge University and was taken over the Geology Department by Dr. Agrell. Professor Tom Vallance from Sydney was working there at the time and seemed well settled in. This was the cradle of so much geology and new instrumentation that I was suitably overawed. I had an interesting visit to the headquarters of Hunting Geology and Geophysics and was shown round by the experts in geological mapping, aerial photography, x-ray work and a number of different kinds of geophysical investigations. Much of their work was being done in underdeveloped countries for UNESCO. Impressive departments of Geology and Geophysics were those at Durham and Newcastle, and in both places I was treated magnificantly and learned a great deal. Each department had an integrated research group of geologists and geophysicists, and I found it difficult to sort out what was Physics and what was Geology. At Newcastle, I saw most of Professor Ken Creer, whom I had met in South Africa. I also enjoyed being shown round by the Professor of Geology, Professor Westall, a vertebrate palaeontologist and a good friend of Dr. Alex Ritchie at the Australian Museum in Sydney. I was passed from one research man to another, and was well on the way to an attack of intellectual indigestion before being rescued for dinner by Professor Creer and a couple of his students. I made a noble gesture on behalf of MFC by insisting on paying for it! Allan Cook of Wollongong University College was there working on coal technology with the geochemists. I mentioned possible visits by Macquarie staff and would heartily recommend Newcastle as a good place to work in. In appearance the University of Durham could not be more different. Although the Science buildings were new, the castle and cathedral dominate the old-world valley town in a most spectacular setting. The Geology-Geophysics group, however was even more integrated and welded in with engineering - emphasising soil and rock mechanics and many things of interest to Macquarie. This too was a really good university set-up. Professor Brown, Head of the Geology School, seemed to know everyone I knew. He had bigger specimens of moon rock than those I had previously seen, and I had a good look at some microscopic sections, appreciating the differences between these and the basaltic ones I was more familiar with. In both Newcastle and Durham research students expressed interest in going to Australia. Wishing to see somethmg of the geology of Devon and Cornwall (where the Voiseys came from) we spent a week towelling to Lands End, and became generally acquainted with the tin mines, clay mines and rocks in this part of England. An interesting aspect was the use of local stone in building, so I was able to get a look at a lot of different

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kinds by examining the houses when unable to see the beds in situ. The historical side of this trip was, of course, a dominant aspect We started with Stonehenge and ended up in Bath. As planned we flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 1st October,and were welcomed by the Deputy-Minister (UnderSecretary) for Mines and his wife who took us to a little dive for dinner at 1.00 a.m. (London time). As the girl in London had put Montreal labels on our luggage, though giving us tickets and boarding passes to Halifax, we didn't have any fresh clothes, but the luggage finally arrived at 1.00 a.m. Halifax time (6.00 a.m. G.M.T.) Dr. Nowland and the Chief Geologist Dr. Frank Shea showed me over the Mines Department at Halifax and took me to dinner with professors from Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Technical College. On the Saturday, Ed. Brown, Vice-President of National Gypsum Coy. drove us out to the large gypsum quarry which supplies 80% of Canada's output. On Monday, I met the Dalhousie staff, through Dr. Milligan, and once again was impressed by the integration achieved in the science group generally. The Head of the Geology School was another geophysicist, Professor Keen, an Arctic specialist in geophysical work who, like Creer, Bott, Runcorn and Irving, was a product of Bullard's Cambridge University group. The similarity I noted between Dalhousie and Newcastle-Durham was quite marked. There was a close relationship existing between Dalhousie and Bedford Oceanographic Institute which I also visited. Indeed the geophysics group between geology and geophysics at Dalhousie and the Bedford Institute was made up of the same people with overlapping responsibilities. The Technical College was really a senior and post-graduate engineering college and, in fact, part of the University, and there was integration here also. The Mining people were doing experimental work on the separation of celestite from gypsum etc. by flotation. The Nova Scotia Mines Department provided a Toyota and a young geologist who drove us across the province to Monkton, New Brunswick, where we were met by Dr. E. Rintenberg, a seniorfieldgeologist responsible for mapping the south-eastern part of Nova Scotia along the Bay of Fundy. He showed me the general geology and, in particular, the interesting possible ore and mineral occurrences in the area, explaining his views on the structural control. I was impressed by the small size of outcrops and low grades considered worthy of investigation. It was possible for me to examine much of the sedimentary sequence in drill cores, and this tied up well with my knowledge of Appalachian geology to the south. Dr. Rintenberg drove us to Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, where we met the UnderSecretary for Mines, Dr. Smith, and the Director of the Geological Survey, Dr. Potter. The latter drove us up to Bathurst and put us in the care of Mr. Davies, known to John Lusk, who had written to him on my behalf, and he took me over the copper mines, explaining his views on the control of ore deposition. On arrival at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, I joined an excursion to Sudbury, led by Dr Bray, studying alleged evidence of early impact craters produced by astroblemes, even the Sudbury Basin being regarded as a possible crater. Having seen similar structures (on a B.M.R excursion, guided by Dr Dan Milton) at Gosses Bluff, and the meteorite craters at Henbury, central Australia, some years before, it was a very worth-while experience. We called at Toronto to see Alan Jopling who was now Professor of Geography at the university there, and I lectured on "Australian Geomorphology" and "Polycyclic Landforms". In the Department of Geology I met Professor Nuffield and renewed contact with "Crackle-box Smith", who had been determining the temperatures of formation of some orebodies, by crushing the contained quartz and heating in an electric furnace, until a crackling noise, made by the bursting of minute bubbles in it, could be heard. The bursting temperature was then recorded. At this time he was computerising chemical research material, and had catalogued an enormous amount of data. At McMaster University in Hamilton I met Professors Schwarz and Burley, and lectured on "Problems of Mining Geology and Ore Deposition in Australia" and "Polycyclic Landforms." In a welcome return to Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, we stayed with our old friends the Larry Ogdens, and gave two more lectures. We also revisited Detroit to meet the Willard Parsons and to see the staff again at Wayne University. At the meeting of the Geological Society of America at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we mixed with a large number of geologists - too many to mention. We spent a lot of our time with John Conolly and his new wife, and had much to discuss about oil and minerals in Australia. Graeme Philip was on sabbatical leave at the University of Iowa, working with Professor Brian Glenister, who had been a lecturer in palaeontology in the University of Western Australia. After a few days with them we moved on to Hays, Kansas and Fort Hays State College where Professor Myre Walker had built up a magnificant collection of vertebrate fossils, including his particularfieldof birds. Especially relevant to my proposed future in the mining industry was the next visit, to the Colorado School of Mines, Boulder, where I spent some time with Professors Kent, Grosvenor, Carpenter, Bloom, Keller and Weimer. At the headquarters of The Geological Society of America, in nearby Denver, I renewed my acquaintance with Edwin McKee and we had a pleasant evening outing with him and his wife. We flew on to Phoenix, Arizona and stayed with our original American Friends, the John Lounsburys, as he was then Head of the Geography Department at Arizona State University. A visit to Kennecott's Ray Copper Mine was made and a good geological view of Arizona was obtained, with several trips, culminating in a drive with the Lounsburys to Las Vegas Nevada. Staying at Caesar's Palace and spending most of the night doing the town we didn't get much sleep.

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Poker machines were in almost every room, including the toilets. I shall never forget the lack of interest by the players when a baby elephant wandered in, collected his chips and played a machine, trumpeting every time he won! At Reno my host was Dr V.E. Sheid, Dean of the Mackay School of Mines, who had invited me to lecture there. I talked on Australia's Mining Boom and our future with great enthusiasm, not realizing that it was about to burst. It was 13th November 1970. Ken Williams, thefirstFirst Class Honours Graduate in geology from The University of New England was then on the staff of Stanford University in San Francisco and he and his wife welcomed us and showed us the sights. Professor Park, with whom Ken was working was the author of a standard text-book on Mining Geology. We recuperated at the Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki, and decided not to go to Japan, as our daughter Lynette was expecting the arrival of a child, and we didn't want to be away. We arrived back in Sydney a few days before Christmas 1970. Our grandaughter didn't arrive until 12th January. We haven't yet been to Japan.

First earth science graduation ceremony at Macquarie University.

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PART III

APPLYING

13 Mining Finance Corporation (1970-1971) 14 ICI Australia (1971-1975) 15 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (1975-1979) 16 Oakbridge Limited - Ravenshoe and Herberton 17 Era South Pacific, Minerol Investments and Other Companies (1978-1987) 18 Negri River Corporation (1980-1984) 19 Sedimentary Uranium, Cracow Gold and Sedimentary Holdings (1979-1987)

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Dr. Whitten and Alan Polglase at Mt. Windarra Nickel Discovery, Poseidon AustIMM Excursion, 1973.

nMARRUMBUMtifflS

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Me^n

CHAPTER 13 MINING FINANCE CORPORATION (1970-71) We arrived back in Australia just before Christmas 1970, having omitted a quick visit to Japan because we were expecting a grandchild - but in the event had 2 weeks to spare. I had just three months remaining at Macquarie University, as I had my sixtieth birthday on 11th April 1971. I had only three weeks of teaching and to prepare my report for the Vice-Chancellor on the overseas visit. During this period I was able to catch up with some of the dismal series of events concerning the Slater-Walker group, and in particular Mining Finance Corporation, during my absence. My official position - more or less nominal - to enable me to act while I was making enquiries overseas on behalf of the group was Mining Consultant and Adviser to The Australian Industrial and Mining Corporation (AUSTIM), parent company of MFC. News of some of the problems which arose while I was away had leaked through to me, so I was prepared for some troubles. To a late academic they seemed very large - financially at any rate. The rise and fall of Poseidon's shares, the rise and fall of Millie Philip's International Mining Corporation shares, and the total collapse of Mineral Securities in the second half of 1970, could not be ignored, but I was so busy travelling that I did not worry much about things I didn't really understand. Robin McQueen had resigned from Analytical Exploration (ANEXA), MFC's exploration arm, and John Elliott was in charge. David Docherty, Ian Chatfield and Ian Murray had disappeared and Michael McAlister, when I saw him, was friendly but vague and distant. The powerful figures were Graham Mapp, late of Tagus - another Slater Walker subsidiary - who was now Chairman of Mining Finance Corporation. J.H. Hamilton and W.F. Miles were other directors. When they had all worked out who I was, they must have decided to keep me in the organization, in spite of the fact that so many were going out. I have always felt grateful for this, because in view of the magnitude of the crash the agreements with me, as with others, could well have been broken. According to the Sydney Morning Herald of 10th March 1971 "The trials and tribulations of the Austim group over the past year have taken their toll. The Company's figures are due out soon and they are not expected to match previous years. Mr Graham Mapp and Mr J.H. Hamilton as two directors of Mining Finance Corporation have been appointed as directors of Murumba Minerals N.L. together with Dr A.H. Voisey. Mr Hamilton will assume the Chairmanship". Mr Mapp and Dr Voisey have also been appointed to Murumba Oil N.L. and another director will be appointed in due course. Thus follows the resignation of Mr L.B. Graham, Mr I. Chatfield, Mr F.S. Ellsworth as directors of Murumba Minerals and Mr L.B. Graham, Mr F.S. Ellsworth, Mr J.L. Elliott and Dr F. Booker from the Murumba Oil Board". The extent of thefinancialtrouble was indicated by the report in the Daily Telegraph on 23rd April 1971, just after I had joined the group. "One way and another Australian Industrial Mining Corporation Ltd., dropped $19.8 million in the 1970 calendar year, but remained in a reasonably strong position at the year's end". As well as being appointed to the above boards, I found myself not only as managing director of each, but also of the company providing them with all their technical exploration services - Anexa, and of the proprietary companies Wampreg and Spinifex Exploration. I was also appointed as a director of Coalex Pty. Ltd. With so much to look after, I hardly noticed that I had not been appointed to the board of Mining Finance Corporation. That offer came later. The first-class trip round the world was preparation for the high living I expected outside the ivory towers. I had a large well-furnished room in a tall office building in the city, with a pretty secretary to attend to my daily needs, and a floor of accountants below to control my activities. I had long since given away my ideas of a harbour-front dwelling and a yacht or two. Being in the top flight of executives, I had lunch in the board room, of a quality appropriate to our exhalted positions, and with Graham Mapp in the chair. I think that we would have got to know each other better had we had a beer or two after work. Graham did his best, and the atmosphere was pleasant enough, but there was a feeling of unease, largely arising I thinkfroma disillusionment with future prospects. I soon discovered that my part in the operation was to get rid of all the projects that did not give promise of any financial return, and to close the regional offices at Perth, Adelaide and Cairns. Anexa, on behalf of the Murumbas, Wampreg and Spinifex, had spread their activities widely throughout the continent. Joint ventures, involving the expenditure of money and Exploration Licences and Authorities to Prospect, had been taken out in each State. Such operations could not all be closed down overnight, but I worked as quickly as possible, and travelled back and forth over the continent during my first three months. In only one case did we have to pay unexpended money back to our joint venture partner. The most pressing problem was to make a decision on three Authorities to Prospect in north Queensland, west and northwest of Cairns. They had been taken out in hope, not on mining history, and were in effect virgin areas, as far as mineral discoveries were concerned. On the basis that even in those far off days virgins tended to be difficult or uninteresting, and as these appeared to have elements of each, I relinquished them and saved the $90,000 we were supposed to spend. In addition to these, there were other prospects, several quite interesting in the Irvinebank, Herberton and Chillagoe areas, some of which had been costeaned and sampled. The Stannary Hills project had been

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rather thoroughly assessed, but was about to be abandoned before I arrived with the axe. Arnold Offenberg and Rowley Brunker took me round and we critically assessed each mineral deposit. Even if the best possible results were obtained, none were likely to be economic for large scale development, butome had been and later could possibly be exploited by a small syndicate. Leaving Arnold and David Bussard at Ravenshoe Tin Dreding Company (in which MFC had a controlling interest) to tidy up any outstanding work, and to close the Cairns office, I returned to Sydney. While at Herberton I had been shown over the mill by Mr Geoff Farlam, and Arnold told me of his high opinion of the Baal Gammon copper-tin deposit, on leases held by Great Northern Mining Corporation Ltd (51% owned by MFC). Work for this company had previously been carried out by Hall, Ralph and Associates, but with the collapse of the boom their contract was terminated, and now Anexa was asked to continue. I kept this in mind and later,when I realized that Murumba Minerals had plenty of money (about $2,000 000), but no prospects, and Great Northern had good prospects, but no money, it seemed to me that a joint venture was indicated. We worked this out, but Murumba Minerals N.L. was sold soon after it had paid out the money and the agreement had been signed. Nothing more was done for a number of years. In South Australia, Tim Hopwood was in charge of the Regional Office in Adelaide, and was holding on to the Cowell Jade deposit, as we had committed a considerable sum to its study. Samples had been distributed round the world to potential buyers, and there was little doubt about the quality and quantity. However, selling sufficient of the store to make the operation profitable was open to doubt, and reluctantly, because it was possibly the best thing we had, we gave up our interest. The Western Australian office, set up as Wampreg, was run by Mr Ruker, an experienced operator specialising in the interpretation of aerial photographs. Like most others he had been expecting so much from the Slater-Walker group that he was not prepared to give up easily, and was not in agreement with any proposition to do so. He was not making any moves to sell the motor vehicles and realize on the company's assets, or extricate it from various agreements. He successfully evaded all telephone calls from Bill Miles in the Sydney office. Ultimately I was sent across so that I could arrive unexpectedly and confront him. I did this and we talked over many of the problems. In the end he flew over to Sydney and outstanding differences were settled. It was quite distressing to witness the demise of the allied companies in geophysics, computing, drilling and even flying. They had formed a well integrated set-up for exploration, and would have been most effective in the subsequent revitalised activities in mineral search throughout Australia. What I find so sad is the fact that the collapse of Austim was due to the investment in shares of other companies which collapsed. Most of the money raised for the Murumba companies, though reduced by the very fast work by Anexa, was still intact. It had to be preserved to pay for the failure of the other activities of Austim. Murumba Minerals and Murumba Oil had contracted with Analytical Exploration to spend their exploration dollars at a certain rate, but when the collapse of the share market occurred Bill Miles was called upon to stop as much further expenditure as possible, and he curtailed the work - an action which led to the sacking of most of the Anexa staff, which was quite large. They were all working very effectively and happily, so were most distressed at having to break up. Only a small number were retained to service the run down operations. When I took over after the traumatic event I was left with this team: Tim Hopwood - General Manager; Rowley Brunker - Senior Geologist; Les Beddoes - Senior Geologist; Arnold Offenberg - Geologist; Dick Renshaw - Office Manager; Jan Gordon - Draughtswoman; Leslie Bastian - Secretary. John Elliott had resigned, and Les Beddoes was left with a number of possible joint ventures in Western Australia which could have been followed up, and one signed agreement to put down the Lake Hope bore in South Australia, to enable Murumba Oil to join a group in the development of this part of the Cooper Basin. Earlier our geologists had been concerned with a number of other projects, particularly in the Officer Basin. The extent of the collapse of Mining Finance Corporation can be appreciated by consideration of the operations which had been planned within the framework set out below: Year 1 Determine material to be sought. Select and acquire tenements, delineate mineralised zones, application of geology, geochemistry and geophysics. Shallow drilling. $200 000 to be spent in first year. Year 2 Continue economic evaluation; prepare to float company. Advice from engineering division; relinquish some areas. Year 3 Establish profitable mining operation - upgrade tenements. Year 4 Operate and prepare to increase size; prepare to float company. Year 5 Gain public listing; continue with previous programmes; research and development division formed. Year 1 of J i s programme had been just about completed by Murumba Oil, and was well advanced by Murumba Minerals. From my date of commencement it was probably in year 2. When Mining Finance called a halt to the operations by Anexa it broke die contracts made with the two companies, and hence it was possible to work out the ^ ^ g the commencing date. The company Spinifex Exploration seemed to have become lost in the desert and gave me no trouble.

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Although Murumba Minerals N i and Murumba Oil N.L were wholly owned by Mining Finance Corporation they had different shareholders and were different entities. Analytical Exploration, also wholly owned, had suffered heavily from the broken contracts, which had involved its reduction, and the cases against each of the other companies could be clearly seen and financially assessed. As managing director of ANEXAI had to sue the managing director of Murumba Minerals (A.H. Voisey) for the costs involved in these broken contracts. I brought 3 hats into my office put them on the table and dispensed with lawyers - donned each hat in turn and eventually achieved an amicable agreement and finance for ANEXA - on paper at least I did not seek any punitive damages, so there was no necessity for any appeals. MFC was still left with a 51% interest in Murchison Airways, which was losing money very quickly, so I had a short trip once again to Perth, to attend a meeting called to settle the sale. After spending a few hours in the solicitors office, I was sent home again, with the assurance that I was not needed, and the various solicitors would sort it out. Seemingly the legal eagles got one back on me. It shows that anyone can be done without. One consolation is that on all these trips I travelledfirstclass! Having tidied up the affairs of Murumba Minerals and Murumba Oil, and knowing they had more than three million dollars between them, I was hoping for a new and sustained period of exploration. It was not to be. Although there had been some early rumblings, it came as a shock when Mining Finance Corporation sold its interests in the companies to the Barton Group. The sale was quite an event, held in the offices of the Bank of NSW, under great security, with a large group of Queen's Councils, solicitors and accountants. A central table was piled with documents. There were many comings and goings, and the monotony was broken by little meetings of directors to approve particular items. Then there were lots of signatures made under the direction of the men at the tables. After a couple of hours someone brought in a few sandwiches. I was adversely impressed by the fact that nobody produced anything to drink, even though it was a deal involving six million dollars. Mr. Mapp departed with his bank cheque and we followed him out. I still find it hard to figure out what happened to the money that the Murumba's had. In those days we hadn't heard of "bottom of the harbour" schemes. Presumably it disappeared down the bank's lift well and ran out via the buried Tank Stream! I dutifully packed up all the reports and documents belonging to Murumba Minerals and Murumba Oil and delivered them to the Barton Group geologist. I was tempted to keep some, or at least some records of the work, but I had to accept the fact that I had no part in the companies any more. Had I realized that the fate of all this information, collected by highly qualified people, was to go, as I assume it did, to the city's garbage dump, I would have been less conscientious. I was left only with the directorship of Coalex, but I stayed on as usual with the Mining Finance Corporation group in the same office, and took a new interest in the operations of the Lithgow mines. Having been previously involved with the coal deposits of Gunnedah and Werris Creek, I found this change quite worthwhile, particularly because of the tremendous advance in the whole coal-mining scene. The introduction of coal-washing and the development of open cuts as a consequence, meant great changes in the use of various kinds of coal. At Gunnedah, I recall that it was only possible to sell coal with 10% ash to the railways. We had to mix the two seams - Melville and Hoskisson - to keep the grade saleable. Some was sold also to the Tamworth Electricity Plant and there was much consideration given to setting up an additional plant at Gunnedah. As a result of the coal washing techniques - upon which Professor Charles Marshall did much of his research while at Sydney - it became possible to work coal seams with up to nearly 30% ash content. It was possible now to get rid of thin bands of sediment and to work groups of seams, and not be restricted to those only 5 feet thick, as in the past. There was a coal-washing plant at Wallarawang Colliery which was in operation. The mining operation had certain structural problems in the geological setting, but these were being overcome. Lithgow Valley Colliery was also operating, and plans were in train to open up a new colliery in the Wolgan Valley, and round the area held as an Authority to Prospect by Coalex to the northeast The coal operations were running at a slight loss, but thanks to the experience and diligence of Dick Renshaw, who moved up there as manager, and the persistence of Bill Miles, they were brought up to a profitable stage, before I left Geologically, I was able to appreciate the nature of the mining difficulties, one of which was the structural setting, which was later to interest me more and more, when I went to work in the CSIRO laboratories. In the early stages of the investigations the fault patterns were of great importance round the present site of the Clarence Colliery. Coalex had also acquired exploration licences in the Scone area, and Dick Renshaw and I had a look at these projects. I was impressed, but deterred by the prevalence of intrusives similar, and probably related to, those which had been such a nuisance at Gunnedah. We didn't go on with any more work there. Thanks to information given to me and to ICI Australia by Tim Hopwood, I received an offer to become Chief Geologist to that company. This pleased me greatly, and I was relieved that ICI agreed that I could remain in Sydney, provided I was prepared to go to Melbourne and other places on call. This arrangement suited me well. As the conditions of appointment were the same as those I had, I happily accepted. I was very unsure of the future of MFC. I parted on good terms with my colleagues who took me to dinner in Johnny Walker's Steak House as a farewell, none of us realizing that we were to work with each other again.

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Learning about the origin of coal in the Florida swamps: with Sam Friedman, Indiana Survey, and Larry Harrington.

"I have a feeling it's too soon for fossil fuels around here."

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CHAPTER 14 ICI AUSTRALIA (1971-75) I took up my appointment with ICI Australia on 8th November 1971, occupied a room in the company's "glass-house" on the eastern side of Circular Quay, and flew to Head Office in Melbourne next day. The Minerals Manager, Alan Polglase, was a competent administrator, and an excellent person to work with. He had spent his whole working life with the company, and was very well versed in all its operations. There was a staff already working for the wholly owned company, Minimp Pty Ltd., under Ron Abbott (Project Engineer) and Denis Hackett (Senior Geologist), consisting of geologists Bruce Utting and David Dundas, and Vic Subocz (Economist). It was clear that there had been a long standing relationship between the Chairmen of Directors, Sir Archibald Glen (ICI) and Bob Searls (Newmont) I was delighted to learn that Newmont's Chief Geologist was Bruce Webb, a graduate of Sydney University, whom I knew well. The two companies were partners in many joint ventures, but because they were both overseas-owned they had to include one or more Australian companies if they wished to commence mining operations. When possible they invited BHP to participate. First of all I had to catch up with the ICI minerals projects which were already in train before my arrival. One important task was the search for sodium carbonate, since otherwise the company had to manufacture it expensively from limestone and common salt. This elusive mineral is called trona, and it occurs naturally as an evaporite in Africa and elsewhere, though no economic deposit was known in Australia. I looked up one of my old reference books Liversidge's "Minerals of New South Wales",published in 1888. It did not let me down, but used the name Natron for sodium carbonate. Liversidge noted that the mineral was found around "mud wells" in the Namoi (Pilliga) Scrub in the Narrabri area in New South Wales. This lead was followed up by Ron Abbott and the geologists, since it might be possible to run the saline water into ponds for natural evaporation to concentrate the required product The carbonatebearing wells were traced southward - land-holders describing them as "bad wells". Our drilling indicated that the saline water had come up faults and did not occur in layered evaporite beds or aquifers which could be tapped. It was not possible for us to make any meaningful calculations of quantities likely to be available. Consequently, and with some regret, the project had to be abandoned. Minimp had a joint venture with BHP in the search for fluorite (calcium fluoride), which was used in their smelting processes. The geologists from both companies had located a number of deposits, some mined many years ago, in the Chillagoe-Dargalong area in northern Queensland. Denis Hackett and I flew to Chillagoe with BHP's geologist Alex McKinlay, and stayed in a recent motel-type extension of what must have been one of Australia's oldest hotels. The top floor of the building had been weakened by the colonies of white ants and was dangerous for walking, but we had our meals on the ground floor. We were looked after by two dear old ladies - one guesses the original owners, or more likely their daughters. We were reminded of the "good old days" by the white starched tablecloths, rotating cruets, heavy cutlery, large plates, and the dinner menus of soup with corn-beef and cabbage, and golden pudding or dumplings to follow. The fluorite deposits were not as robust as the hotel meals, but occurred with quartz in a number of long reefs, several feet in width. Transport costs defeated economic exploitation, and BHP could buy the mineral more cheaply from overseas. Though it could be said to have been technically successful, this joint venture had failed. On the way back to Sydney, Hackett and I took a private plane to Mackay to see some copper occurrences around the rim of a granite boss at Mt. Flora and Ml Orange. These were not big enough to interest us, though the grades were very high. My next visit was to the other side of the continent to assess a magnesite deposit near Ravensthorpe in Western Australia. I was expecting it to be associated with the ultramafic rocks, but, although they were present, the magnesite occurred as beds in lake deposits with glauconite sands. However there was not quite enough of the magnesite to interest ICI. In order to augment the supply I suggested that it could be possible to rake up the many nodules of magnesite derived from the underlying ultramafic rocks surrounding the lake deposits. Samples were taken but found to be coated with calcium carbonate. Because of the differences in specific gravity between magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate we tried to separate the two in crushed material - but tiny holes in the magnesite reduced its specific gravity and our experiments failed Again we had to reject the offer made to us. ICI Australia had become interested in beach sands along the coastal areas in Western Australia, but after long negotiations decided not to go ahead. Having being involved in the discussions (and in the occurrences of black sands along the east coast) I wondered whether it would be possible to make use of the big tides which went up and down the estuaries of the northern streams - in particular the De Grey River. The water movements concentrated the heavy black sands in their daily movements, and the concentrates could possibly be collected by dredging. Unfortunately the sands in the area were lower in the more valuable minerals, rutile and monazite. There was also the problem that the typhoons and tropical storms were too prevalent toriskputting expensive installations in the estuary.

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An earlier joint venture had been set up with Le Nickel, and a search had been made in some localities south of Chillagoe for molybdenum, without success. Together with Centamin the sediments in the Amadeus Basin and in the Waterhouse Range in the Northern Territory were tested for copper by drilling. Although some values were found, the concentrations were insufficient to offer much encouragement. I inherited a joint venture between Minimp and Jingellic Minerals N.L. to look for alluvial tin in a valley near Jingellic on the Murray River. This venture was signed in 1970, but for a number of reasons - mostly related to title problems in the early stages and weather in the later - it became a good example of how minor problems add up to making Murphy's Law so often applicable to mining prospects. The New South Wales Mines Department wouldn't grant the title because Holbrook Shire Council had zoned the area to exclude mining. In spite of communication between all parties up to political level it was several years before the solution was found. Holbrook Shire Council, which had always been in favour of the project, merely changed the zone and the way was cleared. Then came a change in taxation concessions, and deductions for exploration were only allowed against mining profits. This almost halved the money ICI had allocated to exploration, as the profits from its salt mining venture were too small to allow full deductions. By 1974 arrangements were made with the Jingellic land-owner for drilling, a contract was let and a number of holes planned. Hie weather stayed wet for months and the ground was too soggy to get the drill on site. To build a road we tried to get old railway sleepers from Albury without success. My secretary, Vivienne Oliver, persuaded me to send the timber down from Sydney, and eventually a wooden road was built and the holes sunk. TTien the wash-testing jig brought up from Melbourne broke down. Eventually it was decided that the tin values were too small to worry about anyhow, so we gave up. Before the Mines Department refunded our $2 000 bond the Mining Warden had to check with the landowner that all was well. The farmer complained that his prize bull had put his foot down a drill-hole and was found to be unable to perform his proper functions. He wanted $500 compensation, which I sent him. He replied asking me what I wanted him to do with the bull. I told him. The bond was returned and the joint venture terminated in 1976. The project, budgetted at $15 000 had cost $90 000. I was glad that I had not made the original estimate. It prompted me to write a saga - a parody on the "There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza dear Liza" - entitled "there's a hole in our venture dear Jinny, dear Jinny". It is fortunately far too long to publish. For a number of years ICI Australia, Newmont and Mount Carrington Mines were involved in exploration of the Drake Gold and Copper Field in northern NSW. As I had mapped the area in 1933 and 1934 I knew the general geology very well. Over the years I had kept in touch with the mining operations, and being friendly with the Ramsays at Cheviot Hills I visited the field on many occasions, assisting Rod Ramsay to extricate himself financially from his mining ventures, by arranging collections of material from the dumps. The Drake Excursion was also a regular event for the geology students of the University of New England. At one time North Broken Hill erected a mill at Drake and treated metalliferous ore for some years. O.H. Woodward, who was Chairman of Directors of North Broken Hill, had been an inhabitant of Drake in the early years of the century and was keen on the renewed development of the deposits. Arnold Offenberg was mapping for the exploration consortium, and Alan Polglase and I paid the area a visit, looking at the drilling sites and cores from Sawpit Gully and White Rock. I recalled the dewatering of the Sawpit Gully Mine years before, and my hazardous descent in a bucket down a shaft adorned by sharp nails and splintery wood. As well as having to deal with inherited projects, I was obliged to start some of my own. However ,with a small geological staff, we had to be selective with regard to areas to be explored. My choices were the Mount Isa district in Queensland, and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia - the latter because of the then current interest in nickel. Thanks to Newmont we were given the opportunity to participate in a joint venture seeking nickel deposits in the Widgiemooltha area south of Kalgoorlie, where Anaconda had already discovered several promising prospects, such as the Red Ross occurrence^ recognised by Ross Kennedy working under the direction of Bruce Walpole. Ken Glasson, technical director f i ^ ^ tof get f ' Arnold ' ' S and move jointohis staff, and I was delighted Offenberg - a formerT Anexa geologist, to join« the ICI staff Widgemooltha. 1 m

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Widgiemooltha Dome. Thus after four years of geological work and continuous drilling, with the expenditure of several million dollars, we reluctantly terminated our joint venture with Union Miniere and Laporte Development. Our interest in Western Australia continued for a number of years in association with Newmont. The Newmont geologists, led by Ron Russell, were examining the occurrences of many known deposits of copper-zinc within acid volcanic rocks. These were generally located at or near the intersections of major structural lineaments. Studies of maps suggested that field work should be done in certain areas, and geologists and prospectors pegged out those which showed promise. Working with Newmont was very different from my earlier efforts with AGGSNA in Australian arid areas, as modern vehicles, techniques and creature comforts were now available. The four-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with winches were a great improvement on the Dodges we had used on the North Australia survey forty years earlier. We had radio contact with a home base, and often between our working parties, and the field vehicles had long-range fuel and water tanks, and refrigerators. Among our travels we occasionally stayed in the old mining towns of Mount Magnet, Cue and Meekatharra. At Meekatharra we were taken home by the local Newmont geologist. His wife waited till after dinner to tell me of the error of my ways at Macquarie University. She was one of myfirststudents there and a very dissatisfied customer. She had been very keen and had specialised in palaeontology. Unfortunately she had married a mining geologist and found herself settled in the middle of one of the world's largest areas of unfossiliferous Precambrian rocks. I could offer no suggestion except a divorce - with no promise of employment thereafter. Another former student hailed me across the hotel bar at Yalgoo WA, but he was so camouflaged with a beard full of red dust that I could not identify him. Ever since I had been inspired by Professor Cotton's lectures on the Precambrian rocks of Western Australia I had wanted to visit Marble Bar - reputed to be the hottest spot in the continent. I did so, but it was all over too quickly. I flewfromSydney to Perth one night, left for Port Hedland at 7am the next morning, and with two Newmont geologists hired a small plane to Whim Creek. We were then loaded into a Land Rover and driven to Mons Cupri, where we looked over the workings of a copper prospect. It had been drilled and the core-boxes were neatly stacked and covered. The old camp was now inhabited by emus and visited by kangaroos. The kangaroos, probably missing the scraps provided by the drillers, had chewed all the visible paper labels off the boxes of drill cores, much to our annoyance. Who now knows whether they saved their environment?! We then took off again for Marble Bar, eating a sandwich lunch in the plane. We rushed through the little town, unable even to quench our thirsts at the Iron Man, and looked over the Big Stubby gossans. We had a quick drive back to the Marble Bar Airport and a flight to Port Hedland. We were nearly too late for the connecting plane, joining it on the runway . We were just getting our breaths back when we landed at Newman. We had a late dinner in Perth. What a day! I left early next morning by plane to Kalgoorlie - then to Widgiemooltha and the nickel camp. The Precambrian rocks of northwestern Queensland contain the immense Mt Isa copper and lead-zinc deposits, and further exploration of the stratabound mineralized zones in recent years led to the discoveries of the McArthur River, Hilton and Lady Loretta ore- bodies. As I had some background in this area through visits there since 1950 and knowledge of work done at New England University by Bill Croxford for his Ph.D., I was very interested in doing further exploration there. Bruce Webb of Newmont readily agreed that we should form a 50/50 joint venture to look for prospects in the region, and Newmont established an office in Mt. Isa. Dr Geoff Orridge was Newmont's resident geologist and I moved David Dundas there as ICI's representative. Bruce and I had ideas about structure and ore deposition, but we agreed to let our geologists spend some time in the field researching the problem and getting their own ideas. We did not apply for any titles until they had spent almost a year on this work, and then made applications to prospect in the northern part of the region. As I have always been interested in rhythms in sedimentation, and had seen Krumbein applying mathematical interpretations in the North American iron ores, I tried to make use of them to locate the ore beds. It didn't take long to see that even if it did give some clues it was quite impractical, so the work proceeded largely on structural and stratigraphic lines. Exploration in the Kamaga and Lawn Hill areas, north of Mt Isa, was concentrated on the identification of stratigraphical equivalents of the ore-bearing horizons at Mt. Isa and the proximity of major lineaments, which may have acted as conduits for metalliferous brines. Although drillable targets were selected over a wide area, no economic ore bodies were located. The work continued for some years after Ron Russell took over from Bruce Webb at Newmont. Broken Hill Proprietory, through its exploration company Dampier Mining, joined in with some of the ventures. Dan Moye, who had been head of the Engineering Geology Branch with the Snowy Mountains Authority, was appointed Dampier's Director of Exploration. The three of us had a very happy association for several years until Dan, his wife and daughter were tragically killed in a motor accident in January 1975. Having been unsuccessful in locating a major orebody in the north, Ron Russell moved to the south and west of Cloncuiry, taking up a number of Authorities to Prospect in the Copperfield and Mount Cobalt areas. A very spectacular and complexly folded ore-bed is exposed at Pegmont, 110 miles southwest of Mt Isa. A joint venture between Newmont, Mt Isa , ICI, and BHP was formed, and drillholes put down on the ore-bed. Analyses indicated

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7.6% lead, 3.1% zinc and 0.8% silver content. The bed was foundtobe dismembered, and thus the values were reduced, to the extent that it was too hazardous to attempt development. No ore bodies were proved in the Fairmile, Squirrel Hills, or in other authorities taken up later. Australian Fertilizers Limited, a related company of ICI Australia, decided to explore for phosphates in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, in spite of the fact that the deposit at Duchess earlier worked by South Broken Hill Ltd did not turn out to be economically profitable. We carried out a preliminaryfieldsurvey, on the basis that the Georgina Basin was a proven phosphogenic province, which included a substantial proportion of the Earth's known reserves. The Duchess deposit was thefifthlargest in the world. Exploration involved the application of many different aspects of geological work. The highest grades of the phosphatic sedimentary strata contain phosphoric oxide (P2P5) in small pellets, probably concentrated by currents moving behind sand bars, but lower grades of microphosphorite also occur. The deposits are related, therefore, to the palaeogeography - being formed close to a coast so that a reconstruction of the environment using the sedimentary petrology is relevant. In the case of the northern Queensland beds the presence of hills of Pre-cambrian rocks enabled us to construct a picture of capes and bays protruding into Cambrian seas. Testing kits were used in thefieldto determine the phosphatic units and gave a rough idea of the percentage of P2O5. The viability of any deposit depended on many factors, and especially the price. In 1976 the price, which usually hovered round $US40 per ton dropped to $US26, but was expected to rise. As a target Arnold Offenberg suggested 400,000,000 tonnes of 20% P205, with less than 2:1 overburden - and preferably no more than 40 feet below the surface. Such a deposit could only be considered worth developing if it occurred within 280 miles of a port. As the operation would have to be an open cut it was unnecessary to test the section below say 150 to 200 feet A number of As to P were pegged out during 1975 and 1976, south and east of Mount Isa, and on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, as joint ventures between AFL, ICI and Newmont. We had a communication problem on the Barkly Tableland. It was customary for us to contact the Mt Isa Newmont office by radio atfixedtimes each day. The aerial was usually erected by throwing a weighted line over the branch of a tree to save us carrying a mast. The Barkly was virtually treeless. We were also plagued by the spectre of sacred Aboriginal sites, and in some areas exploration licences were withheld until they had been cleared by the local inhabitants. On one occasion I was interested to meet, at a road-house on the Barkly Tableland, a former student, who was working for the Museum in Darwin. He had brought two Aborigines down to look for sacred sites, which would be excluded from development. He didn't realize my interest in knowing where they were. I was able to talk to the Aborigines and learned that they had come from the McArthur River area, and had no knowledge whatever of the region they were supposed to examine. A joint venture was set up comprising ICI Australia, Newmont, BHP, and Asarco, together with Indonesian companies, with the objective of seeking gold and/or other metals in Irian Jaya. It was an exceedingly expensive operation for the Australian companies, costing over $A1,000,000, involving first transport of petrol by small aircraft into the flatish areas in the highlands to mission station depots. From there helicopters were used to lower geologists or their assistants into the valleys of the streams to collect specimens and sand for analysis. In spite of what looked like very favourable geological settings the results were disappointing and the venture terminated. I did not take an active part in these operations. I was on another project with Newmont in the North Island of New Zealand and flew across with Ron Russell to the Coromandel Peninsula, one of the most famous gold mining areas in New Zealand. In spite of my reputation as a pedestrian it was in New Zealand that I realized I had feet of clay. This very young country seemed to be made up of it. The steep hills andridgesof the Coromandel were very slippery, and ascending the slopes or attempting to scale fences on the way up led me to suggest an invention of a personal winch. An assistant could be trained to put a wire round a tree near the top, and I could have a seat, something like on a ski-lift, and could rachet my way up. In the absence of such a mechanism I had to rely on help by manpower over the slippery spots. Why did most of the workings have to be on hill tops? I received a further setback, or more correctly described sitback, when a new fangled toilet - without conventional pedestal - collapsed under my weight I had to call the chamber maid who calmed my shattered dignity by saying that a number of others had also failed. ICI New Zealand had its headquarters in Wellington, and I had discussions with staff members there. They took me to see various deposits of lignite in the South Island, as it was hoped that mortar wax could be obtained economically from some of these. A project under consideration was to set up an operation mining peat from Chatham Island for this purpose, but transport costs were substantial. Victoria with its early history of gold mining, has always beckoned the explorer, and Newmont and ICI decided to have yet another attempt to locate arichdeposit Among other prospects the East Gippsland area has a number of favourable indicators of ore, but deep weathering has discouraged exploration. A centre for operations was set up at Nowa Nowa and traverses earned out m often wet, jungle-type country. No favourable indications of a promising metalliferous

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occurrence were located. Then with Greg Cochrane of Newmont I spent some time in the Heathcote area looking critically at the Golden Mountain where we put down two drill holes. We could not satisfy ourselves as to quantities and grades and did not take up any contracts. I had been impressed with the potential of the coal deposits of Coalex Pty Limited and took little time in recommending negotiations with Oakbridge - the company which had evolved from the tattered remains of Mining Finance Corporation. Unfortunately, ICI in Great Britain had just got itself out of coal operations there, and was not disposed to get involved with them overseas. In spite of my efforts, which were supported and followed up by Alan Polglase and Ron Abbott, it was impossible to interest the Australian directors. We hung on for some time, but Coalex kept increasing in value and eventually we had to give up. It was not long before almost every company wanted to get into the coal mining business.

ICI farewell, 1975. Arnold Offenberg looks on.

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CHAPTER 15 COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (1975-79) My appointment as Chief Geologist with ICI Australia had been a four- year contract from November 1971, but the company extended this into a part-time consultancy through to November 1977. This enabled me to keep in touch with the company's work, and also that of its usual joint venture partner Newmont. The project with which I was principally concerned at this time was the search for metals in the part of the Lachlan Fold Belt between Dubbo and Cooma. Other companies were also interested in the region, and a number of them entered into a research agreement with the CSIRO to investigate the mineralization of the foldbelt. Complementary geophysical work was proposed by the Geological Survey of NSW and the BMR. At about the same time I received an invitation to carry out research at the CSIRO Mineral Laboratories at North Ryde, NSW. I was offered the use of all facilities, as if I were a member of the staff, though I did not receive a salary. The invitation came about through a suggestion made by Kerry Burns to Dr. Geoffrey Taylor regarding the possibility of developing my ideas about mineralisation in the Lachlan Foldbelt, and tectonics in general. I occupied a room in the building from January 1976, and was free to carry out what research reading or activity I wished, and During 1976 I split my time between my personal research at CSIRO, consulting for ICI and Newmont, and assisting John McAndrew (whom I had known since he began working in the Mineragraphic Laboratory in Melbourne)set up the museum at North Ryde. My CSIRO appointment brought back memories of 1934, when Professor Cotton had attempted to obtain a job for me with Dr Frank Stillwell, the initiator of mineragraphic research at CSIR. Dr Austin Edwards was employed instead as he was clearly the better man. Within the CSIRO I had the pleasure of working with Geoff Taylor, Dal Swaine, Bill Ryall, Brian Gulson, John Wilmshurst, Graham Taylor, and Tony Ramsden. ICI's interest in the Lachlan Foldbelt was natural. Much of Australia's early mineral wealth, essentially gold, came from this region. In more recent times however , significant copper-lead-zinc deposits had been located. Some, like Captains Flat, near Canberra, have been mined out. Others, like Cobar, continue in production, and new ones such as Woodlawn near Goulburn discovered. Therefore the region remained highly prospective, particularly for copper, lead and zinc. Arnold Offenberg and his family moved to Bathurst and set up office there. My part in the project was to collect data regarding the geology, and to discuss the progress made with him and Peter Verwoerd, of Newmont, as the occasion arose. My sources were mainly from publications of the NSW Department of Mines, and from the Exploration Licence reports deposited by other companies with the Department. In addition to my work on the Lachlan Geosyncline I was able to catch up on advances in tectonics - in particular, the new work on plate tectonics. I regarded this as just being an advance and synthesis of earlier ideas following on from Wegener's "Theory of Continental Drift", and made possible by virtue of all the information on the nature of the ocean floors gathered mainly by H.H. Hess during the Second World War. A digression is appropriate at this point. Harry Hess enjoyed telling me the story of his ocean floor work - which was not the kind expected of him, as he was a penologist, who had a major research interest in serpentinites and other ultramafic rocks. The serpentinite belt which we visited in the Piedmont, not far from Princeton, having received his attention, he wished to visit the more extensive and interesting outcrops in the Caribbean. Because of his high standing the U.S. Navy was pleased to take him round on some of their routine visits. The trouble was that Harry had to send his requests up the line according to protocol, and this irked him. Then someone came up with the idea "Join the Navy. You will get a commission and this will make this much easier". He did just that; all was going well until the United States joined in the Second World War. He had to report for duty and someone found him the job of plotting submarine attacks and attempting to predict where the next would occur. He was achieving some success in this project when he received a telegram - "Captain Hess take charge of the sloop XYZ and proceed to the Bahamas". He went on board and learned the details as time went on. It was not long before he found himself in charge of the convoys across the Pacific. From this exalted position he had little to do until he discovered that many vessels were fitted with sonic-sounding apparatus which was not being used. Hess ordered all of them to be run and an enormous amount of information was collected. One result was the recognition of undersea flat-tops, which he called guyots, after an early Princeton professor's interest in geomorphology. Hess concluded with the statement that he had later found out that there happened to be another H.H. Hess in the U.S. Navy, and the poor fellow must have wondered why he had been overlooked. NOSTALGIA TECTONICA, OR FINGERS BEFORE PLATES While grudgingly accepting most of the sea-floor spreading ideas, and its correlative ideas, I felt it important that it be recognised that it was not something suddenly discovered, but was the outcome of nearly a century of investigations and constructive thought. To get this off my chest I gave a lecture to the geologists in CSIRO entitled "Nostalgia Tectonica or Fingers before Plates", somewhat as follows.

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According to Le Pichon and his fellow investigators, the plate tectonics hypothesis explains the tectonic and seismic activity now occurring within the upper layer of the earth, as caused by the interaction of a small number of large rigid plates, whose boundaries are the seismic belts of the world. To aid in this explanation a number of new terms, such as subduction and obduction. have been added to others already in use to explain the same phenomena. Most of what I intended to be a criticism of the innovators was prompted by noting that "The bases of this hypothesis have been obtained very progressively over the last 60 years. The hypothesis integrates the idea of continental drift as defined by Wegener in 1912 and subsequent years - and modified by Argand (1924), Du Toit (1937), Hess (1965), Carey, Wilson and others". It appears to me that what the Le Pichon group has done has been to bring tectonics up to date, making particular use of the recent information regarding the ocean floors. The plate idea is a relatively small, but interesting, contribution but one which rather disappointingly does little or nothing to explain tectonic and seismic activity. Having been interested in tectonics for almost 50 years I have been lucky, not only to have followed the changing lines of thought, but to have met many of the persons involved and discussed the problems with them. I now go back to my University days, where the concept of a contracting earth, with mountains appearing on its surface, which was too large for the shrinking core, held sway. Horizontal forces were thus satisfactorily explained. In our third year Professor Cotton gave us a series of lectures which included discussion of the work of Hayford and Bowie, following the analyses of Airy's Himalayan work by Archdeacon Pratt, and the concept of isostasy. Barrell's monumental paper was discussed, as in it, he introduced the concept of the asthenosphere - Cratons had uneven thicknesses of continental material individual blocks floating like icebergs, with Archimedes only losing a few points to friction, thus producing the gravity anomalies. The book by John Joly of Dublin, "Surface History of the Earth", which took into account the additions to the Earth's heat from radioactivity, gave very plausible reasons for the uplift of blocks, formation of geosynclines, mountain building and periodicity of events - integrating ideas on sedimentation, vulcanism and plutonism. After introducing the Wegener Hypothesis - thefirstEnglish translation of his work coming out in 1924, another in 1929, Professor Cotton conducted seminars in the Honours year - his two students being Samuel Warren Carey and myself - the only important reading being a symposium held in USA and put together by Watershoot van der Gracht. Most of the contributors, including the famous Schuchert and Bucher, were very much opposed to continental movement, and many ridiculed the idea. Carey and I were converts, and Carey swore that he would devote his life to the study. Much more so than today, one had to adopt one philosophy or the other - one was a believer or one was not Criticisms of Wegener rangedfromwhat was regarded as an imperfectfitof Brazil and Africa to the lack of a mechanism which would allow continents to move. Few of Wegener's reasons for the hypothesis have stood subsequent examinations. Though some biologists are fanatically in support, other mechanisms for animal and plant migration are now more favoured. Comparisons of the geology between continents based on the similarities in structure are inconclusive. The climatic arguments led to more refined work which is in support, but Wegener's examples are now suspect. In spite of these changes, and the very slow and reluctant acceptance by northern hemisphere geologists the concept has survived and now, in general principle, has far more support than ever before. This is almost entirely due to palaeomagnetic work, of which Wegener himself knew nothing. Let me go back a few years and consider the relationships between continents and oceans. In the last century the famous American geologist J.D. Dana propounded the dogma of the Permanence of the Ocean Basins, and drew the distinction between continental material and oceanic material. This view was refined as the materials and the structures were studied in more detail. Central to the continents were the shields of Precambrian rock - then came the concept of blocks or kratogen, with orogens between. Then sal and sima - later SIAL and SIMA, from Suess, and the integration of these concepts with the geosynclines and geanticlines of Hall. Little was known of the oceans, but they were later shown to have floors of basaltic composition, which extended beneath the granitic or continental blocks. One essential part of the Wegener hypothesis was the movement of continental blocks through the oceanfloors,and consequently thefloorshad to be regarded as yielding to long-acting stresses. It was Carey who enlarged on Wegener's analogy of sealing wax to show that all substances had rheid properties, and, given time, would yield imder stress TTius

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For my part I was concerned with the geological framework of Australia and in particular its stratigraphy, working mainly in the New England and North Coast areas. I joined the school of marginal accretion, led by W.H. Bryan of Queensland, against the strictly European views of E.S. Hills, of Melbourne, who believed that continental material once extended as far east as Fiji and had sunk beneath the Tasman. As Bryan put it in his 1944 lecture - to the Royal Society of N.S.W - "we are still left with the impossible task of reconciling the opinions of those who hold that the history of Australia has been essentially a triumphal march to the east with those who see it as a dogged retreat to the west". As mentioned earlier, in 1950 the Commonwealth Government, through the Vice Chancellors' Committee, brought J. Tuzo Wilson to Australia, sent him visiting the Universities, and brought all the Heads of Geology Schools and Survey to Canberra for a Conference on Geophysics. Wilson at the time was an opponent of continental drift, and a supporter of the modified contraction hypothesis. He took me in hand, converting me, and putting me into the opposition, where I still remain. However, though prepared for a confrontation with Carey on his visit to Tasmania - even with his jingle "Carey Carey quite contrary how do the continents grow?" - he lost handsomely, and returned to Canada a confirmed drifter. As it stands I was left high and dry - Wilson is now playing jig-saws and Carey is still very mobile. When in the USA in 1952-53 the two outstanding meetings were with Marshall Kay, of Geosynclinal Fame, and Harry Hess. I spent a lot of time with Hess and gave some lectures to his students at Princeton. He was responsible for the concept of the "tectogene", or subduction zone, as it is now known. When next in America in 1964-65 I was able to lecture to Kay's class on "geosynclines". Hess, in the midst of a very busy GSA Conference at Miami, invited me to his room for a few drinks with several other geologists from overseas. It was the last time I saw him, as he had a heart attack a few years later. An interesting paper by Griggs in 1939 - "A Theory of Mountain Building" - modelled convection processes in the mantle. It suggested to me the work I did when on leave in the Department of Geophysics at ANU in 1960.1 wanted to reproduce similar shrinkage patterns to those producing the New England structures, in particular the transcurrent faults, following the clay model ideas of Ernst Cloos. The problem I had was to scale down the strengths of the materials with the models.The strips of sediment on the ocean floor can have little strength - neither can the slabs of ocean floor - or plates on which they rest A plastic plate will not transmit the stress (as Carey pointed out in connection with Wegener's views on the "crumpled forward edges of the continents"). Such plates must be dragged from below and cannot themselves do the pushing. This principle still applies to the modern concept of plates as well as the old ones of continental blocks. The movement is from below, hence the reason why I used a moving belt to drag the ocean floors under the continents. In summary, the plate tectonics hypothesis evolved by successive stages through the last century, stages which, at each time, could account satisfactorily for most of the then known facts. The main ones were initiated by Wegener in 1912 (1929), Hess in 1960 (1962), Vine and Mathews in 1963, Wilson in 1965 and Morgan in 1967 (1968). The platetectonics hypothesis explains the tectonic and seismic activity now occurring within the upper layer of the earth as resulting from the interaction of a small number of large rigid plates, whose boundaries are the seismic belts of the world. The model is based on the very simple observation that most of the mechanical energy now spent at the surface of the earth is within a few narrow orogenic belts, that are affected by important deformation, accompanied by a strong seismic activity. The large plates outlined by these seismic belts are not actively deformed, except along their borders, and the motion occurring within them is mostly limited to broad epeirogenic movements. These plates may contain continental as well as oceanic surfaces. It is logical to suppose that these seismic belts are zones of interaction between rigid plates. This is the fundamental premise of plate tectonics: "the seismic belts are zones where differential movements between rigid plates occur". Strictly speaking this definition shows that the plate-tectonics hypothesis only provides a model explaining the present tectonic and seismic activity at the surface of the earth. As soon as we go back in the geological past we lose the seismic guides, and it becomes very difficult to recognize the pattern of plate boundaries at a given time, and the type of movement which occurred. The lithosphere can be defined as a mobile near-surface laver of strength. This definition rests on rheological, not chemical characteristics. The asthenosphere (Bairell) which directly underlies the lithosphere can be defined as a layer which has no enduring resistance to a shearing stress. The rheological stratification suggests that the lithosphere is a true stress guide, and the easiest motion to realize is horizontal gliding of the lithosphere on top of the asthenosphere. As only the lithosphere reacts to stresses as a brittle solid, all earthquakes must originate within the lithosphere. The global seismicity is consequently the expression of relative movements between the lithospheric plates. The lithospheric plates diverge at the crests of the mid ocean ridges where new surface is created (accreting plate margins), glide against each other along large strike-slip faults, where surface is conserved, and converge under compressive areas, where one of the plates sinks into the asthenosphere and loses its identity (consuming plate boundaries). There' is no reason to believe that mid-oceanic crests play a more important role than trenches or faults in governing the motions of the plates. Transform faults are lines of relative motion along which surface is conserved.

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The mechanism which sustains these plate motions is still poorly understood. The major difference between plate tectonics and previous mobilistic hypotheses is that it gives us the possibility to measure and compare the relative displacements between plates, and to obtain a worldwide kinematic pattern. We are in the old world of continental drift, but with the assistance of the mathematicians and physicists. The plates are like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, which when put together from time to time, should reveal a real picture of the world's geological features. Some workers appear to be satisfied if they fit, but are less interested in the picture. For them it is too bad if the elephant's trunk is at the wrong end as long as the pattern fits. RANDOM GEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS In relation to ore genesis I read widely across variousfieldson trace elements and the distribution of the major elements in the crust during geological time. Because of the increasing recognition of the influence of different geological environments in relation to the concentration of minerals in various rocks, I caught up on some old palaeontological problems, such as the sudden extinction of certain species. I learned that all organisms, from the most primitive to the most complex, appeared to be dependent on individual trace elements. Presumably then the supply of these was crucial to their existence. It follows then that the supply must be maintained. Hence, continued tectonism and vulcanism were necessary for the maintenance of their life on the Earth's crust. This view could be tied in with the concept of many sediments being formed from the end products of erosion. Ultimately all life will disappear and the continents will be covered with crusts of laterite, limestone and permafrost I could not help wondering whether the relatively stable molecules of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur needed the help of the trace elements as well as the sun's energy in order to produce living forms. There was no real separation between the organic and inorganic worlds - only differences in quantity! This helped my personal philosophy but could not be further pursued. BACK TO REALITY On 16th September 1976 there was a memorable meeting between ICI Australia and Oakbridge Limited concluding discussions on the possibility of ICI participating in the coal mining operations in the Blue Mountains. It was particularly important to me, as Bill Miles asked Alan Polglase whether ICI and Newmont would object to me working part time also for Oakbridge. As there was no objection I was offered two days a week work for the company's tin operation in Queensland. My early research work had been largely concerned with the stratigraphy of the Upper Palaeozoic in northeastern New South Wales and consequently I kept in touch with developments over the years and of course with the coal deposits of Permian age. I was intermittently involved in the mining operations - first at Gunnedah then in the western coalfield with Coalex and later with various coal projects in the Hunter Valley for ICI. For many years I was a member of the Standing Committee on Coalfield Geology in New South Wales. The Mineral Physics Division of CSIRO under Dr K.G. McCracken directed a number of projects relating to the structure of rocks associated with coal seams carried out by Kerry Burns, J. Shepherd and J.F. Huntington The use of various geophysical techniques to predict roof weaknesses and possible rock falls was explored. I became involved in this work and was able to assist by interesting Coalex in the work, which led to much more understanding of the Western Coalfield and in particular the structures in the rocks of the Clarence Colliery. During 1977 I had to divide my time between the work for ICI - Newmont; Oakbridge's Great Northern Mining Corporation and my own research in the CSIRO laboratories. I managed well enough, but my work with John McAndrew became less and less.

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CHAPTER 16 OAKBRIDGE LIMITED - RAVENSHOE AND HERBERTON (1976-1978) On visiting Ravenshoe Tin Dredging Company, Ravenshoe, Qld. in September 1976,1 was able to catch up with the work done by Arnold Offenberg for Analytical Exploration in 1971,which assessed the tin values in the sediments, ahead of the tin dredge near Innot Hot Springs. The results of drilling had been recorded and the course to be taken by the dredge had been planned and there was more work ahead. There were then only two tin dredges working in Australia - the other owned by Tablelands Tin near Mount Garnet Ravenshoe Tin was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oakbridge and was very competendy managed by Arawa Hay, a man of much experience and personal charm. Col Robinson was employed as geologist As well as the dredge, the company had two small sluicing plants which they operated in the smaller, richer stream courses. There were many geological and mining problems ahead, as the dredge neared the end of its life, approaching the end of the mineable area and running into basalt flows within the sediments. One of the main matters of concern was the difficulty of drilling in the often bouldery sediments, and the slowness of the work. In the absence of information on the tin concentrations it was difficult to determine the future work for the dredge. In the past there had been a considerable amount of drilling and these results, together with the recovery records, enabled the production of maps, and the ability to plan the positions of the dredge within limits which were related to actual recoveries on the way. Plans had to allow for change in width and depth of the lake in which the dredge worked. Most of the operations were along the beds of southward flowing creeks between Innot Hot Springs and Mount Garnet The concentrate was taken from the dredge to the company office, in the village,where it was cleaned up and bagged. The concentrates, together with any produced by Great Northern at Herberton, were taken by truck to be smelted in Sydney. When I started to investigate the position of Great Northern Mining Corporation (another subsidiary of Oakbridge) in September 1976, and to report on the possibility to getting production going again, I thought it prudent to make a study of the company's history in an attempt to determine why operations had stopped. For the first time I was faced with a project upon which there was a large amount of information available, and much material in the way of maps, records and reports to study. Fortunately Mr Don Walker, who had grouped all available leases and prospects, as well as the mill at Herberton and other plant and equipment, to form Walker Great Northern Tin Enterprise, was available to put me into the picture quickly. Walker's company and other leases were grouped together and incorporated into the Great Northern Mining Corporation in December 1966, the directors being John G. Donaldson, Rees B. Withers, Eric Andrew Webb (consulting geologist) and Donald R. Walker. Lawrence R. Baster (mining engineer) was manager of operations. The Herberton Tinfield in northern Queensland, which includes both lode and alluvial deposits, covers 1,127 square miles and up to August 1977 had yielded 15% of the total tin production of Australia. There are 2 400 lode mines and prospects but fewer than 100 had been worked recently. Few of the mines were sunk below 300 feet from the surface, yet they produced about 70 000 tons of tin concentrate between 1879 and 1969. There had been a rapid falling off in production after 1920 and again in 1942. The annual output remained between 100 and 200 tons until 1965 - an indication of the fact that only a small number of miners were involved. Exploration, drilling and some open cut mining were carried out and the mill was worked intermittently under Don Walker until 1969, as the company was very short of funds. Control of Great Northern Mining passed into the hands of Mining Finance Corporation early in 1970. The Board was reconstituted, Messrs Brooks (Chairman), Chatfield, Walker and Smith taking control. Because of the high value of antimony, Terry Brooks decided to have the mill altered so that it could custom-process antimony ores instead of tin. No tin ore was milled thereafter, until the mill was handed back to Don Walker to operate in 1973. K.W. Austin remained as manager through 1970, but was replaced by Mr G. Farlam at the end of the year. The Board was again changed, and it later became T.J. Brooks W.F. Miles, R.H. Smith and J.A. Malin in 1971. Early in 1971 ANEXA was called upon the examine Great Northern's holdings. It was soon after this that I took over as Managing Director of ANEXA and made an offer of $200 000 to the UJNLA Group (Baal Gammon) and the Isabel Group on behalf of Murumba Minerals as a joint venture. As already mentioned this had just been completed when Murumba Minerals was bought by the Harbourside Group in July 1971 and no work was ever done. Although tin was the main element worked in the Herberton Tin field there were many other metalliferous deposits, mainly sulphides of copper lead and zinc, but with important minor elements - silver and indium. A major publication by D. Blake of the Bureau of Mineral Resources (1972), gives details of occurrences throughout thefield.What appeared to me to be a most unusual zonation prevalent in most parts of the region was the apparent presence of the sulphides closer to the intrusive granites than the tin and tungsten oxides. However, examination of the geological setting showed that much of the cassiterite - not in the reefs and veins, was free in the soil and decomposed rocks above the sulphides. It was frequently the mineral in the complex ore and had been freed by the deep weathering characteristic of

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this tropical climatic zone. Silver too was freed from its usual association with lead-silver sulphides and occurred as the chloride in the Baal Gammon area. Some of the cassiterite, notably in Herberton Hill, was in its usual content in quartz reefs. In detail the fracture pattern determined the positions of the reefs, but presumably at the time or times of deposition some fissures were open and others closed, and prediction of which were most promising was difficult or impossible. Two mining prospects, West Orient and East Orient, had been discovered in 1886 and worked for silver and lead. Great Northern covered them by leases until 1990 and 1991. In 1969 the company commissioned Hall, Ralph and Associates to recommend methods of exploration,and they estimated an ore potential of about 1 000 000 tons of high grade silverlead and indium-zinc ore worth (in 1972) $30-$40 per long ton. Later Minerol Investments Ltd took out an option agreement over the two prospects, and commissioned E.R. Bennett to report to the company in 1973-74. His work indicated reserves of 55 760 tons and inferred reserves of 171 000 tons with ore grades of the order of 8% zinc, 5% lead and 8ozs of silver per ton. He estimated the ore potential as over 600 000 tons. In March 1974 Minerol Investments decided not to exercise its option to purchase. It was clear that in such a remote location a much bigger reserve of ore would be needed to make an operation viable. The nature of the mineralization and the complexity of the ore bodies themselves had much to do with the difficulties encountered by those attempting to develop the mines. At first, guided by Webb and systematically mapped by Marlowe, the future looked promising, and it was expected by the directors that with the improved operation of the mill 0.5% tin concentrate would be recovered. This was needed because of the low price of tin at the time. However the results were not achieved, and the managers and operators of the mine had to shoulder much of the blame. In my opinion it was at least partly due to failure to continue with the geological work and sampling of the areas it was proposed to mine. There were frequent changes of mine manager and interference by directors, and I was impressed by the different views expressed by the individuals concerned - usually before their departure from the scene for one reason or another. The most notable character throughout the whole enterprise was Don Walker, the collector of the projects, the miner, the mill-manager and the uncrowned king of Herberton for many years. A separate book could be written on his life and, if his reputation with women was any guide, he was a very popular figure. On walking down the street in Atherton he was welcomed by almost every woman, young and old, as we went by. I found him to be a very interesting and worthy friend who never forgot me. The reason why Great Northern gave up the search for tin after 1968 was simply because it had not by then proved up reserves with grade of 0.5% tin metal requisite for economic operation at the price of tin metal at that time (namely $3 000 per ton). The average recovered grade from the operation of the mill was only 0.34%. Faced with heavy operating costs the directors decided on a temporary shut-down of the mill, and decided to explore the region for copper, lead, silver and zinc. They took up 36 new mineral leases. As I was specifically asked to advise Great Northern whether it should provide Don Walker with sufficient capital to put the mill into operation for tin once more, I had to satisfy myself that there was a sufficient supply of ore and that the mill would be able to recover the metal. It did not take me long to realize that there was enough material available on the leases close to the mill to ensure a supply for some time ahead. Noting that the only person who had been able to keep the mill going for any length of time was Don Walker and that a recovery grade of anything over 0.3% would probably be economic if the price of tin remained at the then price of $10 000 per ton I recommended that the grant should be made. ° 1 was so amused at what had happened to Great Northern I sent this letter to Bill Miles in September 76: "Following my investigations at Herberton and compilation of the history of the company which I submit for your perusal, I have selected the following passages from the pages of Great Northern Mining Corporation's 1977 calendar for us to meditate upon: ^ GNMCy ** ° *** disruption and delay" (1966 Prospectus "It is my opinion that reserves in excess of one million tons of 0.5% tin concentrate ore will be found" (E.A. Webb in same rrospectus); "Certainly the most promising mine in the district. I do not think its possibilities can be over-stressed" (L.R. Baster (Manager) of the option onpayable the Ironclad "It seemed on thatthewepurchase were at last recovering grades1967); (0.5%) from the Ironclad I was astonished to see that you treated more St Patrick dump ore, thus knocking the recovery to an unpayable 0 38% wa^cfu^iTkin^e^ve^' W Webb hh'm ° T to^ L.R. Baster °(Manager) * March * ^ 1968V carted Z I L ^ S I K 5 it is h 2i'e way, dump it m the nver ^(E.A. (Director) I have been dumped (L.R. Baster (Manager) on his d e n a r y j ne 1968 - Exodus XLV ii)Another jewel in the Mining Finance Crown" (Terry Brooks (Chairman) 1970 - Kings XXVI i); i n

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"In a well organised operation it is essential that a proper sequence of events is followed, i.e. initial exploration, proving of reserves and finally mining. At the moment therefore, the drilling "dog has his day" (K. Austin (Manager) to W. Evans (Mining Manager) April 1970); "I have always believed that the Great Northern has a great future and still do" (K. Austin (Manager) on his departure February 1971); "At last I feel that I can write to you with some confidence about the future I am thinking of a long programme, not one to be rushed through" (A.H. Voisey (Analytical Exploration) to A.C. Offenberg iust prior to his departure June 1971V. "It would appear that the attack on the company's prospects was done with even less knowledge than the erection of the treatment plant. Tremendous sums of money were expended which proved to me only that so many feet of drilling costs so many dollars" (E.K. Zerner (Mill Manager) on his departure July 1971); "We would like to point out that the obsession to keep the Great Northern Mill operative was one of the prime reasons for Great Northern becoming insolvent after the first issue" (Manager, Hall and Ralph, on their departure, requesting full payment of account July 1971); "I would like to sound a warning regarding the sale options as I suggest we are underselling these assets e.g. In the case of the Orient " (G. Farlam (Manager) to Board prior to his departure August 1971); "Mr Walker will be given exclusive rights of possession and working of property for the purpose of bringing the plant into efficient working order" (W.F. Miles (Director) May 1973); "Donny Walker is a strong spirit which may be expected to taste the same coming up as going down" (Advertisement, Herberton Herald); "And then there was the Ozolum Bird which flew in ever decreasing circles until " Naughty Boys Zoo, page 00". While the mill was being put back into operation I worked with Mr Bill Evans, an experienced tin miner who had been in the district for many years, and was taken to all the mining areas under his guidance. I followed this up by collecting all the available maps and records and wrote a report on each group of leases - ending up with seventeen reports in all. As excellent maps and diagrams of each area were prepared by Graeme Marlowe my work was made easier, and it was possible to make tentative evaluations. As predicted the mill worked satisfactorily and under an agreement with Don Walker produced tin concentrates valued as below - to 30 June 1976 $10 264 (Oakbridge portion $6 000); to June 1977 $29 371 ($19 000); to June 1978 $97 929 ($63 000); to June 1979 $77 937 ($50 000). However the operation was too small to warrant continuation and the price of tin started to fall, so the mill was closed down by Graham Mapp. By this time my investigative work for Great Northern had been completed. In the course of examination of each of the groups of leases held by Great Northern I became convinced that there was a big future for the tin field and in particular the Baal Gammon prospect. I believed, erroneously as it turned out, that there would be a world shortage of tin and the price would rise. With the permission of my fellow directors I had 12 copies of my bundle of reports reproduced and sent to a number of mining companies, including my old friends in Newmont and ICI. I had previously tried to get them to take options over certain of the groups without success. They did, however, now agree to a joint venture with Great Northern, which was concluded some time after I had left Oakbridge, but after further discussions with me. In view of the fact that the price of tin fell spectacularly, I am not sure that I did them a good turn, but anything is possible in the mining game. At the conclusion of my work on the Great Northern, Graham Mapp halved my salary and kept me on as a consultant for Oakbridge. There were several interesting projects for me to consider, including the mining operations at Hillgrove, NSW - the area which I knew so well, and had even looked at for International Mining years before. The deal offered was unattractive. Another was for some uranium deposits similar to that at Yeelirrie in Western Australia. In view of governmental prohibitions it is fortunate that we didn't take this on. Future developments at Herberton were of great interest to me since I had been so heavily involved. It had high and low points of interest - so did the shares. The Tablelands Advertiser of 30th January 1980 under the heading "Mining Bonanza?" gave the following information: "The new operation in the Herberton/Baal Gammon Irvinebank area is a joint venture of Great Northern Mining N.L. 40%, Newmont Pty Ltd 40% and ICI Australia Ltd 20%. "Great Northern announced the discovery of a major body of mineralization on the field 11 kms from Herberton covering an area 350 m wide and 500 m long, containing ore which at current prices would be worth about $750 million". "Available drilling results to the end of 1979 indicate approximately 4.5 million tonnes of mineralization grading to the tonne approximately 1.3% copper, 43 grams silver and 0.3% tin". "On the Herberton Hill area a first phase of drilling along the mineralized greisen zone was completed with 25 holes being drilled in the period, totalling 1159.2 metres". "Attention will now be directed to the attractive Baal Gammon prospect as further substantial exploration expenditure is justified on this prospect". "In order to fund this and subsequent commitments it is proposed that Great Northern enter into a joint venture with Oakbridge Limited to hold Great Northern's 40% interest in the prospect". "The company holds considerable additional large lease areas, apart from those subject to the Newmont-ICI joint venture, and consideration will now be given to the best means of undertaking exploration and development of these other areas.

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In the Annual Report of Oakbridge Limited for 1981 we read: "The major exploration expenditure during the year was on the Baal Gammon copper-silver-tin indium prospect near Herberton which is a joint venture with Newmont Holdings Pty Ltd as operator with a 39% interest, IGI Australia Limited (19 1/2%) and H.C. Sleight Resources Limited (2 1/2%). Great Northern retains a 39 percent interest". "To date the consortium has spent over $4 000 000 in detailed evaluation of the geology, ore reserves and test metallurgy". "Mineralization of approximately 6.5 million tonnes (using a cut-off grade of 0.1% was indicated but much of this would be costly to mine and process, and the area is not considered by the operator to be a viable mining prospect with the present or likely near future cost pice conditions". "It is however a valuable resource and we remain hopeful that it will become a mineable property in the medium term". "After the earlier closure of the tin operation the mill was changed back again to processing copper-silver concentrates - flotation cells having been put in during 1968 for a similar project According to the above report, "a total of 42 tonnes of tin concentrates" and 2.446 tonnes of coppersilver concentrates were produced. The operation was unsatisfactory and a loss for the year resulted, due mainly to the fall in the prices of copper and silver, and also to metallurgical problems with the ore. "In the year to June 30 Great Northern Mining lost $285 000 which largely represents the amount it spent on the Baal Gammon joint venture. No dividend has been declared". On an Elsmore (NSW) Tombstone "Here lies poor Wills who found out tin, but little good did it do him. He paved the way for others gains and died neglected for his pains".

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CHAPTER 17 ERA SOUTH PACIFIC, MINEROL INVESTMENTS AND OTHER COMPANIES (1978-86) Dr John Conolly was a very competent geologist who first specialised in Australian sedimentology and stratigraphy and then turned his interest to the search for oil and gas. He was associated with the group which set up Murumba Oil Ltd, then moved to the United States and gained much valuable experience in the field. On visits back to Australia he had selected various prospective areas which he wished to acquire. After discussion with an old associate, Dr Tim Hopwood, it was decided that they would set up a company or companies for the purpose of exploring for petroleum and minerals in Australia. I had been corresponding with both for a number of years while they were overseas . Tim was working on mineral exploration in Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Africa, but, like John, was interested in the development of their mother country and had great faith in its future. The company Era South Pacific Pty Ltd was set up and cared for by John's brother, Alan, who was a solicitor. Many geological problems had started to crop up, and as Tim knew that I would soon be available he invited me to lunch with him and Alan Conolly late in September 1978. They offered me the position of General Manager of the company, and as I had done all the useful work I could foresee for Great Northern and Oakbridge, I accepted with thanks and started fiill time work early in November. I was particularly keen to get my toe into oil prospecting, one of the few mineral areas which had so far escaped me. There were two main areas of interest - Uranium mineralization around the Mary Kathleen area near Cloncurry, selected by both the principals, and oil and gas prospects, which were mainly the province of John Conolly. They both had very different problems. The uranium projects had been partly financed by some American investors and were joint ventured with others. It was intended, and indeed agreed, that Era South Pacific should be the operators. Verne Cook was employed as geologist to carry out thefieldwork. When some Authorities to Prospect (As to P) had been applied for some of the overseas companies involved sent representatives to Australia, and decided to take over the work. Between them they outvoted ERASP and employed Jock Gilfillan to act as operator on their behalf, taking over Verne Cook and the competent Conolly secretary as well. It was at this stage that I took over the position of General Manager and, without detailing the various moves suffered problems for several years, until the As to P were eventually surrendered. In the meantime a great deal of work was carried out without finding an economic deposit, which in my mind was a little surprising, in view of the very favourable environment - so close to Mary Kathleen, and with similar rocks and structures. Tim Hopwood kept a close eye on the sequence of operations - geological and legal - and eventually sorted things out. Minerol Investments Limited, a company which carried out exploration during the boom, had money to invest, so took a 33 1/2% shareholding in Era South Pacific Pty Ltd in September 1978 just before my appointment. During the early part of 1979, in the absence of John Conolly, I was involved with the applications for titles over a number of petroleum prospects which he had selected throughout the Commonwealth. They comprised: - Surat Basin Queensland; Onshore Canning Basin WA; Offshore Sydney Basin NSW. In December 1979 Minerol Investments increased its interest to 50% and in 1980 acquired the whole of the Era group of companies. There was a close relationship between Minerol Investments Pty Ltd and Sedimentary Uranium N.L. over some years. They workedfromthe same office in the Royal Exchange Building in Pitt Street. Ray Irish was the Chairman of both companies. I movedfromthe ERASP office in Margaret Street tothe Royal Exchange in March 1979, when I was formally appointed Exploration Manager of Minerol Investments. I had a very interesting and useful visit to Perth to attend the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association Conference, which put me in touch with the current developments in exploration for oil and gas, incidentally meeting Alan Bond at one of the social events. Having once more almost made a full entry into the petroleum industry, I soon after ceased to take any part in the exploration, as John Conolly returned to Australia and took a major interest in the operations. On 1st June 1979 I ended my full time position, but continued part time, confining my activities to the mineralogical - mainly uranium - work of the company in the Cloncurry area. Dick Ralph who had moved from mining to other activities after the cessation of the Hall, Ralph and Associates operations, was recalled to geological work again in 1983 when he joined several other businessmen in an attempt to revive several other companies which had almost faded away with dwindling finances after the collapse of the mining boom ten years before. One of these was King Mountain Mining and in mid 1983 Dick asked me if I would be willing to chair the Board of Directors. By an agreement dated 18th July 1983 Exploration and Geological Services (Walter Septimus Lamerton, Carol Lamerton and David Kent Luchie) supplied funds for the reorganization, development and promotion of the Company, which was renamed Eromanga Hydrocarbons. During the course of its earlier operations up to 30th June 1975 the Company incurred substantial losses of both revenue and capital and had lain dormant for the next eight years. A successful application was made to the Queensland Supreme Court to reconstruct the capital of the Company.

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The Company entered into farm-in agreements with Western Mining Corporation , Claremont Petroleum ; Offshore Oil and Stellar Resources. It was conceivable that expenditure could reach $3.2 million over the period of the agreements. The Directors of Eromanga Hydrocarbons being Alan Keywood Voisey, Richard Edward Ralph, Walter Septimus Lamerton and Geoffrey Michael Gee strongly recommended the approval of the resolution as it would enable the Company to participate in the exploration for oil and gas in the highly prospective sedimentary basins in Australia. As they had been unable to float the company on their own there was little else they could do. Ian Edward Joye and David Michael Docherty joined the Board and I gracefully faded away. The small report I carried out for Montoro Resources Limited at the request of Bruce Walpole is mentioned here, because it was on a very different material that any referred to previously and was needed for a very different purpose. This was a clay deposit which was to be used for the manufacture of clay tiles. Montoro Resources Limited had as its objective to become a well managed resources group with activities in constructional materials, and mining, especially gold. It included on its Board of Directors two geologists Bruce Philip Walpole (Chairman), and Michael John Turbott /formerly director and Vice President of Kennecott Explorations (Australia Ltd), and among a group of top line consultants was Norman Henry Fisher, a former director of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. The Clay Project was based on substantial deposits of high quality clay near Wyong. The project recognised by some of the founding directors was subjected to a full scale feasibility study including a detailed evolution of the clay. A pilot plant produced tiles of excellent quality. I had the advantage of seeing the reports of a number of specialised consultants but was asked to provide an independent report for the Manager of Resources Projects for the Company's bank. It was a pleasant geological experience for me to examine a so-well researched deposit. It is rare to see an occurrence of this size and quality. The suitability of the clay for tile-making could not be recognised by field examination, but I was of course aware of the chemical work done and the actual results achieved in the pilot plant

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CHAPTER 18 THE NEGRI RIVER CORPORATION LTD (1980-84) I had been interested in diamonds since 1931 when Mr Pike, an old Copeton miner, who had a small mineral museum in Mittagong, showed me the famous "diamond in the matrix". This had a label put on by Professor David and was the only one ever found in the matrix in Australia. All other diamonds had come from alluvial deposits. A number of diamonds, all small and few large enough to be gems, have been found in New South Wales and I have been disposed to think that they were basal Tertiary, probably Eocene. Pike gave his collection to the Armidale City Council, on condition that it built a museum to house it When I setded in Armidale I naturally went to the museum and located the "diamond in the matrix". For many years I was the unofficial watch dog over it After the museum was closed the collection was put into the Armidale Folk Museum and I located the specimen - only two or three centimetres across - in a case. I sent the specimen to Dr John Lovering who sectioned the matrix and described it. When it was returned it was kept at my suggestion in the Town Clerk's safe. After leaving Armidale twenty odd years ago I lost track of the specimen and I now believe it to be lost, but haven't given up hope. The source of the diamonds is still not understood, but it was believed that a small plug called Ruby Hill could have been related. At one stage I corresponded with Sir Ben Dickinson, then working for CRA over the problem. When visiting South Africa in 1970 I was unable to visit a diamond mine but saw much of the related material. Tim Hopwood when overseas had contacts with a South African geologist, and on his recommendation put Sedimentary Uranium in touch with a group who held two diamond plugs in Lesotho. We studied the available literature and were close to making a joint venture, but found difficulties in dealing with the government officials. With the discovery of diamonds and diamondiferous plugs in the north of Western Australia we again took an interest in the search, and at Tim Hopwood's suggestion I made a study of the coastline, north of Broome in order to compare it with that which yielded such treasures along the west coast of Africa. Unfortunately I could find no trace of a raised beach or the possibility of finding one. In December 1978 I wrote a report on my work, which mainly involved the interpretation of aerial photographs of the region . I was particularly interested in the diamond finds in this region because the plugs contained rocks described by my long standing friend Rex Prider, who had earlier suggested the association between diamonds and these intrusives, with compositions not dissimilar to kimberlite. In April 1979 when the Kimberley diamond boom was still in its infancy, three Sydney men applied for two exploration licences spanning 2 400 square kilometres on the Northern Territory side of the border with Western Australia. The men were Campbell Cooper, who made history in the nickel boom by pegging the Wardens Court at Leonora, consultant David Lance, and prospector Graham John Beith. In June 1979 Dr Peter J. Solomon was commissioned to report on these two leases and two others adjacent. He stated that further work on the areas was unwarranted, the four exploration licence applications should be withdrawn, and deposits totalling $4 000 be reclaimed. Five months (December 21 1979) after Dr Solomon handed over his report the composition of the Negri River Syndicate changed when Mr Beith sold half of his one third interest to Design and Construction Pty Ltd., a Mt-Isa based company, whose beneficial owners were Sir Asher Joel and his family. In January 1980 further transfers were made, which left Messrs Cooper and Lance each with 35% and Design and Construction with the remaining 30%. Only a month or so later Australia's prospects as a commercial producer of diamonds were lifted dramatically with the discovery by the Ashton joint venture, not only of rich alluvial deposits, but also of the kimberlite pipe which was their apparent source at Smoke Creek, near man-made Lake Argyle in the Ord River Valley. Smoke Creek was about 80 kilometres northwest of the Sydney men's exploration licences, which covered the headwaters of the Ord River. Through Bill Ryall I was asked by Sir Asher Joel to write a report for a prospectus for a company which he and his associates wished to float, to raise money to explore the two title areas for diamonds. Sir Davis Hughes, with whom I had been friendly for over thirty years, was to be Chairman of Directors, and Dr Brian Marshall, whom I knew well, would also be on the board. They were later joined by Mr Geoffrey K Gray (auctioneer) and Mr Michael M. Hornibrook (harebroker). Sir Asher, Campbell Cooper and David Lance, the vendors, were surprisingly not on it In July - August 1980, Sir Asher, Sir Davis, Bill Ryall and I flew up to Darwin. I was delighted to go, for it enabled me to see Darwin again after an absence of 45 years. After the bombing during the War and Cyclone Tracy there was little left for me to recognise. However, the banyan tree was still there. The old home of the Adminstrator was just the same, and so was the old Hotel Victoria. I had a nostalgic drink near the bedroom which I had occupied, when urinated upon by a local drunk, and admired the new government buildings along the waterfront

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Bill had to look after a rather lively geriatric group, Sir Asher the youngest at 68, myself 69 and Sir Davis 70. We met members of the Department of Mines and of the Geological Survey, and were given a dinner by the Minister for Mines and Energy, Mr Ian Tuxworth. We chartered a plane to Mistake Creek, taking with us a Department of Mines officer. There was supposed to be a landing strip there but this was also a mistake, so we had to fly about until we found one on the agricultural station to the south. We flew round the station alerting the officer-in-charge, who drove his truck out to meet us. He was then persuaded to take us to the places on the Negri River and Mistake Creek which we wanted to examine. We had tea with a young couple at Mistake Creek station, and inspected the site where the landing strip should have been. Even after the long period which had elapsed since I last saw the Antrim Plateau Basalts and their associates, I felt quite at home with the geology. I wrote the report for the Prospectus, discussing the usual modes of occurrence of diamonds and concluded: "Because of the announced discovery of kimberlite and diamonds near Lake Argyle it would be fair to say that the country and gravel deposits covered by the Ord River catchment have been upgraded as diamond prospects. I recommend that Negri River Corp. Ltd., having regard to the presence within the licence area of extensive alluvial deposits and of major structural features which could have provided channel ways for kimberlite emplacement, should commence a detailed exploration programme on the licence area". The floating of the Negri River Corporation on 20th November 1980 received much publicity in the press, not only because the vendors made considerable profits, but because Beith raised the matter of the Solomon report, which was unknown to the directors or to me, and consequently had not been referred to in the prospectus. He offered to sell it to the directors for $15 000 and then for $10 000 but I recommended against this, as I could not see how it affected the issue. I was surprised that the press took the matter up, and that the Corporate Affairs Commission spent much money on what was a quite unjustified investigation. It is of some interest that I was only one of a number of geologists who considered the Northern Territory areas as prospective for diamonds. For instance the Prospectus for a $9 million float by AOG Minerals in late October contained a report by consulting geologists Hannes, Walpole and Barlow, which said that the Yambarra areas, covered by a joint venture with Ashton Mining and Aberfoyle Minerals "must rank as some of the most prospective in Australia". These areas adjoined those held by Negri River. For over two years Negri River Corporation's exploration programme, under the direction of Dr Brian Marshall, sought minerals which would indicate the presence of kimberlite or allied rock in the title areas. As well as the Research Unit of the N.S.W Institute of Technology - Insearch, and Diamond Laboratory Services, some specialist work was done by John Hickling, Julian Hollis and Dr Ken Williams. My old friend and associate from Newmont days, Dr Geoff Orridge, a consultant operating from Darwin, carried out field work in the Negri River area, and advised on other possible prospects in the Northern Territory. I was Consulting Geologist and was kept informed of the operations during the period. Pyrope garnet,chrome diopside, and other minerals, commonly referred to as "kimberlitic indicators" were found. Although some of these could have been derived from xenoliths brought up from the depths by the Antrim Plateau Basalts, there was sufficient encouragement to make an actual search for diamonds in the target area. Consequently, the company met with J. Ross Stewart (one of my best geology students from New England), who was then Executive Director of Stellar Mining N.L, which had done a great deal of searching for diamonds, and had bulk sampling equipment in the northern Australian areas. A small interest in the Negri River tenements was exchanged for a like interest in the nearby tenements of Stellar Mining, and Stellar undertook to carry out, on Negri's behalf, an intensive bulk sampling programme. Despite three seasons of exploration and expenditure in excess of $750 000 the Company still had sufficient money to fund this programme. This was the really difficult and expensive part of the search. The "kimberlitic" indicators had identified the right haystack. We now had to find the needle. Unfortunately the search was not successful. In February 1984 the managing director of Southern Goldfields Ltd, Mr Michael Silver, acquired a controlling interest in Negri River Corporation, and a new group of directors was elected. I then ceased to be a consultant The last words on this issue came in April 1987 when the Sydney Morning Herald reported: Court stavs CAC action Negri River promotion : "The NSW Supreme Court yesterday delivered a second major blow of its kind in three months to the NSW Corporate Affairs Commission when it stayed criminal proceedings instigated by the CAC against publisher Sir Asher Joel and three others. Justice Yeldham upheld applications by Sir Asher Joel, Dr Michael Joel, Campbell Cooper and David Lance, described as promoters of Negri River, for criminal actions to be stayed because fcey had suffered an abuse of the court process, due to the six-year delay between investigations into Negri River and o, ° ^ the Applicants) said a CAC report, subsequently ™ i ^ SnZon ; K K°^ 8 one and a half page document dated July 1979 Solomon s report was overtaken by the discovery of diamonds in the Argyle region late that year. He argued that in any C

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case, the promoters were under no obligation to bring the report to the attention of the company's directors, on the grounds that its nature and timing were not material".

Sir Asher Joel, Sir Davis Hughes and Dr. Bill Ryall at Negri River, Northern Territory.

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Verne Cook and Ray Irish sampling the Golden plateau dump, Cracow, February 1980.

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CHAPTER 19 SEDIMENTARY URANIUM, CRACOW GOLD AND SEDIMENTARY HOLDINGS

(1979-87)

In 1979 I moved from Minerol Investments,where I had, for a short time, been Exploration Manager, to Sedimentary Uranium. Ray Irish was Chairman of both companies, and I didn't even have to change rooms. Tim Hopwood and I were elected as Directors of Sedimentary Uranium, joining Irish and Hugh McCredie. We were later joined on the board by David Michael Docherty. From this time onward Sedimentary Uranium was concerned with two major projects - the Yaramba uranium deposit, south of Lake Frome in South Australia, and Golden Plateau near Cracow, in Queensland. I visited the Yarramba area in August 1981 with Tim Hopwood and discussed its problems with David Blunt and the other geologists on site. As the country was flat and almost featureless the main things to see were the positions of the drill holes, and the spatial relationships of the various points of interest. Mines Administration were the operators and our company was part of a joint venture which had drilled a large number of holes along a Tertiary palaeochannel, and proved up enough uranium oxide to warrant the erection of a pilot plant at the Honeymoon site. Minad were discouraged by the negative attitude towards uranium mining by the Commonwealth and South Australian governments, and the project was abandoned in 1981 after seven years of exploration, but less expenditure than originally intended. The rapid rise in the price of gold towards the end of 1979 let Ray Irish and me to rush up to Cracow early in 1980. Verne Cook and his wife were settled there and Verne had been doing regional geology throughout the Authority to Prospect. We took samples from the tailings dump which was now of some importance because recovery of even one gram per tonne would have been an economic proposition. Verne and I pegged out the area occupied by the dump and he applied for a lease from the Mining Warden at Eidsvold which was granted in 1981. Verne drove me to Rockhampton to catch the plane back to Sydney and picked up drilling equipment for better sampling of the dump. Our drilling in 1980 indicated that at least one million tonnes, with an average grade of 1.5 grams of gold and 5 grams of silver per tonne, were present. Further testing in 1982-83 suggested that recoveries in the range 75-85% could be expected using the new carbon-in-pulp process. We floated a new company, Cracow Gold Limited in 1984 to work these tailings, and to develop opencut prospects at each end of the Golden Plateau Mine lode. The exploration was managed by Ken Glasson. I was one of two consultants. The amount of legal and organizational work spent to get the Company incorporated under the Companies Act 1981 in the Australian Capital Territory was to me quite incredible, and the cost in legal fees astounding. I still hadn't learned! Tim Hopwood reported favourably on the Golden Plateau lode prospect in August 1981, and a preliminary testing and sampling programme of the gold and silver mineralisation commenced. The Cracow goldfield had been discovered by battlers during the depression, and its early history has been graphically described by A.K. Denmead in the Queensland Mining Journal (April 1976). As a newly-married junior geologist Alan had been sent out by the Mines Department in 1932 to inspect the area and put an end to what were thought to be absurd rumours of a gold strike. Mrs. Denmead was pressed into service as an unpaid chainman (sorry chainperson), but she was luckier than another wife, who had to replace a horse in a whim used for hauling mullock. The Golden Plateau Mine had operated at Cracow from 1934 to 1976, producing 18.5 tonnes of gold and 20.9 tonnes of silver, and becoming Australia's second largest gold producer. We formed a joint venture with Australian Occidental in 1982, to explore the Golden Plateau reef system, and our drilling confirmed extensions of the ore body, and satisfactory gold and silver values. In the Eastern part of the Lode a resource of at least 100 000 tonnes of approximately 7 grams gold per tonne was present. Furthermore analysis of previous drilling and adit samples strongly suggested an additional 100 000 tonnes above the adit entrance averaging 5 grams gold, and an additional 200 000 tonnes of similar grade below. In the belief that gold can only be found in place by close sampling I followed the Golden Mile line assisted by Miles Worsley and took bags of soil and reef. We were thus able to indicate some potential for a large tonnage of grade of about 2 g/t of gold over a distance of nearly 900 metres. Tim Hopwood followed this work with a very detailed assessment of the total content of the Golden Plateau lodes involving over 3000 assay results obtained by the older company and all the drill records from them and the later drilling. This was the most comprehensive and expertly-prepared report that I have ever seen. It indicated a mineable 1.5 million tonnes at an estimated 5.2 grams gold per tonne. No reserve calculation was made in respect of the mine's deeper zones of interest. However potential exists for the discovery of another 1.5 million tonnes of approximately 5.5 grams per tonne gold below the No. 2 level. Occidental later withdrew, and were replaced by Costain Australia in 1986. By 1987 a large opencut and enlarged treatment plant were in operation, with Verne Cook as mine manager. I was re-elected to the board of Sedimentary Uranium (renamed Sedimentary Holdings Ltd) in November 1983, despite having reached the age of 72, and therefore requiring a 75% majority under the NSW Companies Code. I retired as

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Director in July 1987, but remained as a part-time consultant to the company till September 1987, when I finally parted from the Mining Scene.

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PART IV REMINISCING 20 The Australian Geological Surveys and Geoscience Societies 21 The Universities Revisited, Addenda, Corrigenda and other Matters Publications of Alan Voisey References

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W.R. Browne and A.B. Walkom at Warragamba Dam.

Sir Harold Raggatt and Dr. Fred Booker meet on neutral ground - Halletts Cove, South Australia.

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CHAPTER 20 THE AUSTRALIAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS GEOSCIENCE SOCIETIES AND RELATED ORGANIZATIONS THE SURVEYS My contacts with the state Geological Surveys and their Commonwealth equivalents go back to the 1930s, and many of the prominent members of these organisations were fellow undergraduates with me, and others later were my own former students. In 1934, as previously mentioned, I was employed by Dr. C. Loftus Hills, previously Government Geologist of Tasmania, but at that time a private consultant to the mining industry. I can thus claim to be one of the few geologists employed in mineral exploration in those difficult years. Most of my professional contacts were with officers of the NSW Geological Survey. I first made the acquaintance of E.C. Andrews, as a senior undergraduate about 1932, shortly after his retirement as Government Geologist Andrews and his wife had a flat at Bellevue Hill to which they invited young geologists from time to time. The routine was interesting; while E.C. soundly thrashed each individual at ping-pong his wife cooked an enjoyable dinner. Relaxing afterwards, in those days before modern Hi-Fi, he played high quality orchestral music for us, until restrained by the neighbours, who didn't share his view that to really appreciate such music you should occupy the front stalls. As a great admirer of him and his works I recall my disappointment when he told me that he had "ceased to be a geologist and had become a philosopher". A number of new appointments were made to the Survey in 1935, under E.C.'s successor L.F. Harper. These were the first newcomers in a decade, and included some of my old friends from University days:- Fred Hanlon, E.J.(Jack) Harrison, Ken Mosher and Joe Whiting. I retained close contacts with all these and later appointees to the Survey over the following forty years. When I came down from Armidale I met some of them - sometimes at the Ship Inn and the Paragon Hotels at Circular Quay. When any came to Armidale my home was available as a base to them. When I went to the Victorian goldfields in 1934 I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with the Director of the Geological Survey of Victoria, Mr W. Baragawanath Jr. He was a most impressive person with an extensive knowledge of gold mining in the State - having been with the Survey for 37 years. His staff, however, was very small, having sunk to just three. I later saw a great deal of a successor Dr. David Thomas. Beginning with three geologists, when he retired in 1967 the Survey staff numbered 25 geologists. My acquaintance with the Tasmanian survey began with my M.Sc. research on Upper Palaeozoic rocks, and was strengthened when my old friend S.W. Carey was appointed Government Geologist, following his meritorious service with Z Force during the war. Carey left the Survey to become Professor of Geology at The University of Tasmania in 1947, leaving the Survey with its scope greatly expanded by his outstanding energy and zeal. Other geologists on the Tasmanian Survey I knew were K J. Finucane and E.H. Broadhurst. J.G. Symons who was underground manager of North Mine Broken Hill, when I was working there in 1948, had a long and productive reign as Director of Mines, increasing his staff from five geologists in 1954 to 27 geologists at the end of 1974.1 had a happy friendship and many amusing times with Quentin Henderson who, after many years (1926-1947) with the Survey, later joined the staff of North Broken Hill Ltd. Ifirstcame into contact with the Geological Survey of Queensland, as previously mentioned, through Alan Denmead in 1934. At this time Lionel Clive Ball was Chief Geologist, a real "character" with interesting little habits, such as carrying a comprehensive collection of field instruments wherever he went into the field. I enjoyed meeting him and J.H. Reid (on the Survey from 1914-1947) with whom I had much in common, because of his unparalleled knowledge of the Upper Palaeozoic rocks of Queensland. I valued also my associations with Cecil Charles Morton, who was Chief Government Geologist from Ball's retirement in 1946 till his death in 1955. I was very happy to learn of Denmead's appointment as Chief Government Geologist in 1956, and to see the big developments under his leadership - his geological field staff growing to 45, supported by a range of sub-professional assistants to undertake much of the routine work I was also delighted later with the appointment of Jack Tunstall Woods, a Vertebrate Palaeontologist earlier in his career, and an associate of my friends J.F.G. Wilkinson, K.S.W. Campbell and Graham Maxwell, as Chief of the Geological Survey in 1968. As mentioned earlier I met H.A. (Matt) Ellis at Arltunga during my AGGSNA days when he was involved in the search for Lasseter's Reef. Ellis had previously been the NT Government Geologist in 1926-28, and later (1945) became Government Geologist of Western Australia. I was able to keep up my continuity of contacts with this Survey with the appointment of J.H. Lord as Government Geologist in 1961. Ben Dickinson, who had also been member of AGGSNA, wasappointed Director of Mines and Government Geologist for South Australia in 1944. Under his able administration the Mines Department made great progress, sections being set up in 1946 to specialise in hydrological investigations, mineral resource assessment, coal exploration and regional mapping (on a systematic basis), under the direction of T.A.

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Barnes, K.R. Miles, L.W. Parkin and R.C. Sprigg respectively. B.P. Thomson, R.K. Johns, H. Wopfner, G.F. Whitten and D.H. Stapleton were very competent and well known members of the staff, which had been built up to 53 professional officers before 1971. Among those who played an important part in the geological group, particularly in palaeontology, was Dr Nellie H. Ludbrook. I saw more of the SAGs geologists while at Broken hill in the late forties, and in 1972 was especially pleased to see my friend, Bruce Webb, become Government Geologist and Director of Mines. Most of the geological work between 1928 and the establishment of a Northern Territory Geological Survey in 1970 was carried out by AGGSNA and its successor, the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral Resources. In 1970 P.W. Crohn was appointed Chief Geologist with 15 professional officers, 10 in Darwin 4 in Alice Springs and one in Tennant Creek. I was able to visit the office in 1980 and to discuss the geology of the Negri River area. The Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics grew out of - among other parents - the AGGSNA, following its disbanding in 1941. The Bureau retained the same hunting grounds as AGGSNA , that half of the continent mostly north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and set up an ambitious geological mapping program to cover this area. The entry of the Commonwealth into the Mining and Petroleum industries, was gradual and necessary, but it was not welcomed by the State geological surveys. These had made do with little money over a long period, and now the Commonwealth Government was voting itself large funds for the same purposes. Moreover, the BMR attracted some of the best people from the Surveys. Some States, notably South Australia, met the challenge, and for a time this Survey outshone the growing BMR, thanks to government support unrivalled in any other State. Although there has been much cooperation since the early days, and joint projects in mapping have been very successful, the southern States have steadfastly retained their independence and have continued to work in their traditional manner. GEOSCTENCE SOCIETIES Geologists have gained much over the years from being members of various societies and groups. Certainly my life has been much enriched, beginning at different times, by attending their meetings and mixing regularly with their members. They are now so numerous that I cannot deal adequately with any of them but will make some notes and observations on the ones which over the years meant so much to me. These are:1934- The Royal Society of New South Wales 1934- The Linnean Society of New South Wales 1934- The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science 1954- The Geological Society of Australia 1967- The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 1972- The Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group. 1980- The Australian Institute of Geoscientists 1968- The Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia 1970- The Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists 1955- The Geological Society of America. I was a member of each of these for a number of years some from, or almost from, inception. I also had a close association with The Australian Museum, Sydney and was a trustee for 14 years. In the early years of the Australian colonies geologists in Australia were included in the more general scientific societies, but later, as numbers grew, they broke away, as did their fellow chemists, physicists and biologists. The oldest of the general societies is the Royal Society of New South Wales, being continuously active since the 1850s Senior students of Geology, m my undergraduate days, were encouraged to attend the monthly meetings of the Royal Society and to submit material for publication. By such attendance we were privileged to meet many of our senior contemporaries, including members of the NSW Geological Survey, and to get the research atmosphere. Professor Cotton during his term as President was keen to boost attendance at the traditional monthly dinners. He elephone^emters on the day to remind them. He had a good response, so went home happy that he had done a good job. At about 9 00 pm he suddenly realized that he should have been there also. Some colleagues later sent him a cartoon entitled "The absent-minded professors hold a dinner". There is no need to describe the drawing. « 5 'y P P * g ™t Sydney between 1939 and S c ^ ^ ^ S T ? ' J ^ * return * delivered the Clarke Ae^ntena^^^^ Further Remarks on the Sedimentary Formations of New South Wales" in 1957. In 1966, 1 9 3 4

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Fellowship for the years 1937 and 1938, and to have a number of my papers published by the Society over subsequent years. There are now over 300 members in the society, and as I became one in 1934 I am among only a small handful of survivors from the 1930s generation. The Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science was modelled on the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The name was later changed to Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science or ANZAAS. Meetings were held in the capital cities and attracted many members who attached themselves to specialised groups or sections as they were called. Geologists belonged to Section C and for many years this was their main meeting ground. The President of Section C had the status of a president of the (yet to be formed) Geological Society of Australia. I attended meetings as often as I could, and it proved to be most rewarding, as I got to know practically all the geologists then active in Australia and New Zealand, and through these contacts I was able to develop close relationships with many of them. Although not all papers which were read were published, abstracts were often included in the volumes of each meeting, as were most of the Presidential Addresses of the sections. I was delighted to be elected President of Section C held in Perth W.A in 1959, and delivered a paper entitled "Australian Geosynclines" which was published in "The Australian Journal of Science". With growing numbers in the geological profession it was felt, in the late 1940s, that a Geological Society of Australia should be formed. Moves were started at the 1947 Perth meeting of ANZAAS, and after a number of preliminary meetings a Provisional Committee consisting of E.S. Hills (Chairman), C. Teichert (Secretary) C.A. Jones (Treasurer), M.F. Glaessner (Hon. Editor) and B.F. Glenister (Hon. Editor, News Bulletin) emerged. By the end of 1953 there were 305 members and 75 associates. Having been present at many of the preliminary meetings, I was one of those who wondered whether there would be enough members and enough money forthcoming to produce a publication - this being the main aim of the proposed society. We were also concerned at the effect upon the older Royal Societies in each state, most of which had lost their Chemistry and Physics groups and relied on geologists for much of their existence. As in the mush earlier case of the Sydney University Students Geological Society, I hastened to hang on to the tail-board once the vehicle started to get into motion. After my return from sabbatical leave in 1954 I found the Geological Society of Australia well and truly functioning, and so I joined up. The first GSA News Bulletin appeared in March 1953, and the first volume of the Journal in June 1954. The Stratigraphic Nomenclature Committee of ANZAAS had already bought out two editions of the Australian Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature before being taken over by the Society, and the Tectonic Map of Australia (published by the Mineral Resources Bureau) on a scale of 1:2 534 400 appeared in 1960, with Geological Notes two years later. I spent some years on each of these committees. While working for ICI in 19721 used to join a small group of geologists for lunch in a cafe below Goldfields House at Circular Quay. Its location had been convenient for Placer geologists, including Neil Hillhouse (with whom I become acquainted on a selection committee for students the company financed to study in the United States). Alan Blatchford, Alex Somm, Lindsay MacAlister, Michael Sharwood and several others were regular participants. This naturally formed discussion group became Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group (SMEDG) in October 1972 following the circulation of a questionaire to Sydney-based mineral exploration companies. Seventy people attended the inaugural meeting on 9th November at the Mining Club, Sydney. Thereafter technical meetings were not held on a regular basis, but when the committee found that suitable speakers and topics would be available. More than thirty speakers addressed the group between 1872-and 1982, many of the contributors being relatively young and working with very active companies. The success of SMEDG illustrates the increase in the number of geologists working for companies, since the very small start in the 1930s. No academic geologists were involved, indicating the fact that geologists by now had evolved into quite separate groups. Strangely enough those who were government-employed might also be considered as forming a distinct third group. The Australian Institute of Mining Engineers was founded in 1893, and later became the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy - AustlMM. The Stock Exchanges now expect anyone writing a prospectus or report for a mining company to tea member of the Institute or of the Institute of Australian Geoscienusts (see ater). While in Armidale I did not join the Institute, though eligible for membership, as I was unable to participate in any of its activities. However, after my move to Macquarie I did so, and have since attended many of its meetings and social activities. Originally only a small number of geologists were members of the Institute, because very few were engaged in mining, K X rapklincreased employment in industry, many more have joined. One major reason why more.academic n o t a S t J S S E S S S S u . in both AusIMM and the Australian Petroleum Exploration, Association (APEA) is that S S Knendlvforthose who work for companies and who have their expenses paid for'attending such meetings otr Z l ^ ^ ^ ^ the academics, are traditionally much worse off financially. The government and

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university hand-outs are small and hence any functions, particularly the annual ones interstate or overseas are out of reach for them. During the mining boom in the late 1960s some members of the Geological Society of Australia recognised the need for control of the activities of geologists and people practising as geologists, in respect of etfiics, professional standards, professional status and public interest. In December 1969, the President, Dr Alec Trendall, in an open letter to members and a letter to Divisional Committees, requested submissions on the subject A great deal of work was earned out by many members. However it was not within the direct functions of the Geological Society essentially a learned society to undertake such controls. For a number of reasons no organisation was formed until Ken Glasson, Lindsay Ingall (with the support of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists) and Col Adamson pushed forward and eventually succeeded in getting the Australian Institute of Geoscientists established. The Institute is specifically directed towards geologists, geophysicists and geochemists who are engaged in the mining and petroleum industries. It is of less concern to those in academic pursuits, except insofar as they are employed as consultants to companies, in which case it is essential that they are made aware of the Codes of Conduct of both the Institute and the AusIMM. In the mid-sixties petroleum geologists met informally at various places in the city, in an unorganised group called the Petroleum Club. I recall meeting Dick Renshaw when it was meeting in the Air Force Officers Club in George Street. Len Hall, Dick Relph and others were regular attenders. In 1967 many of the group joined the Professional Division of the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association (APEA). We attended their mid-day lunches until the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) was formed in 1974. Many petroleum geologists attend the annual meetings of APEA which rotate between the capital cities. I went to a number of them and enjoyed myself mightily. PESA became a very strong group, and its monthly luncheon meetings were well attended; petroleum geologists, bankers, brokers and interested "Oilys" lunching informally at Johnny Walker's Bistro, in Angel Place, Sydney every Thursday. No one booked ahead, but locals and visitors from other states knew where they met. I attended these meetings for a number of years while in a Sydney office, right up to 1987. The increasing number of geophysicists in Australia led to the need to establish the Austraslian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) in 1970. I joined this when it was formed and attended meetings for several years. I realized however, that I was understanding less and less of the lectures as time went on, and I am afraid that I did little more than make up the numbers. As already mentioned, Sydney University had a Science Society when I started studies there, and Sam Carey later set up the very successful Sydney University Geological Society. The University of New England Geological Society produced a Journal for limited circulation from 1959 and this ran to a number of volumes. The geologists revived interest in a society after my departure from New England and in 1980 I was delighted to be asked to be Patron of a newly formed A.H.V. Club. This held meetings in the Department, and in July 1982 organised a Symposium in Armidale in my honour, on the geology of the New England region, with excursions to places of geological interest. About 200 persons attended. An excellent publication on New England Geology was prepared, mostly on work that had been done since I left The club organised a second symposium for November 1988, but unfortunately I could not attend. Macquarie University Geological Society was set up while I was Head of School there, and was a good contact medium between staff and students. Not only were the university students, involved but invitations were extended to geologists working in industry and surveys, and many attended the functions. It did a great deal to familiarise the public with the activities of the new university. The society was popularly known as MUGS, and I was presented with a suitable drinking vessel on my departure. Invited back to address the annual meeting after the mining boom had burst, I titled my talk "Love", with the theme that true geologists loved their subject. Even though it was then unrequited, persistence had often led to success in the past and would do so again. In time it did, and many Macquarie graduates were gainfully employed. The Edgeworth David Society of the University of Sydney, cajoled by Graeme Philip, was formed by a group of graduates in 1976. The inaugural meeting held in 1976 comprised Denis Tompkins (Chairman), Graeme Philip, Col Adamson, Ray Bmns, Alan Day, John Dulhunty, Bill Ryall, RJ. Helby and myself. It was proposed to hold meetings at intervals to commemorate David's achievements. After several fund-raising functions the subsequent mining booms and busts diverted attention for some years. The first Edgeworth David Day Symposium, on Antartica ,was held in 1988 and and three others have followed. I gave the keynote address in 1989 on the "Universities' Contribution to the Geological Mapping of Australia". One of my earliest memories is of a visit to The Australian Museum. I can't recall much else except the Art Gallery and the hansom cabs m Macquarie Street. On one or two later visits I again was taken to the same places. At the Art Gallery I clearly remember the pictures of Rorke's Drift and Drake playing bowls before fighting the Spanish Armada. Years later, when I was at the university, the museum became a regular visiting spot, and I got to know those in charge

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of Mineralogy (Tom Hodge Smith), and Palaeontology (Harold Fletcher). Soon after, I caught up with Ollie Chalmers and Fred McCarthy. The Director, Charles Anderson, was more distant but attended the Royal Society meetings. When I collected fossils from the Macleay District I took them to Harold Fletcher for identification, and they and others that I brought in later were filed in the museum's collections. I consulted Fred McCarthy over the Aborigine kitchen middens from Clybucca. Later when I was struggling to get geology started at New England University College I sought help from the Museum. Hodge-Smith saved the day with a collection of wooden crystal models, which could be spared, enabling me to teach crystallography. After I had moved to Sydney to teach in Macquarie University I was appointed to the Museum as a Trustee and stayed in the position until I had to retire with the approach of my 70th birthday - a continuous period of nearly fourteen years. Dr F.H. Talbot was taking over from Dr. J.W. Evans in 1965 when I first became a Trustee, and passed over to Dr. D.J. Griffin a few years before my retirement in 1980. I felt that my major role was to support the staff in the applications which were made for research equipment. I was fortunate also to be in office while great advances in function and achievement generally were made. The Hall of Fossils was opened in 1966, Hall of Melanesian Art in 1971 and Hall of Life in 1975. One great loss I deeply regret was our inability to acquire the opalised skeleton of Pleisosaurus found in the Cobar area. We put up a good fight, and the museum's preparators spent a lot of time working to expose much of the skeleton. However the owner felt that he could make more money by exhibiting the fossil himself in the opal field so refused to sell. One momentous social event was the recreation of the Chusan Ball with the help of The Friends of the Australian Museum in 1972. Another was the visit of Prince Philip and Prince Charles, since as trustees we were introduced and able to talk with them.

Emu Bottoms, Victoria, GSA Convention February 1977.

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The centre of attention on the excursion:Voisey Symposium, Armidale 1982.

Number of

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CHAPTER 21 THE UNIVERSITIES REVISITED,ADDENDA, CORRIGENDA AND OTHER MATTERS PERSONAL NOMENCLATURE Some of the changes which have taken place in our ways of life during the last sixty years have been haunting me as I wrote of events over this period. I only appreciated these as I read over the early manuscript. Perhaps the biggest one arose through the change over from the British Imperial to the International Metric system. But having had to make a decision over which to use I realized that there were others to face. One was spelling and English style I recall a discussion with my colleague, Professor S. Warren Carey. He commented that he was prepared to mark a thesis in one of several languages but he objected to one which was written in two. The problem was raised through the action of a now prominent graduate who had a preference for American spelling and used a great many of their words and a number of characteristic constructions. I have tried to avoid these pitfalls but apologise for any accidental slips. Third but less thought of to-day are manners of address and the use of titles. I shall now attempt to convey what I feel have made quite major differences to our life styles. During my school days and early work in geology the Imperial System of measurement was in use throughout the literature, maps and data which I had to use in my mining days. Australian in the early days had major social gaps which were accepted, unwillingly perhaps by all the inhabitants and maintained throughout over thefirsthundred years. The First World War accelerated the changes but did not quite eliminate the forms of address. Indeed to some extent the 'pecking order' necessary in the army involved respect to superior officers and the use of appropriate titles. There was however much levelling in attitudes to each other. In England, apart from the use of tides, there were well established forms of address. In the private schools which we here call Public the students were addressed by their surnames and this carried over to their Australian equivalents. In the governmental or what we used to call "public schools" the students were called by their Christian names. I started in the Wingham Superior Public School and the use of my first name became deeply engraved. At the university with the onset of the Great Depression accentuating the differences between the rich and poor the students from the Great Public Schools stood out even for just this reason. One still writhes at the memory of that great sport of cricket where the amateur players were addressed as Mr and the professional players by their surnames. This habit persisted for many years among professional people - lawyers, doctors, and even in education. In the Geology Department at Sydney University all the members of staff addressed each other using their surnames but spoke of them using their titles - or out of earshot by nicknames. Professor David was known by his initials TWED - never Tannatt! Students had their own names for staff, Cotton was Leo, Browne was "Buster"- from a comic character of those days, Osborne - GDO, Miss Quodling - Quoddie and Dr Joplin - Joppy - no rules at this level. The Chief Technician and Chief Attendant were addressed by students as Mr Gooch and Mr Crawford. As students we were generally not impressed if addressed directly by surname. I was amused and thrilled at Armidale when Professor Cotton held his hand out to Dr Browne and said "Willie I am so pleased to see you". This first hand story is capped by one I heard in 1988fromTom Vallance: W.R. Browne and A.B. Walkom started at Sydney University in 1913 and did much work together. When they both retired, Walkom as Director of the Australian Museum and Browne from the University, they shared the secretarial work of the Linnean Society, working together several days a month. One day Walkon said to Browne - "don't you think it is about time you called me 'Arthur'". Browne replied "of course it is, but it never occurred to me". My informant didn't tell me whether Walkom's response was William, Willie or Bill. It had been nearly 50 years since theyfirstmet! Not only were titles used by the public generally for doctors, bankers and more senior people, but even the Mr had significance. If there was any doubt about what to do the term "Sir" was useful. It was used to address teachers at school, so came easily. In such matters, in this transitional period, some of us lesser mortals looked to the State Governor's son, Philip Game, for guidance. He, however, said that he always took the easy way out addressing all senior people or those with any rank e.g. the Premier Jack Lang, as "Sir". Mr, Mrs and Miss had significance. Thank goodness we didn't have to face up to Ms. I feel that in those prudish days it could have had different implications than it has to-day. My attitude as a university teacher was that I called all undergraduates by their Christian names and expected them to give me my title Mr, Dr, Professor until they graduated. Then they could use my first name. Except for its use for juniors - and I still believe in respect for senior citizens -1 take the line that if I use anyone else's Christian name he is at liberty to use mine. In view of the above. I have normally used titles in the early part of this work as I would have used them at the time of writing - and I confess on several occasions where I didn't know the character'sfirstname. As a little extra note I have referred to the first name as Christian, but am aware that the more prevalent usage now is "first" on the basis that not every Australian is a Christian. We all had to be one in the "olden days", even if some wereProtestants and the others Catholics.

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MEANWHILE BACK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND After my departure from Armidale the new Geology Building which we had wanted for so many years was finished and duly occupied, i was unable to be present at the opening ceremony, as I had previuosly organised a geology excursion to Broken Hill for Macquarie external students and couldn't alter it. I was greatly honoured however in 1978, when the Council of the University of New England conferred on me the degree of Doctor of Science hQnQrig cau$at In August 1980 Professor Bruce Runnegar wrote to me suggesting that an organisation be formed to keep former students and staff in touch. It was to be called the A.H.V. Club, and I was asked to become its first Patron. Naturally I was very pleased to agree. In July 1982 the A.H.V. Club and the Department of Geology organised "A symposium in honour of Emeritus Professor Alan H. Voisey - The Geology of New England. I was able to attend and meet many old friends as well as newer staff and students, and join the excursion. NOT FORGOTTEN AT MACQUARIE Just before retiring from Macquarie University in April 1971 the University Council conferred the title of Emeritus Professor on me. However from then on I did not have any direct contact with the operations of the School of Earth Sciences, but kept interested in University developments as a whole, attending social functions and graduation ceremonies for a number of years. In 19741 was elected a member of the first Standing Committee of Convocation for a three year term, and in March 19821 was invited to become President of the Board of Friends of Macquarie University, serving for several years. On 4 May, 19841 gave the occasional address at the Graduation Ceremony. GEOLOGISTS REMEMBER In March 1990 I was elected an Honorary Member of the Geological Society of Australia. About the same time the NSW Division of the Society established the A.H. VOISEY MEDAL, to be awarded to a young member of the Society for outstanding published work. I was delighted, in December 1990, to be able to present the first award to Dr Chris Ferguson of the University of Wollongong. A GEOLOGIST'S LOT IS NOT A LOT Anyone who has read all this may well ask "I know he enjoyed being a geologist but did he make any money? The answer is not easy. I didn't save any but I used a reasonable amount on my way. We were always struggling to live well and never had anything to invest afterwards, but we lived reasonably well nevertheless. I know very few geologists who could be regarded as wealthy. The only one I know, during a conversation on this point, said that he made his money by taking risks with investments which came good. I can only suggest that anyone interested in making money from mineral or petroleum exploration would be best advised to go into the legal profession, accountancy or banking. But they almost certainly won't get as much sustained enjoyment as I did from geology. What if I had never discovered geology? Most of us have had unfulfilled dreams. My father was a talented entertainer in the country towns for most of his life. I suppose I inherited a love for the stage. I never received star-billing but I would like to be remembered by those lucky enough to be present for my performances with the Armidale Theatre Club. I hope they will never forget my mild expletives as Alf, the bullock driver in "Reedy River"; my rendition of "The Old Keg of Rum" as Shorty, a shearer in "The Coolabah Tree", and my sophisticated performance as the Publican in "Ned Kelly". A rock star indeed*

118

PUBLICATIONS BY A.H. VOISEY 1934

A Preliminary Account of the Geology of the Middle North Coast District of New South Wales Proc Linn Soc. N.S.W. Lix: 333 - 347.

1934

The Physiography of the Middle Coast District of New South Wales. Journ. Roy Soc N S W Lxviii: 88 - 103.

1935 The Silverwood - Lucky Valley Upper Palaeozoic Succession. Proc. Roy. Soc. Qld. Xlvi: 60 - 65 . 1936 The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks Around Yessabah Near Kempsey, N.S.W. Journ. Roy Soc N S W Lxx: 183-204. 1936 Geographical Notes on the Country Between Orroroo and Godnadatta. The Australian Geographer Vol iii No. 1: 20 - 22 . ' ' 1936 1937 1937 1938 1938 1938 1938 1938 1939 1939 1939 1939 1940 1942 1942 1943 1944 1945 1947 1948 1948

The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks in the Neighbourhood of Boorook and Drake, N.S.W. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S W Lxi: 155 - 168. (Part 2 of a joint paper with Dr. AJsf. Lewis) A record of Volcanic Activity in Tasmania During Triassic Times. Pap. and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas, 1937: 31 -39. House Types in the Northern Territory. The Australian Geographer, Vol. iii, No. 3: 3 - 7. The Stratigraphy of the Northern Territory, etc. Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Lxxii: 136 - 159. A Contribution to the Geology of the MacDonnell Ranges, Central Australia. Ibid. Lxxii: 160 - 174. The Upper Palaeozoic rocks of Tasmania. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W . Lxiii: 309 - 333. The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks in the Neighbourhood of Taree. N.S.W. Ibid. Lxiii: 453 - 462. The Geology of the Armidale District, N.S.W. Ibid. Lxiii: 463 - 467. The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks Between Mount George and Wingham, New South Wales. Ibid. Lxiv, Pts. 3-4: 242 - 254. The Lome Triassic Basin and Associated Rocks. Ibid. Lxiv, Pts. 3-4: 255 - 265. The Geology of the Lower Manning District, New South Wales Ibid. Lxiv, Pts. 3-4: 394 - 407. The Geology of the County of Buller, New South Wales. Ibid. Lxiv. Pts. 3-4: 385 - 393. The Upper Palaeozoic Rocks in the Country Between the Manning and Kuruah Rivers, New South Wales. Ibid. Lxv. Pts. 1-2: 192 - 210. The Tertiary Land Surface in Southern New England. Journ. Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. LXXVI: 82 - 85. The Geology of the County of Sandon, New South Wales. Proc. Linn. Soc. lxvii, Pts. 5-6: 288 - 293. The Daly River Region Northern Territory. The Australian Geographer June, 1943:1 - 8. with Dr. J.P. Belshaw, "Regional Co-operation and Development". A booklet published by the Council of the City of Armidale. February, 1944. Correlation of Some Carboniferous Sections in New South Wales. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. Lxx, Pts. 1-2: 34-40. The Peculiar Drainage Pattern in the Guyra - Aberfoyle Area. The Australian Geographer, 1946. The Geology of the Country Around the Great Lake, Tasmania. Pap. and Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1948: 95 - 103. The Geology of the Country Between Arthur's Lakes and the Lake River. Ibid: 105 -110.

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1950

The Permian Rocks of the Manning-Macleay Province, N.S.W. Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Lxxxiv: 64 - 67. The System in New South Wales. Extrait du Symposium sur les series de Gondwana publie par le 1952 XIXeGondwana Congress Geologique International, Alger: 50 - 55. Geological Structure of the Eastern Highlands in New South Wales, in Geology of Australian Ore Deposits. 1953 Aust. Inst. Min. & Met. 1953, Vol. 1: 850 - 862. Portion N.S.W. Section of Symposium on Contributions to the Correlation of the Permian in Australia 1954 and New ofZealand. Journ. Geol. Soc. Aust. Vol. 2: 92. The Building of New England. Inaugural Public Lecture. University of New England, Armidale. 1955 1956 Erosion Surfaces Around Armidale, N.S.W. Journ. & Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. Xc: 128 - 133. 1957 Further Remarks on the Sedimentary Formations of New South Wales, Clarke Memorial Lecture - Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. Xci: 165 - 189. 1957 The Manilla Syncline and Associated Faults. Journ. & Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. ibid: 209 - 214. Evolution of North-Eastern N.S.W. Australia. Journ. & Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. Xcii: 1959 Tectonic 191 - 203. Australian Geosynclines. Presidential Address Sec. C. ANZAAS, 1959. Aust. Journ. Science Vol. 22 No 51959 188198. The Geology of New England. Prepared for the Third Conference of the Institute of Australian Geographers in 1963 Armidale, 1963: 3 -10. University of New England Publication. as Chairman of Geology Group to "Science for High Schools". Published by the Nuclear Contributions 1963 Research Foundation, The University of Sydney. With K. L. Williams. Geology of the Carroll-Keepit-Rangari Area of New South Wales. Journ Rov 1964 Soc. N.S.W. Vol. 97: 65The- 72. ' Twenty-Five Years of Geology in New England. Published by the University of New England. 1964 1965 Geology and Mineralization of Eastern New South Wales in Geology of Australian Ore Deposits, second edition. Aust. Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: 402 - 410. 1968 Geological Techniques - Presidential Address 1967. Journ. & Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. 101: 137 - 146. The Environment in A Century of Scientific Progress - The Centenary Volume of the Royal Society of New 1968 South Wales, 1968: 33 - 52. Recognition and Location of Ore Bodies. The Australian Science Teachers Journal Vol 15 No 21969 -Die o3 - 66. * ** Contributions on The New England Province in The Geology of New South Wales (G.H. Packham, ed.). The 1969 Geological Society of Australia. 1975 What isrequiredof a Company Geologist? Australian Mining, May 1975:43 - 45. 1985 C ^ S ^ S T °T"T • °andoftheir contributions. Australian Geological Convention. Macquane University. Geological Society Australia AbstractsSeventhth 12: 526 - 527 1985 Evolving mineral exploration techniques and available facilities over fifty years from 1934 to 1984 Seventhth Australian Geological Convention. Macquarie University. Geological A ^ ll^T 193

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REFERENCES Andrews E.C., 1928. The Mineral Industry of New South Wales. Government Printer, Sydney. Baume, FJE. 1933. Tragedy Track. ?Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Blake, DM. 1972 Regional and Economic Geology of the Herberton - Mount Garnet Area. Herberton Tinfield Northern Queensland. Bureau of Mineral Resources Bulletin No. 124. Blayney, G. I960. Mines in the spinifex. Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Blayney, G. 1978. The rush that never ended. Third Edition. Melbourne University Press. Branagan, D.F. 1973. Rocks - Fossils - Profs. Geological Sciences in The University of Sydney, 1866 - 1973 Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Sydney. Brunt, D. A. 1978. Uranium in Tertiary Steam Channels, Lake Frame Area, South Australia. Proc Aus IM M No.256. * ** Canavan, F. 1968. Geologists and their contribution to Australia. Journ. Geol. Soc. Aust. 15 (2): 163 - 174. Cox, R. 1978. SMEDG. Its role in the Australian Exploration Scheme. Australian Mining, 1978. Cox, R. 1983. Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group - the First Decade. The Miner Newspaper Sept 26 - Oct 9. Drummond, S. H. 1959. A University is born. Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Ellis, H.A. 1936. The search for Lasseter's Reef. Ann. Progress Rept. Geol. Survey Western Australia. Frazer, N. 1972. Geology and Mineralization United North Australia Mine, Walsonville North Queensland. B.Sc Hons. Thesis James Cook University Townsville (Unpublished). Gustafson, J.K., Burrell H.C., and Garretty M.D., 1950. Geology of the Broken Hill Ore Deposit Broken Hill, N.S.W. Australia. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 61, 1369-1437. Henderson, A. D, & Hall, D. 1946. Antioch College. Harper Bros. New York. Hill, E. 1940. The Great Australian Loneliness. Melbourne. fdriess, I., 1931 Lasseter's Last Ride. Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Johns, R. K. 1976. History and role of Government Geological Surveys in Australia. Govt. Printer, Adelaide. Livingston, K.R. 1968 United North Australia Mine Walsonville. Queensland Govt. Mining Journal, August 1968. Livcrsidge, A. 1883. The Minerals of New South Wales. Trubner and Co. London. Markham, N.L. and Basden H., 1974. The Mineral Deposits of New South Wales. Govt. Printer N.S.W. Messe!, H. 1964. Science for High School Students. Nuclear Research Foundation, University of Sydney. Piuman, E.T., 1900. Mineral Resources of N.S.W. Govt Printer N.S.W. Raggatt, H. G. 1968. Mountains of Ore. Lansdowne Press, Melbourne. Shepherd, J. and Burns, K. L. (1978) Fault Swarms in the Greta Coal Seam, NSW. Proc AuslMM. No. 267 1978: 27. Sykes, T. 1978. The money miners: Australia's mining boom 1969 - 1970. Wildcat Press, Sydney. Wegener, A. 1924. Drifting Continents. (English edition). Woodall, R. 1983. Bull. A.I.M.M. Vol. 290, No.7, 1985.

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