FURTHER action has been taken under the war precautions regulations to limit expenditure on places of amusement.
A new regulation, dated 14th February, which comes into operation forthwith, provides that no person, firm, company, society, club or association shall, without the written consent of the Treasurer, erect any building or structure for amusement purposes; make any structural alterations in or to a building used, or intended to be used, for amusement purposes; or expend money for the purpose of establishing an amusement business at or in any building or structure which is not at the commencement of the new regulation used primarily for amusement purposes.
“Amusement” is defined under the regulation as any exhibition, performance, amusement, game or sport for admission to which payment is or is intended to be made.
Hitherto such restrictions as are set
out above have been confined to companies or firms. They now, however, apply to all individuals.
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LANCE-CORPORAL Harold Dial, after being a long time at the front has been invalided home, and he arrived at Frankston on Thursday evening, where he received a warm welcome from a number of his friends.
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WE have received a further budget of letters referring to who should and who should not be on the “Wattle” Club committee.
As no good can be done by prolonging the discussion we decline to publish anything further on the subject.
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AS the result of a drunken carousal amongst a number of tramps the Frankston police arrested two men and a woman on the 14th inst.
The woman, who gave the name of Ruby Hewson but is also known to the police as Ruby Moore, was charged with (1) stealing from one William Tabb (better known locally as ‘Bullocky Bill’) a leather purse containing £1 10s ; (2) with using indecent language and (3) with having no lawful means of support.
The men were charged with drunkenness, offensive language, and vagrancy.
The “lady” was brought before Capt. Sherlock, J,P., the same evening, and remanded till the 19th inst.
She was then conveyed to Melbourne Gaol.
On the following morning Wm Ford appeared before Mr Oates, J.P., charged with drunkenness and offensive language. He pleaded guilty.
On the first charge Ford was fined 2s 6d or three hours, and for the “language” he was compelled reluctanaly to contribute 15s to the revenue.
The second man. Edward Stewart, was charged with vagrancy.
Constable Ryan stated that since the man’s arrest it had been found that he had absconded from the Benevolent Asylum, and he suggested that the prisoner be discharged on condition that he returned to the a institution.
Mr Oates discharged Stewart on this condition.
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LETTER from the Front. The following letter has been received from Pte Jack W. Reynolds, Sussex, England.
JUST a few lines hoping your paper is having as good a circulation as it was when I was last in Frankston.
No doubt you will recall my face to mind when you know where I came from.
Previous to returning to England, I was with Mrs Gregory, who was at that time licensee of the Bay View Hotel. The time I am speaking of was from Febuary to August, 1914, but I was in Frankston long enough for nearly all to know me.
Well, I am writing this letter to let my friends know what I have been through since I left Australia. I left Australia with the first contingent on October 31st, and landed in England 19th December, 1914 after a very pleasant journey home.
I was not home for more than a month, when I was packed off to France. That is the worst of being a reservist you don’t get any training at home. As soon as we arrived in France, they sent us straight up to the firing line.
The weather was bitterly cold at the time, it being the time when so many men were sent home with frostbite.
After coming straight from Australia you can guess I felt the cold a bit.
The first time we went into the trenches, we were in for three days and all the time up to our waists in water, and were jolly glad to get relieved. We had to keep on going into the trenches up to March, when we had to go into a charge at Neove Chapelle. I came out of that alright.
Then we were shifted along the line a bit and worked our way till we came to Festubert, when we had to go into two charges. I came out of the lot without a scratch.
We then carried on, making raids now and again till 25th September 1915, when we had to take a charge at Loos. I came out of that alright, after that we had to make a bombing attack on 15th Oct. at Loos again. We only lost a few men there. Then we carried on again, making raids till the middle of December, when we were sent back for a rest which was well earned.
We only had a rest for seven days and were put in a different division, along with some of Kitchener’s battalions to show them how to go about in the trenches.
After our rest was up, the battalion moved to go into the trenches again, but I did not go in with them this time. It happened to be my turn for leave, and I was glad of it.
When the time came for me to go back, I didn’t like it. Of course we kept on going in and out of the trenches making raids nearly every time we went in. In July last year, after doing twenty four days in the trenches we were shifted to the Somme. We had to retire that night to a certain town. We had to march about 15 miles to our billets so left the station at 4 o’clock in the morning and arrived at our billets about 9 o’clock.
We had not been there five hours when we had orders to shift at once, and had to march another thirteen and a half miles. You can guess we were tired out after our day’s March.
We stayed in billets all that night but had to shift off again next morning, and that same night we had to sleep on ground that had been taken. We had to move off again the next day, and after resting for a few hours, shifted up in the first line. That was the roadway.
The first order we got was to dig ourselves in. No sooner had we started than the Germans started shelling us. All the night it was Just like h—. Anyway we stuck to our work and nearly got it finished, when we got the order to prepare to attack.
We went over the top about nine o’clock, and had over a thousand yards to go to get to our objective.
All the while we were going over the Germans were firing at us from the right and left flanks and the front with rifle, machine gun and gun fire. So you can guess we had it pretty hot. We were only 20 yards from the Germans barbed wire when I was wounded. I got hit about half past nine, and got it in the right thigh. This was on 15th July. It took me about six or seven hours to get in, but after I got back I was all for blighty.
From the time I was wounded to the time I was discharged from hospital (October 31st) was three months and a half . I should have been discharged before, only I had an abscess form in the wound and had to have an operation on it, and I am now going on quite well.
Well, having told you of what I have been through since I left Australia, I will close wishing your paper every succes.
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From the pages of the Mornington Standard, 24 February, 1917
As published in the Mornington News – 21 February 2017
