When is a School not a School?

The following transcription, made by Mélissa Martin for the Weston History and Heritage website, was taken from The Kurri  Kurri / Weston Pioneering Days No.4, by Brian J. Andrews for the Coalfields Heritage Centre . Dec., 1999, pp. 148-154:

No.15: WHEN IS A SCHOOL NOT A SCHOOL?

The definition of a school is that it is a place or establishment where instruction is given, especially for children. We all know, or think we know, what a school is, but still there is one school that falls outside all given definitions. It is the story of that school which I will share with you today.

In June, 1931, this particular school could be found in the bush, near Kearsley, and was always well attended by scholars. The most popular subjects taught were mathematics, the theory of probability, and subtraction and addition.

However, anyone witnessing the 'break up day' of the school, located between Aberdare and Kearsley, one Sunday afternoon, could have been pardoned for believing that the curriculum of the class was mainly that of physical culture.

They might also have been excused for believing that the sports-master of the school was an efficient teacher, judging by the athletic performances exhibited by the pupils that day.

Actually, the school did not break up on its own account. It was broken up due to the intervention of three uninvited guests, each wearing blue uniforms.

When the blue-coated visitors arrived on the scene, it appeared that an exhibition of discus throwing was in progress. The discus, however, was very small – in fact no larger than a couple of coins.

The pupils attending the school numbered about eighty. Most were sitting round in a circle, on logs, which had been specially arranged.

They appeared to be a very devout class, all eyes being cast upwards, as if in prayer, in the direction the discus was being thrown, by somebody in the centre.

When the uninvited guests appeared on the scene, there were shouts from men who had outpost positions. It is not known whether these were naughty boys who had been put out of the school for unruly behaviour or not. If this was so, then they certainly made amends.

Perhaps the excitement of the school was due to the fact that the pupils thought the visitors were the dreaded School Inspectors.

Meanwhile, the visitors turned out not to be Inspectors, but the class observed to their dismay, that there was a sergeant and to constables among the uninvited guests.

“Look out, cops are about!,” shouted the outposts. This caused an immediate scatter. Many of the startled pupils even left their bicycles behind them as they sprinted out of the blocks. There would be no more lessons that day.

Not satisfied with breaking up the school, in the ordinary sense of the word, the visitors, like vandals, broke it up completely. They gathered up all the seating accommodation, throwing it onto a bonfire heap, and then burning the entire lot.

Whether any action followed the visit is not known. What is known, however, is that many of the pupils were recognised by the uninvited guests and had better watch out for themselves.

If you haven't already guessed it, the school was none other than the good old fashioned “two-up gambling school.”

Gambling seemed to thrive in times of hardship, high unemployments, with little money about. The hope that a gambler's next bet would win his fortune was no doubt the motive force.

WESTON MOVIE BENEFIT FOR UNEMPLOYED

By 1930, one Australian worker in four had become unemployed. Banks closed, dole quest formed and beggars swarmed in city streets. The great depression had arrived.

The depression, which first cast its long, desperate shadow over Australia in 1929, heralded years of crushing poverty for hundreds of thousand wage-earners and their families.

The crisis developed with frightening speed. At the end of 1929, the level of unemployment rose to 13 per cent., and a year later it was 23 per cent. and by the end of 1931, it was 28 per cent.

Meanwhile a benefit picture show was held in Weston's School of Arts, on pay-Friday night, July 17, 1931, in aid of Weston's unemployed.

A first class program of films was shown, including the talkie films, "The Drake Case" and "The Long Long Trail." The films had been made available, free of charge, on the night, by the Universal Picture Company. This generous gesture was greatly appreciated by the local Relief Committee and the families who would benefit from it.

The Weston School of Arts Hall was packed to the doors, with the result that the relief funds were considerably increased.

The committee were also grateful to the School of Arts Committee, who also gave the use of the hall free, as did the operators and staff.

Hebburn No.l and No.2 Miners' Lodges struck a special levy, every man taking a ticket to the show, thus ensuing its success.

BILLIARD ROOM RAIDED

The Weston School of Arts not only provided the hall where the films could be shown, but also provided a library and reading area, as well as a billiard room, where a warm, cosy fire could be found during the cold winter nights.

Not all of the men who had tickets to the show used them for that purpose, but found a better form of entertainment in the billiard room out the back.

The outcome was that fifty-two men had to file into the tiny Kurri Kurri Police Court the following Wednesday, to be paraded before Mr D.H.F.Sutherland, Police Magistrate, where they were charged with having been found in a common gaming house at Weston, on Friday, July 17th.

The licensee of the billiard room, Thomas McNabb, pleaded guilty to a charge of having been the keeper of the gaming house, while Maitland Butler pleaded guilty to a charge of having been acting keeper of the gaming house.

Nine of the men entered pleas of guilty, and were each fined £1 or two days' imprisonment.

A plea of not guilty was entered by the remainder of the men.

Lengthy evidence was heard by the Magistrate, and at the conclusion he dismissed the information against seven the men, but he found 33 of the men guilty. and fined them each £1 or two days' imprisonment.

Thomas McNabb. the licensee of the billiard room, was fined £20, with costs of £4/8/4. or 24 days imprisonment, while a similar penalty was imposed upon Maitland Butler. the acting keeper.

Sergeant F.S.Noble, of Newcastle, under whom the raid on the room was carried out, prosecuted, while Mr W.J.Enright, conducted the case for the men.

The case was fully covered by the Kurri Kurri and Cessnock press, who published all of the names for all to see.

Today I do the same – perhaps some readers will recognise the names, taken 68 years ago, as their parents, grandparents, or ever characters they knew when they were growing up.

The nine men who pleaded guilty to the charge, and who were each fined £1 or two days were…

The 40 men who pleaded not guilty to the charges were...

The seven men against whom the charges were dismissed were...

Fourteen days were allowed defendant to pay.

THE POLICE EVIDENCE

Sergeant F.S.Noble said that he entered the billiard room at the Weston School of Arts building by special warrant. The men he found there were playing a game of “fives and sixes,” or practically two-up. McNabb was very fair, and when someone put out the lights he went outside and put them on again.

Dice, said witness, were found inside the room.

Constable Harold Douglas Kenny, of Newcastle, said that at about 8.30 p.m. on Friday, 7th instant, in company with Constables Smith and Rutledge and Sergeant Noble, he entered the billiard room of Thomas McNabb, at Weston.

As witness entered the first door, he saw the lights inside the room flicker off and then on again, almost instantly. He ran smartly into the room towards the door leading to the billiard room. As he ran through the door, he saw the defendants rushing all about the room. He saw a man snap the back door open, and three men ran away before he could close it.

Witness read a warrant and then said to them, “Now that you know what we are here for and what it is all about, if you have any excuse for being here, or have anything to say, you can do so when we are fixing you up.”

Prior to the defendants' names being entered in the charge book, witness searched the men one at a time and took particulars of their property.

Some of the men told him they had only just come into the room, but he could not remember now who those men were or the exact remarks passed. Some said they were waiting for girl friends.

Answering Mr Enright, witness said that he found that some of the men were without money, while another had 2½d in his pocket.

Undercover Constable O'Brien, of Singleton, said that at about 7.15 p.m. he entered the billiard room at Weston, and saw a number of men around a table engaged in a game of “fives and sixers.”

He was there for about an hour and saw a man named Butler running the game. The other men were betting with each other for different amounts of money.

At about 8.30 the lights flicked and the men around the table sat down.

Norris, who was playing snooker, commenced playing billiards on the table that was being used for playing “fives and sixes” or “heads and tails,” as some of the men called it.

How long before Constable Kenny came in did you see Murrell there? - I saw him there at the time Constable Kenny made the raid. Murrell would be there for some minutes before the raid was made.                                                                 

He saw the defendant at the table, but he could not say whether he was playing or not. Witness said he was not talking to the man Turnbull prior to the raid. Turnbull did not say to him, “I would rather play two-up than that game.” Witness saw Turnbull in the room five or ten minutes before the raid.

At this stage Mr Enright submitted a letter from the manager of the Weston Co-Operative Store, showing that Turnbull was on duty.

Constable O'Brien, in answer to Mr Enright, selected seven of the men who were not playing, but were in the room.

Constable Donald Ray Smith, of Lambton, said that at about 9 p.m., on July 17th, in company with other police, he went to the billiard room, and he and Constable Kenny went in by the front door.

He saw the lights go off and the men rush from the table and sit down on seats. He saw a window pushed up and several men jump out. He also found four dice.

DEFENDANTS

Leslie John Murrell, of Weston, said that on the night in question he was on his way to the rear of the building when the raid was made.

He had nothing to do with the gambling, and it was the first time he had been in the room that night.

Answering Sergeant Noble, witness said that he was not interested in gambling, and although he had been in the room several times on different nights during a week, he had not seen any gambling taking place.

Witness did not see any men get out of the window, but he heard afterwards, that some did.

“Didn't you see them?” persisted Sergeant Noble.

“The police were watching and didn't see them,” said Mr Enright.

“Yes, we slipped up a bit there,” replied Sergeant Noble.

James Turnbull, of Weston, said  he was an  employee at the Weston Co-Operative Store, and he was on duty till 8.35 p.m. on the night in question.

He went to the billiard room to have a game of billiards. One table was occupied and the other was being used to play what he knew as “fives and sixes.”

Witness sat on a form, and when Constable O'Brien sat down next to him, witness remarked to the constable, “I would rather play two up than this game.”

The lights flickered and the crowd sat down.

Turnbull said that he had never played “two up,” but he considered a game with dice to be “the lowest under the sun.”

“Why?” asked Sergeant Noble.

“Well,” replied Turnbull, “I have heard that there are such things as loaded dice.”

“Ever heard of double headed pennies?” said Mr Sutherland, P.M.

“When you saw that gambling was going on, why didn't you leave the room?” asked Sergeant Noble.

“I didn't know that it was illegal,” replied Turnbull.

“Well, you will know after today,” said the magistrate.

“Probably,” said Turnbull.

Others to give evidence, all of which can be seen in the Edgeworth David Museum's library, at Kurri Kurri, were as follows...

It was one of the biggest days ever at the Kurri Kurri Court House, reminescent of a year or two earlier during the great Lockout troubles.

The State Government was the only winner on the day, raking in fines and costs to the value of £90/6/8.

[Transcribed for the Weston History and Heritage website by Mélissa Martin]