Alfred Silvester – the Fakir of Oolu and his Family of Magic
Chapter Six
“The local press of Ceylon are unanimous in speaking most highly of the entertainment, which, it seems, has been well patronised by the Ceylon public … If the renowned beauty of the ‘entranced lady’ does not ‘fetch’ Young Mauritius, I can only say – what will?”
- Indian Daily News, September 16 1879
- Indian Daily News, September 16 1879
ALFRED SILVESTER'S TOUR CONTINUES: 1878 - 1880
We now return to the travels of the Silvester family who, in September 1878, were travelling back in the direction of Singapore. The next available documentation shows that they moved into India, at Rangoon in early November and, by December 11, at Calcutta (Kolkata) at the Italian Opera House, where they performed until the end of the year.
Meantime, back in Australia, the Colac Herald (1) was commenting on the surfeit of ‘genuine’ psychics and spirit mediums now in the country, along with the many theatrical magicians cashing in on the ‘exposure’ trend. “The air of the city is full of mysteries, and a charnel-like gloom pervades the circumambient atmosphere. Also have the Fakir’s son, Alfred Silvester, and the sphinx-like Hennicke, the illusionist, entered into a compact with the ‘Evil One,’ and have made arrangements with sundry dwellers on the footsteps of the unseen world, by which they can at any time obtain an unlimited supply of messages written on mediumistic slates which, for a pecuniary consideration, they will cheerfully communicate to anxious enquirers. Our old friend, the Fakir of Oolu, is sadly missed at this juncture … all the professors of the black art I have just enumerated are driving a roaring trade. They have struck oil, and are garnering a golden harvest….”
The following months are difficult to trace, though in April it seems the company was in Lahore where it was remarked “everything is falling off … the opera didn’t take, the Philharmonic is falling through, Dr. Silvester’s conjuring ain’t paying, and the service of sacred song was quite a failure.”
However the company was at Bangalore on March 11, and on the Esplanade in Madras at the end of April, in a temporary building next to that of ‘The Canadian Blondin’ (possibly Andrew Jenkins).
On April 10 the family was in Madras (Chennai) where, at St. Andrew’s Church, Daisy Silvester was wed to Business Manager, William Ball, in a marriage which would last until both passed away in 1921 at Hare Street, Echuca. Ball is seen operating a Chemist’s business at 96 Swanston Street in the years 1881-1883, where he was once bilked with a worthless cheque from magician Herr Martin Tolmaque. In July 1890 another of his chemist’s shops, at the
corner of Chapel Street and Toorak Road in South Yarra, was gutted by fire;
fortunately the shop was insured. William was noted living at Tivoli Road, South
Yarra. He qualified as a dentist during the tour years, and practised as a dentist at Echuca into the 1900s; there was a period in 1894 in which he was declared insolvent due to poor business.
William Ball advertised an impending arrival at Byculla (southern tip of modern-day Mumbai) in early May, and the show opened at the New Victoria Theatre (‘The Coolest Place in Bombay’) on May 8 for six nights, where it was noted that Charles Silvester performed his skating act alongside their musical accompanist, Edward Nicholson.
In an accidental clash of schedules, it was reported in the ‘Herald’ of Fremantle, Western Australia, that Alfred2 was almost ready to embark from Melbourne on a steamer for Fremantle, when he learned that his father was making arrangements to “positively arrive” at the same place in May or early June 1879. Alfred2 deferred his trip, and Alfred senior advertised his impending arrival (2) with the full company. However, no such visit took place and Silvester was instead reported at Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on June 21, well received by audiences; and it seems he stayed there for some time, still performing on August 14. Then, according to a letter dated August 15, the ‘Lorgnette’ reported, “Dr. Silvester is playing to very good business in his New Theatre of Illusions, Racquet Court, Pettah (an area of Colombo). The entertainment, which ends each evening with gifts valued from five to fifty rupees, is entirely sustained by the Fakir, his wife (Madame Silvester) and his daughter (Daisy Silvester). The agent is Mr. William Ball … The troupe will, I hear, shortly go to China.”
This Chinese visit does not seem to have happened. The likely reason for an extended stay in Colombo is that Alfred and Sarah were expecting the birth of a child; and on October 4, as they were travelling between Colombo and Mauritius, Sarah bore a son. The ship on which they were sailing was the ‘Alvington’, and the boy was named Alvington Oak Silvester. He would be the only child of Alfred not to become involved in the magic business, probably because he was only seven when his father died. Alvington would work as a clerk. He married Undine Elsie Silvester, fathered two children (Alma Colman and William Silvester) and lived at “Oakdene” at 144 Orrong Road Elsternwick, and Maitland Street, Malvern until November 4, 1953, where he died in a private hospital at Kew and was cremated at Spring Vale.
The show, however, continued in Mauritius, off the East coast of Africa, and seems to have played to crowded houses to the end of January 1880, then to the African Cape, with the intention of afterwards returning to Australia. By February, and through to early April, Silvester is noted at Durban (formerly Port Natal) receiving good houses. Mr. Ball received a benefit night, during which he was presented with a handsome diamond ring by gentlemen of the town.
RETURN TO AUSTRALIA
Little can be traced of the company for some months, but they were still in the Cape region in mid-September 1880, and provisional plans at that stage were to return to South Australia via Mauritius, then possibly onward New Zealand via Hobart.
In the event, the Silvesters landed back in Australia at Adelaide on December 5. The Fakir, “looking as jolly as ever” was quoted as saying that business was not quite so good in India as it was a few years ago, but that he did pretty well.” The company had been away for well over two years, and on their return to Melbourne they discovered that there were no venues available; so they moved northwards to Castlemaine and opened a Christmas season at the Theatre Royal, which included a humorous Panoramic Lecture, “A Trip to India” which might have been expected to be views of his recent journey. It had in fact been painted in Melbourne before his departure, and was made up of views showing a fairly European tour from England to India. Madame Silvester sang along with Charles on the cornet, and of the Entranced Lady (Daisy) it was said that “beautiful as the figure is, the postures and the draping does not create that astonishment that it did years ago, but whatever aids can be applied to heighten the mystery, the Fakir uses them adroitly,” and that “Miss Silvester is beyond question, and the Fakir the best performer who have appeared in this strange illusion.”
If business was not so good in India “as it was a few years ago”, the same must be said of Australia upon the Fakir’s return. Looking from a distance at the next five years, a pattern of smaller audiences and distinctly harder times can be seen. There was no economic downturn during the ‘80s, in fact a frenzy of land speculation was creating a bubble that would burst in 1893 tipping Australia into a depression. There seems, however, to have been a general decline in theatrical attendances which affected Silvester and other acts.
It must also be said that Alfred Silvester had now reached a point in his career where he was not creating new material. His master works, clever as they were, had become familiar staples of his act, and the novelty items which might be introduced from time to time were variety routines such as new songs, or the humorous lectures offered. Silvester was now an old and appreciated friend to Australian audiences, but he was not giving anything new.
The first signs appeared in Kyneton in early January 1881, where the audience at the Mechanics’ Institute was so small that the first show was cancelled and the second proceeded with an unprofitable attendance. Said the ‘Observer’, “he certainly deserved to have a larger attendance. The people of Kyneton, however, are very backward in attending anything of this kind.” It appears that Alfred now decided to wait until a suitable venue opened up in Melbourne, so that he could make a proper return appearance. His old stomping ground, St. George’s Hall was that venue, and he opened on April 16 under patronage of the Governor, with “Diversions of the Drawing Room” featuring the familiar magical routines, musical interludes by Madame Silvester and [her sister] Emilia Beaumont, Mr. J. Summers Brown assisting in the spirit effects, and a ventriloquial performance by Mr Hector Lacie who, in later years, would become a mentor to the enterprising Australian magician, “Doc” Richard Rowe. All started well, the Argus saying, “… an audience which clearly attested that the Fakir’s entertainment had in its previous season quite hit the taste of the Melbourne public … has lost none of its former attractiveness … the illusions are more perfect … than before.” Daisy Silvester was still floating in the air, and the manager and theatre lessee was Mr. Ball.
All seemed to be proceeding well, with Mr. Cecil Forrester (a mimic) and singer Amy Horton joining the troupe. On May 21, Daisy Silvester performed her ‘Entranced’ illusion at a benefit for Mr. Fred Coppin at the Theatre Royal, and suddenly it was announced in the Weekly Times that “Miss Daisy Silvester has quitted her pater’s company, and a new neophyte is now the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’ and is rapidly becoming a victim to the doctor’s mesmeric powers, and the central figure in the aerial suspension feat.”
Daisy’s departure appears to have been a permanent retirement and she is seen no more in the theatre; not entirely surprising, considering her new status as a married woman; and after nearly ten years of being hoisted in the air she would be forgiven for wanting to keep her feet on the ground. Some years later the magical writer from New Zealand, Robert Kudarz (Thomas Driver) claimed that Daisy had re-surfaced as “Louie Byron”, but he was mistaken, as will later be shown.
St. George’s Hall was said to be ‘crammed’ on May 14, and in June some attractions were added to what was now being advertised as The Fakir of Oolu’s Fashionable Levees and Combination Company. The Wheeler family came in to perform a number of comic sketches, and Silvester was still advertising his Beautiful Entranced Lady with an unnamed assistant. Then, on June 8, despite continued news reports that Silvester was drawing the crowds, St. George’s Hall was announced to be closing for alterations, and “final nights” were advertised, closing night being June 22 after a fairly lengthy season.
On June 24, the Argus reported that the Fakir had filed his schedule in the Insolvent Court, with debts set down at £571 and assets at £96. (Silvester was noted as being of Lonsdale-street West) Whether this was the same convenient re-set of his finances that Silvester had used frequently in the past, his reason was listed as ‘want of capital and losses in business.’ The Australasian commented that the Fakir ‘at the present time is not enjoying the sunshine of prosperity as much as he deserves.’ By July 6, despite previously having noted excellent audiences at the Hall, it was now reported (3) “The insufficient patronage accorded to, and the subsequent heavy losses sustained by the Fakir of Oolu at St. George’s Hall, has resulted in the closing of that favourite place of resort until further notice, whilst the manager of the Princess Theatre also notifies that place of amusement will be closed from the same cause.” So, there was no ‘renovation’ taking place, and the downturn was not just in Silvester’s theatre. The Lyttleton Times said “Dr. Silvester’s season just closed had been a financially most disastrous one to him … a movement is on foot to tender him a testimonial benefit at the Theatre Royal on July 15.”
The Hall remained closed for a month, then re-opening once more on July 23 with Silvester’s show, in what was now distinctly a variety entertainment with magic, rather than the reverse. Added to the bill was Mr. Armit, “who apparently has dramatic aspirations … will appear as Richard III.” However, said the ‘Age’, “Mr Armit is an amateur, and ventured to impersonate the part of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in which he failed entirely. If any of Mr. Armit’s friends have by injudicious praise encouraged him to appear in public, they have certainly been unkind to him, because Mr. Armit does not shine on the stage.” Ultimately the St. George’s season closed after just a week, and the company headed to Geelong for a short season (minus Mr. Armit!) Alas, the Geelong Advertiser would report, “the lectures [given that week by Prof. Denton on Geology] were of an admirable character, but they did not meet with the patronage they deserved. Dr. Sylvester, the Fakir of Oolu, placed before the public during the past week a varied and enjoyable entertainment, embracing magical illusions, ventriloquism, fancy skating, vocalisation and panoramic views, but he did not fare much better than his graver predecessor, thin houses being the rule throughout the season.”
After a break to consider his options, Alfred left Melbourne on October 17, aboard the Macedon, destined for Perth, Western Australia, where his son (Alfred2) was living.
ALFRED SILVESTER SILVESTER ON TOUR
Now it is time to back-track to 1877, to examine the career of the Fakir’s elder son, Alfred Silvester Silvester (Alfred2) who had separated from the family show to make a living for himself under the title of “Mr. Silvester” or, more commonly, “Alfred Silvester”. Although the papers would often refer to Alfred as the son of the Fakir, he did not adopt the name “Fakir of Oolu” at any time.
Sensing the profitability of the “anti-spiritualist” cabinet routine he had been performing opposite the Davenport Brothers, Alfred formed a compact company named “The Premier Illusionists and Anti-Spiritualists”, and began to appear in some regional towns. His wife, Louisa, was promoted as “Mdlle Naomi” and Md. Latta and Mr. Bellair were along as musical supports acts. As his partner in the Light and Dark Seances, Alfred promoted “Professor J. Curthew, Thaumaturgist.” 
Curthew was no magician, but a trained partner in the show, and was almost certainly Mr. John Curthew Sanders who, in later years, would run the Silver Gate Hotel at Sandridge, and the Caledonian Hotel in Yea, Victoria, where he died in 1918 as a highly respected and active citizen. ‘Curthew’ wrote a lengthy series of articles concerning his own overseas travels (4). As a performer, however, he was only ever seen with the Silvester company.
The magic in the show, performed by Alfred, included the Vanishing Bird Cage trick which he had appropriated from Harry Keller, building his own cage. As well, he must have had new apparatus built for what he called the “Sleeping Beauty” illusion, as his father was still performing the feat. Alfred was travelling light, unencumbered by the large illusions or the Fairy Fountain which must have caused his father great problems with transport. The spirit cabinet routines were the show’s feature, with the familiar flying musical instruments and teasing of a volunteer inside the cabinet; followed by the performers releasing themselves from the ropes which bound them.
The troupe began at Beechworth in July 1877, then to Wagga, Bendigo, Echuca, Avoca, Deniliquin and Hamilton by October, and the reviews were good, though the Riverine Herald remarked, “Mr. Sylvester, though not the prototype of the renowned Fakir in stage address, and pointing jests, is yet a very pleasing performer.”
At Deniliquin Town Hall in early September a near-disaster occurred when, according to the reports, “a gas apparatus exploded, blowing the mysterious cabinet to pieces. None of the audience was hurt, but both the performers were injured. The damage done to the roof of the hall was great.” However, the tour continued, and by the year’s end they had moved through Camperdown in Victoria and across to Mount Gambier Institute Hall in South Australia.
Alfred was establishing a pattern of performing intermittently, or as part of a variety combinations in which he was not required to be the business manager and leader. Without the advantages of an entire family of performers by his side, it was more practical to travel fairly light and to establish partnerships of shorter duration. Doubtless he could also see the difficulties of trying to be a full-time touring magician; and by 1881 he would be taking on other business enterprises while performing as the occasion arose.
After finishing at Mount Gambier in January 1878, and announcing appearances at Narracoorte, Millicent, Robe and Kingston only up to the 8th, Curthew and Silvester drop out of sight until March 18 at Beechworth, then nothing again until May 2 at Heathcote, 24 at Yass, and 29 in Young, only ever for a two-night season. June and July featured a few separate nights in the Melbourne suburbs, before finally, in August, Alfred joined forces with British ventriloquist Val Vose (Thomas Davis Eaton) who had been touring successfully in Australia and New Zealand as early as 1873, and had just returned from a three-year tour taking in the Cape, America and Honolulu. Vose would later go on to perform with Cora de Lamond and Alexander Herrmann, but he died of consumption in 1888.
In this brief combination, Vose was the headliner, with Alfred and Louisa performing general magic and featuring the Masks and Faces, with the Entranced Lady under the billing “Sleeping Beauty”. The season was well received at the Temperance Hall in Melbourne, but by August 19, Alfred had joined up with Clark’s Gaiety Group and departed for Tasmania. This troupe included the ventriloquist Ernest Voltaire (Frank Lay) (5) who had performed in 1876 with the Silvesters, and had just come out of a breach-of-contract dispute in January, in which Voltaire had come away with a strong judgement against himself. The rest of the group consisted of “Onzalo, demon of the air, and Miss Nordt, mezzo and pianist. Starting from Launceston, they worked towns down through the centre of the island towards Hobart. The Cornwall Chronicle of August 27 made a point of saying, “Mr Alfred Silvester is a greater magician than his father, if that is possible, and his conjurations last night did not fail to astonish and delight all who witnessed them …. [in regard to the Sleeping Beauty] Mr. Silvester does not imitate his father, nor, for the matter of that, does he in any of his sets.”
Clark’s Gaiety arrived at Hobart to open on September 16, 1878 at the Tasmanian Hall; they were travelling with a child, who would have been young Alfred William Silvester (Alfred3). The Hobart season was only brief before performances were given at New Norfolk and Bothwell, but the troupe was popular, and returned a while later to remain at the Theatre Royal for most of October. The Tribune, however, said “the group consisted of Mr. Alfred Sylvester, a worthy chip off that amusing old block, the Fakir of Oolu … he unfortunately brought no novelty, and his happiest efforts were coldly received …. He performed several very clever feats … but they also had been previously performed in Hobart Town … witnessed them without anything bordering on enthusiasm.” By November, Alfred was back in Melbourne, still with Voltaire, and giving performances for the Temperance Society and exposures of the spiritualist Dr. Slade, at the People’s Concerts in Fitzroy. He did introduce a new feat, which was that of being tied in a tall sack, and handcuffed before being placed in the spirit cabinet. After the usual spirit phenomena with musical instruments, the empty sack was thrown from the cabinet, and Alfred was discovered to be free of the handcuffs; the sack was still tightly sealed.
The year 1879 saw a similar sporadic pattern of performances around Victoria and the southern towns of South Australia as “Mr. Alfred Silvester in his Enchanted Casket of Necromantic Gems” and sharing the stage with a range of supporting performers such as Arthur and Nellie Vivian, comedians. Mrs Silvester was for once advertised as “Louise Silvester”, and at the Fitzroy Town Hall on February 15, “Hadji Mahommed Sahib” made an appearance – an amusing echo back to the days of the Fakir in England.
A ”Prof. Sloman in his Arabian, India and Chinese Marvels” appeared briefly alongside Alfred in March, and Sloman seems to have had some minor connection with performing magic in 1874, but he was essentially the head of “Sloman & Smith’s Bijou Variety Troupe”.
In the latter part of 1879 and into 1880, little is seen of the Silvester Troupe, and it may have been due to Alfred planning his next venture; re-locating to Western Australia.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1880
In March 1880 Mrs. and Mr. Silvester arrived in Perth aboard the steamer Deccan, to open at the Fremantle Oddfellows’ Hall on March 17, then across to St. George’s Hall at Perth. At this stage there is no indication that they were planning to settle in Western Australia, and reviews of the show were, as always, highly flattering of the magicians.
The theatre lessee and nominal Manager of the troupe was a Mr. Milton Naylor Griffiths who was promoted as an American Patter Actor, and gave a comic monologue during the show. His actual experience, despite his apparent ambition, appears to be very limited, since his name is very little known to history. Miss Evelyn Eldred was the musical support for the show, advertised with all the usual magicians’ totally false claims to having performed before the Emperor Napoleon III, Ulysses Grant, and at the Egyptian Hall. Alfred may have assisted his father at the Egyptian Hall but was certainly not a featured performer there.
From reviews we learn that some of Alfred’s smaller repertoire items included the transposition of handkerchiefs from decanter to decanter, some kind of ‘dancing coin’ routine which identified the value of a chosen card, and showing a card to a volunteer though the audience saw it to be a completely different value. He also showed productions from a hat, the well-known ‘dancing cardboard sailor’ as performed by his father, likewise his father’s vanishing and reappearing glass of water, and the vanishing bird cage. The Aerialist’s Dream was also highly praised, as was Louise with ‘Masks and Faces’, and a highly unusual variation on the Rope Tying trick was noted; Alfred challenged any person to untie him within ten minutes.
Mr. Griffiths was described by the West Australian as making “an enormous noise, he beat a leathern bag with a stick till one was deafened, and he talked as much vulgar and senseless nonsense as it was possible to compress within the (fortunately) short time allotted to him.” Miss Eldred was kindly treated, thought it was remarked that better singers were easily to be found, and her piano playing was not up to standard (in fairness, she was suffering from a heavy cold and her singing reviews improved in time).
By the end of March, Alfred was being praised as “quite up to any of the professor of the dark mystery”, and his wife skilled in a presentation of clairvoyance. The troupe moved to some other nearby venues at Geraldton, Northampton, Greenough and Dongarra in April.
Pepper’s Ghost
At this point, Mr. Griffiths developed plans to go his own way. On July 21 the ‘Inquirer’ reported that Griffiths had shipped, from Melbourne, all the apparatus required to produce some form of astounding illusion, and that “Professor Silvester will, as usual, have the control of the apparatus.” It transpired that this apparatus was the Pepper’s Ghost illusion, and Mr. Griffiths intended to present it at St. George’s Hall in early September. Here, Alfred felt it necessary to distance himself from the production, and he advertised and wrote to the papers that, although he wished Mr. Griffiths the greatest of success, he was in no way connected with the illusion, and could not be ‘held responsible for any mistake that may be made in its production, or disappointment the public may experience.’ Mr. Griffiths, he explained, had only the claim of appearing in a small acting role when Professor Pepper was showing the Ghost in Sydney, and otherwise had no experience of producing the illusion. (In fact, Professor Pepper was seen at the Sydney School of Arts and the Victoria Theatre in the second half of 1879. He presented, among many other scientific wonders, not his original Ghost but an evolutionary illusion titled “Metempsychosis”. This was more related to the old “Proteus Cabinet” in that a person, or object, was seen to visibly morph into something else - a person changing into a skeleton, for instance. It involved the use of a graduated silvering of a mirror which was drawn across the subject. For this reason, we might query whether Mr. Griffiths ever appeared with Professor Pepper at all.)
Sadly for Mr. Griffiths, his Ghost production met with general failure. Miss Eldred, who left the Silvester company to perform with Griffiths, was praised for her part in the show, but after a considerable delay the Ghost opened on September 20, and the press reported that unless Griffiths was attending closely to the mechanical aspects of the illusion, it began to fail, and a “reflector worth £50” (which is presumably one of the giant glass sheets) had broken. The newspapers were sympathetic, but there is no sign that the production was able to continue. By April 1881 Mr. Griffiths declared bankruptcy, in August he was reported to have “made a hasty exit from the colony” of South Australia after unsuccessfully promoting some other theatrical production, and in November he was sighted in Sydney presenting a Panoramic exhibition.
Unencumbered by the problems with Pepper’s Ghost, Alfred Silvester continued to perform on occasion during 1880, introducing the Enchanted Canopy illusion and performing their full magic act at another Grand Ball at Fremantle.
PUBLICAN AT PERTH
Entering 1881, Silvester made a decision to find a somewhat more secure living than that of a roving illusionist. While the annals of history are littered with magicians who were also “mine host” at the local Hotel, some more successfully than others, Alfred moved to apply for a Publican’s license in Perth. The hotel was the Freemason’s Hotel at 108 St. George’s Terrace, a hotel dating back to 1830 (King’s Head / Leeder’s Hotel); it would stand until 1888 when a fire destroyed a number of outbuildings, and was purchased in 1894 and replaced by a new building, the Palace Hotel which still stands, though in commercial use rather than as a hotel. Alfred’s application to take over the license was made in February 1881.
The year is empty of any magic performances by Alfred Silvester, until his father arrived on tour in November. He was undoubtedly being kept busy with business, but if he hoped that hotel-keeping would be a profitable enterprise, he was to be disappointed.
In the next chapter we will follow the final years of Alfred Silvester senior, to 1886.
REFERENCES FOR CHAPTER SIX
(1) Colac Herald, December 6, 1878.
(2) The Herald, Fremantle W.A., June 28, 1879
(3) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, July 6, 1881
(4) J. Curthew Sanders – travel stories in the “Yea Chronicle” 1910.
(5) Ernest Voltaire, by 1880, was reported to be “but a shadow of himself, and can hardly crawl without assistance – two doctors have given him up …” when he suffered a violent cold and ongoing illness. By 1881 it was reported that he was recovering, but little is seen of him in later press notices.
(6) R. T. Tregaski - his real name was most likely Tregaskis. For his association with Jo-Jo, see https://barnoldlaw.blogspot.com/2014/04/freakshow.html
(7) Adelaide Observer, March 3, 1888 – “An Impudent Imposition – On Saturday afternoon the children of Kapunda flocked to the Institute to have an afternoon’s enjoyment for the modest sum of sixpence. For a shilling adults could have the same. According to printed slips distributed about the town and schools they were to be treated to a children’s festival. The ‘Tregaskis’ Scientific Illusionist and Variety Company would give a grand drawing-room entertainment, “Mysteria, or Two Hours in Fairyland”, and every child was to receive a handsome present. Being on a Saturday the announcement of the above, and also that the best behaved boys at the Model School would receive a Waterbury watch apiece, pretty well filled the hall with expectant youngsters. The ‘Tregaskis’ himself came on the stage and did four tricks, which all the youngsters could see through, and then telling them to sit still for five minutes and they would see a “fairy scene” the Professor quietly walked off the stage and drove to the station in time to catch the 4:20 train for town. The youngsters received an average of 3.5 lollies each for their “handsome presents”, and evidently the best behaved boys at the Model School were not identified, for no-one received the watches. The youngsters do not seem so very enthusiastic about their ‘two hours in Fairyland’, but I suppose the professional gentleman had a good chuckle in the train about the gullibility of the Kapunda folks and the thought of the ‘coin’ in his pockets. The Gawler youngsters were treated to a similar entertainment, and were mulcted, I believe, to the tune of about £6.”