No. 38 -- 21 June 1932

Mr. N.A. Hughes,
C/o Y.M.C.A. College,
5315 Drexel Avenue,
CHICAGO. Ill. U.S.A.

My dear Noel,

"We remarked at home over
the weekend, it is just a year
since you left home. How
the time slips by!"

Your letter of May 20th reached us yesterday. Just a month on the way. Yes, we remarked at home over the weekend, it is just a year since you left home. How the time slips by!

You will have received my last letter with the enclosed few pounds, which I hope reached you safely, and was sufficient for your immediate needs. We have tried to speed up the sale of the amplifier, but so far without any definite result. I thought I had a buyer when last I wrote, but he evidently cooled off. We afterwards got a message that he had made other arrangements. Harold Thompson is prosecuting further enquiries and seems hopeful that he will be able to effect a sale. Keith also heard of a man in Glenferrie who is thinking of purchasing an amplifier for use in a skating rink, and he is following that lead up in the hope that it may bring business.

Your letter suggests that there is not much likelihood of you leaving Chicago during the summer vacation. However, it assures us that you will be able to carry on, though it would be much more satisfactory if you could earn money during the period. Perhaps Dean Ames may treat you generously after all.

"I am sorry that the outlook
for work is so bad, and
sincerely hope that your
prophesies will not be fulfilled.
It is a safe policy to think in
terms of the most difficult
situation likely to arise
and I commend you
for doing that."

A couple of letters back I gave you the information we had secured concerning the Chicago Exhibition. Mr. Nichol has not been able to get any line on it to date, but if he can dig up information at this end you can be sure I will let you have it.

I am sorry that the outlook for work is so bad, and sincerely hope that your prophesies will not be fulfilled. It is a safe policy to think in terms of the most difficult situation likely to arise and I commend you for doing that. If conditions are so bad, it is probably that there will not be a large entering class in September, therefore, there may be more work available for the present students.

Bankrupt Chicago. (1932, June 20). 

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1957), p. 7. 

Retrieved February 13, 2014, from

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4458559

I am not sure if this is the exact article that

George sent to Noel, but it fits

the description and is probably 

the same subject matter.

I enclose a cutting from yesterday’s paper which helps us to realise how desperate conditions in Chicago must be. In addition we have had letters from Laurie Bowen which paint a doleful picture of the frightful straits to which the unemployed in Chicago are reduced. Your letter indicates that the Chicago Y is also having a desperately difficult time. We are hoping that some remedial measures will be taken by the American Government during the present summer in provision of relief works, etc. Our own Government is making great efforts in this direction and it looks as if many of those who are at present unemployed will be absorbed in the next few months. Let’s hope the same thing applies to America.

I am sorry to hear that the College is having such a bad time. Of course that is to be expected when outside conditions are so bad. Perhaps in your next letter we shall hear all about your Spring quarter examinations.

I was wondering what had happened to the parcel of books referred to in one of your letters. I quite understand that you have not been able to send them on because of the expense involved.

The Australian Eleven refers to the Australian
cricket team. Holmesdale Nitschke is Noel's
second cousin. He played two international
tests in 1931. See Wikipedia: Jack Nitschke.

I do not know anything about the itinerary of the Australian Eleven now touring America. Holmesdale Nitschke is not a member of the team. It is cheering to hear that you are keeping in good health despite the problems you are facing.

Your message to Alf. Hines and Matron will be passed on to them, and you may expect a letter from them in due season.

Now just a little home news. Mother is continuing in excellent health and so are all the others. Ruth is now temporarily employed at a small hospital in one of the Eastern suburbs. The work there is not as heavy as at the Homeopathic Hospital. I do not know how long this job will last, but probably not beyond the month of July. In any case it has been useful experience and it will keep her in touch with her work.

I'm not sure exactly which cousin the girls
would have been so eager to visit. Both the
Herbert family (first cousins) and the Willis
family (second cousins) lived in Sydney.
My guess is that it was cousin Irven Herbert,
since she gets the most mention in
previous letters.

Edith and Joyce are making plans to visit Sydney at Christmas. We tell them that lots of things are likely to happen before then, which may prevent them visiting their cousin. But that doesn't stop them from making their own plans.

I have not heard a great deal from Rex during the past few weeks. He is still in Sydney.

There was a weekend Camp over Saturday and Sunday, at “Manyung”, but the weather was so desperately cold, that I decided not to go. We are right now having some of the coldest weather we have yet experienced this year. It is certainly not weather for camping.

We are planning a membership campaign for the period July 13 to 27, and just now various meetings are being held in preparation for the event.

Wardrop House was a YMCA Hostel located
in Northcote, north of Melbourne.
See Darebin Heritage, YMCA Hostel, Northcote

Wardrop House is very low with only 22 in residence. On the five months’ work we are down about £100 in the Wardrop accounts. This is adding to our burden at the Central building.

We initiated a diningroom service for residents and others in the middle of May. This has taken on quite well among the residents but is a losing proposition financially. We may have to make a number of adjustments in the next month.

Under separate cover I have sent to you a copy of the book “Australian Birds and Blossoms”, which I thought would be useful to you; also newspapers reporting the elections in New Sough Wales. Mr. Lang was soundly thrashed in the elections.

I have also sent to you a set of reports as presented at the Board meeting last week and from these you will gather quite a lot concerning the various departments of work.

We are having a quiet drive for funds among the number of our well-to-do friends and are hoping to secure a few hundred pounds to tide us over the lean period. Last week Mr. Crosby got a contribution of £100 from one good friend. We have others whom we are approaching this week. Raising money these days is a very difficult job.

You will be interested to hear that we have brought Frank Wilkinson back on the staff to take charge of the Billiard Room. Our friend J.B. Bowman had not made a success of the supervision of the room under a part time basis, under which he was employed. It was doomed to failure from the start — in the first place because the arrangement was not good, and in the second place because the man was not suitable. Wilkinson has been on the job for a fortnight and has doubled the takings and has brought into the room a much better spirit and greatly increased patronage.

Our Educational Classes are going fairly well. We are likely to initiate correspondence courses in Accountancy, Costing, Secretarial principles, etc. etc. Another new move is the formation of a Society made up of past students in Accountancy. We will endeavour to organise a series of monthly lectures so as to retain the interest of these men and keep them in closer touch with the Association,.

I must close off now. We are hoping that your next letter will bear much better news, and that some job may have materialised which will help you in preparation for your next year’s work.

"Conditions are bad for us all,
but they must be specially
acute for you. I wish it were
possible to more adequately
help you. I can assure you
that as it is possible you will
get all the help we can give."

Conditions are bad for us all, but they must be specially acute for you. I wish it were possible to more adequately help you. I can assure you that as it is possible you will get all the help we can give.

It is quite easy for us to say that you must keep a still upper lip despite the troubles you are facing. We know you will do that. We have thought much about you during the lat few weeks as we knew what you were facing. We are confident a way out will be found for you which will show the guiding hand of our Heavenly Father. Many times we have been in difficulties but the way out has always been shown, and it will show itself in this case I feel certain.

We all unite in warmest love,
Yours affectionately,
Dad

No. 31 -- 24 March 1932

Mr. N.A. Hughes,
C/o Y.M.C.A. College,
5315 Drexel Avenue,
CHICAGO. Ill. U.S.A.

My dear Noel,

Today, St. Louis is about a five-hour drive down
Interstate 55 southwest from Chicago.
I'm not sure how long the trip would have taken
in 1932.

Since historic Route 66 was opened in 1926,
I think it's fair to say that they would have
followed that route. For a description of the route,
see RoadtripUSA.com.

Your letter of February 24th reached us this week. We were very delighted to get the news it contained. You are certainly a fortunate young men to be able to spend a weekend at St. Louis. It is good that you were able to make arrangements at such short notice, and that there were others who could undertake the jobs for which you were responsible. I know you would enjoy the opportunity of a visit to such a home and with such friends.

I did not visit St. Louis when I was in the States though I had planned to do so, but time would not permit me to make the trip. We were interested in all that happened at St. Louis and thank you for giving us such a full account.

The Central YMCA at 1528 Locust Street in St. Louis.
The building is now called Centenary Tower
and only the bottom two floor are now occupied by the YMCA.
See this history on the YMCA website.

Photo by Tom Bastin (Reading Tom) via Flickr
Used under Creative Commons license

I remember very vividly the campaign held some years ago to secure money for the Central building at St. Louis, and for other branch buildings. It was one of the first of the huge campaigns which the Associations organized in the post-war period. St. Louis was followed by the Detroit Campaign and then by the New York campaign. All of these raised new standards of achievement in money raising for local work by the Associations. Thank you for sending me copies of the material you collected at the Central Y. Some of it is very suggestive and I am sure it will be of value to us.

The mail bag of miniature photographs also arrived safely. Ditto the “Association Collegian” on Feb. 16th. While your visit was of short duration, you packed into it quite a lot of sightseeing.

This is the same record I wrote about in
the post Jacko the Broadcasting Kookaburra
in August 2112.

We not that you were to speak on “Australia” on the following Sunday. We hope you got on alright. We are sorry to hear that the phonographic record was cracked when it arrived. I knew the thing was packed securely, as I had it specially done with the object of making sure it would reach you in useable condition. Perhaps it may be possible to get one from the San Francisco office of the Australian National Travel Assocn. At any rate a little pressure at that end may persuade them to get one for you and if you are unsuccessful, please let me know and I will see if I can secure another record.

I quite imagined you would have some difficulty in maintaining your work at the Kenwood Church. In one of my former letters I mentioned I thought this would happen in view of the prevailing conditions. If you are without that source of revenue, you will be facing difficulties, I am certain, unless it is possible to find something else to take its place.

The greetings you forwarded in your letter I will pass of the various persons named.

Mr. Handley, Melbourne High School, has just left for a trip to England, and America, but I do not think he is likely to go inland as far as Chicago. He has made a number of enquiries concerning yourself.

The folk at home are reasonably well. Keith had a very bad illness and lost 1 ½ stone in weight in ten days. He had Pharangitis, and the medical man said it was one of the worst cases he had seen. However, he is back again at work and is slowly picking up.

In my last letter I mentioned that Ruth was having a bad run at the Hospital with illness. We had her examined and I am afraid it may mean that she will have to abandon her hospital training for some time. The prolonged period of night work seems to have upset her a good deal, and she must keep a prolonged holiday. Whether she will return to the Homeopathic Hospital to complete her training is doubtful, as we do not think it will be wise to go back to the place which has proved so difficult. However, that remains for the future to decide, but in the meantime she is home and I am trying to make arrangements to get her away for a spell.

Under separate cover you will find letters from Ruth, Joyce and Edith.

Having these two patients at home has place a pretty heavy strain on mother, but she is bearing up exceedingly well. Fortunately Ruth did not come home until Keith was practically well again, so that mother did not have the two of them simultaneously.

Rex. is still away in Sydney, but we expect he may be back any day now. He has been away for three or four weeks.

The great event in Australia during recent days, was the opening of the Sydney Bridge. I have sent you a number of newspapers including a copy of the “Australasian” in which you will find illustrations of that Bridge and the account of the opening, which may interest you.

I have heard recently from Harry White, and also from John Cook. What has happened to Clive Glover? I have not had a word from him for a long time. Tell him a letter is overdue.

Dick Nitschke of Adelaide called in the other day as he as passing through to Sydney to the opening of the Bridge. He was also over here at the time that Holmesdale Nitschke was playing with the South Australian cricket team against Victoria. Holmesdale was been doing very well at representative cricket this year. Just the other day, against New South Wales, he made 119. Dick reports that the folk in South Australia are feeling the strain financially, specially in finding money for the building Edith is erecting in King William Street, Adelaide. I think he has put between 20,000 and 30,000 into it already and it is not yet finished.

We have had a number of special Finance Committee meetings recently, with the object of trying to find out in which directions we can increase our departmental revenues. I am afraid we have not got far, although various plans have been suggested which might be possible on trial. The Board will never meet our financial needs until they tackle an annual financial campaign. It is the only way to meet the position.

Ivor Burge is expecting between 30 and 40 fellows at Easter Camp. The main party will leave tonight. He is putting a lot of time into camp work and is doing a fine job. The Boys’ Department will not have an ordinary camp, but they have about 15 or 16 fellows who are spending the whole of the Easter period in doing odd jobs to the camp property at Shoreham.

Alf. Hines is still away on holiday and we do not expect him back until after Easter.

I have not been able to get any definite information concerning the Australian exhibit on the Chicago Exhibition, but hope to have it available for you shortly.

Last Sunday week I had a full church when I took, the Cricketers service at our own church. We had a splendid body of young fellows present and on the whole a most enjoyable gathering. Last Sunday I had a Sunday School Anniversary at Coburg. We had the Church packed 10 minutes before time of commencement. Scores of folk were turned away and here again we had a really good service.

I have a very busy time ahead of me in connection with Rotary Club work. We have the district conference at Geelong, April 14 to 18, and then at the end of April and the beginning of May the Rotary Boys’ and Girls’ Week. All of this is consuming a good deal of my leisure, but it is an interesting job, and I am glad to have a share in it. You did not tell me whether you called at the Rotary Club in Chicago. I think it would be a good thing for you to make that contact.

I must close now. You have our united love my boy. We sincerely hope your second term’s results will satisfy you. Please let us have all details as soon as you can. Time is slipping by very rapidly and it is difficult to imagine that you have been away over 9 months. We look forward to your letters with eagerness.

With much love from us all,
Yours affectionately,
Dad

No. 14 -- 12 Sept 1931

Mr. N.A. Hughes,
C/o Y.M.C.A. College
5315 Drexel Avenue,
CHICAGO. Ill. U.S.A.

My dear Noel,

I expect there will be a letter arriving on Monday from you, but in view of the fact that the mail closes in the early afternoon and I shall be engaged the whole of Monday morning  with the staff conference, I have decided to write to you this morning. It would have been nice if we could have answered any of the matters that may come to us in your letter, but I am afraid that will have to wait now until the next mail.

All the folk at home are well. Most of the colds that they had have gone. Ruth had a very heavy cold and it surprised me how she managed to keep going in her job, but she has managed to throw it off and seems to be in pretty good form just now. She is just as interested in her nursing as ever and I have no doubt in my own mind that she will be able to stand up to the exacting nature of her work.

Mother is also keeping very well, and the kiddies likewise. Keith expects to get a job again with the Wheat Commission and is hoping that he will be able to get into the forwarding and shipping end of the work as that lasts longer then the receiving section.

You will be surprised to hear that Keith received the Cup for the highest batting average in the cricket team for which he played last season. I think he was as much surprised as anybody else. It is a very neat little cup and now adorns the over-mantle in the drawing room.

By the way, I am enclosing the letter from Mr. Fred. Hartnell, Secretary of the Melbourne Rotary Club in Chicago. I am hoping that you will be able to deliver this letter in person and perhaps the folk there may be able to show you some little courtesy.

We also had a letter from May Glover in which she mentioned that they had made arrangements for a certain room for you at the college and that they hoped to be seeing you shortly. They seem to have had a particularly happy time at the Minneapolis Boys' Camp at Lake Independence, Loretto.

John Cook also wrote by this mail. He has had a particularly bad run of illness for some months past. He was hoping that you might keep in touch with him by an occasional letter.

We had a notice from the Lands Department advising us that noxious weeds were growing on the two sections at Burwood, and we were informed that unless the weeds were dealt with in the next three weeks, we would be fined. Keith went up yesterday to investigate the reason for the notice and discovered that there is a great deal of gorse on his section, but your section was fairly clear of it. A pal and he will be going up to the land next week with axes and slashers so as to destroy the gorse. A little later on it will be burned after it has had a chance to dry out. Talking of the lands reminds me that we have received a bill from Messrs. Maddock, Jamieson & Lonie for £3:19:0 being costs of the agreement and Caviat on you account and £2:5:0 on Keith's account. I suppose we did the right think in lodging the Caviat in case of any trouble that T.M. Burke's company may get into. I will pay the account a little later on.

Rex has been away for the past fortnight attending to some talkie installations in the country. We thought he would have returned before this. We have not heard any word from him and expect he will come back to the city this weekend.

You will be interested to hear that Harold Thompson who does the cinema work for the Vikings has been urging the Vikings Club to purchase your amplifier, so that talkie performances can be put on at the Association Building. Ern. Gollan is giving the matter some through and we will bring the machine in for them to try it out at a show they are having next weeks. I do not know whether they will be able to purchase it or not. In any case they will not be in a position  to pay spot cash for it. However, we will do our best with them if they feel to buy the machine. I am getting concerned at our inability to dispose of it as the winter is practically gone, and we may not get the same chance of selling it during the summer months. there is not likely to be the same measure of demand.

This afternoon we are to have a visit from the Ballarat YMCA and expect about 20 to 25 men in the party. We shall have tea together in the Lounge Dining Room, after which there will be matches in billiards, volleyball, basketball, etc. This is one of the attempts to bring about closer relationship between the country Associations and our own. In a week or two, a group of our boys will be visiting Ballarat Association for competition purposes.

By the way, the Queen Carnival is moving along quite nicely and is gathering momentum and interest. I have looked at the figures on the score board and notice that Kath. Lilford is leading with 3079 votes, Lil. Langham second with 2319, and Miss Davis of the juniors, third with 1990 votes. I must say that  we are very pleased with the way our members are responding to this Queen Carnival competition. the Interest has been splendid and a great number of functions has been arranged by each of the committees. We are closing the competition on October 8th, when we will have taken Wirth's Olympia for the crowning ceremony. We are planning a very big gathering with an excellent programme. If this is properly worked we should get a full hall, as the interest should be good. The first part of the programme is likely to be a demonstration of our work by a grand parade of practically all our clubs and classes. We expect to have the help of one or two choirs, brass band, etc. The crowning ceremony is staged on quite an elaborate plan, and I think we shall have an evening of considerable interest and enjoyment. Arrangements have already been made for costumes for each of the queens and we think the ceremony should have some beautiful effects.

The staff men who were ill, have all returned to their jobs. Alf. Hines' leg is still causing him to limp, but I think it will be quite well again within the next week or so. Bob Way still has some pain from his rheumatics, but he is on the job and getting steadily better. Matron has had a number of her teeth out  and she is not feeling too good as the result of the extractions.

The South Hawthorn Presbyterian Church decided to do without a sale of work this year, and on Tuesday last some of the members of the session, with the Minister, were in attendance at the Church building all day, to receive the gifts of the congregation. A sum of over £70 was subscribed by direct giving. This was an excellent result for such a small church.

Mr. Baird has enquired on several occasions concerning yourself, and we have passed on any information we have had regarding your movements.

We are still finding the financial position pretty difficult in the Association. I think we shall have to face further economies as we cannot hope to continue the losses we are making each month.

This letter should reach you just as you are getting into the collar of your studies. There will be many strange experiences come to you int he next few weeks and you may find it somewhat difficult to set your mind to the steady routine demanded by college life. So many new impressions will be crowding in upon you, all of which have a very disturbing effect. The newness of college life too, will mean that you will require to make a great deal of readjustment in your ordinary habits. I can only express the hope that you will take things as philosophically as possible, and determine to give your best thought to the work immediately in hand.

I am hoping too, that you may have had success in meeting all the requirements of college entrance examination. To start your work without arrears of studies, will mean a great deal to you, but even if you have to make up certain subjects, it is astonishing how quickly the can be disposed of if they are tackled resolutely and with a determination to win out.

I repeat what I have tried to say in other letters, that whatever success you may achieve in your studies, the important thing is that you should recognise that the work of the Association is primarily that of religious leadership. Cultivate a close relationship with Christ through your private study of His word and prayer and service.

We all unite in love to you,
Yours affectionately,
Dad