. WOOLtOMOOLOO BAY PTY L TO. BERTHS 6,.7,8 & 9, WOOLLOOMOOLOO BAY History Arc4aeology and Documentation...' May 1989 :.. . -

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1 " \ WOOLtOMOOLOO BAY PTY L TO ' a subsdary of PVOT G~OlUJP JMH'fED ' - BERTHS 678 & 9 WOOLLOOMOOLOO BAY Hstory Arc4aeology and Documentaton ' May 1989 : - PREPARED BY DON GODDEN PATRCA HOlT AND PETER SPEARRTT -

2 1 - ~-- -~- - '''~' WOOLLOOMOOLOO FNGER WHARF: HSTORY ARCHAEOLOGY AND DOCUMENTATON Don Godden Patrca Holt & Peter Speantt Don Godden & Assocates and Hertage Consultants Sydneyl989 1 :

3 2 TABLE OF CONfENTS 1 WOOLOOMOOLOO'S ORGNS 11 Early Settlement 12 From Fshng Vllage to Suburb 13 Reclamaton and Deep Sea Wharfage 14 Home of the Sydney Fshng Fleet 15 Dockland Lfe n the 'Loo 2 TE FNGER WHARF 21 The Sydney Harbour Trust: Rebuldng Sydney's Wharves 22 From Central Jetty to 'Cathedral of Commerce' 23 A Tour of the Wharf 24 The Wharf and the Bay 25 Passenger Shps and Troop Shps 33 Gradual Declne 3 TlE WHARF AND TlE PORT 31 Depresson and War 32 Overseas Passenger Termnal 4 WHARF RELCS 41 Wharf Technology 42 Goods Conveyors Drvng System Drve System 43 Gantres and Cranes 44 Bon~ds and Dolphns Bollards Dolphns 45 The Northern End Shed 46 The Electrc Lfts 47 Gates Gateposts Fences and Fenceposts 48 The Cart Docks j

4 t = wo- _s ' _-# r ; - "" t ~ ~ " ' 5 Tff WHARF AND THE COMMUNTY 51 A Grand Development Scheme 52 Workers Resdents and Dwellngs 3 6 EVALUATON: THEWHARFTODAYANEMPTYCATHEDRAL? 61 An Empty Cathedral 62 Tmber Ple Wharves: The Australan and World Context 63 Concluson 7 ARCmv AL; PUBLSHED AND UNPUBLSHED SOURCES NCLUDNG MAPS ARCllTECTURAL DRAWNGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS 71 Lteratllfe: Novels and Autobographes 72 Sources for ndustral Archtecture 73 Martme Servces Board Lbrary 74 Mtche11 Lbrary 75 State Lbrary o~ NSW 76 Newspapers 77' NSW Archves 7 8 Unpublshed reports 79 W oo11oomooloo Maps 710 W oo11oomoollo Pctoral Materal 711 Archtectural Drawngs Held by the Martme Servces Board

5 _ # ~ _~_- ' ell bow ea'll1tz;j_-" -" _Jo<4l>"" ; ' _ t ' " ~ + ~ ~ - "'"- ~ * _-- 4 r 1 1 WOOLLOOMOOLOO'S ORGNS n most of the early maps Woolloomooloo Bay appears as Garden Cove or Garden sland Cove and was so named because Garden sland at ts entrance was set apart as a vegetable garden by Governor Phlp n 1788 The orgn of the name Woolloomooloo has been much debated Early theores suggested t was a corrupton of the < Aborgnal'Wulla Mulla' 'Walla Mulla' Woollamulla' or even 'Wollabahmulla' - names varously sad to mean 'buryng place' 'place of blood' 'place of plenty' and 'place where kangaroos abound' t was also suggested that Woolloomooloo was the Aborgnal pronuncaton of the word 'wndmj]]' word contracted from the habt both blacks and whtes had of blendng the Englsh and Aborgnal language Some 'th early records of the wbe rd< refesr t th'whalladmudllab' and apbpl Y e name to an area tween ou ea an otany ay Later authortes on the subject beleved t to be a composte whch Governor Phllp had proclamed a reserve for the Aborgnes Apparently the area was plentful wth wallabes and kangaroos and the word 'Walla Mulla' has the same dervaton as 'wallaby' Loose applcaton of the word n colonal days also appled the name 'Walla Mulla' to Palmer's Farm whch became known as Woolloomooloo Farm t s thought that Palmeradopted the latter spellng 11 Early Settlement n acres at the head of Garden Cove was granted to John Palmer by Lt-Governor FrancsGrose Palmer who had arrved wth the Frst Fleet as purser of the flagshp Srus was by then a powerful government offcal havng been made Commssary General of the j 1 < < settlement n 1791 As Commssary he had responsblty 1

6 for the stores and accounts and funds of the colony The farm descrbed as 'delmnated by dtches and stone walls 5 overlooked by a hll crowned Wth wndmlls and reachng from Old South Head Road now Oxford Street to the bay' was extensvely cultvated by 1803 prmarly wth orchards and a wndmll and bakery operated on the fve acre model farm at the Doman t s beleved that the bakehouse was stuated on the current ste of the Conservatorum of Musc and one wndmll stood where Governor Phllp's statue was erected n the Botanc Gardens The homestead was sad to have been elaborately furnshed wth coac houses and stables a dtch around t over whch grew sweet brar roses and golden gorse n the Englsh fashon t was one of the colony's frst permanent resdences and' the Palmers lved elegantly entertanng the frst rank of colonal socety t s known that n 1836 there was a vneyard on the property known as 'Tokay' coverng nearly twelve acres An ; advertsement for ts sale appeared n The Gazette n that year John Pa]mer sold the Woolloomooloo estate to Edward Rley a tea and sugar merchant and a drector of the Bank of New South Wales n 1822 Palmer went to lve at Parramatta He ded n 1833 the last of the offcers of the Frst Fleet Rley who lved at the Woolloomooloo homestead untl 1825 when he commtted sucde was survved by a wdow and seven chldren The settlement of the estate was a lengthy busness and n the nterm the house and land were leased to varous colonal denttes ncludng Saxe Bannster the frst Attorney-General of New South Wales Thomas Hobbes Scott the frst Anglcan Archdeacon of the colony and later Doctor John Bede Poldng the frst Catholc Archbshop of Australa 12 From Fshng Vllage to Suburb :

7 - --"'--~--'''--~------"""""" :- : " tf"" _W~_M= e="' ~ 6 The Woolloomooloo estate was not sold and subdvded untl the late 1840s The homestead was demolshed n 1850 and development of suburban housng spread down the hll from Wllam Street Two of the man streets n the subdvded dstrct were named Palmer and Rley By 1854 most of the streets of lower Woolloomooloo were establshed although development at the waterfront was stll lmted Land below Woolloomooloo Street (now Cathedral Street) was descrbed n 1858 as beng alluval land only a few feet above the hgh waterllne Mudbanks had also helped to nhbt the usage of the Bay for deep wharfage so that only a few small jettes had been bult nto the bay for the loadng and landng of tmber lme and other buldng materals Many small craft used for fshng were moored n the Bay However on a map dated 1854 only two unnamed jettes and one wharf are marked on the south-eastern shores A newspaper artcle of 1904 on'old Sydney' provdes the most detaled avalable descrpton of the Bay pror to the buldng ~of Cowper's Wharf n c The water lne reached thebackyards of the houses n Bay Street and lttle jettes runnng out from these yards served as moorng places for pleasure craft On the eastern shore below Fred McQuade's hou~c:? 'Tarana' ('Bomera' b~longng to WllanMcQuade was next door) was the Subscrpton Boat Club that was also known as Holdsworth's A lttle : 1 south Yates and Son had a 'lettng out and boat buldng establshment' at whch yachts were moored Next was the boatshed of Punch and McGrath and adjonng ths was Farfax apd Company's steam saw mll The saw mll was bult on a wharf of masonry so as to enable small shppng : : to take n or delver tmber Farfax and Company's tmber yard was a 'bg concern whose southern boundares face the hotej known as Meacher's (or Meache's) whch stood at the extreme end of Dowlng Street the waterfront mmedately facng the door; from the street a ; : jetty projected for some dstance and was used by the steamers gong to Manly Beach Woolloomooloo Bay

8 ' uc;~ r-"'j';r " ~trrlj""-ft " r r::m r\#6~lt"' ~ ~~ =_ = beng a port of call' t appears that Meache's Hotel opposte the entrance to ths jetty was probably orgnally the "Wharf Hotel" Ths s because an hotel next to Farfax's steam mll s referred to as 'Mr Shpman's Dowlng Street "Wharf Hotel"'n another newspaper (llustrated Sydney News 11 November 1854) _=r" L044 ~~«Jot~'t~ ~ 'b11r:'('f~ =::w ~_ ft' ~ ' 7 Le On an 1886 plan of wharves (State Archves X2032) there s only one szeable Jetty n the centre of the bay t s marked "Jetty for passengers" so t would be lkely to be the central jetty that was replaced n the 1890s and later replaced by the exstng central Fnger Wharf The Manly steamers were then named 'Breadalbane' and 'Phantom' and 'the space between the jetty and Farfax's was pretty generally flled up wth logs of pne and cedar > ; " for mllng purposes From the water's edge on the western sde from the Doman entrance to the rear of wharf s now The Bells was a mass of hgh rocks These rocks were all removed by blastng; for use n reclamng the bay and allowed for a gradual slope as shown n the Doman today' The artcle went on" to descrbe the beach on the western shore where Brown's Wharf stood for many years t was a pleasant beach where prawns could be netted and horses swum; on occasons t was used by the Baptsts for publc mmersons The metal wharf was bult where a large ron roofed enclosure used as a lades baths was stuated A small jetty was bult where The Bells Hotel now stands " On t was a semaphore used by members of the Subscrpton Boat Club to sgnal for a boat to carry the member across to the Club Apparently the Club was dffcult to reach at hgh tde because of the rocks around that sde of the bay n the 1850s a boat bulder named Dan Sheehy had a shed and wharf on the south eastern corner of the Bay at the foot of Duke Street (now McElhone Street) Sheehy's Wharf landed coal from the Hunter Rver Collers (P S Ellott "

9 ljj~ov< "' """""" -: " N~_ " _-'-"-'"""~'-M- --'- " -- _- - ' '1 --' 1L""'-'~~ toc-'~~f'cl<_v'ft'm'~ ~=" --~ ""law ~">N ad ~w~~; ""~M-w ~- "-w-- 8 had a coal and fuel yard n Woolloomooloo) Another Bay landmark was the 'Vernon' a tranng vessel for boys t was acqured by the government largely at the promptng of Sr Henry Parkes was equpped as a floatng school and was orgnally anchored n Woolloomooloo Bay t appears that Woolloomooloo n the early days of ts subdvson was always a 'good' suburb even f t was one of mxed class: Houses of every sze are rsng up rapdly _ There are no flthy unhealthy lanes such as are ( to be met wth at the rear of even the prncpal streets of the cty of Sydney; and n - W oolloomooloo all classes of people from the wealthy merchant or the man of a large famly down to the humble artsan and mechanc can fnd clean commodous resdences to sut ther dfferent crcumstances' (llustrated Sydney News 11 Nov 1~54) The later subdvsons: t seems were less salubrous Small terrace houses contnued to spread over the lower end of the suburb and a problem - one of health - stemmed from what the Surveyor-General Sr Thomas Mtchell referred to as the "undraned unlevelled and unshaped ways msnamed streets" Woolloomooloo however stll had plenty of open spaces and ts secluson clear water and the parkland of the Doman made t a pleasant 'recreatonal place The Cty Councl bult publc baths n the 1850s on the shorelne below the Doman and Robnson's Hot and Cold Baths establshed two swmmng baths (Lades and Gents) A man named Wlson was the propretor of baths bult around the hulk of the old shp 'Ben Bolt' and Robnson's were bult around a bgger shp 'Cornwalls' such arrangement savng the owners consderable money on tmber and labour The Cty Councl ncorporated them all n 1908

10 1 _--- u u M _ e " _ -"' pt _< loo - 1_ -1'1_'-t n_n ""_nu:l:~;~;;~;~_ J: '"""'_ ~ ; :'-: ;"' ; 9 wth the establshment of the Doman Baths Today the Andrew 'Boy' CharltonPool s on the same ste 1 The recreatonal theme contnued on the other sde of the Cove wth the establshment n the 1850s of several boatng clubs on the waterfront These ncluded 'The Australan Subscrpton Rowng Club' that set up busness on the eastern shore n 1859 t provded boats on daly hre or by SUbscrpton and was the frst strctly amateur boat club set up n Sydney Wllam Beach 'the undefeated world champon sculer' whose prowess s commemorated by an obelsk erected n Cabarta Park n 1938 won n the early 1880s hs frst race - an all-comer's skff race from Woolloomooloo Bay round Pnchgut and return on a course of two and a half mles A famous annual event was the 'Woolloomooloo Regatta' begun n 1854 and n j : whch all races began and fmshed n the Bay For many years ths Boxng Day event was enjoyed by large numbers of spectators the bulk of whom watched the proceedngs from the Doman '" t < 13 Reclamaton and Deep Sea Wharfage The reclamaton of the Bay commenced n 1864 and was completed about 1866 The clffs around the Bay were quarred for large blocks of stone whch together wth a tmber ple wall provded a new foundaton around the shorelne The Bay was dredged and the fll placed behnd the wall thereby extendng the usable land from Cathedral Street to the present waterfrontage The reclamaton 1 provded a quay whch enabled the erecton of longshore wharves that servced local ndustres A semcrcular wooden wharf Cowper's was constructed at the head of the Bay n As the man publc wharf t was constructed by the Government for generaluse and named after S Charles Co~er member for East Sydney Premerof- New Sou~ Wales and proponent of many' major publc works t contrbuted to makng Woollo~mooloo Bay a busy resort of salng vessels

11 - ~ '''';~J''oeo'~~'''''''~'''~~~ -_ '-"" ~ --=~ _-_ = --= -' _"-----* --~-- = ' = especally for the unloadng of general merchandse and the loadng of wool t was later extended along the eastern sde of the Bay n the 1890s the 'Coal Baron' John Brown mne owner bult Brown's Wharf on the western sde of the Bay An offcal proposal was submtted to the Publc Works Commttee n 1888 to erect a jetty n the centre of the Bay as the old jetty by ths tme was n an "unsound condton " As a result of the work of ths Commttee Admralty Wharf (of whch there are some excellent photos taken by the NSW Government Prnters Offce) was also bult n Some sources state that t was bult by the mperal Government and was used for shps of war : Certanly ts name suggests the same and t s probable that t was pad for by the mperal Government Ths wharf was reconstructed and expanded n 'n 1891 Captan John Jackson 'Manager and Collector of Publc' Wharves' successfully negotated wth a syndcate to occupy Admralty Wharf as a loadng wharf' A wool- dumpng concern known as the Ftzroy Stevedorng ' Company was also nstalled ths tme on the east sde of the purpose of loadng the Bucknall Lne of steamers 14 Home of the Sydney Fshng Fleet When Cowper's Wharf was completed the Bay was noted for ts functon as a fshng port and for ts traffc n tmber and bluestone Lners from San Francsco also used the Bay n fact durng the latter part of the nneteenth century l Woolloomooloo Bay was probably best known as the home of the Sydney fshng fleet (The fleet had been prevously statoned n Darlng Harbour) Sydney's frst government admnstered Muncpal Fsh Markets open n 1872 n a buldng at the corner of Forbes and Plunkett Streets The buldng was extended n 1880 but demolshed n 1892 and the new buldng that opened n 1893 on the same ste remaned n use as the cty's fsh

12 " markets untl new markets were opened n the Haymarket n 1910 The buldng was later occuped by Sungravure Prntng Works 11 " At ths tme the fshng fleet transferred ts base away from " Woolloomooloo Bay Two reasons are advanced for ths wanng of nfluence of the fshng ndustry: one beng that wth the development of deepwater wharfage the fshng vessels became less mportant n the area and the other that t eventually was found to be more convenent to send fsh to Sydney by ral from fshng ports along the coast than to brng them n" boats to W oolloomooloo For ths reason the fsh market was relocated to the Muncpal Markets near the ralway goodsyard at Darlng Harbour 15 Dockland Lfe n the 'Loo Wth the establshment of the wharves Woolloomooloo developed more of a martme character based on ts proxmty to ts docks and ts growng populaton of wharf workers and fshermen Although many larger elegant jl' 'boom style' terraces were bult n the 1880s - partcularly ' those bult along the crest of what was then known as Woolloomooloo Heghts (now Vctora Street) - rack renters ntroduced terraces of the more un salubrous varety and the area by the turn of the century was largely a suburb for workng class famles Many docksde hotels opened ncludng 'The Lttle House Under the Hll' 'The vy Leaf 'The Blue Bell' 'The Frm Anchor' and 'The Cottage of Content' 'The Bells" rebult n the 1920's can be seen n the background of the aforementoned photo of Admralty Wharf Naturally these waterng places became the socal centre for salors and wharfes and ths combned wth the vson of sprawlng streets of worker's cottages may have gven the appearance of dsreputablty " 1 l The workng class nature of the area was renforced n the 1890swhen the name ofwoolloomooloo became gradually' synonymous wth thedocksde dstrct n the vale at the head of the Bay- The :flrst recorded use of the shortened

13 12 " term 'Loo was n a poem publshed n 1893 by Danel lea1ey: Tm Bunyp was of Austral brth Born at the classc 'Loo At about ths tme the 'Loo was becomng notorous for ts gangs of'larrkns' (The unform of the larrkns has been descrbed as a "black sut wth bell-bottom trousers short coat flat-crown hat and hgh-heeled fancy boots") Although the area had a reputaton for beng a 'tough' quarter untl about 1930 at least some of ts reputaton seems undeserved Durng a lengthy debate carred n the 'letters to the edtor' pages of the Sydney Mornng Herald n the early months of 1905 genteel concerned resdents argued for a name change for ther ~uburb belevng ths measure to be all that was necessary for t to be rd of ts stgma Ths concern was partly engendered by a fear of fajng rental and land values One resdent wrote: ts narrow lttle lanes nestlng beneath the clffs and hdng away behnd the prncpal streets as the surveyors algned them and the people bult along them became n process of tme a sort of Alsata for the crmnal the unfortunate and the very poor The "Rocks" dstrct was n the old days for the western and northern ends of Sydney what Woolloomooloo became for the eastern and the new and evl fame t acqured n the short and smpl~ annals of the polcy eclpsed the respectable assocatons whch had begun to grow up there and now clng to t after the evls have been extermnated or have departed The old name wth ts multtudnous vowels has become synonymous wth the evl repute and the modem resdent craves for the fnal effacement of both wth one pass of the sponge across the slate : One resdent provded a poem:

14 - 13 What's n a name? There s much too much for you Or who have a busness n the Loo Call out mad dog and everyone wll try To beat the creature as he passes by Although the cur s sound n sense and lmb Yet each and all wll try to njure hm and contnued: Woolloomooloo s one of the healthest parts of the cty to lve n Except for a few lanes the streets are all of the regulaton wdth Bounded on the one sde by the Doman and on another by the harbour the place s always flled wth the ever bracng and health-gvng sea breezes Durng the outbreak of plague n '90 ths part of the cty enjoyed almost perfect mmunty from the dreaded dsease No plague-nfected rodent has been dscovered n ths porton of the Cty B ut somethng must be done n order to remove the odum that s at present assocated wth the name Popular suggestons for Woolloomooloo's new name ncluded Palmerton Palmersham East Sydney and St Klda (after an old house that was a landmark n the j dstrct) John Pa]mer's great grandson R H Palmer a resdent of AnnanOale wrote n expressng hs approval of the name 'Palmersham' and suggestng that Palmer Street be called 'Commssary-avenue' Another suggeston was that Woolloomooloo Street should have ts name changed By the 1920s ts name had been changed to Cathedral Street and Duke Street whch had been notorous as a lvely quarter had had ts name changed to McElhone Street The talan fshng communty resdng n the 'Loo added an extra dmenson n the area's colour and lfe talans had been lvng n Woolloomooloo snce the 1860s and Cardnal Moran had the church of St Columbklle's bult for ther beneft St Columbklle's s now one of the few remanng nneteenth century churches n the area One other remanng chll'ch s the Palmer Street Untng Church (formerly Presbyteran) Even D the 1960s talan fshng trawlers were moored n the Bay and fshng nets could be seen lad out n the streets for purposes of mendng n '

15 - ' 1960 there were approxmately eghty talan famles as well as 15 talan boardng houses n the area Ther presence was remarked upon n the 1920s: 14 n some of the stll unmproved slum streets there resde swarthy foregners who go out daly'n small craft to test the harvest of the sea' (Sydney Mornng Herald 21 June 1924) Sydneysders stll beneft from ths partcular martme legacy as some of Sydney's best talan restaurants are n the W oolloomooloo Darlnghurst and Kngs Cross areas Harry's Cafe de Wheels s another docksde nsttuton t has been stuated at varous ntervals around the Cowpers Wharf Roadway over the last decades and although Harry ded n 1979 a cafe of the same name stll survves Harry's Cafe de Wheels as t was when he ded has been preserved by the Museum of Appled Arts and Scences f Snppets of lfe n thej'loo can also be gleaned from a number of famous novels that have been set there ncludng: Chrstna Stead's Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1'934); Kyle Tennant's Tell Mornng Ths (1967; abrldgedverson 1953); M Barnard Eldershaw's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (censored 1947; uncensored 1983); and Patrca Wrlghtson's Down to Earth (1965) 2 THE FNGER WHARF 21 The Sydney Harbour Trust: Rebuldng Sydney's Wharves : The establshment of the Sydney Harbour Trust n 1901 was one 'of the most sgnfcant events n the hstory of

16 ~ ---- "" = H --"= "'''_=r('#o-- r1b'~ ~" ~ '' = _ ~~ m ' 1 "" ~ 15 '\& 1 lln mm _ =-"5" Sydney Harbour Between 1901 and 1920 the Trust developed Woolloomooloo Bay nto one of the -most mportant sets of berths for commercal shppng n Sydney The formaton of the Sydney Harbour Trust resulted from pressure that was exerted on Sydney's lmted cargo handlng facltes at the end of the nneteenth century Durng the fnal decade of that century shp movements n Sydney ncreased eghtfold and aggregate tonnage more than doubled Yet most of the wharves were prvately owned and operated As such they had been constructed to sut the requrements of ndvdual owners and wthout regard to any orderly scheme The Harbour Trust Commssoners' general task was that ' 'of makng the ocean gateway to the Cty wholesome attractve and effcent to meet the requrements of trade ard as far as practcable provde for the future shppng and commercal needs' Reconstructon nvolved the removal of 'old unsghtly galvansed ron structures' then dong duty as sheds; at most of the wharves and the constructon of rat-pr:oof wallng as well as roadways to gve easy access to wharves (Port of Sydney Journal October 1947) Some of the larger works ntated and completed by the Sydney Harbour Trust subsequent to ts ncepton and pror to ts amalgamaton wth the State Department of Navgaton and becomng known as the Martme Servces Board of NSW n 1936 took place n Woolloomooloo Bay These comprsed the constructon of the massve central jetty Nos 6 to 9 Berths and Berths Nos 1 to 3 orgnally bult as recently as that were lengthened and remodelled A 1901 map of prncpal wharves shows the Whte Star Lne usng Cowper's Wharf as well as all of the east sde of the ~ay on whchthere was a road as well as wool and general cargo sheds By the German-AUStralan S S Company was usng the cargo facltes on the east sde

17 rw""""" _ -'-- ~ ~~_ ~ la _~ 'mm _'_ 44 ~ 16 and n that same year a wharf on the south sde (leased by McArthur & Co) was reconstructed and enlarged and alteratons were also made to the roadway (Sydney Harbour Trust Annual Reports ) Early n 1911 work began on the remodellng of the 1890s wharves 1 to 3 They were combned wdened and rased Rock and clay excavated from the hll-behnd was used for some reclamaton and thus the east sde was agan ~ - dramatcally redeveloped Of the Trust's works here the Daly Telegraph reported n29 August 1912 that: An 80ft roadway s to run round behnd the wharves Just above the clff face stands Bomerah that the Trust had to resume; and just below t two half-bult wharf-structures wth earth and stones beng pushed out and flled n between them the wharf wll stretch on ples for 40ft Along one sde wll be a "Black Gennan" berth and across the end wll be the Port ackson Ferry Company's cargo-boats That wll remove the need for the lttle wharf at Fort Macquare from whch the Manly cargo all comes now The Fort Macquare pcnc steamers wll have more room too and the small cargo-boats wll fnd plenty off Potts Pont 'Bomerah' was the large resdence nearest the wharves Actually spelt 'Bomera' t was once a grand talanate house wth separate stables and servants qu'arters to the rear and grounds that extended to W oolloomooloo Bay - t ; j encompassng a tenns court swmmng baths and terraces frontng the Bay These waterfront terraces must have 'gone' wth the wharf constructon of the 1890s and yet more of Bomera's frontage was resumed n 1911 to allow the wharves to be wdened and extended to the northeastern pont where land was also resumed for the Manly cargo steamer berth (Telegraph 11 November 1912) Fortunately the house was saved although the servants quarters had been demolshed by the 1940s Bomera was stll a boardng house durng the 1930s and s featured as such n Jessca Anderson's award-wnnng novel Trra Lrra by the Rver (1978) The Wllam McQuade famly -

18 FM' n' rt::ajok ' l d't" t occuped Bomera from 1856 to 1883 when t became the home of Commodore E Erskne Durng a19ng wth all the propertes on the east sde of Wy1de Street Bomera was acqured by the Department of the nteror and s now offces for Fleet Headquarters Nos 1 to 3 Berths were n use by 1912 and were completed n 1913 nstallaton of the cargo handlng equpment and the roadway and footpath at the rear were not complete untl the early months of 1916 The entre east shore was to manly provde for the Gennan-Australa Steamshp Company The wharves runnng out opposte and close to Garden sland and havng large sheds bult over ther entre length were deep-sea berths for three vessels Modern electrc cranes and haulage were ftted throughout Also n 1913 Berth No 4 was opened to shppng and so fve steamers were able to berth at once on that sde of the Bay ' WW=M ~ V-><- >O ~~ ~ la~ -;~"~ ""C4O;" ""w - tu 17 4 j 1

19 ~ _a"_'" "'" '<l;wrwn';~~; ":';':~; ~ ' ~ -am ~ :;_ ~ ; ~~v~_ -'-';"~4'''--~ = _T( '"l;':'; '~ 'q'#rl\tf---'_61111: 18 The Sydney Harbour Trust Commssoners' plans and descrptons had ths to say about the structures: A new shed was constructed n 1903 at the rear of No 2 Berth (ths shed was later removed to No 4 Berth Woolloomooloo) n the premses were completed reconstructed The exstng wharf was rased on blocks and wdened and extended n a northerly drecton the ples and headstocks of the old wharf beng ncorporated n the remodelled structure The old Nos 1 and 2 sheds were demolshed and No 2A shed was removed to No 4 Berth The present Nos 1 la and 2/3 sheds and the brck offce block were- erected and machnery nstalled n the sheds No 2/3 shed s doubledecked The seawall behnd the old wharf was rased and a trestle wall constructed behnd the new wharf ; Machnery conssted of: 1 -ton hydraulc lft; 1 2-ton hydraulc lft; 1 2-ton electrc sem-portal jb crane; 3 electrc wool bale elevators; 5 wool shoots; 1 cargo gantry - (State Archves MSB Specal Bundles 7 n527) - Nos 2 and 3 wharf structures were agam renovated n (MSB Sydney Habour Wharves 1954 State Archves 7n5262) At ths tme other works n W oolloomooloo Bay ncluded those undertaken at Berths and 12 At Berth No 4 the orgnal wharf and sheds were demolshed n 1916 A new wharf was bult and the demolshed sheds were moved and re-erected one at No 5 Berth and the other: to form part of No 4B shed The new shed on No 4 was moved from the rear of the old No 2 wharf and t was sngle storey of tmber constructon Also n 1916 the orgnal shed on No 5 was moved to No 4B and the new shed that was brought from No 4 was erected n 1903 Berth No 10 was wdened and mprovements were made to the shed and seawall

20 r No 11 was wdened and the shed from No 6 (e the old shed bult pror to 1901 that was on the central 19 jetty) was erected on t No 11 was renovated agan n when the whatf was extended at ts north end and ' a new cargo shed was erected No 12 wharf known as the Blue Metal Wharf was constructed n 1902 and conssted of sheet plng wth f)]jng behnd Consequent upon the extenson of No 11 wharf n No 12 was extended approxmately 90ft at the north end Ths nvolved the removal of the explosves landng (State Archves MSB Specal Bundles : > 7nS27 andmsb Sydney Harbour Wharves 7nS262) j 22 From Central Jetty to 'Cathedral of Commerce' Work began on the massve central jetty referred to early on by the Trust as No 6 Wharf on 14 August 1910 The progress of ts constructon was followed wth nterest by the press as t was the Trust's most ambtous undertakng to date and was (and sll s) the largest whatf n Australa By md 1912 when the jetty structure tself was essentally completed press reports (ncludng that of the Daly > Telegraph of 29 August 1912) summed up rather succnctly the ncreasng pressure for whatf space and the Sydney Harbour Trust's achevements to that date: The more whatfage mprovements the Harbour Trust makes the less wharves we have So that after the ~xpendture of hundreds of thousands of po rnds there are now actually 34 fewer berths than when the trust frst took offce : > 'That may sound lke an attack on the Harbour Trust t sn't The new ones are much bgger berths for the ncreasngly bgger ocean-gong vessels snce the vessels grow n sze qute as fast as they' ncrease n number t becomes just as necessary to add to the length of the old wharves as to make new ones Just at present we are n the mdst of change wth all ts worres Half-bult or nearly-ready wharves and sheds are scattered everywhere and great undeveloped bays near the cty hold out ther > >

21 ' la" Aa" "'d 'V""--r - "" ' """""' "'Wholol_ ~;-P"' '?'Oz' * _ =""'; H~ Aol""'" "'«o~aj "*"-~ --_ 4 ~~~WW~ ~ '~'W~<AWA<->A> arms for wharves They wll all have to be flled n tme ~ '' '-o'><o/;;w~ '_- '"" ''- '- -» ' 20 The 'Cathedral9f Commerce - n the galvansed ron gothc style' as t was referred to n 1914 (Daly Telegraph 25 June 1914 was to be 1040 feet long and 203 feet wde t was to consst of a 'concrete roadw~y 53 feet wde and sunken 4 feet below the 75 feet wde tmber wharves so as to assst n the loadng of the vehcles Sheds of 40 feet wde were to be constructed on each wharf and the most modern of cargo handlng equpment was to be ncorporated 23 A Tour of the Wharf By md year of 1912 the central jetty's tmber work was ' almost complete and the centre renforced concrete roadway was compl~te save for 900 square metres of ts surface A delay 1 the supply of ron grder~ from '~ngland caused the erecton of temporary sheds on the two shore-end berths ncreasng shppng demand was such that the new wharf was n use years before ts fnshng touches were completed n October 1912 t was reported that: Woolloomooloo Bay durng the last few days has been the scene of much actvty so far as shppng s concerned The accommodaton for overseas cargo carrers has been fully taxed and gves promse of contnung for some tme 1 The new jetty ~hch s to accommodate bg shps though not yet completed was utlsed and four steamers were taken alongsde Ths quartette fllled up the space and for the tme beng t was dffcult to dscrmnate between the jetty and the bay More pronounced than ever was ths lttle problem when' a look round at the other wharves dsclosed the fact that (four other shps) were at separate berths :

22 ' t - re -- '*'- ''''''''' _ =-= = "w'l: ' ~ "" - ~-~ _~ k"' d"' "'"'~::: t - " _ b '" 21 Ths fleet represented over tons whle several thousand men found employment t s clamed by the Harbour Trust that when the jetty s open for regular berthng a good deal of congeston so far as deepset shppng n the season s concerned wll be releved whle the water space has been curtaled the berthng room has been ncreased and W oolloomooloo Bay wll probably be known n the future as "Woolloomooloo Wharves"(Evenng News 23 October 1912) The approaches to the jetty were completed n August 1912 and erecton of the four double-decked cargo sheds was commenced on 30 July 1912 By md 1914 the sheds on Nos 7 and 9 berths at the northern end were completed and by the end of that year the two berths at the southern end (Nos 6 & 9) were also fnshed An ambulance room was provded n shed No 8 for the beneft of wharf labourers and others By md 1915 four 3-ton goods lfts eght 3-ton travellng brdge cranes and eght pars of freght conveyors (each capable of handlng 2 tons contnuously) had all been nstalled and haq been used 'satsfactorly' durng the year (Sydney Harbour Trust Annual Reports ) n 1916 work was completed wth the wdenng of the wood-blocked approach to the jetty and the erecton of a new ron fence The sunken road has proved a great success at the bg jetty bult by the Commssoners n the centre of Woolloomooloo Bay Ths jetty has been n full swng for some tme and the convenence of the loadng bays off the sunken road has facltated the dspatch of wagons from the wharf The wharf s now one of the busest n Port J ackson The gear for dsposng of goods s of the most up-to-date pattern" (Evenng News 1 September 1915) There s nothng to beat ths new shed and the applances n any part of Australa" sad Mr HD Walsh engneer-n-chef of the :fruste (Sydney Mornng Herald 9 September 1915)

23 " _ -- -' --- '"'_ ""o:'>e--=_;o';"- "'-- * uov o# ~--- " ~- ~ ~ ~'" _ ~-- ~ a m _ bq'" _~"r -- -_~ ~ ~_ Even before the jetty's completon the Sydney Harbour Trust's works were recevng rave revews and a certan amount of natonal prde was also engendered by the Bay and ts Wharf: shps lke the P&O "Benalla" constantly land a thousand passengers at a tme and enormous cargoes of all knds come n and go out Sydney sts enthroned wth her heads to the sea the great centre of a great country and t s because her people alve to ther opportuntes are determned to spare nether foresght nor effort that she wll reman the best as well as the most nterestng port n the Southern Hemsphere (Evenng News 13 June 1913) 24 The Wharf and the Bay The Sydney Harbour Trust Commssoners had advsed the Sydney Councl of the need for an extra approach to Cowper's Wharf and by 1913 a smart new avenue was antcpated to run from Woolloomooloo along Lncoln and j Sr JOM Young Crescents across Phllp Cook and Hyde ParkS nto Park Street at the College Street ntersecdon Who shall say that vstors enterng Sydney by ths magnfcent park-bound avenue wll not be more mpressed than they are from the Cove tself (Evenng News 13 June 1913) : At the same tme land on the western sde of the Bay was vested n the Commssoners for the formaton of a road of access to wharves to be constructed there The decrept condton of housng and roads n the 'Loo contnued to be a matter of debate n a letter of the edtor of the Sydney Mornng Herald n June 1914 a correspondent by the pen name of "Progress" quoted a cartoonst who had wrtten of housng n the Rocks area: Fourteen feet from door to door ; Fourteen feet and nothng more

24 "" - - M ~ M = _~ - -~ - -->- ~ to ~- ' -=-'ll~"'tor ~~" M F"- d;h= =rf _ =~ '~ the correspondent contnued: But do not know what the same wrter would have sad had he vewed the lower porton of Woo - where some of the houses measure ten and twelve feet from door to door Mr or Ms Progress then went on to advocate the demolton of houses for road-wdenng purposes (Sydney Mornng Herald 11 June 1914) The new road from College Street was completed n early 1915 ts openng however was delayed consderably by the fact that the layng of tram lnes had not been fnshed (Sydney Mornng Herald 8 June 1915) The delay n havng the tram lnes nstalled along wth ther planned sudden termnaton at the west sde of the Bay caused a deal more controversy amongst resdents and cvc-mnded vstors to the area and another campagn of letters and press artcles was begun A good example s the 'Tram to Nowhere' artcle: Several hghly-placed offcers of the Australan Army Medcal Corps were dscussng the 'tram to nowhere' whch runs from 'the Doman to somewhere by the Cty Bowlng Green' as one of them put t 0 ; The offcer contnued: n a short tme we shall have thousands of wounded Australan solders returnng here and by a lttle extra expendture the lne could be run round Woolloomooloo Bay When the wounded begn to return we must have an ambulance staton on one of the new wharfs and a tram car could be ftted up as an ambulance car n a couple of days Wth the lne run round the bay we could take the wounded straght from the shp nto the ambulance car and run them va Darlnghurst drect to the Randwck nsttute where our bggest base 'wll be The sooner the Government fnshes ths lne round the wharfs the sooner can we 'Complete arrangements to handle the wounded We want to save Australan lves and f the suggeston heren j

25 ~ ~ b ~-- tt1 _x_"' 24 thrown out s acted up to both the Government and Cty Councl wll be dong a good work of whch they may be justly proud (Sydney Mornng Herald 8 June 1915) The Cty Councl pre-empted ths suggeston at a meetng where a moton was carred that representatons be made to the government to have the tram lne contnued 'so that t may be of some servce to thosefor whose convenence the constructon of the road was desgned (Sydney Mornng Herald 3 June 1915) A certan amount of satsfacton was derved when some months later the Mnster for Publc Works announced that 1 the tramway that had opened for traffc n August would be extended to the steps leadng down from Vctora Street (Sydney Mornng Herald 20 October 1915) 25 Passenger Shps and Troop Shps Wth the completon to adequate deep-sea wharfage the Bay was transformed from a port that handled the overflow from Sydney Cove nto a major termnal caterng for ever ncreasng overseas goods and passengers Woolloomooloo also became one of the major wool dspatch ponts and the termnal for some of the larger shps To the western sde of the Bay Brown's Wharf was dredged n 1913 to provde suffcent depth for P&O steamers beng regularly berthed there (Sunday Sun 5 January 1913) Even before Berth No 7 became an overseas passenger termnal the central fnger jetty took much of the passenger trade; for nstance the P&O lners 1 used varous Berths of 6 to 9 durng the 1930's (MSB Annual Report 30 June 1938) : Durng the Boer War and both the frst and second World Wars Woolloomooloo was an embarkaton and arrval pont for troops who had been posted to foregn countres on converted passenger lners The 'Moravan' left the 'Loo n 1902 whle troops of the frst AF marched from

26 < - -~ ~ >--F~~ _~"-- - _ m _"" " = ""ortja "' ~ ""' _- Moore park and the Showground to ther transports n the B~ 25 Whle overseas many of the Australans' songs mmortalsed the name of W oolloomooloo The followng parody was allegedly sung by a group of dsabled solders as ther transport carred them from England's shores at the end of World War (Sydney Mornng Herald 21 June 1924): t's a long way to Woolloomooloo t's a long way to go t's a long way to Woolloomooloo And lots of good old grls we know Farewell bully beef-o Farewell cobbers square t's a long way to Woolloomooloo But we're gong back there An ronc aspect of lfe n the Bay durng World War was that German steamers contnued to dock there On one partcular day n August 1914 there were fve German shps n Port three of whch had not been gven clearances and were under detenton and berthed n W oolloomooloo Bay (Daly Telegraph 6 August 1914) n the same month of that year much was made of the fact that t was a German steamer Elsass that crashed nto the Muncpal Baths when t was movng out from the jetty headed for Bremen t was reported th'at a far amount of damage was done but that there was no one n the pool at the tme of the accdent (Evenng News 4 August 1914) n 1921 relatves of troops who had departed Australa from the Fnger Wharf and ~ho had subsequently lo~t ther lves erected a Memoral drnkng fountan on a rock close to the gates of the docks (probably the ron gates to the central Jetty) 'The me~oral was dedcated by the Archbshop of Sydney n ;the presence of the Govemor- General ne fountan the work of Messrs Budden and Greenwell ~htects s beautfully kept and the dazzlng brass plaque contans n ts desgn a rosemary bush' :

27 The novel Say No to Death (1951) by Dymphna Cusack opens wth a World War T troopshp returnng to berth at the central jetty n Woolloomooloo Bay Durng World War n the 'Aqutana' the 'Queen Mary' and the 'Queen Elzabeth' berthed at the jetty for the purposes of takng on troops The Woolloomooloo Fnger Wharf was for many 'new Australans' ther frst experence of Australa Refugees and later mmgrants n the post-war perod arrved n shps that berthed there ; 1 ' j 26

28 _~ <10' _- ~ ~ ~ W_--- _* A _# ~""' = ---'± _ » '""~ THE WHARF AND THE PORT 31 Depresson and War The world f'mancal depresson that commenced n 1929 severely curtaled the Sydney Harbour Trust's constructon program The port trade declned and was just seeng a return to nonnalty at the outbreak of World War n n 1939 when once agan almost all work stopped The perod saw at least some actvty n all of the shppng areas whereas n the perod only one wharf was constructed - No 1 n Whte Bay n the 1950's the Bay was vrtually as t had been n 1916 wth the exceptons of the western longshore Berths that were rebult between and Berth No 1 on the east sde that became wth the constructon of the Captan Cook Gravng Dock the Na~al Fttng Out Wharf ~ n 1950 the Woolloom0610o wharves were usually occuped as follows: 1 Naval fttng out wharf 2-3 Open B~rths (upper storey of shed 3 used as a wool warehouse by 1968) 4 Wll Wlhemsen 5 Red Funnel Trawlers Ltd (ths wharf was stll j dealng wth fsh n 1968) 6-9 Fnger Wharf - open berths (wool general ~ cargo and overseas passengers) 10 Murrells 11 McArthur Shppng Agency : (Martme Yearbook 1950) Although the Fnger Wharf contnued to be a port for overseas passengers and a major export faclty for general cargo and wool the post-war techncal changes n 1 1

29 ~"" _ ' = t - '0;:0l0 '" " ":&_~-= "- - e~~ ""u -(_""'_""""P"''''''''''''''''''' ' ~ 28 " nternatonal shppng and cargo-handlng made the equpment at W oolloomooloo ncreasngly obsolete At the same tme ar ral and road transport was carryng an ncreasng proporton of passengers and freght Partcularly sgnfcant was the declne n the wool trade and ts concentraton n the Pyrmont/Ultmo area At ths tme practcally all of Sydney's woolstores were n Pyrmont General cargo handlng too was relocated to the west of the Harbour Brdge as t was uneconomc to run ral lnes to Crcular Quay and Woolloomooloo 32 Overseas Passenger Termnal A sharp ncrease n mmgrant and tourst traffc n the port n the early 1950s m~de t necessary to provde addtonal passenger facltes and a decson was made n 1955 to convert the two storey shed at No 7 Berth for use as a passenger termnal (Berth No 13 Pynnont had been successfully converted to a passenger termnal n 1949) An addtonal pa$senger servce between the ~est coast of the USA and Sydney was to be nsttuted n Sydney n November 1956 and t was proposed to have the new termnal operatonal n tme for the vessels nauguratng the servce (MSB Annual Report )' The new termnal was placed n commsson accordng to schedule - November 1959 The upper floor of the former cargo shed at No 7 'was converted to a modem passenger termnal wth specal facltes for Customs examnaton and amentes for travellers and ther frends ncludng offces for tourst and travel agences banks post offce facltes and a buffet for lght refreshments' Remnants of these establshments stll survve on the upper floor of Wharf 7 n conjuncton wth the provson of passenger facltes the tmber deckng of ths berth and the adjonng one at No 6 was: replaced wth concrete for the full length ~d the foundatons of the two storey sheds at each berth were reconstructed All cargo and stores were desgned to x: handled on the lower floor of the buldng leavng the

30 -; -- - ""ll r' ' "--*_ - _ r "" Voto - - = " 'Co - n rl ' =_ =/e_w 0\(- ' 0 29 upper storey free for passengers and luggage Wndows were nstalled to provde more lght and to gve passengers a vew of the eastern sde of the Bay Once agan the Fnger Wharf was equpped wth the most up-to-date equpment wh<?n lfts and baggage conveyors were nstalled The portable luggage conveyors handled baggage from sde ports of passenger vessels to the upper floor of the Termnal (MSB Annual Report ) ~ The mportance of the Fnger Wharf as a passenger termnal declned wth the openng of the new overseas tennna at Sydney Cove n 1961 t s sgnfcant that the largest vessel vstng Sydney durng that year was the lner "Canberra" and t berthed at Sydney Cove Passenger t j l 1 Tennnal on ts maden voyage n June 1961 Although overseas passenger traffc was stll ncreasng Wharf 7 was relegated to handlng the overflow from Sydney Cove 33 Gradual Declne 1 n the' early 1960s the Fnger Wharf lke most other Martme Servces Board wharves n Sydney: became redundant because of the rapdly ncreasng mechansaton of shppng and cargo-handlng (Extensve reconstructon and modernzaton of No 2 Berth took place n ) n 1959 the frst 'roll-on roll-off shp the 'Prncess of 1 Tasmana' came nto servce between Hobart and the manland The late 1950s also saw the growth of 'untsaton' wth the use of pallets pre-slngng and shore based cranes Despte protests by watersde workers and the Watersde Workers' Federaton contanersaton proceeded rapdly from the late 1960s Woolloomooloo succumbed n 1969 when Berth 11 was rebult as a concrete bulk berth Two 26-ton capacty travellng cranes and two large hoppers were nstalled When fully commssoned at the end of 1971 the roll-onlroll-off car vessel 'Jnyo'Maru'became the flst vessel touse the new berth and unloaded n record tme 400 cars by use of a j +

31 ~ "' ~ -~- 't " ~_ '"" = a n - ;1; ' ;;0 _ 1"" "' 30 quarter ramp angled onto the wharf (MSB Annual Report ) n the same year the New South Wales Government approved a Martme Servces Board proposal to develop Port Botany as a contaner termnal n 1977 the government approved the establshment of two contaner termnals and the establshment of a bulk lqud storage faclty that was opened n 1979 (Mahony 1979) Wth ths new development the Port of Sydney was destned to be overtaken by Port Botany : «j "

32 1_' _U' ~s d'--n n_~ -=-_'- W ~ W = ~y d'_~_- n W r_"~' =n ~;: ta' F :AAf"'"t~"""'~"'''''' 31 4 WOOLLOOMOOLOO WHARF RELCS 41 Wharf Technology The wharfs structure has changed lttle over tme except for the total revampng of the frst floor of No 7 Cargo shed These changes were undertaken so that W oolloomooloo could serve as the passenger termnal whle the Overseas Termnal at Crcular Quay was beng constructed : > Other modfcatons have been relatvely mnor and the external appearance has remaned ntact (wth the excepton of Wharf 7) The goods conveyors the cargo lfts the gateposts and fences and the permeter bollards have all remaned as they were when the work was completed n 1916 The cranes have gone and only three of the orgnal eght gantres grace the eastern wharf apron The man remnder of the Second World War role of the Wharf - the dolphns and large bollards on the eastern apron and the tenson tes and compresson members beneath the aprons - can stll be seen The relcs at Woolloomooloo allow nterpretaton of the functon of the Wharf and examples of most are to be seen n the exstng fabrc : 42 Goods Conveyors There are sxteen goods conveyors mounted n the central roadway whch moved goods from road level to the upper floor The conveyors are n four sets of four whch are evenly spaced along the roadway One par of conveyors n each set run up the eastern wall and one up the western Each par has a common operators platform from where the elevators were controlled Each conveyor has ts own

33 --_le r ' _= m 'H- = ~ _~_ Co )' d rh b lo _t<: ' '-\" 32' unloadng dock where goods were taken nto the upper level floor for storage pror to beng loaded on shps The conveyors are an apron wooden slat type as opposed to the more modern fabrc belt type The travellng wooden slat s supported by a frame attached drectly to the wall of the wharf shed The frame conssts of two almost dentcal smple Wooden trusses joned by cross members between and below the slat belt The frame s supported at : ground level by a smple post and at a further four places by brackets attached to the posts of the wharf shed The brackets are smple trangular peces made from 100 mm by 150 mm hardwood The use of the brackets rather than post supports allows unrestrcted movement on the roadway beneath the conveyor There s a loadng platform at the lower end of the conveyor whch conssts of sx lengths of double-headed ral attached to the wooden frame The platfonn fonned by the ral s at a slghtly lower angle than the conveyor belt ~ The end of the platfonn s some 12 metres above the roadway and was bult to receve bales of wool from the trays of horse-drawn wagons The platfonn appears to be too hgh to receve bales from conventonal motor lorres and some type of ntennedate devce may have been used to supplement to conveyor The conveyor rses some seven metres at an angle of 26 degrees and then levels out to fonn a horzontal secton some fve meters long Double sldng doors open out : onto ths secton to allow goods to be removed from the ~ conveyor and stored n the upper level of the wharf shed The moveable bed apron or belt conssts of a seres of hardwood slats 1220 mm long 215 mm wde and 50 mm deep whch span the wdth of the conveyor The slats are bolted to the lnks of the drvng chan wth a gap of about 20 mm between each slat The chan s a two and two strap chan n whch the twn steel straps or lnks are connected to the adjacent strap and to the roller by a steel

34 ~-~ "" ~ ~ ~_r ~_-_t --~-- = ~ - _~ -_ s_" 33 pn Two slats are bolted to the nner of the twn straps The steel rollers are 140 mm n dameter have a12 mm d~p flange and are 460 mm apart The rollers run on a flat steel ral whch s supported on a beam by two hardwood bearers whch form the top and bottom chords of the conveyors man frame The cargo whch was always n boxes bags or bales was hauled up the conveyor by blocks or cleats whch were bolted to the conveyor slats at approxmately 3 meter ntervals The cleats are shaped hardwood quadrant peces about 400 mm hgh The cleats pass between the rals of the loadng ramp catch the bals and haul them up to the unloadng platform ; The chans wth ther attached wooden slats passed over l twn termnal wheels at each end of the conveyor The set of wheels at the top platform was connected to the drve system whle that at the lower end was provded wth an adjustng devce for varyng the degree of tenson n the chan The wheels were made by the Jeffrey Manufacturng Co of Columbus Oho USA t s probable that ths flm also manufactured the conveyor or at least desgned t although ths could not be conf'mned by documentary evdence The wheels have an external dameter of 650 mm wth fve sprockets whch extend some 75 mm to engage the chan Upper level unloadng was to the sde of the conveyor and through the double doors The unloadng platform whch s about 5 meters long probably allowed bales to be removed wthout the conveyor beng brought to a complete stop Accordng to Broughton (1973 vol 4; 20) the largest model conveyor produced by the Jeffrey Manufacturng Co was dentcal to ths one wth a smlar wdth of apron sze of slat chan type and ptch and termnal wheel type t could handle bales of 800 lb (360 kg) capacty whch