Horses leave for war, shipping stops and the circus comes to town – one hundred years ago.

Shire-wide news extracts from the Moruya Examiner of this time in 1914, provided by the Moruya & District Historical Society:

HORSES WANTED – Mr. L. Want, Government buyer of military remounts and all kinds of horses useful for military purposes, will be in attendance at Moruya on Friday next, 18^th inst, to inspect consignments booked with H.J. Thomson.     12/12/1914

BATEMAN’S BAY (From our Correspondent) – Quite a sensation was caused in the Bay on Saturday when the news became known that the Coastal Shipping Co. were about to cease trading to this port, and later in the day the rumor was further confirmed by the receipt of a letter to the shareholders, the context of which is as follows:

Dear Sirs,

Your directors having had the benefit of 12 months’ experience in conducting the affairs of your Company, are now in the position to be able to place before you the result of the years’ earning, and their opinion as to the future prospects of the Company. They regret to state that the volume of business on the South Coast being small and divided between the Company and the Illawarra and South Coast S.N. Co. Ltd., does not allow a sufficient turnover to return a profit.

In addition to the small volume of trade dealt with by the two Companies, and the cut rates that has been gradually brought about, and the position of our opponents being such that the rates could be so reduced to further diminish our earnings, your directors are forced to the conclusion that they see no prospects of the operations of the Company being conducted except at a loss.

In view of this, and with due regard of all the circumstances, your directors have met the Illawarra and South Coast S.N. Co., Ltd. in friendly negotiations, with the result that the Illawarra Co. has made us an offer for the purchase of this Company’s goodwill and trade. This offer – the acceptance of which your directors recommend – will be placed before the general meeting to be held at Nowra on the 12^th inst., in all its details, and, as the matter is one of extreme importance, it is to be hoped that you will find it convenient to attend.

Yours faithfully,
Coastal Shipping Co-Operative Co., Ltd.

The above letter is (and not without grounds) causing the public to ask themselves a few questions, especially when it is largely flavoured with a contravention of truth and likely to mislead the reader who only reads and does not stop to digest. Mr. Buckley says in view of the small volume of trade and the cutting of freights, that he can see no prospects of the Co’s business being conducted except at a loss. This the shareholders here say is untrue, as the ship was loaded both in and out on every occasion, and it is only within the last three weeks that the I.S.N. Co. started to cut freights, and many of the shareholders, and even those who were not, expressed themselves willing to pay another 10 per cent. Another thing the letter states is that friendly negotiations have been going on with the I.S.N. Co. which matured the result. Rumor in Bateman’s Bay says that Mr. Buckley was for the last fortnight a prominent feature daily on the doorstep of Captain Sim. The question now to be asked – Was the Company formed on a purely co-operative and legal basis, or was it only a cleverly baited trap.   12/12/1914

CIRCUS – St. Leon’s Great United Circus is announced to play in Moruya for one night only on Friday night, the 18^th inst. A huge program of thrilling and amusing feats is promised…   12/12 1914

Sixteen 100 years ago booklets containing articles for the years 1899 to 1913 are available ($5 ea) from the society’s rooms. Copies of local newspapers from the 1860s to date can be viewed at the society’s Family History Research Centre (Ph 4474 3224) situated at the rear of the Pioneer Museum in Campbell St. Moruya (mdhs.org.au).