FAMILY ON TREK
NINE IN BAG HUMPY ?
STORY OF ADVERSITY j 1 [from oub own cobhespondent] SYDNEY, Oct. 14 A Btory of a family's struggle against adversity and a long six-months' trek by foot from Adelaide to Sydney, has been disclose by the , discovery of the v family in a bag and bark humpy at ~ Villawood by the police. . , Major W. A. Stringer, officer in(" charge of the Salvation Army at Banks- • town, said that when he visited the, humpy, which was in,a secluded part d% of the scrub at Villawood, he was >.r shocked at the conditions under which the family, comprising seven children —the eldest a Doy of 18 and the youngest a baby of nine months —were ;■* living. The humpy, he said, was a baric structure with bag roofing, and when he arrived the mother was spreading out ; some of the bags to dry after heavy rain. -The humoy was without bed- , ding, and the only blankets the family * had were those grven to them by the ; police. ~ , . vMajor Stringer said the father is a painter and sign writer and during the - war served with the Royal Navy. About A six years ago the mother conducted a dressmaking business in Adelaide, but. - it failed, and the family decided to come to Svdney. They were destitute . and had no alternative but to walk. ;< The father managed to obtain a little casual work in various towns on the . wav. and bv this means was able to » obtain sufficient money to pay the fares of tho children to the next town. Six of the children, m the charge of the eldest boy, would then wait at the - town until their parents, carryinK the ; voune babv, arrived on foot, bornetimes thev were given lifts by motorists Following this procedure the -■ family eventually arrived in Sydney, taking about six months to cover the Tho ° husband was unable to obtain - work in Sydney, and the family had lived in the flimsy shelter for about a < month before the police discovered - them.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23166, 12 October 1938, Page 13
Word Count
338FAMILY ON TREK New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23166, 12 October 1938, Page 13
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