Item 02: Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 5 December 1914-26 February 1915 - Page 6
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[Page 6]
H.M.A.S. Fantome
Dec 7 – 14
Dear girl
While I think of it – The 'Lawn King' is a very good brand of mower – Pay for it out of my Queen St Balance – It's my little present to the garden – It was hot yesterday – I put it in at Roseville with Blackwell – He's a pleasant fellow – His wife, a fine girl of just 20 & a boy are all stone deaf – Enquiries come in – none of them can hear you unless you speak very loudly – I saw a man who had just come from England – He & Lord Chelmsford & the Editor of Pearsons had all tried to get evidence of the maiming of children – hands cut off – The Editor he said offered 500 £ for any photo of same – nothing came of it – They never cd. get hold of anything authentic –
At 11 pm I was on board the Fantome – for good – I slept in board & about 5 am got up & studied the situation – I have a good cabin – top side with lots of air – a fan – 6 drawers under my bunk & a table. At 9 am we went out for gun & speed trials – There was a beastly swell outside & dozens were seasick – There are 109 all told of us – We got off the 12 pounders – They are really 5 inch guns or thereabouts – We go by the diameter of the cartridge so that a 13.5 gun means a charge 13.5 inches in diameter –
There was a flash & a roar & a hiss in the air & then a spurt of sea water a long way off –