Item 04: Memoirs of a Colonial Boy by Robert Joseph Stewart, ca. 1971 - Page 373
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[Page 373]
184
My fellow guests were an Austrian who had Anglicised his name, Durembacher, to Baker, and was accountant to a York St firm manufacturing leather suitcases, and George Winder the young scion of the proprietor of a big drapery store in Wellington, New Zealand, who had recently died, and left his gentlemanly but rather indolent son a pathetically small income on trust: he had no particular qualifications except a good college education and an adopted English accent. One night, George introduced me at Theo's Russian dining, wining and dancing club above a shoe store on the corner of Pitt and Campbell Sts. Theo, an educated Muscovite of the pre-revolution days, was an unofficial interpreter for the Police Department, whereby he was allowed some latitude regarding observance of the Liquor Act. He had a German wife, Gertie, who was a splendid cook and adept at preparing inexpensive but exotic Continental dishes. The club was quite respectable and was patronised by many well-known members of Sydney's professional class, who leaned towards the Bohemian way of life. Unfortunately, it was raided one night by the Police, by mistake, and though no further action was taken, most of the highly placed patrons never returned, so it was never quite the same again.
Having found a suitable home, my next most urgent need was to find a good examination coach. Again I had recourse to the advertising columns of the Sydney Morning Herald, which took me to one S.E. Blight B.A. who had a coaching school in a few upstairs rooms in a terrace of houses and offices where the "Port" building now stands. He had a good record of successes, and he agreed to coach me right through to the examination date for the modest lump sum of £6-10-0d, cash in advance. And so I went back to school again, and after a break of about ten years resumed the study of mathematical subjects and English and French, at the higher standard.
There were about thirty of us in the "school" all averaging ten years younger than I, one exception being a civil servant of my vintage studying for the Law matriculation. Most hoped to