|
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889-1931) (about)
|
Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5066240
No comments yet.
No corrections yet
, THE QUORN "BOMB."
To the Editor.
Sir-1 am sorry that so much has been written and said about nothing; some call it a joke. I for one never thought so much of it as that. The facts of the case, as far as I am personally concerned, are these: When posting my letters for Port Augusta at 5 p.m. two gentlemen and one of our local troopers were outside the front of the police-station. They called me to see the article. I inspected it and found it to contain black and other mixtures sewn up in a bit of bagging. I said, "What came out of the centre of it?". The trooper brought it to me, and I said it was part of an electric plant, and tried to set fire to part of it oh1 the footpath, but without avail. I thought no more of ii, but went back and washed my hands of the black lead and finished my work. I went to the train to meet the Premier and escorted him to my home to tea. On our way there I mentioned that some of the school children had picked up something which some people called a bomb, and gave it to the police. I told him it .was composed of black lead. He said in a jocular way, "Are you an insurance agent?" I said, "Yes, for fire, not life, as I ought to have another £1,000 for mother ana the boys." Nothing more was said. We had tea and never a mention was made of the matter; in fact I thought no more of it. We went together to the Town Hall. When near there a gentleman spoke to the Premier. I waited near the door at the back of the hall. When he arrived I said, "Don't say anything in the meeting about it." I took the Premier on the stage at the back of the hall and left him with the committee, came back at 8 p.m., and took the'chair. What he heard or saw with others he men- tioned I cannot say, but never a word was said about the bomb or the sup- posed one, as some people called it. There was no brass plug that I saw. The meeting was orderly. The hall was packed with about 450 people; no excitement ex- cept the usual hand clapping and feet stamping. If the Premier took the matter so seriously it must have been after he left Quorn, as he had plenty of time if he wanted to inspect the article that night or in the morning at the police-station. When he said good-bye at the station he might have said, "I am going ti publish
the business." I would then have re- lieved his troubled mind. My reason for telling him not to mention the matter at the meeting was that there were a lot ot country people in who had never heaid a word about the thing, besides hundreds of others, and it might have caused a panic, as false alarms have done before to-day. My home has always been open to all dis- tinguished visitors. _ In my position as mayor I look upon it as a matter of cour- tesy to extend that welcome. If this affair had been of any importance our local re- porters would have telegraphed it, but, as I have said, no one took any notice of it ex- cept the Premier.-I am. &c..
ROBERT THOMPSON.
Quorn, May 22, 1907.