| Title: | McMahon Glynn, Patrick to Glynn, James P., 1885 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4383 |
| Collection | Patrick McMahon Glynn: Letters to his family (1874-1927) [Gerald Glynn O'Collins] |
| File | glynn/33 |
| Year | 1885 |
| Sender | McMahon Glynn, Patrick |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | lawyer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Kapunda, South Australia, Australia |
| Destination | Gort, Co. Galway, Ireland |
| Recipient | Glynn, James P. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 1131 |
| Genre | journalism, socialising, family |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Kapunda January 23rd 1885 My dear James I find that seven or eight long letters are expected from me from different quarters, but to yours I will reply first as it is the only one in my pocket. On Xmas Eve a box arrived at Port Adelaide, addressed to me, from Melbourne. After some difficulty, not having had any advice, I cleared it out, and found that it contained some of the shirts that Clancy was entrusted with. He never wrote, however. Probably he wore some, and pawned the rest which upon release were forwarded. Remember me to Charley Thorpe when you see him. I often think of the jolly days that were when his seaside mansion was in Brunswick Street. As for M----I wrote in answer to the first letter, and on receiving another replied enclosing photograph. The letter & photo were recently returned to me by the Dublin G.P.O. If you should come across M again, you might mention that. As to Newman, Solicitor, London, I wrote to him on receipt of letter about a year ago, & remitted the £.4 paid on my account. Any fees that may have been subsequently applied for, may be for removing my name from the books, which I wrote about to the Treasurer of the Temple, but heard nothing of since. If such be the case, on being apprised of amount it will be forwarded. As to leaving the Bank, or rather I should say, getting changed to London, on spec, in regard to Press work, you should be very cautious. There are fifty men ready to contribute light matter for one that is required; this I know from what I heard when in London, observation of the market here, & information from Webster, who knows most of the literary men & Press men in London, & was himself a prominent writer on the Examiner, as well as Editor of the Radical. Webster himself is a splendid critic, has a wide and accurate knowledge of English and Continental literature, is a very keen critic, & yet, withal, does not make a certain income — because he cannot sit down to the dry details of politics which pay best. To give you an idea of what is required by a working Editor of a leading paper — he must master the duties of the Ministers of the Crown almost as well as themselves, because he has to criticise their policies. At present, for instance, the Railway Department here is upside down. The conduct of the leading officials is being enquired into. Well, to show that the view of affairs taken by the Commissioner or Public works is wrong or right — three Reports of many hundred pages each must be mastered, besides the straggling details from elsewhere kept in the memory, & then an article written hurriedly on the whole. So with Statistics, Bills, Estimates, Supply etc. This is the dry work, for which a very retentive memory & some clear headedness is required, but it pays best. I have often heard men speak disparagingly of the Editor of the South Australian Register, the leading paper here, because probably he is not flash, or something after their ideas, but [I] have often been surprised at the knowledge of the minutiae of politics which he displays at a critical moment. Well, my motive in mentioning these matters is this. You might be tempted to leave the Bank & try your hand at journalism exclusively. The step would be [a] serious one; & it is as well to know that the pay, except in exceptional cases, is not in these days of competition tempting, and the work fitful often, & sometimes very uncongenial. I would not care to give up my profession for the chances of journalism; and as you mentioned that in London, when on the spot, you might get more regular payment etc. I think it better to mention that you had better not trust Editors' promises. At the same time when the connection is incidental as yours with the Hotel Mail and mine with the Herald, & a fellow can to some extent do as he likes, the business is altogether different. While in the bank you have an Independence & are your own master as far as your pen is concerned. I was much pleased to find Eugene, Joseph & Robert were going along well. It's a devillish good job that Eugene is under the eye of a tutor while in Dublin, as it will keep him from "the fleeting joys of Paradise Dear bought with lasting woes" that most medical, and some, as witness myself, law, students go in for in Dublin. You infer from my last letter that I meditate a change of life. I don't. Perhaps I sometimes imagine a woman comes up to an ideal of which she seems to have a trait or two, but a little intimacy is enough to clear a fellow's eyes. I was away from here for a week at Xmas, up among the Hills behind Adelaide. There were about 16 fellows at the Same Hotel; and as it is the custom to get up dances and picnics in conjunction with families in the neighbourhood, we spent a pleasant time of it. The Dishers, a pleasant, sweet-tempered & hospitable family 3 miles on one side, the Johnsons, hospitable, with excellent gardens, tennis grounds, & a billiard-table on the other. There was a public concert in the Scots Church, at which I sang a song. The local Schoolmaster was misinformed that I could do anything from pitch & toss up to Land Nationalization, so he stuck me up at the Institute door & insisted on a recitation or a song, as they were short of performers, so I went thro' "Jack's Yarn", which I picked up at the Hotel. I find it hard to get the committee to attend the meetings of the S.A.L.N.S.; fellows are so careless about matters that do not appeal to their selfishness or selfinterest. The Public are similar. I was asked to lecture in other places, but cannot find time. It has lost me some business already, but that doesn't matter. However, there will be opposition in the law line here shortly — an old resident — & as business is bad, I must stick close to the office. Johnny Wallsh was burnt out of his billet lately. His employer lost heavily by the fire. Elly Glynn's eldest son died of the typhoid fever — a very sad thing, her husband being a drunkard & the boy of sterling value & temper. But I must close, as business presses. Hoping to hear from you soon Your affect, brother P. McM. Glynn P.S. I must get some more photos as I am run out. |
