Glen Davis

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Glen Davis (Co. Cook) 33°07’S. 150°17’E., 38 km NE of Wallerawang, on Capertee R.; (incl. Bagtown); laid out 1939 by A. A. Cooke, subdivided and first lots sold 1940, thrived 1940-47, town largely defunct by 1952; mining (oil-shale disc. 1873 by Campbell Mitchell and initial mining began 1881 by C. G. Cameron, resumed 1938), retorting and refining 1939-42 by National Oil Pty. Ltd., first crude oil produced 1940, taken over by govt. and operated till 1952, plant auctioned 1953; ambulance station, closed 1953; Angl. C. (St Mark’s) 1940; bushfires 1951 and 2009; cordial factory (C. J. Talbot) 1943; drought 1943; electricity 1939; floods 1949, 1950 (man died), 1952; lock-up; Meth. C. 1941; mine accident (man killed) 1948; miners’ strikes 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1952; pipeline to Newnes 1941; PO 1939, new one b. 1943 by Wallace and McGee, reused; powerhouse (National Oil Co. Ltd.); PS (temporary one) 1940, burnt down 1942, new one b. 1944 by Wallace and McGee Pty. Ltd., closed 1954, reused; quarry; reservoir, 1,000,000 gal. (4,546 kl), 1943; 64 retorts (Fell-modified Pumpherston, for oil-shale), later increased to 104, abandoned and derelict; Rom. Cath. C. (Most Holy Rosary) b. 1946 by James Hoctor; school 1940-62; telephone 1939; TX 1939, automatic 1986; water reticulation 1943; pop. с.2,500 (1946), 1,619 (1947), 316 (1954) 47 (1961), 34 (1974), 288 (2011)1 .

1938

Rylstone Shire Council
Production of oil and petrol in the Capertee Valley.
The clerk presented a letter from the National Oil Proprietary Ltd., advising that it had acquired portions 1 to 6, parish of Gindantherie in the Blaxland Shire, and portions 11 to 16, parish of Glen Alice, in the Rylstone Shire, 551 acres in all. The company proposed to establish upon this site its main works and a township in connection with such works. The company estimated that the population of the proposed township would eventually be from 2,000 to 2,500 people. The township and worlds site selected are about 8 miles south-east of Glen Alice by road. The company also advised that it would be necessary to transport materials and plant to the site by road, and that some of the individual plant items would weigh at least 50 tons. The company's letter made application for such improvements to the road leading to the land in question as would cater for the requirements for the proposed community and the transport of plant and materials. Twenty men would be employed immediately, and not less than 600 when the plant was in full operation about the end of next year.
The president reported that arrangements had already been made with the company for its representative to meet the engineer and members of the council with a view to bringing the whole of the proposed township site into the Rylstone Shire. The president also reported that it had been pointed out to the secretary of the company that the road from Rylstone through Glen Alice was much more capable of improvement than the road from Capertee to the site of the proposed township.
Councillors J. N. Taylor, S. R. Jackson, and John E. Walsh were authorised to meet a representative of the company on the proposed township site to discuss future arrangements2 .

1939

1 November 1939
HOMES FOR GLEN DAVIS MEN
A Bill to provide town planning and the erection of houses at Glen Davis was brought down in Parliament last night.
The Minister for Works Mr. Martin, said that Mr. Davis had given land for this purpose, and the Government was pushing ahead with the proposal to establish the new town for the men working on the shale deposits.
The sum of £35,000, Mr. Martin said would be spent on roads in the locality, while £15,000 would be provided for an hotel.
Applauding the legislation, Mr. Knight (Lab., Hartley) said that 500 men at the Valley at present were living under bad conditions. The Bill was read a first time3 .

30 December 1939
GLEN DAVIS
TOWN IN THE MAKING
In November an "Act for the planning of the town of Glen Davis" was passed through the Parliament of New South Wales. This Glen Davis "adventure" has been described as "one of the most remarkable romances in the development of industrial life in the State."
For some years oil shale deposits had been worked without much success at Newnes. About two years ago Mr. George Davis commenced operations for the production of petrol at Capertee. His scheme is a vast one. It was first ratified by the Commonwealth and State Governments in July, 1937. Under it a company was formed, to which the State agreed to lend £166,000 and the Commonwealth £334,000, while the company itself had to subscribe 166,667 £1 shares and guarantee that the production of petrol would commence by January, 1940.
Already over 600 men are employed in the venture, and as the establishment of a town will necessarily follow from such a big congregation of workers in one place, it was considered desirable to have a planned or model town, properly laid out and equipped. Hence the Bill which was presented and passed by the New South Wales Parliament in November. Mr. George Davis has given 105 acres as a town site, and the Crown has provided an additional 80 acres of land adjacent. A town planning committee, with the Surveyor-General as chairman, has, after much work, produced a detailed design and everything is now in train for the construction of a first-class township. It is expected that within a year or two not less than 4000 people will be in residence, and that within a very few years there will be 8000 residents.
PRELIMINARY EXPENDITURE
Already the company has spent £411,377 in putting the shale oil deposits into use, establishing a plant to produce electricity, building an extensive brickyard for the supply of bricks, and constructing a residence for a medical practitioner. In the meantime, until houses can be erected, a model camp has been built at a cost of £10,000. This will be demolished as soon as the brick kilns are functioning. Adequate provision has been made in the design for the construction of public buildings and churches, as well as parks, recreation reserves and areas.
The land is to be sold at public auction and a freehold title granted to purchasers. The Act embodies provisions which will safeguard the land from being the plaything of speculators, and also provides that a certain type of building must be erected in a given time by purchasers: otherwise the land will revert to the Crown and the money paid for it will be forfeited.
An area of two acres has been set aside for a hotel, which will cost at least £15,000, and for which a license has already been secured.
Naturally, the town is named after Mr. George Davis, whose initiative, enterprise and success in other spheres of business activity have made its foundation possible. Everything possible has been done both as a result of his foresight and Government co-operation to ensure the future of the shale oil industry at Capertee and the prosperity of Glen Davis as the model town of 19394 .

1940

2 March 1940

Plan of Glen Davis Subdivision

1 June 1940
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Methodism at Glen Davis
Sir, - Your article in "The Methodist," 25th May, makes interesting reading, and is a challenge to the adventurous spirit of our people. It was my privilege to spend a day recently at Glen Davis, and saw what is being attempted in that area. By a combination of Government and private enterprise, approximately a million pounds is being spent in opening up and developing the shale oil deposits. A visit to the works gives the impression of a young giant just beginning to move. Developmental work is going on apace, and soon the project will be in full swing. Our Church is to be commended for its action in following the workers into this area. The idea of erecting a hut for religious and social work is a good one. Fully 90 per cent. of the workers are living in huts and improvised dwellings of various descriptions. There are about 100 children, 120 women, and 650 men living under these conditions. I visited the camp on a fine day, but what the conditions will be when the bad winter weather sets in can only be conjectured, as most of the dwellings are of canvas with a dirt floor.
Our young probationer, Rev. Gloster S. Udy, B.A., is living in a tent and "roughing it" with the rest, but the conditions make pastoral work very difficult. Most of the men are on shift work, and contacts are difficult to make. The hut will provide a meeting place for minister and people under favourable conditions. At present there is no hall or meeting place where they can be brought together. Indoor games, books, and a piano are urgently needed, whilst for religious instruction and work among the young people a projector for screening Bible stories would be of great assistance.
This is a "Front Line" position, and our young probationer is a "Crusader" in every sense of the word. What an inspiration it would be to him to know that the young people of Methodism - M.G.C. and O.K. - are behind him in his adventure for Christ in this difficult area.
A large hotel will be officially opened in a few weeks. The drink trade will exploit the opportunity to expand its traffic. Can we afford to miss our opportunity? The counter attraction of our hut will be greatly enhanced if the equipment so sorely needed is quickly supplied. I would urge any who can help with gifts of money or equipment to advise the Home Mission Office immediately. - Yours, etc.,
LESLIE BOWMER.
Lane Cove, 27-5-19406 .

10 August 1940
Glen Davis - Impressions, Humourous and Otherwise
By Rev. Dudley V. Hyde, LL.B.
(Photo GLEN DAVIS - Administration Offices and First Section of the Works.)
ASK any Methodist: "Which is the smallest circuit in New South Wales?" and he will hazard all kinds of mild guesses, naming city and suburban areas. It will come as a shock to most to realise that out in a wild, rugged valley, girt about with awe-inspiring hills, twenty-five miles from the nearest rail-head and about 150 miles from Sydney, lies the circuit that answers the above description. The newly-constituted Glen Davis Circuit, as at present populated, can be easily traversed on foot from side to side, and end to end, in twenty-five minutes. With the exception of the works, the hotel, and a few staff cottages, the only habitations in the circuit are tents and a miscellaneous collection of shacks and huts. But no! There is something else! Already two churches grace the settlement as the outward witness to God in a far from godly atmosphere. It has been my privilege, as the neighbouring minister, to visit the Glen on a few occasions, and for the benefit of those interested I would like to give these few impressions.
First of all let us get the setting in our minds. Branch off the main Mudgee road at Capertee and travel for about 25 miles (it seems like 100 miles!), and you come at length to this retreat in the valley. One can easily imagine how delighted any ancient king or baron would have been with such a site for his castle and fortress, for Nature has here provided a natural stronghold indeed. The road you travel provides the only entrance to and exit from the Glen, for at the far end the mighty, overhanging hills meet in a huge "V" and satisfactorily bar the way.
One experiences the feeling of being at the end of the road indeed, and a sensation almost of desolation. When the summer winds blow across the valley it seems that the dust of a continent must gather in this alcove and the winter winds howl in defeated rage as they hurl themselves on the walls of this fortress. When this Glen was inhabited only by rabbits and kangaroos, it must have been a picture in a good season, with the grassy flat between the hills, intersected by the Capertee River; but this effect is considerably ruined now by the dense clouds of smoke from the works, the odorous smoking shale ash heaps, the oily scum on the river, and the ghastly unsightliness of the huts and shacks that cover the river flat. Might I hasten to add that the National Oil Co. is hard at work on a garden beautification scheme, and that the town is being laid out on truly ambitious lines to shortly replace the present camp site.
It is quite evident that soon much of the original beauty of the Glen will be restored and Glen Davis will yet become a showplace for the tourist and an advertisement for Australia. There are the things that anyone can see, but there are many other things to be seen. Here are a few of my impressions: The first impression I had of this spot was the local public school. I arrived about 10 a.m. and found the Methodist minister, with the aid of a piano-accordion, manfully assisting the schoolmaster to teach about sixty children the glorious truths of "Advance Australia Fair." I might be cynical, but I couldn't help feeling that the school was hardly an advertisement for "Australia Fair." It was a tent with a dirt floor - in the summer a pool of dust and in winter like a Frigidaire. Once again I hasten to add that now at last Glen Davis has a weatherboard school building.
The next impression is provided by the dwellings. With the exception of the staff cottages, the dwellings are of three kinds - bad, worse, and awful. I wish you could see them. There are rows and rows of whitewashed hessian huts built in terraces; each hut is ten feet by eight feet, and houses two men. For the privilege of living in these huts the men pay three shillings per fortnight each. They also have the privilege of buying their meals in a mess-room, at about 1/3 per meal, and the right to use the bathroom. Do not become alarmed at this extravagance! There is only one bathroom for over 500 men! Larger hessian dwellings are provided for married couples. Quite a few workmen prefer to erect their own tents, and ramshackle huts of all kinds, which are built at random all along the banks of the river. One of the furthermost huts provides a fine study in the classics. Printed in large letters on the wall are the Latin words, "Desunt Caetera." To my unclassical mind the words meant "the rest are away," signifying the aloofness of the occupant. A friend of mine, not being a classical scholar, remarked: "Is that, where they get their meals - the Decent Caterer?"
The hills on either side of the Glen are so high that the settlement only receives a few hours' sun per day in winter. At 1 p.m. outside the Methodist minister's tent the ice was still one-quarter of an inch thick on the top of the water in the kerosene tin, and this is the sunniest spot in the settlement.
Some of the tents on the slope of the hill receive no visit from the sun at all in winter. This is a fact. They are in the shade all day. In one of these huts at least there is a young baby.
When the town is built it will be on a different spot altogether, and in much more healthy surroundings. There are about 800 men on the payroll at present, and the population of Glen Davis is about 1,100, including 102 married couples and families.
In this setting the Church has placed its representative, the Rev. Gloster Udy. Until the present church was completed the minister lived in the only green tent in the settlement. Visiting the hospital in Rylstone one day recently I was accosted by one woman patient and the following conversation ensued:-
Patient: "Are you a parson?"
Minister: "I am."
Patient: "What Church?"
Minister: "Methodist."
Patient: "Oh, same as that ginger-headed fellow down at the Glen! There's a parson, for you! He'll do me. He's not like other parsons who tell you what to do and do nothing themselves. There he is toiling away every day, putting up that church of his. I tell you the people think a lot of him down there. Why, you never see him clean! He'll do me! He's going to get my kids for his Sunday School."
Might I again hasten to add that the remark about the cleanliness of the "parson" referred to the fact that from early morning until dark he has to be in working clothes, helping to erect the church.
This is one instance of many to explain the crude but sincere testimony of the local people to the work of Rev. Gloster Udy. Here is a minister in a circuit where pastoral visitation is practically out of the question, where there are no church members, no quarterly meeting, no officers, and practically no one interested in church at all. What would not one give to have seen him at one of his earlier services! He held them in the mess-room. At the back of the room the next meal would be in course of preparation; outside a young man was roaring around continually on a motor-bike, "tuning it up"; next door a new butcher's, shop was in course of erection, and just outside the wall the local "two-up school" was holding its Sunday after noon meeting.
In the midst of this din Rev. Udy proclaimed the Gospel to all who cared to listen. A wooden church has now been erected and this will later be transplanted to the town site, where it will serve as a Sunday School in conjunction with the brick church to be erected there. There is also an Anglican minister in residence. He is in rather an unique position. His present church is in Bathurst diocese, but the church on the town site will be in Sydney diocese, for the Capertee River (a muddy little creek) is the dividing line. When he walks to one end of his parish he is in Newcastle diocese. These are just a few impressions of this wonderfully intriguing place, Glen Davis; and certainly a wonderfully intriguing work lies ahead of this "parson," Rev. Gloster Udy, who comes to grips with a population that cares nothing for the Church or the things of the Church; but, like all men everywhere, is vitally interested in the things of God and the spirit of Christ. God-speed to this ad venturer, who seeks to interpret Christ in terms that these people will understand in Glen Davis, the smallest circuit, in some ways the hardest circuit; but who will say the least interesting circuit in New South Wales7 !

26 August 1940
PETROL FLOW HAS BEGUN AT GLEN DAVIS PLANT
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE
GLEN DAVIS, Monday.
A new page of Australia's industrial history was written here at noon to-day, when the Minister for Supply (Sir Frederick Stewart), turned a tap and the first petrol produced in commercial quantities in Australia gushed into waiting containers.
It was a simple ceremony, watched by a handful of people, but its significance was deep, for from to-day Australia has advanced, a further step towards national self-sufficiency.
By turning the tap, Sir Frederick released the first of the petrol from the cracking plant into one of the several million gallon storage tanks, whence it will soon be pumped 30 miles, and over a 3000ft. mountain, to Newnes Junction.
More than 800 men now are employed at Glen Davis, wresting petrol from the rich shale deposits which run for miles under the inhospitable and seemingly impassable mountain peaks.
The works are never idle, the men working three shifts a day for seven days a week.
From to-day, the huge plant, which covers 50 acres, will produce between 30,000 and 35,000 gallons of high grade petrol a day - approximately 10,000,000 gallons a year. Plans are well in hand for extension to 30,000,000 gallons a year.
Very Welcome Sight
"The great Importance of locally-produced oil in peacetime is magnified in the face of war," said Sir Frederick. "Oil is a vital requirement for victory, and Glen Davis adds greatly to our security.
"Faced with the rationing of petrol supplies and with uncertainty as to the future, this petrol, pouring from the cracking plant, is a very welcome sight."
Before the ceremony, Sir Frederick, accompanied by the N.S.W. Minister for Mines (Mr. Vincent), Mr. G. F. Davis, managing director of National Oil Pty. Ltd. - which has established Glen Davis - and officers of the Supply Department made a thorough inspection of the works.
Also in the party were Messrs. J. Lawson and S. Gardiner. M's.H.R., whose electorates join right in the middle of the works.
First visited was the mine itself, which runs for about a mile into the face of a mountain.
Armed with a miner's light, Sir Frederick picked his way gingerly over trolley lines and piles of shale, to where the shale was being cut from a seam by gigantic cutters, and loaded into trucks.
Taken to a crushing plant, it was broken into pieces about four inches in diameter, and then sent by conveyers to the retorts.
Minister's Car Test
The shale is heated in the 108 retorts, and the crude oil produced in them is next taken to storage tanks before entering the final process, the cracking of the fuel oil.
This is a highly technical process, in which special machinery is used to heat the crude oil and keep it at a tremendous pressure before it finally becomes partly petrol and partly oil. To later draw off the pure petrol is a comparatively simple matter.
Exhaustive tests have proved that the Glen Davis shale petrol compares more than favorably with any imported spirit.
Sir Frederick's car tank was filled with some of the petrol he saw produced, and later he said that the car ran splendidly.
The Glen Davis shale deposits are claimed to be among the richest in the world, and yield more than 100 gallons of oil to the ton - more than four times the amount obtained from the well-known Scottish shale.
Mr. Davis later entertained the party at luncheon at the palatial Hotel Glen Davis8 .

2 September 1940
POOR HOUSING AT GLEN DAVIS
SYDNEY, Sunday. - The President of the Institute of Building Society Secretaries (Mr. W. Pooley) said men, women and children at Glen Davis were living under conditions unfit for animals. The men were engaged on urgent national work in the production of oil from shale.
Mr. Pooley said a £20,000 hotel had been erected, but so far the workers had received only promises of £50,000 to build them decent homes.
Mr. B. S. B. Stevens stressed the need for 100,000 modern houses at reasonable prices in Sydney. Thousands of modern homes were also required for families employed on war work at Lithgow, Port Kembla, Port Whyalla, Maryborough, and Glen Davis.
The Federal Treasurer (Mr. Spender) said finance, from the Commonwealth point of view, did not stand in the way of carrying out a proper housing scheme in Lithgow. That also applied to the accommodation of munition workers elsewhere, he said9 .

19 October 1940
A TRIP TO GLEN DAVIS.
Mr. Jas. Bryan, of Taree, accompanied by Mrs. Bryan, recently had a month's tour. Leaving Taree by motor with Mr. A. Skepper, of Syd ney, the first night was spent at Raymond Terrace with Mr. Bryan’s brother-in-law. From there they went to Sydney, and then passed on by motor car to Wallerawang, on the Western line. Then they took train to Capartee, where a daughter resides.
On leaving Capartee they travelled 28 miles to Glen Davis, where the National Oil Pty. Ltd. is producing petrol from shale. The new road, which is under construction by the Main Roads Board, is nearly completed, but the old road can still be seen. It looks very narrow and winding. For the first 16 miles hilly and heavily-timbered country is travelled through, and then gradually opens out into a fertile valley of four miles wide. At Glen Davis the valley narrows again to a width of half a mile, with sandstone cliffs 1500 feet high. Two years ago only a few sheep and thousands of rabbits were all there was to see. Now there are over 300 men working there, the present number of miners engaged being 130. Until a couple of months ago 800 men were employed on construction work. The mine is one of the most highly mechanised in Australia. Everything is electrically driven. The power house at the works supplies all needs. The mine is equipped with an up-to-date shale cutter and loader, both electric, while electric boring machines are used by the miners. Four locomotives, which carry their own batteries, operate in the mine. These bring the skips of shale from boards (or by roads) on to the main roads, where they are picked up by an electric trolly working on an overhead wire and brought to the surface. Here they are weighed and tipped into a bin with a capacity of 200 tons. Under this bin a crushing plant crushes the shale into 4in. pieces. From here it is conveyed on an endless belt into the storage bins, which hold 800 tons, when full. An other belt conveys the shale from these bins to the retorts as required. Here it is baked under a heat of 1500 degrees. The crude oil is drained off into tanks, after which the bottom of the retort is opened and the ashes taken out. Small horse-drawn skips are used for this purpose. Shortly an electric winch is to be installed to do away with the slower method. The cracking plant, which, refines the petrol from crude oil, is capable of treating three times as much oil as produced at present, which amounts to 30,000 gallons in 24 hours, but another set of retorts is now nearly complete and will shortly be in operation. The tank farm, where the oil and petrol is stored, has four one-million gallon tanks and 20 smaller ones, each with a capacity of 50,000 gallons.
About 160 families are living in temporary homes, while single men are housed in cubicles. An up-to-date township is planned a mile above the works. The land is surveyed into town blocks. An hotel is already completed, while a bakery and chemist's shop are being erected.
Mr. Bryan says the rain spoilt their afternoon or they may have been able to see more. He adds that Taree bread could not be beaten, no matter where they went10 .

28 October 1940
Glen Davis Is Place Of Tents And Shacks
"Glen Davis is a place of tents and shacks, but is developing rapidly. As a contrast its only hotel was erected at a cost of £30,000, and is the last thing in modernity," said Constable First-class N. A. Porter today. Constable Porter, who was formerly stationed in Broken Hill, is now in charge at Glen Davis.
Constable Porter said that each man was provided with a tent by the National Oil Pty. Ltd., but in many cases the men erected their own tin huts.
Glen Davis is in the Capertee Valley, 27 miles from the actual town of Capertee and 53 miles from Lithgow. It is a new town which was founded about two years ago following the opening of the shale oil industry. There is a population of about 500.
Constable Porter went to Glen Davis from Forbes about eight months ago. It was then a hustling construction camp. About three months ago the first shale was converted into petrol.
The shale itself is like a coal when first mined from the ground by tunnelling, and after passing through the huge treatment plant is converted into petrol.
The one hotel is one of the most elaborate in New South Wales, has every modern convenience and is lavishly furnished. Hot and cold water runs to the rooms and an orchard has been planted.
Supplies for the town are obtained from Capertee, from which there is a daily mail service.
Constable Porter said that water was laid on to all parts of the construction camp, and there were ample supplies.
The pegs have been placed for the town site, but no start has yet been made on the township proper11 .

18 December 1940
GLEN DAVIS
FLOOD WATERS DO DAMAGE
(From Our Own Correspondent)
On Friday night a big rise in the river caused severe damage at Glen Davis. The crowds on the tent side of the town could not cross the river until well after midnight. Even then the only passage was over the bridge near the hotel - this was covered with flooding waters which subsided to 9ft. depth and enabled persons to walk over.
The footbridge leading to the post office, and the company's traffic bridge near the first-aid station, were both swept away. Some of the shacks near the river bank were flooded, the water being over 1ft. deep above the floors.
Serious dislocations were caused in several places by the many breakages in the water pipes. However, men are now repairing the damaged pipes.
On Friday night last a large number of people filled the Methodist Hall for the Xmas Tree which Rev. Gloster Udy had arranged; 100 adults and 140 children were present. All the children received some gift.
Everyone enjoyed the community singing, and the ample supper so willingly provided by the ladies, but the crowning feature of the evening was the arrival of two persons clothed in red - Santa Claus and his wife12 .

1941

18 June 1941
Fifty-One Glen Davis Homes Approved
At to-days meeting of the Blaxland Shire Council the building inspector (Mr. C, Ray) reported that a number of applications for permits and licences had been received, including the erection of a cottage at Glen Davis on behalf of C. Sutherland at a cost of £850, and 50 timber and fibro cottages at the same centre on behalf of the Glen Davis Community Advancement Co-op. Society, Ltd.
The inspector recommended that all the applications be approved, and authority be granted to the issuing of permits and licences.
Council adopted the recommendation and expressed appreciation that, at long last, a scheme for housing at Glen Davis was to be put into operation.
First Brick Laid Under Housing Scheme
The first brick in the building of homes at Glen Davis township was laid by Mrs. J. S. Henderson at a ceremony this morning.
Under a grant made available to the Glen Davis Community Advancement Co-operative Society Ltd., the first batch of 50 homes for men engaged in the oil shale industry at Glen Davis is being built. The contractors are Messrs. Wallace and McGee, of Dubbo. Later it is intended to build a second batch of 50.
Mrs. Henderson, who is the wife of the licensee of the Glen Davis Hotel, declared the first brick well and truly laid. Her grand-daughter, Elizabeth Henderson, a tot of two and a half years, placed a 1941 florin under a bottle, hermetically sealed, in a niche left by the bricklayer. With the bottle was a memo, giving the circumstances of the laying and other details.
In the party were Mr. Henderson; Mr. Harding, who is in charge of Public Works Department activities at Glen Davis; Mr. McKenzie, Public Works Department clerk; Mr. Phil McGee, the contractor; and Mr. G. Bilby, manager of Mr. Milgate's pharmacy at Glen Davis; and others.
A private party is being held at the hotel this afternoon to celebrate the occasion13 .

29 October 1941
GLEN DAVIS
Australia's First Oil Town
(By a Tenterfield Resident in the Tenterfield "Star").
Glen Davis, described as Australia's first Oil Town, is reminiscent of pictures of the early gold-rush settlements. Situated at the blind end of the beautiful (but at present very dry) Capertee Valley, the Glen is about a mile across at its widest part, closing in to a blunt point at the eastern end.
The Capertee River, now only a creek, but said by old-timers to have been a fine river, with deep water-holes, fish and game in abundance, winds through the flats in the centre of the valley. These are very rich, deep soil, containing much mould washed down from the hills. On either side tower rocky walls up to 800 feet in height. When first seen they are a most striking sight, but dwellers in Glen Davis find that after a while the mountains seem to be closing in upon them. Foxes, kangaroos, wallabies, and even lyre-birds are said to live in the hills, but shooters find them hard to reach.
A FINE HOTEL.
Driving in from Capertee or Rylestone, the first and most striking building is the fine hotel, built by Messrs. Wallace and McGee Pty. Ltd., of Dubbo, some 18 months ago. The bar is in a separate building, well away from the hotel proper, and is one of the largest bars in New South Wales.
BANK IN A GARAGE.
Not far away, facing the hotel, is the Commonwealth Bank, housed in a garage. A chemist, also temporarily carrying on business, in which will ultimately be his garage, and woodshed, also controls the newsagency, and sells bikes, radios, tobacco and subscriptions to his circulating library. This man, Mr. F. Milgate, of Portland, has demonstrated his faith in Glen Davis, by building the first shop in the town, the same Dubbo firm having the building work in hand at the time of writing. A baker has his oven and bakehouse built, and camps beside it. He bakes good bread, which is delivered in a motor truck by his two daughters. There is a market garden under way, and two butchers and two milkmen call.
Up in the foothills, is the school, housed now in two wooden buildings, and employing a principal and two girl teachers, who look after about 50 children of mixed ages.
FIFTY NEW COTTAGES.
Scattered about along the made roads in these foothills, too, are the first 50 cottages, now under construction by Messrs. Wallace and McGee Pty. Ltd., for a Government-guaranteed building society. These are to be let to Oil Company employees, on rentals from about 18 to 25 per week, and after five years the occupier has an equity in the property, and changes from a tenant to an owner, complete with mortgage. These cottages are of timber and fibro construction, and are being built by about 50 men, many of whom are Dubbo residents.
Further down on the southern side of the valley, is Anderson Square, where Sir George Davis, doctors and executives of the National Oil Pty. Ltd., have well-built brick homes. There is also a large brick hostel, which houses the white-collar staff.
SPORTING FACILITIES.
A couple of tennis courts are in preparation m . . irln and a bowling green is under construction. On the flat there is a good football ground not yet fully improved, and further over, a home-made tin-hare course where dog trials are occasionally held.
On the northern side of the valley at its blind end, sliced by the towering mountains nearly all day in winter, are several hundred shacks, in which families are living, and where many of them have lived for two years and more. Rent free, and with electricity supplied, some of these humpies have been made very comfortable by the occupants. In other cases, the shelter for the family could be better than that provided for the family, and of the first ballot held to decide who would have the first cottages, applications were so many that a large number of families were disappointed.
THE CHURCHES.
There is a church with a chimney in it at Glen Davis, the little Methodist Church, has a wooden structure, one end of which is partitioned off as the minister's sleeping and living quarters. He plays a piano-accordeon as music to accompany the hymns, and on a cold night, with the prevalent Glen Davis wind blowing, the crackling fire and the piano-accordeon together with the earnestness of the young preacher, make the church not a bad place. Nearby, the Church of England has somewhat similar arrangements. The Rector keeps up the dignity of his Church with a real church-bell, which is hung in a tree outside. Mass is celebrated from time to time by visiting priests, usually on Saturdays.
BUSINESS CONCERNS.
A mess hall, owned by the oil company, provides meals at a fixed charge for single men who care to avail themselves of it. The company also has a number of rows of cubicles, and wooden-floored tents, which are let to workers at a nominal charge, and are lighted by electricity.
There is a picture show, built partly of iron, partly of canvas, or similar material, with an earthen floor. It is usually well filled, and picture-goers need not lack company.
There is a general store, in temporary premises which sells almost everything, in a large tin shed; a paper shop, which sells bedding and pillows as a side-line; a butcher carrying on in temporary premises, and the inimitable Roy O'Brien, the world's best advertising man, who will cut your hair in the Intervals of selling ice-cream, drinks, groceries, ham and beef, boots and shoes, and running a circulating library. In his spare time he writes advertisements, with which he placards the premises, most of them witty and lengthy, the only one sufficiently brief to quote here being "Painless Shaving, or Whiskers Refunded."
So much for the human side of Glen Davis.
The large oil works and the mine, upon which Glen Davis depends for support, and the nation to some extent for petrol supplies, is too important an undertaking to be dismissed in a few paragraphs14 .

6 December 1941
GLEN DAVIS WITH THE LID OFF
By V. Dudley Hyde
"Not a very elegant title!" did I hear someone say? Quite true; but, then, Glen David is not a very elegant place!
This article is a deliberate attempt to reveal what lies beneath the surface of things in this valley settlement, and also an attempt to solve a real church problem. I journeyed with the Chairman of the District, Rev. James. Thomson, on a tour of inspection. One of our earliest impressions was that of a huge, gaping hole in the ground from which belched forth names, fumes, and perfume. "I wonder what that is?" he asked. I was rash enough to suggest that in our long descent into the valley we had now come so close to the lower regions that hell had broken through. It did seem that the lid had come off, and we were privileged to see (and to smell!) the dread secrets of Satan's kingdom. So this provides our title. Would you bear with me whilst I take the lid off Glen Davis and let you see what I have seen in these last years?
I have tried to be an idealist about this place; but, like most of us in these war days, I have grown into a stark realist. The difference is perhaps best illustrated by the impressions of two Australian poets. One saw this fair land of ours and wrote immortal lines:
"And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars."
The other saw his country and wrote:
"Miles and miles of thirsty desert,
Strings of muddy water-holes,
Where the ever-maddening flies
Fiercer than the plagues of Egypt,
Fly about your blighted eyes."
Both men were right; one a little idealistic, the other certainly realistic. You will pardon me if I have lost the "vision splendid" of Glen Davis: and see only dirt; smell only acrid fumes; and sense only tragic bungling (or something worse). What do I mean? Well, let us look at some examples.
HUTS, WATER AND A CRACKING PLANT
If you shut your eyes sufficiently tightly you can see the "dream" Glen Davis; a sylvan dell, majestic mountain ranges, forest giants, the Capertee River winding through the valley, the freshness of dawn, the "hot, gold hush of noon," or the peace of eventide. Let me ruthlessly take the lid off. That sylvan dell is filled with smoke and odorous fumes; those mountain ranges only help to make a perfect oven for the summer; those great trees are being steadily blackened and killed as the yellow fumes spread out on their deadly way; that river is a loathsome, oily trickle which only good fortune has saved from becoming a high pressure breeder of germs and epidemics. We talked with an alert, thoughtful workman, who finished his remarks by saying: "What I have told you is the truth." The chairman replied: "But what you have told us is terrific." Tersely and finely he answered: "I have found that the truth always is terrific." Shall I put the lid on again? Dare I?
Take a more homely aspect. We have been told of the great housing schemes of this settlement, and of 50 or 100 homes now being built for the workers; of that ideally laid-out town site (modelled on Canberra); of a sumptuous hotel costing a mere £27,000, and so on. Make no mistake about it. After three years all the workmen are still living in indescribable "dumps" along the river bank, next-door neighbours to the smoking heaps of burnt shale, where the evening air comes laden, not with the "perfumes of the East," but the deadly odour of refuse gas. We pass a small tin shack and the minister says to us: "Four children under five years of age live in that." We come to more shacks with tiny toddlers being taught to walk in the filthy, dusty ground (at least 80 children under school age live in this "town"). Here and there pathetic (and glorious) attempts are made to grow sunflowers - a desperate counter-attack against a sordid environment. Married people still live in cubicles or tents or tin humpies, and many of them will continue to do so for years, as the men are refusing to pay the rents of the new houses, which far exceed the promised rents when the build ing scheme was launched. The single men still live in their eight by ten whitewashed hessian cubicles, usually two men to a cubicle, which must house the two beds and all the other living equipment of its occupants. And there are many other "living" things besides equipment in these cubicles. During the construction time, often three or four men lived in some of these cubicles.
Let us think of other matters. In our idealistic moments we will be shown the elaborate shower room with its tiled walls, built for the men at the works. Taking the "lid off" we recall that it took two or three strikes to have this built, and the men had to submit to the stigma of being called "Communists" and the charge of holding up the war effort. Before it was built, there was one awful bath and two or three showers for 500 men. The men now have a bathroom; the women and children must still resort to the dish or the tub! "Women and children first!"
Or, think of water. You will be shown the Running Stream whence the good water for the settlement is pumped. But will they tell you that this water gives out at times, and they are then forced to drink and use the bore water? Into this bore water apparently the refuse oil has soaked through the ground. It was too utterly awful for me to swallow one mouthful; but babies have to drink this! "The truth is always terrific," he said. Think, then, of production. In idealistic mood you see massive buildings, you hear the roar of machinery, you read of the great pipeline through which millions of gallons of petrol are pumped; you feel a glow of patriotism and think in terms of "national industries" and "winning the war with oil." And then you take the lid off. You face the facts and are horrified to discover a tragic history of bungling and failure. Retorts are being used that were condemned at Newnes thirty years ago; it is freely reported that only 50 per cent, to 60 per cent, of the oil is being extracted from the shale; the cost of production is staggering; hundreds of gallons of oil rim to waste on the burnt shale heaps, and down the river; accidents, sometimes fatal, are prevalent; and yet it is common knowledge in the settlement that the right system of retorting is known, and that the man who has all the plans and all the knowledge and the ability to efficiently manage the retorting is on the spot, but is refused a chance to do the job.
"The truth is always terrific." The most efficient part of the process at present is the "cracking" plant, where the crude oil is broken up under extreme pressure, and thus refined into petrol. What a beautiful metaphor! The "cracking" plant is under way now, and the whole "ideal" Glen Davis is breaking up under the pressure of facts, and we are seeing things as they are. (To be concluded next week.15 )

1942

25 June 1942
Chance For Glen Davis
NEW EXTRACTION PROCESS
AUSTRALIA may get the Standard Oil Company's "streamlined" process for extracting oil from shale, says Eliot Janeway, in an article in "Asia" magazine.
He says one of the chief problems of Australia may be nearing solution. This is the problem of fuel for the armed forces, which may be solved by passing on the process.
Standard Oil was recently in trouble in Washington because of revelations of its close relations with Axis companies, to the detriment of the U.S. war effort.
After this it gave the new process to the Government, free of royalties.
"When this revolutionary engineering feat is completed, America's striking power will be multiplied by the vast saving in shipping space," adds Mr. Janeway16 .

1945

27 June 1945
FENCES FOR COTTAGES
When the first cottages were erected at Glen Davis, three to four years ago, front fences were out of the question. Within the last few months another batch of houses was commenced, but, before the houses were started, fences were completed. Results are that residents who have been occupying cottages for four years have no front fence, but on the other hand substantial fences have been erected with no houses in the latest move17 .

1946

17 January 1946
Catholic Church
Glen Davis Wins Through
It is anticipated that the new Catholic Church at Glen Davis will be completed in the near future. The builder, Mr. J. Hoctor, of Mudgee, reports that everything will be ready for the official opening, which will take place on Sunday, March 3.
Glen Davis was incorporated into Kandos Catholic parish in May, 1943, the first religious service being conducted by the Rev. Father Ring, P.P., of Kandos, on May 30. During the war every effort was put forward to get the necessary permission to transfer the old Catholic Church building from Newnes to Glen Davis and after nearly 12 months, in January 1945, the necessary consent of the authorities was given.
Work was to begin on the dismantling of the church building in the first week of February but a fortnight before this date, the whole structure was demolished by a bush fire. A new start had to be made in obtaining permission this time to build a new church. Many months elapsed before this was granted, and it seemed ironical that the necessary content arrived a week before V.P. Day. A fortnight later the permission would not have been necessary, as the cessation of hostilities marked the ending of many such wartime red tape formalities.
In spite of the many disappointments, it looks as if Glen Davis Catholic people are, at last, going to win through and have their new church. They deserve to have a very successful opening day, as they have been a persistently hard band of workers for this object18 .

1950

28 December 1950
THE WEALTH OF GLEN DAVIS
(By "D.T.M.")
Quite a lot of publicity has recently been given to the possibility of the shale oil plant at Glen Davis being closed down.
During the past year I spent two months in Glen Davis and made it my business to contact as many of the older identities as possible. The sum total of their recollections is as follows:
About 1894 shale and coal were first mined at Glen Davis by private enterprise and the use of mechanical coal cutters. The shale was carted by bullock drays to Capertee railway station, thence by rail to Sydney and shipped to Germany. Early assays showed that there were some 40 odd byproducts reclaimed from the shale; quite a lot of the old ground work still remains.
Here are today's facts: The plant, a colossal concern, and beautifully situated, is erected on the river bank and almost on the lower part of the valley. Consequently almost every rise in the river floods the works, and the ridges being very low, cut off the town from the outside world.
The town is nicely laid out; there are many nice buildings including a large brick hotel, a brick ambulance station and brick staff quarters. The town could become one of the finest tourist resorts in the Blue Mountains: the scenery is sublime.
There is a fine water reticulation system, cheap and abundant electricity, but for some reason, whether political expediency or at the behest of our dollar bosses, the works are seldom running at more than half capacity. Few, if any, by-products are reclaimed, notwithstanding the fact that shale and coal appear to be present in illimitable quantities. Petrol being the sole project, no kerosene, lubricating oils or greases are made. Yet untrammelled Glen Davis could become one of the most flourishing enterprises in the Commonwealth19 .

1951

11 January 1951
GLEN DAVIS TO CLOSE
HISTORY OF UNDERTAKING
The Minister for Fuel, Senator G. McLeay, announced in Adelaide on Tuesday night that the Federal Government had decided to cease the production of petrol from shale at Glen Davis and to close the works.
The announcement brought an immediate flood of protests.
The Federal and N.S.W. Governments and private interests put up £700,000 to establish the Glen Davis shale oil undertaking in 1938.
National Oil Pty. Ltd. operates the Glen Davis plant, which employs about 600 skilled workmen.
The village of Glen Davis then consisted of about 100 people living in shacks. Glen Davis has now a population of 2,000, about a dozen shops, representing a capital investment of some £200,000, and a £30,000 hotel20 .

13 January 1951
THE WASTE OF GLEN DAVIS
Australia has been treated to an incredible display of union, political and parochial selfishness in the Glen Davis controversy. Dr Evatt, with his cable to Mr. Menzies in London urging a reversal of the decision to close the useless show, and Premier McGirr with his bleating about the State Government "investment" should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
Boiled down to its essentials, the argument is this: Senator McLeary, Federal Minister for Fuel, stating that Glen Davis has lost £4 million, would keep on losing at the rate of £350,000 a year if continued, and produces about 2,750,000 gallons of inferior petrol from shale a year, will be closed down. Dr. Evatt, Mr. McGirr, Mr. Monk, the miner's union and others say it should be kept going because (a) it is a valuable defence asset, and (b) closing it will put 600 men out of work and force them to take their families somewhere else.
As a defence project Glen Davis isn't worth bothering about. The shale petrol is of poor quality, gums up engines, is no good for high-powered engines, and there isn't enough of it to keep one armored brigade at wartime mobility. As for the 600, to talk of wasting the taxpayers' money at the rate at £350,000 a year to keep them employed - at a time when there is plenty of work for them elsewhere - is childish. The opposition from Glen Davis shopkeepers and the owner of the £30,000 hotel there is understandable, but do they seriously expect the taxpayers to finance their businesses?
The deeper cause of the Labor opposition to closing the outfit lies in the fact that it was a Labor-Socialist conception. Your Socialist doesn't care what it costs the taxpayer - as has been amply demonstrated in Britain and here - to keep his concepts going. After all, it isn't his money, nor will he ever accept the blame for losses and waste. It is obvious now that if the plant is closed, as it should be, Labor will use it in the Federal Parliament as another stick with which to flog the Menzies Government.
Politics and union notions aside, however, the cold fact is that Glen Davis should have been closed long ago. It never was a paying proposition and its product never looked like improving either in quality or quantity. It was a "sweet little cop" for those who worked there - as anyone familiar with it knows - and it has cost the taxpayer £4 million for little or nothing - an amount that would have built the far more necessary, both economically and militarily, new bridges for which Murray River people have long awaited.
But a final afterthought suggests a simpler solution. Why should not the miners scrap their "darg," and each turn out a teeny-weeny bit more shale a day? There would then be no need to close down this most expensive white elephant21 .

1953

15 January 1953
Final Curtain Rings Down In Glen Davis
Both the Railways and Road Transport Departments have agreed to co-operate with the Federal Government authorities in assisting buyers to transport huge quantities of equipment from Glen Davis, when Australia's biggest auction sale of the shale oil works plant opens in the first week in February.
To assist buyers in estimating their possible purchases the auctioneering firm of F. R. Strange Pty. Ltd., Sydney, have published a 36-page catalogue. The auction will be conducted under instructions from Mr. A. C. Joyce, C.B.E., Receiver, appointed by the Commonwealth of Australia.
It will be a sale of mechanised mining equipment on the site and will start at 11 o'clock on February 3, 4, and 5. Tax Concessions The auctioneers have advised buyers to try to arrange accommodation at the Glen Davis hotel, the Capertee hotel, the Royal at Mt. Victoria, or alternately at Lithgow, Mudgee, Rylstone or Katoomba. The 11 o'clock starting time has been suggested as the most suitable for buyers travelling long distances to Glen Davis.
Representatives of inter-state haulage contractors will be in attendance during the inspection and sale periods to quote for and arrange transport.
To facilitate movement of heavy equipment and general items the Road Transport Department has granted road tax concessions. Tax has been reduced to 1½d. per ton-mile and permits for the concession will be available at the Motor Registry Offices in Lithgow, Portland and Mudgee. The Railway Department will provide its 10-ton crane at Capertee lor loading into rail trucks.
Buyers Already Inspecting
Equipment for the first sale has been open to Inspection, since Monday. There will be no inspections on Sundays. However, for the convenience of everyone attending the auction arrangements have been made for full supplies of petrol and oils in the township. This will ensure that motorists or lorry drivers are not "caught" in the valley.
Strict Sale Conditions Where practicable the auc-tioneers plan to give demonstrations of shuttle cars, loaders and locos at the time of the sale. Conditions governing the auction are as follow:
The highest bidder will be the purchaser and in the event of any dispute arising, unless the claimants advance, the lot will be put up again and resold. Where demanded a cash deposit of 25 per cent, will have to be submitted.
All lots will be open for inspection prior to the sale and will be sold with all faults, if any, but any error or misdescription will not prevent any sale being confirmed once it has been knocked down to a bidder, and the purchaser will be bound to take delivery of the goods sold without allowance or abatement.
If there is any deficiency in the quantity described, neither the auctioneer nor the vendor will be bound to deliver more than is in their possession. The auctioneers have claimed the right to refuse to accept the bidding of any person.
Buyers Must Accept Risks
Also a condition of the sale is a warning that all goods will die at the purchasers' risk from the fall of the hammer, and delivery must be taken and neither the auctioneer nor the vendor will be accountable for any deficiency, damage or loss which might follow.
No lots will be permitted to be removed during the sale, and goods removed on or before February 27. But demolitions of buildings which may be purchased during the sale will not be permitted until March 2.
Where anyone defaults under the accepted terms and conditions the goods purchased can be resold either by public auction or private contract without notification and at the risk and expense of the former purchaser, who will be liable for any deficiency which might arise, but who will not be entitled to any profit which might accrue from the resale.
Forthcoming sales at Glen Davis will cover retorting, carbonising and treating plant, cracking plant, tank farm, machine tools and general stores, housing units, land and building materials22 .

4 February 1953
Buyers Flock To Glen Davis Auction
SYDNEY, Tues. - The Glen Davis shale-oil mine, 50 miles from Lithgow, went under the hammer today at the biggest auction sale ever held in Australia.
The town's only hotel, which accommodates 25, has given over staff rooms to guests, and is serving meals to visitors quartered in the mine staff hostel.
Many buyers are "camping" in empty cottages in the valley. Others are quartered as far away as Katoomba.
Three separate sales will be held to dispose of several hundred thousand pounds worth of equipment.
The auctions will last until May or June. Today's sale opened in blazing heat.
It will last until Thursday and dispose of equipment worth at least £200,00023 .

10 June 1953
Glen Davis Again Has Electricity
After some preliminary difficulty, brought about by the fact that some adjustments to the overhead mains to avoid undue transformer losses and to ensure that every consumer had a supply, the Waygood generator set purchased by Council had been installed and was now providing electricity to Glen Davis residents.
Deputising for the electrical engineer (Mr. D. J. Byles), Mr. J. Isles furnished this information at today's Blaxland Shire Council meeting when reporting on the measures taken to ensure that residents of the Glen Davis township would not be left without electricity.
At the previous meeting Council received a deputation of Glen Davis residents and agreed to purchase a special diesel generating unit to supply electricity to the former shale oil town.
Mr. Isles reported that the diesel generator at the National Oil Pty. works was finally shut down on Saturday, May 16, at 10 p.m., and no further energy had since been received from that source.
It had been found necessary to replace the hotel service mains with heavier copper wire, which was recovered from another part of the town where it was no longer required.
Council's mechanic subsequently discovered that one of the twin exhaust valves on a cylinder had been broken at the stem, and it was not considered safe to start the plant. Suitable spares then had to be obtained and the unit was finally started on Friday, May 22.
"Its operation is entirely satisfactory and the unit can easily handle all the load offer ing," reported Mr. Isles. "The maximum load to date has been 47 KVA."
Council adopted the report with satisfaction24 .

1954

15 October 1954
Disposal Of Glen Davis Homes
SYDNEY, Fri. - The Premier (Mr. Cahill) said today he had asked the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) to appoint a receiver to dispose of homes at Glen Davis.He said the homes had been built by the Glen Davis community Advancement Co-operative Society, which had suffered financially because of the Commonwealth's decision to sell the Glen Davis shale works. Mr. Cahill said the society, which had raised £100,000 in loans, guaranteed by the State, with the Commonwealth agreeing to meet half of any loan, had built 144 cottages. It was proposed that the receiver should sell the vacant houses only, but it was expected that all homes would be uninhabited within 12 months. Glen Davis hotelkeeper, Mr. W. Henderson, who took over the Glen Davis Hotel in 1940, is moving out in about six weeks' time according to a local report. He has been given permission by the Licensing Board to de-licence the hotel25 .

References