Dangerous Activities

Bonfires
The two spectacular nights looked forward to by many country kids in the 1960's was Bonfire night and Guy Fawkes night. Leading up to the nights, in June and December, the community would build a stack of flammable rubbish for weeks on end. Usually the pile ended up 20-30 feet high and would be situated within a local vacant block. Cupboards, chairs, timber, tyres, trees, shrubs, boxes and anything that would assist the pile to reach high up into the sky and produce a spectacular raging bonfire. 
Hundreds of parents and kids from streets away, with their tom thumbs, 1 penny bungers, 3 penny bungers, jumping jacks, sky rockets, wheels and sparklers, all purchased at the local Milk Bar, would congregate on dark for the light show to begin.

Pour on the sump oil and throw on a flaming Kero soaked rag. Boom, the stack would burst into an inferno and within seconds roar up into the sky. The tyres would catch and the flames would fork and dance up in huge plumes of black smoke and yellow spurts that duplicated lightning. Of the dozens of spectacular nights that I can recall, not one kid was injured. It was fun, responsible fun, as taught by our parents and responsibly enforced by our siblings and friends.
So much for the conventional firecrackers of the day. Country kids also had a knack of inventing and making their own fun. The following items were either invented or the details handed down by older friends and family. Kids had to make their own fun in those days and incredibly the ideas stayed around even though there was no internet or instructions on how to make them or do it. Fireworks were no exception.

​The Fireball

One of the great invented games that we perfected was the fireball relay. We would wrap up cotton rag into a ball the size of a softball and then wrap thin wire around the ball to keep it all together. We would then soak the ball for some time in metholated spirits. When lit, we could handle the ball for a few seconds without feeling any burns. We would throw the ball to each other, catching it and throwing it on. The sound going through the air was like a jet engine travelling through the sky. It could last up to 5 minutes before requiring another dip. Who would do that today!
The Giant Sparkler
Then there was the giant sparkler. Dad would bring home a dozen or so gelignite explosive lighters, used in the demolition of rock within the works tunnels. They were about 8" long and the thickness of your little finger. When lit, they would produce a beautiful blue and orange light and last for about 5 minutes. We were so lucky that we could get hold of these.
Other Dangerous Fun

Nothing intrigued kids more than projectiles. We made gings, cracker guns, bows, arrows, bolt bombs and miniature bows and arrows made from match sticks and hairpins. Here are some of those items showing how they were made and used.

The Ging

The Ging or sling shot was the best weapon around. You could hit cans, rabbits, light bulbs, windows and mates from 20 yards. Steel ball bearings were the best ammo, as they would travel straight and were heavy. We would test them through corrugated iron sheeting to make sure they passed the velocity and power test. When they ran out, we had to settle for glass marbles or just the humble rock. 
Gang warfare
We all gathered together our gings, ball bearings, rocks, bull rush spears and comics and stored them all in our underground fort. The fort was a 5' depression along the SEC aqueduct and it was covered in corrugated iron and camouflaged with grass and blackberry bushes. We had a trapdoor in the roof, so that we could open it up, throw and shoot at the enemy and then close it down again waiting for the return fire. Clunk, bang as we huddled together.
Then Willy Button chucked a yonnie that bounced off Gray Clarker's head. He ran home screaming with his henchmen in toe. They didn't come back for the rest of the summer holidays.
Billy's Stories of War

This is where Billy Hutton's version of the above story comes in. He reminded me of his recollection of the story the other day. He also added a story at the end, that I do recall. He did this off his own bat for the good of his mates and reclaimed the swing. For his lone bravery, we gave him one of the gang's Phantom comics that we had in the fort.
"We were about 12 and playing up above the Bogong Road (our favourite hangout). Robert Christie, Billy Hutton, Ron McKendrick and Kim White against Gary Clarke, the McGregors, Doug Swain and the Crowther brothers. I think Adrian Hjorth might have been with them too. Adrian was our spy, as he played cricket with us and wasn't a bad kid. He couldn't help living north of the golf course. The bad boys from North Beauty had come trespassing into our territory again. The leader, as usual, was Gary Clarke. He was always stealing our ideas and smashing up our forts. We had to teach him and his henchmen another big lesson. We had the same strongly feared gang from Mt Beauty Upper of Macca, Billy Hutton, Robbie Christie and Whitey. The ensuing rock fight was a war over the reclamation of land. That day was when a golf ball from a penny bunger mortar landed on Clarkie's head. He later showed us the egg on his head which was the size of the golf ball. Macca might have been a lousy bowler but he could sure chuck a rock. We all could. You see, the enemy didn’t play cricket like us. Even though they had the higher ground advantage that day, we thrashed them due to our superior fighting skills, specialist artillery and fortified trench."
"Another time, we had made a rope swing at the big gum tree near from the picnic shelter above Bogong Road. It was a swing across the gully with a tree fort above it. Robbie fitted the rope. I was up there one day when Swanie and a city slicker belted me up and told me that the swing and the fort was theirs' now. The next morning, early, I went to the tree and tied a slip knot in the rope where it was attached to the tree. I was on the other side of the gully when they arrived. I told them to piss off. They threw rocks at me and I retreated. Swanie promptly grabbed the swing to swing across and chase me and he fell into the blackberry bushes below as the rope gave way. 
The others ran and got Swanie's dad and 3 other dads to extract him from the thorns. It took about an hour and he was badly bruised and scratched and went to the hospital. I did enact some devious plans sometimes."

Bill remembers another time when Clarkie decided to wear a tunnel hard hat for protection when we used to have the yonnie fights. This particular day, it didn’t protect his hand from being wacked with a glass marble from a ging. He ran home screaming. The next day at school he was showing the kids his bandaged swollen hand. Bill Allen said, ’give me a look’ and promptly belted his hand with a ruler. Clarkie ran home screaming again. His mum must have been sick of that.
UFO Sighting in the Kiewa Valley

Circa 1965, Bill Hutton and Kim White, in a Science class, mixed some hydrochloric acid and zinc filings in a bottle to create hydrogen gas. A black weather balloon pinched from the science lab at school as well, was fitted over the bottle, filling the large balloon with hydrogen gas and released after school. It ascended quickly and was soon seen high in the western sky at sunset.  Hutton commented that it looked like a UFO, whereupon we got the school science Master (Mr Meddely) who  was intrigued by it. It was moving slowly to the west picked up by the setting sun.  Before long, half the town was out looking at the UFO, including the local constabulary.  You could hear the comments, ‘it’s moving slowly, it is saucer shaped. My God, it’s a flying saucer!’ All of a sudden it picked up speed to the North West, obviously getting caught in a jet stream and it rapidly disappeared over the hills.  The town was abuzz with rumours and wonderment.  It even made the news and was in the local Hydro Courier – UFO sighted at Mt Beauty. To this day, the real secret of the UFO at Mt Beauty  has been maintained by Hutton and Whitey.


The Cracker Gun
The cracker gun was a novelty. We used to make one around Bonfire night and as it was cumbersome we wouldn't play with it for long. We would either run out of penny bungers and ball bearings or Willy Button would shoot someone on the bum and we would all get into trouble. He nearly shot my brother once and he used to walk through the township with a .22 slung over his shoulder. Wild West Willy we used to call him.
The Bow and Arrow

We always had the long bow and arrow. The bows were bought as they were very hard to make. The arrows however, were mass produced. The target arrows tips were made from the old .303 calibre WW2 shells. The tip was heated on our Primus until the lead melted inside and then fixed to the arrow. The hunting tips were bought also, were usually 3 cornered, sharp as razors and were used for rabbits, hares, wild pigs and kangaroos. On the lathe we would round the softwood shafts through a jig dad had invented. We would glue our own feathers on and paint or shellite the shaft to our own recognisable style.




Pictured below: An actual photo of the old Rifle Range across the East Kiewa River, where we would dig up the spent .303 bullet tips, melt the lead inside and use them for our arrow tips.
The Bolt Bomb
The Miniature Bow and Arrow