Press Baron: Shortz!Series

By DAVID PHILLIPS

A new colony needs news and the press will be a major purveyor of recent activities and actions affecting the population. One paper leads to another and competition can become bitter, leading to extreme measures in striving to be number one in the founding setllement of Sydney, Australia.

A novella in the 'Settlement of Australia' series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DavidRPhillips
• Release date: Feb 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386810988

DAVID PHILLIPS

David Phillips, FCPA (ret.) is in his mid-seventies and lives just out of Melbourne, Australia. He began writing in his early seventies and found an enjoyment in putting ideas together with research to come up with stories, often linked to historical events of interest. He finds writing a labour of love and spends time at the keyboard every day.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

THOMAS: ARRIVAL: 1792

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Thomas Nation was the dissolute son of a well-regarded banker in London. His father, James Dalgleish Nation, had invested his hopes in his only son through education and indulgence and had been devastated at the results of the Oxford University drop-out.

Thomas gambled the minute he was blessed with a cash injection by the father or, occasionally in desperation, by the mother. He lost, almost as a matter of course. He drank when he could find someone who needed a drinking partner and had the necessary to keep the liquid flowing. He had no prospects and no desire to acquire same.

Unfortunately, when the latest supplier of the means to purchase liquor reached the point, being desirous of sleep, of ending the session and thereby curtailing supply, Thomas was liable into object vehemently and then attempt to restrain forcibly. The police took the view that a peaceful night in the dingiest and dampest cell would restore the young man's attitude by morning, when they could charge him with various infractions and hold him pending a bail hearing.

Eventually, his father disowned the errant issue and, in order to ensure that it was the last he would have to see of the wastrel, arranged a berth on the Neptune, a ship of the Second Fleet to Australia, the newest dumping ground for criminals and ne'er-do-wells. The father was quite pleased in placing his son in the most appropriate of destinations. He arranged a limited amount of money to be available at a limited rate through a lawyer who was embarking on the same voyage.

Thomas was unconcerned at this turn of events as he was bored and disinterested in everything around him in his own country and thought that any change could not be all that disappointing.

The day of departure arrived, and the pater was there to say good-bye, or perhaps to see if the son made it to the dock and was safely on board. As the ship left the harbour, he breathed a huge sigh of despair combined with relief.

*

The captain of the ship was not inclined to find qualities in Thomas that might have been overlooked by the father. In the end, he seemed to find several that the father had not encountered. Thomas was extremely abusive of all as a result of being denied intake of alcohol once his first pittance of an allowance had been quaffed. He was also a brawler when denied access to the rest of the advance until the ship reached Australia, resulting in his regular occupancy of a squalid area deep in the bowels of the vessel. He refused to shave, wash or change his clothing and, by the end of the second week, the captain had to be restrained from throwing Thomas over the side.

At the same time, the captain was engaged in furious, ongoing disagreements with a soldier named John Macarthur and was about to ship him, his wife and child across to the Scarborough to save what remained of his sanity. He toyed with offering them Thomas Nation at the same time but, in a fit of decency, decided against the double dose of bastardry. He would continue to deal with the drunk and pass over the arrogant, opinionated, lieutenant of the New South Wales Corps along with his charming wife and child.

*

The fleet arrived in December 1792. Since Thomas Nation was, yet again, held in a lock-up in the ship's lower quarters, it was some time before he was taken to the shore. When he finally stood there and looked around, and then walked around, he was horrified.

He cursed his father for sending him to 'Hell on Earth' and demanded to be repatriated by return. The officers laughed loudly at this outburst.

'We are actually all here for the long haul, old chap. There'll be no returning to good old England for quite a time and one will need quite an amount to pay for a return voyage, you know.'

'Rubbish. I'll bet that bastard who packed me off here set me up with quite a decent sum. I'll be away as soon as they get one of these rotting old flea boxes back on the water.'

'Well, I wouldn't bet on it.'

The lieutenant turned away as Thomas fixed him with a glare.

This is far worse than I could ever have imagined, Thomas was thinking in a fury. I'll never be able to survive here.

He went to the administration area and found the lawyer entrusted with his mean allowance.

'I need my pitiful ration of funds immediately, Mr. Richardson.'

'Very well, Mr. Nation. Just a moment.'

He returned, had Thomas sign a chit, and handed over two pounds.

'Two pounds! Two lousy pounds. How long am I expected to survive here on two measly pounds?'

'According to my instructions, one month, sir.'

'A month. That cannot possibly be right.'

'Yes, sir, it is quite correct. Here are my instructions over your good father's signature. And there are to be no exceptions.'

'How am I expected to survive?'

'I imagine your father thought that you might find a job, sir.'

'A job. Doing what, may I ask? I have no experience at jobs.'

'Well, I am sorry, but I am unable to make the position any clearer. Good day, Mr. Nation.'

It had taken only hours for the first grog tent to be set up, despite a ruling against liquor until further notice by Governor Phillip. It took only minutes for Thomas Nation to unerringly sniff it out and order his first for the day and for several months.

By the time the two pounds was gone, and no-one was prepared to buy a poor free settler a drink he was ready to stir up trouble. He turned over the rough table before him and faced up to the first person who turned to look at him.

'You! Who do you think you're looking at? What's your problem? A man needs a drink and he