Macinante.
1888 - 1962
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Candido Macinante. 1888 - 1962 |
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MACINANTE FAMILY
Candido Vittorio (Sostituto) was born to Anastasia and Salvatore Macinante at Salerno in 1888, the sixth child in a family of eleven, and given the added name of Sostituto because a previous Candido Vittorio had died at birth.
At the age of twelve years he was taken by his older brothers, Joseph, Amelio and Anthony to Glasgow where he learned his trade in their hairdressing and tobacconist shop and in 1908 these four migrated to Australia and set up a similar business in Surry Hills.
Candido went to Narrandera to establish his own business for financial improvement and because he felt that his marriage to Olivia Farrell, January 14, 1914 would have a greater chance of success away from the new relations who did not make his Australian bride very welcome in their midst, particularly as she was five years his senior. The marriage was a very good one and Olivia out-lived many of her younger in-laws.
Mary, an older sister had married Frank Erbetto, a first class tailor who soon established himself in business in Narrandera, and Frank, the original "con" man, encouraged Candido to do the same, as a hairdresser.
He rented a little weatherboard shop in the main street, East Street, from 1914 to 1920 and built, in weatherboard, a small four roomed cottage [unlined for many years] in Bolton Street, opposite the school and the hospital. Four children, Salvatore, Anastasia, Joseph and Millison were born there with the aid of the local midwife.
Although I was about four years of age, I can remember the occasion of Millison's birth. The three of us were despatched to a neighbour's house across a back paddock, covered with buttercups, and given as a special treat a bag of Zu Zu mixed biscuits [ shortbread type with a star of brightly coloured hard icing on top] and a much treasured large ball, fur covered, to play with. When we returned, the ball was put safely away in the cupboard again and we were shown the new sister.
Her face was protected from the ever-present flies by a black silk scarf, the only thing available in their "no frills" existence, and usually used to tie Mum's hat on against the wind and dust when we were taken out anywhere in the Harley Davidson with its home made sidecar to accommodate the kids.
Except for the Erbettos few Italians lived in the town but growing numbers were moving into the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area where the initial industry was grape growing for the vino, and subsequently olive trees were planted around the perimeter as a wind break. Although only put in originally to protect the grape vines, the olive trees soon provided valuable crops of their own.
I can remember bike trips to pick olives and grapes, whenever the season, no charge for the fruit but at the cost of one shilling to pay for a wooden box [lightly made] one could fill it with as much as could be squeezed into it. On other trips to the Murrumbidgee River I was fascinated by the sight of what seemed to me, at that age, hundreds of green baby lobsters clambering over each other in a kerosene tin with a wire handle across the top, which had just been hauled out of the water. They were actually "yabbies" and anyone could set a trap at a favourite spot in the river.
Imported goods, olive oil, olives, anchovies, tuna, preserved vegetables, macaroni and spaghetti were sent by rail, the olive oil in green tins of various sizes and when the tins were emptied they were cut into suitable shapes and converted into pot plants for Mother's geraniums. The geraniums and a low hedge of rosemary made up the garden. The macaroni and spaghetti arrived in wooden boxes mostly 3' x 18" x 18" and these too were recycled as were the kerosene tins, all used to make cupboards, a lot of kerosine was used to keep the lamps alight.
Back to Sydney in 1920, Pappa worked for his brother Anthony and we lived at the "Cosy Corner" a fruit shop [still standing in Railway Parade, Kogarah] with his mother, sisters Elettra and Lucy and younger brothers Edmondo and Johnny. Later, in between moves, we stayed with my maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Farrell widow of John Farrell, at 141 Denison Road, Lewisham before moving on to another hairdresser and tobacconist shop at 221 Glebe Road, Glebe. While at Glebe I developed rheumatic fever and a distraught Candido took me in a horse-drawn cab to the Children's Hospital at Camperdown. The driver sat high at the back of the cab which really only held two people.
Uncle Joe had married an American, Millison [after whom my sister was named], they had no children and Millison sought company other than the ethnic relatives and became associated with a group of shop assistants from Anthony Hordems who were involved in putting on shows for charity. Bonnie MacDonald, a life long friend of Olivia, was also in the show with Millison who may have brought Candido along. He was very fond of music, could not sing a note, but at that time played the mandolin with a group including his brothers.
The Farrells, except for John, were all born here and considered themselves Australian, had no contact with Irish relatives or Ireland, so we developed as Italio-Australian rather than Italian-Irish. As children we played the Italian side very low-key, hating the tag "dago", my brother Salvatore only ever owned up to "Tory" and I "gave the flick" to Anastasia and became "Annie" .... these days I have happily gone back to Anastasia. I dreaded the annual re-writing of the School Roll, having to stand up in class and supply, amongst other information, details of one's father's name .... there was invariably a loud titter around the room when I responded, as quietly as possible with "Candido Vittorio".
The older brothers were Masons and persuaded the younger ones that the only way to succeed in business or any other way, was to join the Masonic Lodge. Candido was greatly influenced by his family and went along with it, not becoming really involved as he had been in the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in Narrandera. We children were only interested in the "secrets", the special way of recognising a fellow Mason, "riding the goat" and the annual Masonic Christmas Tree at the Masonic Hall. We peeped into the little black bag which held his fancy apron, beaded in blue and white, but found out nothing and continued to go to Mass because he always made sure we were awake in time. He dropped out of the Lodge about twenty years before his death in 1962.
Not one of the eleven Macinantes was a practising Catholic, and my father whose wish it was that his children be brought up as Catholics, was only reconciled with the Church a short time before his death. It was Olivia who saw to the training and she was received into the Church in 1933 by Father Dunlea of Boys' Town, then a curate at Hurstville.
Actually the children of Salvatore and Anastasia were never taught their Catholic faith, because at that period in Italy, there were more priests and religious than the impoverished lower classes could support and their resentment was passed on to their children. However, every child of that next generation would have been baptised in the Catholic church, Candido's four at St Mel's in Narrandera, Millison the youngest and Joseph by Father Hartigan, alias John O'Brien author of "Around the Boree Log".
While we lived at Kogarah, about 1922, another daughter, Candida, was born but survived only a couple of days, a priest was brought to the house to baptise her and she was buried in the Catholic cemetery at Rookwood.
Candido was only 12 years of age when he left Italy and only knew the small village where he attended the school at which his father was headmaster. He had a splendid command of English, written and spoken, as well as Italian but, unfortunately, we children [except for brother Joseph who studied it at University] were not sufficiently interested to make the effort .... a fact which I for one greatly regret. We each have a smattering of words and can "get the gist' of the conversation most times.
Pappa, as he was to us and much loved, sold the business in Glebe in 1924 - it was only rented and bought 51 Forest Road, Hurstville, a school tuck shop which once established was left for my mother, with the help of the older children, to manage. He went into partnership with brother Anthony who put up the capital for the rented premises 855 George Street, Broadway, barbering again and it took him forever to pay off his share as Anthony drove a hard bargain.
The Hurstville shop which was our home until the death of Olivia in 1965, was purchased through the PaddingtonWoollahra Starr-Bowkett Society, a co-operative, and the Bank of Australasia held the mortgage. Financial members of the co-operative took part in a monthly ballot and the winners received an interest free loan in accordance with the shares held. Because of the depression and helping to support his blind sister, Elettra, as well as the rest of us, he was never a financial member so when the StarrBowkett notified him that the particular Society was to wind up with him still owing seventy pounds, he had no hope of meeting the mortgage.
On this day I visited, as I often did, our dear friend [ who became] Dame Mary Gilmore, in her tiny flat at 99 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross and she could see that I was upset. When I sobbed out the story her immediate response was "I will lend him the seventy pounds.." and she gave me a letter for him to take to her solicitor the next day.
Pappa worked in the George Street shop from Gam to 7pm with only Sunday to work in his garden, mend shoes, do necessary household repairs and cook - his very favourite occupation, whether it was making lollies, toffees, honeycomb, toffee apple on sticks or making his own tomato sauce in beer bottles sealed with crown seals and boiled up, with sugar bags separating each layer in the gas copper. He was a very good cook, made his own cheese and sometimes joined brother Edmondo and friends in making pork sausages and salami, it was said that the only part of the pig not used was its squeal.
He read widely and "caught on" quickly to any new invention, my mother would have had one of the earliest electric irons and loaned it to the neighbours who were not too afraid to use it. He built her an ice chest and many more after that for the "Italian connection", the same thing happened when he built his first crystal wireless, only this time the queue was longer. Marconi was his inspiration and as soon as the "Wireless Weekly" came out each Friday with a new circuit, he would begin to dismantle the existing set and use the parts to build the next one. There was a solemn moment every Sunday night when the last wire and the final dot of solder were in place and it was time
for the tuning in. One wonderful night a foreign voice announced that we were hearing Radio Saigon but that was as much as we could understand. Other nights there were wailing call signs, static or profound silence which was the cue for children to discreetly sneak off to bed.
Italian was only spoken when the "ethnic rels" came to visit, and that quite frequently, or when Pappa wanted to swear without offending.
Italian tradition was always observed when births, deaths or marriages took place, in naming children, god parents, gift giving, appointing the head of, or the spokesperson for the family, visiting at Christmas and Easter and the particular observance of Good Friday. Edmondo who had learned his trade from Candido while living with him in Narrandera acquired his own shop in Rose Bay and each Holy Thursday night Candido and Anthony and Italian friends would join with him on a boat trip to Shark Island to catch fish for Good Friday. They would rather starve than break the abstinence law on that one Friday of the year.
Salvatore and Anastasia were brought out by Candido and his brothers about 1912. He was coaxed to come and live with Mary Erbetto in Narrandera where there was a river for fishing and birds and game to shoot ... a sport he had followed since boyhood, meat was a rarity on the table in Italy so people hunted their own food. It was in a shooting accident that he lost a hand. However, he died a broken hearted man, so used to knowing and being loved and respected by everyone in his village, he was lonely and unhappy in the vast emptiness of Australia at that time.
Candido had never seen any of Italy's treasures, never visited Florence, Milan, Rome or Venice, but was proud of and loved them all, loved the music, art and all that the Vatican held, so he was happy when Mussolini brought it all together. He would follow every word on radio until we were saturated with information [which we did not understand] about Abyssinia and Selassi. Outside the home he kept his thoughts to himself, especially as his mother was a Balbo, one of the elite families with its own family crest of which we have a replica. Her brother or a close relative was Italo Balbo 1896-1940.
Amelio married a Scottish girl, Mary, known as Polly while in Glasgow. She had been employed by the brothers as a housekeeper until Salvatore sent a reprimand from Italy and Amelio chose to marry her and eventually bring her to Australia. They settled on a small farm at Matcham, near Gosford with a cousin Dominic Macinante and wife Julia. Amelio was a well respected member of the Matcham community, established an orange orchard and was an original member of the Masonic Lodge there. Unfortunately with the coming of the Depression, the bank foreclosed and this family, after years of hard work and content still to sleep on mattresses made of corn sacs filled with the husks of the corn, were forced to walk off the property. In Amelio's case his allegiance to the Masonic Lodge paid off, one of his Masonic brothers got him a job in the city markets.
Anthonio Macinante who has written his own story is Amelio's son and went off to fight for Australia without the blessing of his Italian relatives. |
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ANASTASIA MACINANTE - CUDDY |
Memories of Millison Beatson (nee Macinante) sent to Michael Macinante 19th. November 2004 These are some memories I have of the Hurstville branch of the Macinantes. Candido Macinante married Olivia Farrell in 1914. PAPA
Papa (Candido) had a hairdressing tobacconist business in George St. Sydney & Mum
had a school tuckshop opposite Hurstville Girls' High School where they both worked hard.
Papa would leave home early like 5AM, walk down the long lane to Allawah station to catch
the train to the city where he walked down the long subway & across busy George St
to his shop to let his barbers in.
What fascinated us children about this lovely home was, it had an attic where one could conduct an S.P.
betting ring on horses starting price. With a "look out" up there watching for a raid. MILLISON BEATSON Nee MACINANTE
* her friend OLIVIA
Looking back on my early life I think of it as really happy even if more difficult in some ways for some,
such as going to a family picnic with Mum & her sisters. This chosen place being Carrs Park where the water was shallow for a fair way out & plenty of trees all around, for shade.
MILLISON BEATSON |
Candido's birth certificateThe certificate is hand written, Display the certificate in a new window with scroll barsWait - on a 56Kbps connection might be a few minutes |
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Olivia Macinante with son Salvatore and neighbour |
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Olivia Macinante with son Salvatore |
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855 George St Railway Square Sydney about 1926 left: Zilpha Staples front right: Giocondo (Johnny) Macinante |
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Candido and Olivia Macinante |
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Candido and Olivia Macinante with grandchildren |
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Left to right: Millison Macinante, Joseph Macinante, Dorothy O'Brien, Kathleen O'Brien, Mary Veronica Macinante (nee O'Brien), Salvatore Macinante, Anastasia (Annie) Macinante photo 1/1/1938 at Hurstville |
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Recordings by Joe MacinanteThis is Joseph Anthony Macinante recording in March 1995. My object is to record some reminiscences, instructions or whatever else may come into my mind that could be of interest to the family subsequently. The major part of this tape is a review of the kind of work I did at CSIR now CSIRO during the 34 years from 1944 to 1978.At first we were heavily involved in the inspection of machines in industry to ensure that materials for munitions were of specified quality. After the war we got down to our basic objective of establishing standards of for measurements of force, pressure and other physical quantities important in engineering. Later we became involved in the investigation of vibration problems for industry and this work became my major interest until my retirement. There is a tape recording of an interview that Ben Holloway made with me on Fathers Day 1993. This covers a broad sort of biography of my earlier years up to the secondary school times. Also Ben has written a document he called Good Vibrations which is a general and quite comprehensive outline of my earlier years and activities. I shall now try to recall some of the highlights of my professional activities. During the war years CSIRO engaged in activities to ensure that materials used for munitions were up to standard of specified quality as specified by the Navy, Army, Air Force and Government Department of Munitions. Now what did this involve? For example how did we test the strength of steel for use in munitions, aircraft and the like? A sample of the steel in the form of a rod about 1 /2" diameter 4-6 inches long was gripped in the jaws of a tensile testing machine capable of applying loads of 50 tons and more using a hydraulic cylinder to load the specimen and the load was increased until the specimen, broke. The machine indicated the breaking load and if that load was below the specified value, the batch of steel was rejected. In addition to testing these tensile testing machines, we tested hardness testing machines, pressure gauges, tachometers and various other engineering measuring instruments. My responsibility for the small group of staff was to travel to all the major engineering works in Sydney, Newcastle, Port Kembla, BHP, Small Arms Factory Lithgow, and factories in Victoria and Queensland. Our activity was referred to as the calibration to check the accuracy of the machine reading of load or the accuracy of the hardness testing machines, the impact testing machines, and any other instruments. Now how did we calibrate the machine load scale? In the jaws of the machine we fixed a device called a proving ring, which consists of a steel ring which was stretched by the machine thereby increasing the internal diameter of the ring. Micrometer reading of the diameter of the ring corresponded to the load. To relate this reading to the load applied to the ring, the ring itself was calibrated in another machine which applied dead load., Small rings for example 5" or so diameter were designed for loads of a 1 few hundred kilograms, the largest about 15" diameter could measure 50 tons or more. CSIRO NML Lindfield now have a 50 ton dead weight machine for this purpose. Another way of testing the quality of steel was by testing the hardness of a sample of the steel. This was done by making an indentation in the sample using a diamond indentor in a hardness testing machine which could apply a force of say 20 kilograms to the indentor. Indentors could be in the form of a pyramid, a cone or a steel ball. The size of the indentation was a measure of the quality of the steel. If the indentation was too large, the material was too soft and had to be rejected. An unusual demand for hardness testing arose in early 1950's from the manufacturers of ball point pens. How to make a pyramidal indentation in a ball only 1mm diameter, and calculate the area of that indentation. The technique devised for this is described in a paper published in 1953. In the course of our visits to engineering works to calibrate testing machines, engineers began asking for advice on various other problems, most common being the control of unwanted vibration. How to prevent a vibrating machine or engine from disturbing sensitive instruments and processes in the vicinity? At about this time 1945-1947 I was awarded a travelling scholarship from the University of Sydney. In 1948 CSIRO offered to send me as a paid officer on one years research overseas. Whether or not to accept this offer posed a real problem because Teresa and I had been married since 1945, we had 2 children Mary Clare 2 years old and Patricia Anne 3 months. All my expenses would be paid but I would be responsible for all other family costs - anyway we decided to give it a go. Through the good offices of Sir Henry Barraclough, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney, I was accepted as a Research Student at Clare College Cambridge to study the measurement and control of vibration. At the end of the academic year at Cambridge we moved to Teddington where I was engaged in acoustics research at the National Physical Laboratory. The story of our domestic life in England with our 2 children could fill a book. It is described in considerable detail in the weekly letters Teresa and I wrote home and which have been retained in my files. On return home from the 1950's onward while I still supervised the work on the calibration and development of improved methods of calibration I became more and more involved in vibration problems arising in the engineering industry. For example, at the Ordnance Factory Bendigo a machine producing the gearing for the frigates being built at Cockatoo Docks was on the same floor as, a forging hammer. At Cockatoo Docks a jig grinding machine was likewise disturbed by a forging hammer in the vicinity. At Austral Bronze a large roll grinding machine was disturbed by the sheet metal stamps and presses also in the vicinity. John Sands the printers had a large and costly map S copying camera installed in an old timber framed building. The camera was capable of copying maps 4 ft by 4 ft in area. The camera was in an old timber building in Druitt Street, Sydney and the camera was quite unusable because of the building vibration. A spring mounting was devised for use until the camera could be installed in a suitable basement site. Details of this have been published in 1966. The difficulty in all these problems, is that it is difficult to arrange in the layout of a factory site for the sources of vibration to be installed well away from the vibration sensitive operations. To investigate these mountings it was necessary to measure the characteristics of the source of the vibration and also measure the response of the machine tool or instrument that was being disturbed. Initially in the early 1950's we had no vibration measuring instruments. During the next few years we developed our own optical, electromagnetic and other types of vibration pick up as described in publications in 1953 and 1955. Concurrently it was necessary to calibrate our own instruments especially the electronic ones. When a vibration pick up is put on a vibrating object it produces an electric signal or a wave form that can be displayed on a cathode ray oscilloscope. To calibrate the vibrometer it must be subjected to a known vibration and the electrical signal related to the amount of vibration. A major difficulty here is the smallness of the vibration. We are all familiar with the vibration experienced in motor cars and aeroplanes but these are very very large vibrations compared to those which are important in the engineering industry where a vibration of a few thousands of an inch could be most important. So how to calibrate our own instruments to measure such small vibrations? Fortunately at CSIRO there were colleagues who were using optical interferometry to determine the standard of length measurement. By vibrating one of the optical components of an interferometer we were able to measure vibrations of millionths of an inch. How this was done is described in a letter to Nature in 1950. Nature is the Science Journal published in London in which scientists stake claim to their breakthroughs in any field of science. From the 1960's we no longer had to depend on our homemade vibrometers. Commercially available piezo electric pick ups and other kinds of electronics were much more effective. Methods we devised to calibrate these are described in publications in 1953 and 1974. Also about this time commercially available vibration analysers were acquired which by means of electrical filtering analysed the vibration into its harmonic components. This enabled us to find out where the vibration was coming from. On the results of our testing of vibration isolating mountings installed in the 1950's and 1960's for large machine tools, it was clear that there was little understanding of the basic principles for the design of the mountings. The practice was to install the machine on metal springs, rubber, cork or other soft material. The only criterion was that the natural bounce frequency of the machine on its isolators for example 3 cycles per second should be lower than the frequency of the vibration causing the trouble for example 10 cycles per second. This was a gross simplification because the machine on its springs could vibrate sidewise and could rotate in rolling, pitching and yawing motion as in a boat in water. To design the mounting it was necessary to know the frequencies of these vibrations. We devised a simple method of calculating these natural frequencies as published in 1962. Another way in which the simple design criterion was an over simplification was that it did not take into account the part of the machine whose vibration was causing the trouble e.g. the tool spindle or the grinding wheel. We devised design data to enable the designer to select a suitable natural frequency for the mounting taking into account the response of the critical part of the machine as well as the characteristics of the vibration to be isolated. The results were published in 1973. The foregoing has referred to the isolation of vibration sensitive machine tools and instruments from site vibration. Another group of problems demanding our attention concerned the vibration isolation of sources of vibration in high rise buildings. Some decades ago the air conditioning and other machinery was installed on a solid floor in the basement. In modern high rise buildings this space is too valuable to be wasted on the machinery and the plant room is installed on an upper floor. Vibration from the machinery can disturb occupants of adjacent floors. For example, the stand -by electrical generating plant on the 45th storey of a Sydney building had been installed on overloaded rubber isolators and disturbed the occupants of adjacent floors whenever it was operated. Again the simple design criterion was inadequate mainly because the flexibility of the floor was not taken into account. We developed design data showing how the designer could select the required natural frequency for the mounting taking into account the flexibility of the floor as well as the frequency of the machinery vibration. Results were published in 1977. After my retirement from CSIRO in 1978 my major pre-occupation was the writing of my book Seismic Mountings for Vibration Isolation which was published by John Wiley & Sons, New York in 1984. The book presents the basic principles of vibration isolation, vibration measurement, vibration criteria, types of mountings, natural frequencies and all the design data for the design of mountings. Concurrently with our interest in the isolation of vibrating machinery, from the late 1950's we were involved in the dynamic balancing of rotating wheels, shafts and rotors which caused vibration if they were not properly balanced. We assisted Cockatoo Docks, Garden Island and others to balance large turbine rotors. We developed methods of calibrating balancing machines so that the machine could indicate the amount of correction required to eliminate the unbalance of the rotor. The details were published in 1956 and l960. In the 1950's also there was demand for the accurate measurement of rotational speed of engines and machinery. We developed stroboscopic methods published in 1953 and 1960 but there was no further development of these complicated techniques when photo-electric techniques became commercially available. Now getting away from our work on standards of measurement and on vibration isolation, the vibration group became involved during 1962 and 1965 on a vibration investigation of the 210 ft radio telescope at Parkes N.S.W. This was undertaken at the request of the CSIRO Division of Radio Physics as part of their study of the radio telescope. At the request of the United States, NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration), our task was to determine the modes of structural vibration. How this was done and the results obtained are described in a mechanical engineering science monograph published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London and in papers in 1967 and 1969. This concludes a review of my scientific and technical activities as an officer of CSIRO from 1944 to 1978. In concluding I must acknowledge that the advances we made and the results that we achieved were the result of a team effort by the vibration group of the Division of Applied Physics. My colleagues were John L. Goldberg whose major contributions were in the development of interferometric methods of vibration measurement, and in the analysis of structural vibrations , as well as in other independent research projects. My right hand man in vibration isolation work was Barry Donen Brown who also specialised in the measurement of vibration of large structures. Jim Mouttou was involved in one way or another in all our research. Norm Clark and Bill Cresswell, Bruce Meldrum and Paul Drew were all involved in the calibration of vibration measuring systems and in the various vibration investigations. There is a list of publications which have been mentioned briefly in my review, from which it can be seen there were joint authors of many of the publications. Over the years a number of ad hoc investigations interrupted our basic programs of research. I now recall some of these - perhaps the most noteworthy was our vibration study of the radio telescope at Parkes N.S.W. I well recall my first visit climbing up through the centre of the structure and out onto the 210ft diameter dish which collects radio signals from outer space. I felt really scared when I first crawled out to the rim of the dish with the ground about 150ft below - to find suitable positions to fix our vibration measuring instrumentation. How were we going to vibrate this enormous structure for the purpose of testing? On the suggestion of the Controller of the Telescope this was done through the driving system which tilted or rotated the dish as required to point it to the part of the sky from which they expected to receive radio signals. They inserted an oscillating electrical signal into the driving system and this could be adjusted in frequency to make the structure vibrate in one or other of its natural modes of vibration. This vibration annoyed the users of the radio telescope because they were afraid that it would distort the shape of the dish. I recall an incident which immensely annoyed the radio astronomers one night who were set up to observe a certain very important phenomena. At the critical time James Waldersee arrived at the site in his old Morris Minor and the transmissions from his spark plugs destroyed their observations. Another ad hoc demand for vibration measurement came from the Navy. They wanted us to measure vibration on HMAS VOYAGER during her trials. Although our instruments were suitable only for building and ground vibration we were able to modify them to measure ship vibration. For the trials Voyager was driven at full speed over a measured mile on Sydney Harbour. At the end of each run the ship made a U-turn and made another run. This was an exciting and memorable experience for our vibration group. My most vivid recollection is that while squatted on deck watching vibration wave forms on a cathode ray oscilloscope I became sea sick. One of the ship's officers gave me a concoction of milk and I don't know what else and after bringing this up I felt o.k. and I was back in business. Another ad hoc demand came from Australian Oil Refinery at Kurnell N.S.W. They requested vibration measurements on a cat cracker, that is a catalytic cracking tower through which passed hot flammable materials. This had developed something like hiccups caused by some internal malfunction. The tower lurched sidewise every few minutes, and because this plant was in a high fire risk area the operators had walked off the job. As Australian Oil Refinery Consulting Engineers did not have suitable instruments we undertook the measurements. From the results we gave the opinion that the plant was unsafe to operate. Because closure would have represented very heavy production losses the plant continued to operate until the cat cracker expert was brought in from the United States who told them to close it down. In 1969 CSIRO sent me overseas for ten (10) weeks to study recent development in vibration measurement and isolation at selected laboratories in Europe, Britain, Canada and the United States and to describe our work in these fields. Also I attended a vibration conference in Newport, Virginia and presented a paper on our vibration study of the Parkes Radio Telescope. I now recall some items of more general interest. The first concerns a most unusual application of vibration. While the Sydney Harbour Bridge was under construction the weight of the incomplete halves of the arch had to be supported until they met in the middle. This was done by using strong steel cables attached to the arch and anchored in the ground. There were 128 twisted steel wire cables about three (3) inches diameter and a thousand feet long, stretched with a tension of about 100 tons. It was necessary to adjust the tension in the cables so that they shared the load. This was done by using hydraulic jacks to adjust the tension. The adjustment was made using the method that is used to adjust the pitch of stringed musical instruments. Each cable was "plucked" by striking it with a sledge hammer and measuring the time taken for the cable to make a hundred vibrations. Direct visual counting was possible because such heavy cables made only 2 or 3 vibrations per second. The tension was calculated from the vibration frequency using a formula appropriate to the length, size and material of the cable. Full details are on file in the State Archives of NSW in the Sydney Harbour Bridge files. My appointment with CSIRO in 1944 was with the National Standards Laboratory which by an act of parliament is responsible for maintaining the Australian Standards of measurement that are necessary for commerce, industry and scientific work. It may be of interest to look back and comment on what those standards were then and what they are now. It is important to be clear on what is meant by a standard of measurement. As an example from prehistoric times, probably the first standards of length were based on limbs of the human body. The length of the foot, the width of the palm or the forearm and so on. When it became necessary to resolve disputes among tribesmen, the length of the chief's foot was taken to be the standard of length. In more recent times more definite standards were used in the form of metal bars. In the 1940's the Australian Standard of length was the yard which was defined as the distance between two lines scribed on a metal bar of a special cross section. Because of errors involved in measuring the distance between scribed lines, since 1960 the metre is defined as a length equal to a defined number of wave lengths of a certain radiation from a krypton 86 atom. The standard that has been most directly involved in my engineering work at CSIRO is the kilogram. This is now the only standard that is in the form of a material, tangible artefact. Standards for the other physical quantities involve complex atomic and scientific phenomena. The standard kilogram is a cylindrical piece of platinum uridum about 40 mm diameter and 40 mm high which is kept under strictly clean conditions on a glass covered stand and handled only with special tongs. Our kilogram is copy no. 44 of the international standard of mass kept by International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Paris. Incidentally on my return to CSIRO from overseas in 1949 I was responsible for seeing that our kilogram was brought safely to Australia. The kilogram is of basic importance in engineering because it determines the force standard. When we speak of the weight of a certain mass we mean the force of the earth's gravitational pull on the mass. Apart from my work outlined already I was involved in a number of related and time consuming activities. These included participation in Applied Mechanics and Vibration Conferences of the Institution of Engineers Australia. I well remember an occasion in 1976 when I was organiser and chairman of a Noise and Vibration Conference. It was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the Sebel Townhouse in Sydney. I was waiting at Penshurst Railway Station for an early train when I became aware of the unusually crowded platform. There were no trains because of a strike. I left the station and tried to get a taxi but with no success. A car stopped seeing my plight and the driver, a complete stranger offered to drive me to the nearest taxi rank. No luck - he finished up driving me all the way arriving just in time for me to open the conference. This most thoughtful and generous man's name is Jack Dein of Peakhurst. Another commitment which involved a lot of paperwork was my work for the Standards Association of Australia and for the ISO - International Standards Organisation. Also as a member of the Editorial Board for the Institution of Engineers and of the United States Shock and Vibration Digest. I was engaged in refereeing of papers for publication. Also I gave post graduate courses on vibration isolation at Monash University and the University of New South Wales. I was involved from the outset in the development of NATA - National Association of Testing Authorities. For many years research and technical staff of CSIRO had undertaken the inspection and calibration of materials testings machine and engineering instruments. The increasing demand for this work stimulated a move to set up NATA which would organise the approval and registration of outside laboratories competent and equipped to do this work. Nowadays there are NATA approved laboratories for a very wide range of testing requirements. Two to three times a year senior research staff of CSIRO and of the Department of Supply, and Melbourne and Monash Universities, and the Australian Atomic Energy Commission would meet at one or other venue to discuss and inspect current work and exchange information with the object of arranging co-operation and avoiding duplication. There is a risk in this cards on the table presentation. One division of CSIRO needed a method of hardness testing individual grains of metal specimens. I devised a prototype instrument which used a high powered microscope to select a grain on an etched metallographic specimen, then to align a hardness testing machine to make the indentation on the grain, then return the microscope to measure the indentation. Later I found that a micro hardness tester based on my prototype had been published as the work of this other division. Events can change the course of one's life, I came to a crossroad in February, 1935. Throughout my secondary schooling I was in a group of pupils who were being trained to become manual training teachers, that is to teach woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing. On the basis of our attainments in Technical Drawing at the Leaving Certificate Examination some of us received an invitation to apply for a position as an apprentice draughtsman at the P.N. Russell School of Engineering, the University of Sydney, a vacancy which only occurred once every four (4) years. I didn't want to alter my intention to become a teacher. However, my father could see the possibility of this opportunity, leading to a more interesting career. So I applied for the job and I was called for an interview. It was then that I met Geordie, Professor George Fyfe Sutherland who was to become my mentor and adviser over the following many years. I was appointed to the job on the 25th February, 1935. I was to work as the apprentice during the day and attend the Mechanical Engineering Diploma Course at Sydney Technical College in the evenings, four (4) nights a week. As 25th February was the closing date for enrolments Geordie took me to the tech and ensured my enrohnent. As part of my training I spent about a quarter of my time i11 the workshop on fitting, machining and gaining experience in the operation of machine tools. I was also allowed to attend selected lectures on engineering, drawing and design. Geordie seeing the possibility that I might subsequently be able to do the Degree Course in Engineering made it possible for me to matriculate. In those days a foreign language was one of the requirements and I had not studied one at school. He arranged for me to attend Italian lectures with Arts students and I matriculated early in 1939. 1 enrolled in Engineering - financially this was practicable only because I had a scholarship from Sydney Technical College and also a P.N. Russell scholarship. As Australia became involved in World War II late in 1939, in 1940 there was recruiting for military training - we engineering students joined the Sydney University Regiment. We began our training with a three (3) month camp at Ingleburn N.S.W. beginning December, 1940. h1 1941 as part of six (6) months practical, training that formed part of the 3rd year engineering course I spent three (3) months in the drawing office of the Department of Railways N.S.W. on the design of crating for the transport of radar and other equipment to the war zone. Incidentally it was here that I met Henry Rowe Cuddy with whom I have enjoyed a life long friendship and who subsequently married my sister, Anne. The second, three (3) months of this six (6) month period was with Sydney University Regiment and the Australian Army Ordnance Corps in Sydney engaged in workshop and motor transport work. About this time I applied for admission to an Officer Training School. On two (2) occasions I was interviewed by a Colonel Wright but heard no more about this. I would like to follow this up through freedom of information channels to find out why I heard no more. List of publications by Macinante and colleagues 1944 - 1978 Bruce, C F, Kelly, 1 C, Macinante, J A (1950). Vibration Measurement by Interferometry, Nature 167, p. 520. Macinante, J A, Peres, N J C (1953x). Diamond Pyramidal Hardness Testing of Spherical Specimens, Div. of Metrology, CSIRO, Tech Ppr No 1, pp. 11. Macinante, J A, Dollar, W (1953b). Stroboscopic Images and the Determination of Angular Speed, Engineering, 175, No 4540, pp. 132-135. Macinante, J A (1953c). Adjustable Mount Using Differential Screws, J Sci Instrum, 30, No 3, pp. 98-99. Bruce, C F, Macinante, J A, Kelly, J C (1953d). Calibration of Sensitive Vibrometers by Interferometry, Aust J Appl Sci, 4, No 1, pp. 28-46. Macinante, J A (1953e). J A (1953e). Electromagnetic Vibration Pick-ups with Simple Seismic Suspension, J Sci Instrum, 30, No 5, pp. 155-158. Macinante, J A (1954). J A (1954). Vibration Isolation, Aust Mach and Prod Engg, 7, No 69, pp. 4-11, No 71, pp. 4-7. Macinante, J A (1955x). Survey on Vibration and Shock Isolation, NSL CSIRO, Tech Ppr No 7, p. 42. Macinante, J A (1955b). Measurement and Isolation of Vibration; JIEAust, 27, No 12, pp. 323-337. Macinante, J A (1956). Calibrating Dynamic Balancing Machines, Engineering, 182, No 4718, p. 174. Macinante, J A (1958a). Vibration and Shock Isolation - a Survey, NSL CSIRO, Tech Ppr No 10, p. 39. Macinante, J A (1958b). A Smaller Haringx-type Vibration Isolating Table, J Sci Instrum, 35, No 6, pp. 224-225 Macinante, J A (1960x). Seismic Mountings for Large Machine Tools, Engineer, 210, No 5470, pp. 880-883. Macinante, J A (1960b). Calibrating a Compensating-type Balancing Machine, Engineering, 190, No 4915, p. 33 Macinante, J A (1960c). Using a Stroboscope Beyond its Frequency Range, Engineering, 190, No 4919, p. 166. Macinante, J A (1961 a). The Optimum Number of Non-linear Isolators for a Seismic Mounting, Aust J Appl Sci, 12, No 1, pp. 1-10. Macinante, J A (1961b). Spring Mounting for a Large Camera, Engineer, 212, No 5527, pp. 1080-1081. Macinante, J A (1962). The Natural Frequencies of Spring Mountings, Engineer, 213, No 5540, p. 572. Macinante, J A, Waldersee, J (1963). A Vibration Isolating Mounting for a Sensitive Balance, J Sci Instrum, 40, No 2, pp. 77-78. Macinante, J A, Waldersee, J (1964x). The Vibration Isolation of Knife-edge Balances, J Sci Instrum, 41, No 1, pp. 1-6. Macinante, J A (1964b). Vibration Isolation, NSL CSIR0, Tech Ppr No 21, 30 pp. Macinante, J A (1967x). The Dynamic Behaviour of a Large Steerable Radio Telescope, Proc Appl Mech Conf, Adelaide, pp. 28-34. Mech and Chem Engg Trans IEAust, MC-3, No 2, pp. 147-155. Macinante, J A, Dorien-Brown, B, Goldberg, J L, Clark, N H, Glazier, R A, O'Toole, K M (1967b). A Vibration Study of the CSIRO 210-ft Radio Telescope, I Mech E Lond, Mech Eng Sci Monograph, No 6, 36 pp. Macinante, J A (1969x). Simple Way,to Field Balance Rigid Rotors, Engineer, 228, No 5910, pp. 36-37. Macinante, J A (1969b). Design Model Based on Observed Modes of Vibration of Australian CSIRO 210-ft Radio Telescope, Shock and Vib Bull, 40, Pt-4, pp. 155-161. Macinante, J A (1972x). Vibration Control in Current Engineering Practice in Australia, Proc Ann Engg Coq Papers, Canberra, pp. 108=112; Mech and Chem Trans I E Aust, MC8, No 1, pp. 84-89. Macinante, J A (1972b). J A (1972b). Vibration Measurement, J I E Aust, 44, No 3, pp. 6-8. Magnetite, J A, Walter, J K (1973). The Isolation of Machine Tools from Site Vibration, Proc Harold Armstrong Conf on Prod Sci in Indy, Monash University, Melbourne, pp. 199-212. Mech and Chem Trans I E Aust, MC9, Nos 1 & 2, pp. 19. Macinante, J A (1974x). Recent Developments in Accelerometer Calibration, Proc Intnl Noise, Shock and Vib Conf, Monash University, Melbourne, pp. 381-392. Macinante, J A, Clarke, N H; Cresswell, B H (1974b). A Resonance-type Back-to-Back Calibrator for Accelerometers, Shock and Vib Bull, 44, Pt 4, pp. 123-130. Macinante, J A, Clarke, N H, Cresswell, B H (1974c). A New Transverse Calibrator for Accelerometers, Shock and Vib Bull, 44, Pt 4, pp 131-138. 11 Macinante, J A, Simmons, H (1975). Vibration Isolating Mountings for Sensitive Equipment - a More Realistic Design Basis, Mech and Chem Trans I E Aust, MCI 1, Nos 1 and 2, 1975, pp. 22-32. Macinante, J A (1976x). Vibration Isolating Mountings for Sensitive Equipment - New Design Criteria,-Shock and Vibr Digest, 8, No 7, pp. 3-24. Macinante, J A, Simmons, H (1976b). Design Criteria for Vibration Isolating Mountings for Machinery on Suspended Floors, I E Aust, Nat Conf Publ No 76/9, pp. 46-50. (Canberra). Macinante, J A (1977x). Vibration Isolation, Symposium on Noise and Vib in Indy, Perth, I E Aust, W A, Div, pp. 99117. Macinante, J A, Simmons, H (1977b). Vibration Isolating Mounting for Machinery on Suspended Floors, Mech Eng Trans I E Aust, ME 13, No 1, pp. 27-35. Macinante, J A (1977c). Vibration Isolation Mountings - Discussion, Shock and Vib Digest, 9, No 5, pp. 3-4. Macinante, J A (1984). Seismic Mountings for Vibration Isolation, (John Wiley & Sons, New York). |
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J Macinante - State Library of New South Wales |
Welcome to this celebration of Dad's life. Particularly to Dad's sister, Aunty Ann, Dad's sister in-law, Aunty Trease, Dad's grand children and great grand children. Welcome also Dad's nieces and nephews from both the Macinante and O'Brien sides of our family. Welcome Dad's friends and friends of Mollie Ann, Maree and me. To help us celebrate Dad's life and in keeping with Dad's ideal of keeping things efficient and short as possible I want to highlite just a few things in Dad's life: Dad was born in Narrandera in 1915, the first child born to Candido & Olivia. To get a picture of Narrarands at that time lets listen to part of a wonderful description recorded by Dad's grandfather, Salvatore Macinante in the early 1900s;
Later in his youth Dad and his family moved to Sydney and for most of his youth lived at Hurstville. He graduated as a teacher and his first appointment was to Moree where he met Mum, they married in 1938. After a few years they moved to Wollongong where they built our family home. Mollie Ann came into the world, three years later me, and 15 years after that Maree. During his working life at Wollongong Dad was a teacher at Wollongong High School and his attitude to his work and his hobbie is best summarised by the saying "if the job is worth doing - do it properly" which for him meant do it as best as possible. Dad was a great innovator, I remember a sofisticated photographic enlarger he made from bits & pieces including billy cans. Dad being human had faults, one which annoyed Mum was his habit after travelling to Sydney to visit relos of looking at his watch as soon as we arrived to hint that it was time to journey home. Probably the most important thing that Dad and Mum passed on to my sisters and me was a basic set values. At the time we took these for granted but I'm sure that Dad, as he sat every morning before anyone else awoke reading the news papers not only knew that these values are so critical but also that these values are lacking in the world, even by world leaders. Mollie Ann, Maree and me continue to try to live these values. Lets begin the celebration |
We are here today to celebrate the life and achievements of HENRY ROWE CUDDY, loving husband of Ann. Rowe had 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great- grandchildren. He lived a long and successful life surrounding himself with the people and interests that he loved and believed in. Rowe was born at Camperdown on the 16th March, 1917. He was the only child of Percival and Cecilia Cuddy (nee Peard). In his early years he experienced the struggle and hard times of the depression. His father worked on the tramways, a fact of which he was very proud, and he passed this interest on to his family. He had a tremendous love of sport from an early age and went on to excel in both Rugby Union and, of course, cricket, playing at first grade level in his youth and A grade well into his forties. In his love of team sports he developed and demonstrated a strong sense of fair play. Many a Saturday evening Ann was greeted with the spirited declaration: "We were robbed". In later life Rowe wrote his memoirs and researched and collated records of family history, which he proudly shared with the family. To him it was very important to give his family a sense of his own life experiences and identity. We share with you today a few aspects of this history. He completed his apprenticeship as a mechanical fitter while working for the New South Wales railways. This was the foundation for the Mechanical Engineering diploma he later achieved through hard work and study. In February 1940 he married Marie Michel and they moved to Werris Creek where their child Francis was born in 1941. Shortly after this, they returned to Sydney where he transferred to the Railways design office, radar design group, with a young Joe Macinante, and was involved in the infancy of the development of war-time radar. The blueprints of his work on the Lightweight Early Warning Radar are displayed in the RAAF base at Williamtown. In July 1944 Marie passed away and left him a widower with a young child. At this time his parents and friends supported him, in particular Rae and Jess French who have remained life-long friends. A chance meeting on a train with Joe Macinante, who was now working for CSIRO, led to a family dinner invitation where Rowe was introduced to Joe's sister Ann, who later became his wife of 57 years. After their marriage on 22 April 1946 they built their home at Bexley surmounting great difficulties as materials were scarce after the war. Rowe was very proud of this home that he and Ann had designed and built and in which they have lived for over 50 years. Living in the same house for this length of time contrasted with his earlier experiences of living in 21 houses by the time he was 21. After the war, house construction was difficult due to material shortages and rationing. Rowe was meticulous in design and in the way things were finished. In later years the family was often informed of his need to do what was referred to as "tech calcs" for various renovations and design projects. At Waratah Street, Rowe and Ann's family expanded to include Peter, Cecilia, Elizabeth and Lawrence. As the family grew, so did the house. With the restructuring of the railways, Rowe transferred to the NSW Electricity Commission. There he became involved with the design and supervision of construction of the early power stations to the north of Sydney. He loved to share these experiences with the family, including lengthy slide nights looking at every aspect and angle of the recently visited power station under construction. Rowe also used his drafting skills to plan extensions for this church, the infant's school and homes of family and friends. After his retirement in 1977 he shared an active life with Ann. He continued to enjoy golf, bowls and social interaction with his friends at Probus and other organisations. His love and appreciation of classical music and opera was well known and it provided great joy and comfort to him throughout his life. His greatest pleasure in life however was to have his now extended family gathered around him at every opportunity. Among his many endearing qualities, Rowe was a keen wit and had a trademark sense of humour. He was prone to the giggles, a trait inherited by many family members. We all have our own special memories of what Henry Rowe Cuddy has meant to us, a hardworking family man with a great spiritual faith in the God with whom he is now at peace.
He will be missed by all who knew him - especially his
family.
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