Organisations/railwayinstitute.html
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Railway Institute
Lot 418, no. 97 High Street (Occidental Chambers), 1898
Western Mail 1898:
THE RAILWAY INSTITUTE AT FREMANTLE.
Some short time ago the railway employees of the colony decided upon the establishment of a Railway Institute, having for its object the intellectual advancement of the members. Recently the Perth branch of the Institute was opened. In view, of the large number of railway employees resident at Fremantle, it was thought that they would be best served by the establishment of a branch of the Institute there, and this was ultimately decided upon. Last week the decision assumed a practical shape when the Commissioner of Railways (Mr. F. H. Piesse), at a concert held at Fremantle under the auspices of the Institute, formally declared the establishment of a branch of the port, and foreshadowed the intention of the committee to provide suitable rooms, wherein instruction classes could be held. The committee, consisting of Messrs. W. E. Abbott (chairman), F. Gray (hon. secretary), H. Egan, W. Stead, W. Cary, J. Fitzgerald, W. Pirie, W. E. Abbott, and F. Gray (committeemen), selected for the purposes of the club three rooms on the second floor of the Occidental Buildings, High-street, and on Monday the rooms were formally declared open by Mr. R. B. Campbell, Locomotive Superintendent.
Mr. CAMPBELL said that although there was not a superabundance of spaces, [s]till the premises were sufficiently spacious and centrally situated to meet the requirements of the members in the initial stages of the branch. He was pleased to hear that the membership roll already bore more than 189 names. After detailing the objects of the branch and recommending the members to as much as possible avoid all internal friction, he announced that the committee had prepared a syllabus and hoped that the subjects embodied therein would prove a source of instruction and pleasure to the members. On Mondays Mr. G. W. Stead would, lecture on the staff and ticket system, the electric staff, pilot working and signalling; on Tuesdays, shorthand and typewriting classes would be held by Mr. W. Good, and instruction given on the interlocking system by Mr. W. Evans; on alternate Wednesdays lessons would be given in euclid, algebra and elementary physics by Mr. W. E. Abbott, and instruction would be given in bookkeeping, ambulance work and gymnastics if sufficient inducement offered; Fridays would be set apart for general discussions, and papers to be contributed by members would be read. Saturdays would be devoted to the exchange of library books. The rooms would be open from 7.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. nightly, excluding Sundays. A vote of thanks to Mr. Campbell concluded the proceedings.
References and Links
Trove: Western Mail, Friday 18 March 1898: 37.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 27 January, 2024 and hosted at freotopia.org/organisations/railwayinstitute.html (it was last updated on 27 January, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.