Somewhere South of Capricorn
Moss Side was a hard place in the 1920s. Gangs dominated the streets and the Bloods were the meanest gang in Moss Side streets. Ernest Roberts was their most feared enforcer, and whether it was in the boxing ring or on the street, Ernie reckoned he was the toughest, hardest son-of-a-bitch around. Then, suddenly, dire circumstances changed all that. He was forced to scarper without so much as a goodbye to his family, with his destination uncertain. But every journey must have a destination, and for better or worse, he chose a new life somewhere south of Capricorn.
His arrival wasn’t timely. ‘Getcha Sinny Mornin’ ’erald,’ a raucous newsboy shouted. ‘World financial system collapses! New York Stock Exchange loses half its value!’ It was October 24, 1929—Black Tuesday. At first, he wondered how events so far away could possibly impact him. New York is a long way from Sydney, and he failed to see what was getting everyone excited. Some wealthy American speculators had lost their dough. So what? Then, it got worse. For Ernie, that was just the beginning of his getting of wisdom.
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The story behind Somewhere South of Capricorn
It’s not unusual for people to suggest that I should write ‘their story’ or their ‘family’s story’. I approach such suggestions with considerable caution. It’s also not uncommon to discover folk who intend to write their story but never quite get around to it. I guess that’s life. But all too rarely a story grabs you by the throat and demands to be told.
I came by this tale when my friend Tom Race (who has a cameo role in the book) suggested I should meet a lady who played bridge with him. She’d told him her father’s life story, presumably between bridge contracts, and he’d found it fascinating. Somewhat tentatively, I went along and met her ‘just for coffee and a chat’. Margaret O’Neill, for that is the lady’s name, is a storyteller of considerable skill, and it takes one to know one, so I was fascinated too.
That evening, I dropped other projects just to consider how I might tell her father’s incredible story while it was fresh in my mind. I really didn’t make a conscious decision to write it; I just started and found I couldn’t stop. By the time I finished it, I’d come to realise why I couldn’t put it down. Ernie’s journey is like every bloke’s trip through life, from the brash folly of youth, through the gradual getting of wisdom and a tenuous relationship with responsibility. His twilight brings with it introspection and contemplation of life’s inevitable conclusion and the meaning of it all. Ernie’s story is every man’s story of flaws and foibles, fears and fatalism, told in his own words.
CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO GET THE FACTS OF ERNIE”S LIFE.
TSS Themistocles. Ern's means of escape.
Freo Rail Station. Gateway to the outback.
Sandalwood, south of Capricorn.. Ernest's first experience of purgatory in Australia
Mukinbudin pub-where Ern first came across the Aussie penchant for a bet.
The Carlyle Castle. Ernest's watering hole of choice.
SS Zeelandia. Ernie's illicit ride to Adelaide.
Ern's folly. A green Graham-Paige roadster. When he discovered the Toad within.