The Dungog Chronicle is a continuous source of information and some pieces, such as the passage below, need no comment or explanation.
The Whip
Dungog Chronicle, 26th July, 1912
There was a flutter at the railway station on Wednesday morning, prior to the departure of the train. A gentleman who represents a city firm was about to enter a carriage when he was confronted by an attractive looking young lady of athletic proportions, who, pulling a whip down her sleeve, commenced to apply it with considerable vigor across his face and head. The first hit drew blood. The young man dodged and pleaded but the blows rained down upon him in a perfect storm. Presently he seized the young lady’s hands and held them, but on being requested to leave go, he did so, and was not quick enough to dodge a severe smack in the face, the assailant remarking “That will teach you to respect girls”. Constable Parker now made his appearance, and the victim of the assault escaped into a carriage, protesting that he had been misjudged. It was elicited upon enquiry that the stalwart maiden was a waitress at one of the local hotels, and is a new arrival in the State. She stated that the young man behaved in a rude manner to her at the breakfast table, and she considered it her duty to teach him, that although employed in a hotel, a girl should not be insulted.
While the above article needs no comment, the processes of historical research sometimes do. This article was found by the researcher in the State Library of NSW while scanning through the microfilms of the Dungog Chronicle. Not unsurprisingly this was not the first time this article had been come across or its worth recognised. Apparently several years ago a member of the Dungog Historical Society also found this same piece and also submitted it to the newspaper as an item of interest. No problem you would think, until much to this researcher’s surprise a rather nastily worded note was received making the accusation that as a copy of the article was in the Dungog Historical Society’s files this must have been the source and, in a manner not entirely clear, the article had therefore been plagiarised.
The writer of this distasteful email apparently did not understand that even had the article been found in the files’ of the Dungog Historical Society it would still have been a Dungog Chronicle piece and needed only to be acknowledged as such. Naturally the originator of such a wrong-headed attack did not have the decency to apologise any more than they would have thought to make a simple inquiry before even thinking of writing such a missive.
While the writer of the unpleasant note was a member of the Dungog Historical Society, I do not believe that the Dungog Historical Society as a body countenanced such an unseemly communication.