TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS
Sir - I read with great interest Mr. William Hatfield's letter this morning and I find it a most practical lead to his fellow authors in Australia. In my more favored land of the Never-Never with our 45 miles of river frontage, we knew neither drought nor water famine but as the years have passed on, two of my bushmen whose names appear in "We of the Never-Never" - Neave's Mate and poor little Tam-a-Shanter - have both perished on terrible dry stages farther afield. So, with great pleasure, I now offer to the Hermannsburg Mission Appeal Fund, in their names, on behalf of myself and my publishers, 12 copies of "The Little Black Princess," the gift outright of the publishers, autographed and inscribed by myself. From myself more personally, I offer six copies of "We of the Never-Never," also autographed and inscribed. The copies of "The Little Black Princess" are now on sale at Robertson and Mullens at 10/- a copy (representing 4ft. of piping), the whole of which amount will be paid into "The Argus" Appeal Fund. The copies of "We of the Never-Never" will not be available until the end of next week, as we are awaiting supplies. Also, if anyone already having a copy of either of my books wishes to have it inscribed and autographed in the name of the appeal fund, I shall be happy to do that through Robertson and Mullens for the fee of 5/- a copy, representing 2ft. of piping, to be paid into your fund-Yours, &c.,
JEANNIE GUNN.
Hawthorn. Feb. 28.
First published in The Argus, 1 March 1934
Note: this letter was written in response to another from William Hatfield that I published here last week.
That is beautiful in so many ways. I love the elegance of the prose, its inherent graciousness, not only in the act but in its expression.