Thomas Probert: The Ultimate Sacrifice

In April 1874, a regrettable accident took place in Windsor NSW. Two young boys went with Thomas Probert for an afternoon swim, on the outskirts of the town. The boys were Albert Edward Horatio Fitzpatrick aged eleven years, and his brother, Ossory Arthur Stanton aged about nine.

The boys were the sons of John James Fitzpatrick and Elizabeth nee Lucas. The couple married in 1861 at Deniliquin and had five sons and three daughters, listed at the end of this post.

Fitzpatrick was a police officer and had worked his way up through the ranks as Sergeant, Snr Sergeant. (He later became sub-inspector of NSW police, Justice of the Peace and an Alderman of Windsor Council). Born in Co Cavan, Ireland he arrived in Australia in the early 1850s and went directly to the Ballarat goldfields. He spent the early part of his career in southern NSW in places such as Wagga, Deniliquin, Moama and then Mudgee before being stationed in Windsor since the early 1870s. 

On Tuesday, 8 April 1874 about 5.30pm, Ossory Fitzpatrick “went for a bathe” accompanied by his brother Albert and Mr Thomas Probert, in the Hawkesbury River near the mouth of South Creek. 

Thomas Henry Probert was the first editor of one of the earliest newspapers published in the district, the Hawkesbury Times. The paper had originated in the early 1870s and was started by a local company and according to the local critics, the paper was well-written. Thomas was born in about 1813 and was formerly of Newport, Essex, England. According to other reports, Probert had resided in Windsor “for upwards of three years.” The report continued, “Since his sojourn amongst us he had gained the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact, either commercially or socially, and was evidently a person of considerable literary merit.”  It is not known why he accompanied the boys; perhaps he was a neighbour or a family friend.

Mr Probert, who was aged sixty-one at the time, advised the boys he would check to see if the water was deep however Albert “went into the shallow water” but thought “it was too shallow.” Thomas told Albert “not to go into the deep part” yet “he went into the deep water and was trying to swim.” Thomas, obviously concerned, “took off his coat and waistcoat and jumped in after” Albert. He managed to get a hold of him but then his “face went under the water” and he was swept away. Albert tried to keep on the surface but he was only a modest swimmer, and after a short time sank in the middle of the creek. Meanwhile Thomas drifted downstream.

Ossory had to provide evidence at the Inquest, which was held the following day before the district Coroner, J. B. Johnstone. Ossory stated that he “was in the water, but where he was the current was not strong when he saw his brother go under he ran home and told his mother.” Ossory stated “Mr Probert could swim he had seen him swimming in deep water.” 

John James Fitzpatrick, Windsor’s senior Sergeant of Police and also Albert and Ossory’s father, also had to give evidence at the inquest. His testimony was reported in The Australian, Windsor, Richmond, & Hawkesbury Advertiser :

John James Fitzpatrick stated…on Tuesday evening between 4 and 5 o'clock the deceased, Albert Edward Horatio Fitzpatrick his son came and asked him where his mother was; he told him he did not know; but that he had better go and see if she was in the front bedroom; he saw no more of him; his son Ossory the last witness came to him about 5 o'clock on the same evening, and said that Mr. Probert and Albert were drowned in South Creek; he went to the place where his son said they were drowned, and when he got there he saw the body of Mr. Probert floating towards the Pitt Town side of South Creek; there were some men on the spot who at the request of; witness, took the body of Mr. Probert out of the water; after that they dragged for the body of his son and searched until dark without finding it; between one and two o'clock on Wednesday morning the search was renewed, and with the assistance of senior constable Bertleman and the Rev. Mr. Garnsey, they recovered the body about 3 o'clock; the bodies were removed to the Police Station, and are the same which have been viewed by the Coroner and jury; they are the bodies of his son Albert and Mr. Probert; when they were taken out of the water life was extinct.

Some confusion arose to the exact cause of death of Thomas Probert and medical advice was sought. 

John Selkirk a duly qualified medical practitioner residing in Windsor said that he had seen the body of Thomas Henry Probert and from the bloated and congested appearance of the face and head of deceased, coupled with the fact that the body was taken out of the water, he is of opinion that deceased met his death from asphyxia (drowning).

The Jury had struggled with coming to an understanding of the situation. However a compromise was eventually reached and the newspaper reported:

The Jury had some difficulty in arriving at a verdict; but after some deliberation found that the death of Albert Fitzpatrick was accidentally caused by drowning whilst bathing, and that of Thomas Henry Probert by asphyxia, by drowning whilst endeavouring to save the aforesaid Albert Fitzpatrick. Upon the suggestion of Sergeant Fitzpatrick the jury further agreed to, and signed a document, expressing their approbation of the conduct of those who had searched for and recovered the bodies. 

 Final resting place of Thomas Probert and Albert Fitzpatrick. They lie together in the one grave
at St Matthew’s Anglican cemetery - the one leaning to the right.
Picture: Michelle Nichols

Both funerals took place on the 9 April, at St. Matthew’s Church of England and the service was conducted by Rev Charles Garnsey. The minister who was involved in the search was the person who found the body of Albert a few days earlier. Thomas Henry Probert who had paid the ultimate sacrifice trying to rescue a boy from drowning, was buried at St. Matthew’s Church of England Cemetery in Windsor. The boy, Albert Fitzpatrick, was buried alongside Thomas although the family were traditionally Catholic. 

Several years after the tragedy, the eldest son of John James and Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, John Charles Lucas Fitzpatrick 1862-1932  became a journalist. In 1888 he established the Windsor & Richmond Gazette , later known as the Hawkesbury Gazette newspaper and operated it until 1899. In 1895 he entered politics and had a thirty-five-year long career.

An abbreviated version of this story appeared in the Hawkesbury Gazette in 2016, compiled by the author.

Death of Herbert Fitzpatrick

Sadly, tragedy struck the Fitzpatrick family again when Herbert died in Suva in 1896. He was reported as “an exceptionally smart young fellow, who died at Fiji from fever. Herbert was fast making his mark as a writer, both political and descriptive, and he certainly promised to be the brightest of a bright family.” Herbert died 28 February 1896 from typhoid fever and his obituary records why he was in Fiji in the first place.

The deceased was 27 years of age, and had been tor some months dispensing chemist on the Holmhurst Estate at Fiji. He served his apprenticeship to Mr. R. A. Pye, of Windsor, and some short time after the expiration of his connection with that gentleman's establishment he went to Sydney, where he was employed for a consider able period by Messrs Elliott Bros. Later on he went to Kempsey, on the Macleay, and also visited Tasmania, Victoria, South and Western Australia. After managing Messrs Pollard and Green's branch business at Coonamble for some months, he accepted an engagement to go to Fiji, where he was employed as analytical chemist on the Holmhurst Sugar Plantation. Six weeks or more ago he was attacked by typhoid fever, and was removed to the Colonial Hospital at Suva, where he received the utmost care and attention at the hands of the medical staff and Matron Beale, all of whom were most careful and kind towards their patient. His illness was one of the most intense and prolonged the Matron had ever seen, and he succumbed to it on the 28th February. The interment took place on the same day, and notwithstanding the fact that the deceased was a stranger to Suva residents, a large number of wreaths were sent by those with sympathised with his loneliness during illness, and the sad demise of a promising young man. Thus, though his remains rest in a land far away from old Windsor, he is not forgotten, for by kindly hands his humble grave adorned, by strangers honored(sic) and by strangers mourned. The relatives and friends of Mr H. Fitzpatrick desire to sincerely thank Matron S. Beale, and the medical staff of the Colonial Hospital at Suva, and all those residents of Fiji who displayed so much kindness towards him during his illness. His death came as a shock to those who knew him. He was regarded as one who had a bright career before him, for whatever may have been his faults; he was a generous and kind-hearted young Australian. 

Herbert’s death is recorded on his father’s headstone in the Windsor Catholic Cemetery. Patriarch of the family, John James Fitzpatrick died 26 November 1899 aged sixty-nine years, and his story is an article in its own right. His obituary appeared in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette in December 1899.  

Issue of John James Fitzpatrick and his wife, Elizabeth nee Lucas, who married in 1861 at Deniliquin, NSW:

• John Charles Lucas b 1862 Moama & d 1932 Chatswood 
• Albert E H b 1863 Wagga Wagga & d 1874 Windsor     
• Ossory A S b 1865 Mudgee & d 1933 North Sydney   
• Gertrude A b 1867 Mudgee married 1894 Wallace Harrison, Sydney   
• Herbert J Keppie b 1869 Mudgee & d 1896 Fiji  
• Milfred H M born 1872 Windsor & d 1872 Windsor   
• Florence Mary b 1873 Windsor unmarried  
• Frederick Arthur b 1873 Windsor & d 1958 Taree  

Bibliography

DEPLORABLE ACCIDENT AT WINDSOR. (1874, April 10).Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), p. 3. Retrieved November 29, 2013. 

WINDSOR. (1874, April 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

Family Notices. (1874, April 13). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

INQUEST. (1874, April 11). The Australian, Windsor, Richmond, and Hawkesbury Advertiser (NSW : 1873 - 1899), p. 2. Retrieved January 2, 2018

EDWARD MELLISH & THE SAKATA WRECK OF 1905

In Windsor's historic St Matthew’s Anglican cemetery is a monument to Edward James Mellish a young man who lost his life in a shipwreck at the turn of the twentieth century. Who was he and what were the circumstances of his death? 

Edward Mellish plaque on the Upton family vault in St Matthew's Anglican Cemetery
Photo: M. Nichols, 2017

According to the newspapers of the day, a British schooner called the “Sakata” was on a voyage from Anapolis in Brazil, to Havana in ballast in December 1905.  The “Sakata” was a three-masted schooner and “was struck by a terrific wave during a heavy gale” and turned her on “her beam ends, and before the crew had time to cut away the masts to right her she capsized, throwing Captain Donlon and the whole of the crew into the water.”

Some of the crew were able to climb to safety on the “upturned vessel, but owing to cold and exposure they gradually lost consciousness” and eventually vanished into the ocean. Out of the seven members of the crew, there was only one survivor, John F. Williams, one of the mates. He was on the brink of death when rescued by the crew of the “Helen Thomas” and was almost unconsciousness. He had kept alive for four days, by nibbling on his oilskin jacket.  

Sadly a local resident, Edward James Mellish drowned in the accident. Edward was the son of Edward Mellish 1850-1913 and Susannah nee Upton 1850-1885. Edward junior left Riverstone a number of years ago and sought work on “Sakata” a trading boat. Edward was twenty years and six months old when died and apparently had a “fine physique and splendid disposition.” 

The Windsor and Richmond Gazette article 21 September 1907 stated that Edward’s sister, Mrs Ethel Lorger, received afterwards, an article about the accident which was titled, “Loss of the Sakata and Crew.”  Apparently, there was not a lot of information about the accident however after the event the following letter appeared in the newspaper:  

Having read your inquiry in the Halifax paper in regards to your son Edward, I am taking the liberty of writing you, as ''Ned ' was a personal friend of mine while he was at this port. I spent the evening with him the night he left on that fated voyage on the schooner “Sakata”. Strange to say he asked me to write to you if he did not return, and I had forgotten the address until I came across the piece in the paper by chance. There is no doubt in my mind that poor Ned was lost as the only one who was saved was the mate, and his name is Williams, from St John, New Brunswick, I saw a letter that was written. To the lady that Ned boarded with while he was in town. It was from the mate after he came back to St John. He told how the vessel was struck by a squall and capsized, and he managed to climb on the bottom, and was rescued after much suffering, and obliged to eat a portion of his oilskins to keep alive. It was all so sudden that all the rest must have gone down immediately, except one poor fellow, he saw struggling in the water, but he could not help him, and finally he threw up his bands and was seen no more. It was Ned's watch below at the time of the accident, so you can imagine what kind of a chance he would have. The lady Ned boarded with was Mrs Lear Hardwick, who has since left here and gone to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The schooner Skata loaded lumber at the port, shipped by Pickels and Mills, and not Parsboro as stated in the clipping enclosed but was in Pars. And hoping these few lines will be of some assistance to you, I will come to a close, and kindly accept my sincere sympathy for the loss of your son as well as a very dear friend to me. I remain, yours truly, Herbert H. Hearne, Annapol, Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada. 

The circumstances of his death are few and far between however following the sad death of Edward, the family erected a monument on his mother’s family grave, the Upton’s. The vault is situated in St Matthew’s historic cemetery, Windsor to commemorate Edward, who lost his life on the other side of the world.

Shopping on the Hawkesbury - Trove Tuesday

The Hawkesbury district covers a wide area and many inhabitants had to travel long distances to access businesses and shops. A characteristic fairly unique to the Hawkesbury were the floating store boats which travelled up and down the Hawkesbury waterways in the late 19th and 20th century, providing provisions to remote communities. 

The store boats came in varying sizes; there were smaller vessels as well as those that were very well set-up selling drapery, groceries, ironmongery and other commodities. Some were fitted with counters and the boats travelled up and down the Hawkesbury, Colo and Macdonald Rivers. Some of the early operators included John Dennett, Henry Walker, as well as brothers William and Charlie Wood. Entrepreneur Charles Hatte, a Newtown merchant, took over Theodore Chaseling’s store boat and general store at Wisemans Ferry in the 1890s. Along with Henry Macnamara, who was in charge of operating the boats. At a later stage, Henry in conjunction with Robert Cameron, established a new partnership trading along the river. One of their main vessels was the ‘Camac’ named after a combination of their surnames Cameron and Macnamara. 

Shop boat on the Hawkesbury.
Illustration from the Evening News  24 December 1904

The local newspapers on Trove are a wealth of information about the boats. In years gone by, farmers grew most of their own food but in an article in the Evening News newspaper in 1904, an old resident who lived along the Hawkesbury River stated "in the early days we knew nothing about new fangled things" - she was trying to decide "between the purchase of 'cold drawn' castor oil" or patent pills. All sorts items were sold including clothing, millinery and shoes and boots. Alcohol, soft drinks, are sold next to babies' teething soothers, crockery and hardware lines. The newspapers of the day state that the trader must be exceptional - not only must he carry everything, but he also has to "convince his customer of her needs and his complete ability to meet them." The prices must also be competitive particularly as transport improved in the early 20th century and settlers were able to more easily journey into Windsor or Richmond shopping. 

Several businesses also supplied residents along the river with the necessities of fresh bread and meat. The Moses family operated one of the bread boats for many years from 1910 whilst Walter Singleton, Barney Morley and Wal Jones are remembered as popular identities from the 1920s-1930s and later.

The boats provided a much needed service and also brought with them news. It wasn't always the women who wanted to find out was was happening. According to an article in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette in the 1930s, "men always stay to gossip, probably because men run the boat. Pipes are stuffed firmly and a comfortable seat is found on a sack of something. Then the news of the day is checked."

The storeboats are long gone, people drive to local shopping centres for their supplies or order things via the internet. It is hard to imagine the time when one had to wait for the storeboat to make its weekly journey up the river. 

Family Millions - Trove Tuesday

Over the years there have been many articles published about money languishing in chancery, waiting for families to make a claim. In 1913 from the following paragraph from the Windsor & Richmond Gazette mentioned money in chancery and how it affected some Hawkesbury families:

We are told that several millions of money now in Chancery are shortly to be claimed, and that a number, of Hawkesbury families will be beneficiaries. The families interested are the Hobbses, Of Forrester; Mrs. Sullivan, senr., of Wilberforce; the family of the late Joshua Jones, the Bootles, of Pitt Town, and others. A representative, goes to England early next year to claim the enormous fortune.

During the 1920s hundreds of articles appeared in newspapers all over Australia. The following example compiled by George Reeve, a local historian who often wrote historical based articles, shows how useful these types of articles can be, providing names , places and dates. Check out The story of Robert Hobbs 

The story of Robert Hobbs (1926, May 28). Windsor & Richmond Gazette p. 6

There was even correspondence from New Zealand. In 1928 several letters were published from Mr G. A. Hobbs from Foxton, New Zealand in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette. In 1931 it was recorded that there were at least "360 claimants to the Hobbs millions" and there were "several unsuccessful attempts to secure the fortune."  In the UK newspapers reported similar instances, including Lancashire Evening Post - Thursday 30 July 1931. There was information about the Rose Millions published in 1925.

In the Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer 25 August 1930, Australian descendants of the Hobbs and Rose families pooled £3,000 to send representatives to England to claim the fortune. The Rose Millions was apparently worth £25,000,000 and the Hobbs £8,000,000. The applicants claimed the “Roses’s mother was a Lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, and that John Rose was a natural son of George III. They allege that George III, left extensive property in various English counties in trust for John Rose.” It was “claimed on behalf of the Hobbs claimants that John Rose married Harriet Hobbs.”

In 1925 George Reeve wrote about the Ebenezer pioneers and the Everingham fortune. Again during the next few decades, hundreds of articles were published in various Australian newspapers, including the following:

Everingham Millions (1929, October 4). Windsor & Richmond Gazette, p. 11

As well as the Hobbs, Everinghams, there was also  the Clarks Millions in 1927 and the Brewers Mystery Millions the same year. In 1929 there was talk of changing the Everingham Millions to the Chaseling Millions. There was also the Green Millions and of particular interest to my own family, the Jennings Millions in 1929.

The publishing of information about these supposed fortunes often provide fascinating information for family historians. Over the years, these stories have gripped generations and despite some of the untruths, they are an amazing read.

Hawkesbury memories of Christmas long ago

The following Christmas story was published in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette 24 December 1926, and was compiled by local historian, William Freame who often wrote historical articles on the local area.

‘Tchk, tchk! Gid-up!’ ‘

Hold fast, there!’ 

and down the range we go;

Five hundred miles of scattered camps will watch for Cobb and Co.

HENRY LAWSON

"The old mail coach, despite its limitations, was inseparably associated with Christmas holidays - when we were boys…the great lumbering, leather springed coach with three great lamps in front, drawn by four horses fresh from the last change, whose hoofs beat out merry music as we go over the bridge, under which "leaps the wild torrent from chasm to chasm."  Those were the days, the good old days, "when the world was wide" and life was full of adventure. We turn the corner and glimpse the river, like a silver ribbon winding through the valley. Bump! Bump! Over a log; we hang for a minute over the valley, and reach the top and pull up at the Selector's Arms with its menu of lamb, sheep, ram or mutton.

Image: Christmas Eve on the wallaby track.

Pub. Melbourne: David Syme & Co., 1880

Courtesy State Library of Victoria

We are crossing the flat now…a tiny wreath of smoke loses itself in the timber, a bark hut looms in the clearing and two of its children bestraddle the slip rails, a bundle of newspapers cleave the air, "A Merry Christmas - A Merry Christmas" and their tiny voices are swallowed in the silence of the bush. We glimpse the township, we lose it as the road dips down through a gully, then winds again, over another bridge that spans a lazy creek, and up the street where stands in all the glory of its tin-roof  The Travellers Rest [North Richmond] with  its generous supply of "am and heggs".

We wander o'er the old mail routes and live again the days that are gone; phantom horses and drivers haunt deserted Macquarie Arms [Windsor] and  "Royal Hotel" [Richmond] hide their weather-worn signboards in grey old barns; Diggers Rests delicensed these 30 years or more, have reached decrepit old age, and in their second childhood, dispense hop beer and brandy snaps and in an old slab shed remains all that is left for Cobb and Co. Dusty and rusty, its leather blinds all tattered, but what memories it evokes! Memories of other days and other ways, of friends and scenes long since passed away. They come back again…and once more we are on the road again…

Hark; the bells on distant cattle

Waft across the range,

Through the golden tufted wattle

Music low, and strange

GORDON

We touch the old coach again. Goodness! How all comes back again. Yes! It's Christmas times again, see the children? There they are, out on the slip rails, they are greeting the aeroplane."

Early days of Windsor

In 1916 the Publishing company Tyrell's Limited published the local history book titled "Early Days of Windsor" The book was originally written as a weekly series which appeared in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette from about 1914. The original series can be access via Trove.

Rev James Steele was the Presbyterian minister in Windsor and obviously took an interest in the history of the Hawkesbury. He spent "much time and labour in gathering his material and in disinterring from the somewhat dusty chambers of the past."

The book was reprinted by the Library of Australian History in 1977 and has been always been in demand. It recently became available under the auspices of Project Gutenberg Australia and Early Days of Windsor is now available to access for free. 

The book is based on Windsor and chapters are included on early settlement, origin of names, history of churches, schools, bridges, Hawkesbury Benevolent Society, local government as well as pioneering families and identities. The book is indexed and illustrated. If you have not consulted this little treasure, check it out.

Cover of  Early Days of Windsor

Hawkesbury Newspapers - Trove Tuesday

Newspapers are a wonderful source of information for both local and family history. Information located from newspapers is often unique and often not found in other sources. Hawkesbury newspapers, dating from the 1840s, are included on Trove, the National Library of Australia's digitised newspapers and sponsored by Hawkesbury Library Service.

• Australian, Windsor, Richmond & Hawkesbury Advertiser 1873 - 1899
• Hawkesbury Chronicle & Farmers Advocate 1881 - 1888
• Hawkesbury Courier & Agricultural & General Advertiser 1844 - 1846
• Hawkesbury Advocate 1899 - 1900
• Hawkesbury Herald 1902 - 1945
• Windsor & Richmond Gazette 1888 - 1955
• Windsor Express & Richmond Advertiser 1843 - 1844

Hawkesbury Courier and Agricultural and General Advertiser 11 July 1844, p. 1. 

The Windsor Express, was apparently the first permanent newspaper in the Hawkesbury, and first appeared on the 17 May 1843. This was almost 50 years after the Hawkesbury district was settled by Europeans. Geoffrey Amos Eagar produced the publication in his Printing Office located in George Street in Windsor. The newspaper only operated for about twelve months, with the last issue appearing on 9 May 1844.

Shortly after the Windsor Express became defunct, Eagar established another newspaper called Hawkesbury Courier and Agricultural and General Advertiser. The first issue appeared on the 11 July 1844 and operated until 1846. When the Hawkesbury Courier ceased publication, the Hawkesbury community had to wait for over a quarter of a century before another local newspaper was introduced. The Australian, Windsor, Richmond & Hawkesbury Advertiser was launched in 1873.

From that time until the present, the Hawkesbury district, has had a newspaper operating. The Windsor & Richmond Gazette was established in July 1888 by J. C. L. Fitzpatrick. The newspaper recently celebrated 125 years of operating. The most current issue dates from 21 December 1955.

Windsor and Richmond Gazette 21 July 1888 published 125 years ago. 

Dangers of cigarette smoking - Trove Tuesday

In the 21st century we are very aware of the dangers of smoking cigarettes, however it is interesting to find in the digitised newspapers on Trove the many accounts of how dangerous the practise was. 

In the 1895 it was recorded in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette that an "eleven-year-old named Gilespie has gone hopelessly insane, at Warren, through excessive cigarette-smoking."

A few weeks later the topic was raised again, in the Gazette, this time discussing the situation in Windsor. Obviously smoking amongst teenage boys, was prevalent in the Hawkesbury.  

"Juvenile smokers are to be found by the score in Windsor, and on any night an observant person may see specimens of the mature infant idling at street corners, or swaggering along the street with cigarettes between their lips...it is asserted upon the very best scientific authority that cigarette-smoking is the worst and most distinctly injurious form of tobacco indulgence. This applies to adults as well as to children; but, of course men, stronger of nerve and more hardy of tissue, are better able to withstand the assaults of nicotine. Upon the young however, the habit of smoking in any form has the most pernicious influence. It is a danger, physically and morally. It stunts his growth, undermines his nervous system and incuicates in him selfish and slavish habits; it injures the sight, and when indulged to excess, it impairs and even destroys the intellect. Smoking injures the sight without question...In the streets of our town mere boys have frequently accosted passers by for matches wherewith to light their 'bumpers'. A firm snubbing would meet exigencies of this kind, and perhaps act as a slight deterrent. Consistent discouragement on the part of parents would mitigate the evil. Not only mothers and fathers, but all sensible people who have the interests of the juvenile population at heart, should do their utmost to put down this detestable and injurious habit of cigarette smoking among young boys."

THE SEDUCTIVE CIGARETTE pictured from the West Gippsland Gazette 21 Jan 1902, p. 8
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68717796

Many of the articles refer to the appalling effect upon the nervous system and how smoking will stunt growth. 

An impressive warning from over a century ago ~ why didn't the community pay any attention?