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Such was Ayr at the turn of the century and when Australia became a federated and united
nation, on 1 January 1901. And little had changed, apart form additional wooden buildings and
amenities, when Esther and her children came to Ayr in the Australian autumn of 1913.
Apart from the expansion of the sugar industry (3,500 hectares of sugar cane grew in the
district, compared with 150 hectares of maize and about ten hectares of potatoes, pumpkins,
melons and other fruit), the most significant mechanical advances were in motor vehicles, in
railway and telephone communications, electric light and silent films.
Although the first telephone line, between Townsville and the Inkerman Station, had been
opened in 1903, it was not until 1912 that Townsville was connected to Ayr by telephone, the
wires running along the railway line. The
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switchboard at the little exchange in Ayr was mainly operated by women, who connected all
calls; there was no direct dialling or automation until 1969. Electricity came to Ayr in 1910,
when Dave Edwards installed a generator to illumine his Delta Hotel and the adjacent Delta
Theatre, as well as some nearby shops. A small power station was built on franchise by the
entreprising Mr Edwards at the start of the First World War, and Queen Street, Ayr's main
thoroughfare, was lit up at night. But the cost of electricity was so high that home consumers
were few.
The Delta Theatre, later known as the Olympia, was a glittering palace of entertainment for
many years. Adorned with tropical plants, as well as electric light, it had promenades, a wooden
dance floor 80 feet long, and a stage 35 feet wide. It was the main venue for every kind of
amateur and professional performance and screened the early silent films, which were
accompanied by suitably dramatic piano music or sometimes by a small orchestra. Sometimes
all sound was overwhelmed by torrents of rain on the iron roof. But the roof was ceiled and the
building was converted into a picture theatre when talking pictures became the rage, the first
talkie being seen and heard in Ayr in October 1929. Other social centres were the Federal Hall,
Lynch's Hotel (called the Queen's) the Grand National Hotel opposite the railway station, and
the Ayr Hotel, which opened in 1910.
The local Caledonian Society, formed in 1910 because many of the landowning farmers and
businessmen were of Scottish descent, used to organise most of the major social events in Ayr,
like concerts, dinners, dances, outings and balls, as well as a Sports Day at the Ayr Show
ground on New Year's Day.
Sporting events were many. Horse-racing had taken place as soon as Ayr was named, the most
popular meeting being the Boxing Day races at Ayr racecourse; and cricket had been played at
the Ayr Recreation Reserve since 1889. The cricket team at McDesme won the premiership for
three years in a row, 1910-1912. McDesme even had a ladies' team, who beat Ayr in 1912 -
Miss Rossiter of McDesme excelled, taking six wickets for no runs. Football was also played
by the McDesme managers and workers, and a football club was formed at the farm, at John
Soper"s house, in 1906; the first secretary was Len Rutherford. Football had been played at
Ayr since federation, and a Lawn Tennis Club was also in existence by the time Esther
Honeycombe came to the Burdekin.
Not that she would have had the time or inclination for any such activities, or for the pleasures of
the Delta Theatre - though she may have taken her children to see the silent films and the first
circus to visit Ayr, which played for two nights in September 1913. Of more interest would
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