“READ THE SIGNPOST. LOTS OF LAUNCESTON PEOPLE HAVE LEARNED TO READ IT CAREFULLY. Read the Sign-post correctly. The Sign-post of health is the back. You must read its aches and pains. You must know the language of the back. When you know it, the Sign-post reads: " Backache is kidney ache. Lame back is lame kidneys. Weak back is weak kidneys. To cure the back, cure the kidneys." Only one sure way to do this. Take Doan's Backache Kidney Pills. Mrs. George Bennett, 21 St. John-street, Launceston, says:.."[i]

Mary Ann Bennett certainly did read the sign post. She had been taking Doan’s pills since 1902. In fact, she was still endorsing them in 1925, even though she had been dead for several years! Not many medications can be that effective. She had inherited the opportunity to have her name coupled with these pills from her husband’s Uncle Henry.

Henry also found that they worked a treat, also after death. He committed suicide in Mary Ann’s home in 1899 by falling backwards onto a bradawl and severing his spine. One might have thought that that was enough to remove the pain but his advertisements continued for another twelve months!

Mary Ann’s sister in law Rose, preferred Dr Sheldon’s Magnetic Liniment. It not only cured her backache but also the gout of her adopted son. She then moved on to another product. Dr Sheldon produced ‘digestive tabules’ which really were a wonder, taking away all her stomach problems. After two years the advertisements stopped. Was she cured for life?

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[i] 1906 'READ THE SIGNPOST.', Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), 1 December, p. 8 Edition: DAILY., viewed 8 February, 2016,

A Useful Tool

Did my face echo my doubts when my aunt handed over the two large, rusted and dirty rings?

"They were my Grandfather's," she explained, "Parts of a maul."

In the back of my mind, I had a vague idea,  but when seeing a real one in a forestry museum a little later, I could see how the rings worked. A large cylindrical, wooden head had a ring around each end to stop the wood from splitting when the tool was hit hard against another surface.

Internet searches told me that a maul was used by circuses to hammer tent pegs into the ground. I think Ephraim was more likely to have used it for splitting timber and for fencing. It must have had a myriad of uses in the bush.

I cannot imagine how difficult it was to use such a tool. There certainly would have been no need to go to the gym at the end of the day. In fact, I have used the rings as weights. 

Texture marks spill the secret that they have been home made. A depression would have been made into sandy soil and a tin placed in the centre. Hot metal poured into the resulting circular well would have been then left to cool. 

Once any sharp edges were beaten flat, they would have been reheated before hammering into position on the maul.

I have had these a while now. They have been cleaned and de-rusted. I have no use for a large wooden maul but they are wonderful to place on slippery fabric to stop it sliding away when I am cutting out a pattern.