Linda Miller from the town office was kind enough to phone me with some more information on the ‘scavenger’ and his job.
He had a lot of “crap cans” to empty. There were just over 300 houses and each had six cans. He was also responsible for the general tidiness of the town, picking up the dead animals and manure left on the streets.
Chriest was the only one to have this job as no one else seemed to want it; he took advantage of this and would ask for a raise on a regular basis. It got to the point that in 1925 he was earning $185 per month, compared to the $150 per month that the engineer running the power plant earned.
I can understand why the Council opted to go with toilet pits.
Thanks very much for the interesting information Linda.
Coronation built the first power plant in 1914, bringing electricity to the town. At first the electricity was only turned on from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to daylight.
It simply wasn’t needed during the rest of the day as there were no refrigerators, washing machines or electric stoves at the time. Lights were the main use of electricity and these were only needed in the evenings.
There was no change until October 1921 when they started a half day power service on Wednesday afternoons, for “ those who wish to use electric irons etc.”
Then in 1926 they progressed to two extra mornings, as the August 19, 1926 Review reported:
“Many in Coronation will find it a great convenience that the Town is running an extra service of electricity for those who have electrical appliances such as: washing machines, vacuum cleaners, irons etc.
The current is turned on two mornings a week, Mondays and Tuesdays from 8 a.m. until 12 o’clock noon.”
It wasn’t until November 1927 that Council voted for 24 hour service.
It is really hard to imagine life with such limited electricity, a housewife would need to be organized and work quickly to get everything done in time.
That being organized part would have been the ruin of me.

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