Chapter 2: A building with a past · 4 April 2011

Letter extracts from John Austin to his wife, Eveline.

History

Extract from a letter (undated) to Eveline from John Austin

The Panatrope failed on Monday. It would not go at 6.15 so we sent for a pianist at 7.30 I tried it again and it acted so we sent the pianist home.

Jimmy (the operator) shut it off after the first house and when he went to start it again it wouldn’t start. So we had to send for the pianist again and she stayed till the finish. I knew what was wrong so I told George (brother and manager of the Carlton Cinema Goole) to bring the part out of their Panatrope to try it in ours and if it had not been as I thought, the Generator, I would have had to go to Leeds.

However George came to Thorne, we tried the part in the set, everything went O.K. So the next thing was to get a new part and off to Leeds we went. Saw a good picture, got a new part, came back. George and me went to put his part back in his Panatrope using his Electric Soldering Iron and when he had finished I rushed back to Thorne to solder my new part in and everything is O.K.

Extract from another letter…

"We have booked our opening picture today. Broadway Babies, so that will be alright"
John ends the letter with a "special X for the boy". This means the letter could not have been earlier than I933 June when son Kenneth was born. Eveline gave birth at her mother's house in Goole.