Three Elephant Power, and Other Stories

In Short

A collection of comic sketches and yarns, this book explores the quirky, unforgiving reality of early Australian bush and town life. Through satirical character studies, racing exploits, and tall tales, it charts a world populated by schemers, eccentric animals, overmatched drivers, and stubborn pioneers. The narrative glides from bush tracks to city racecourses, poking fun at human vanity and the unpredictable nature of livestock and early technology alike. It has endured because it captures a distinct national voice—laconic, ironic, and relentlessly observant—while finding universal humor in the struggle between stubborn humans and an equally stubborn landscape.

The Story

The volume opens in the early days of motoring, where an eccentric chauffeur named Alfred recounts the fateful drive of a bush mechanic named Henery. Determined to outrun a mysterious vehicle ahead of him on a treacherous mountain road, Henery pushes his car to its limit, only to crash into a three-elephant-powered circus wagon. The collision leaves the lead elephant stenciled with the car's radiator grid and sends Henery flying over a cliff to his death.

From this tragicomic opening, the narrative moves through a series of vignettes centered on the absurdities of rural and suburban life. "The Oracle" exposes the quiet bluster of a racetrack know-it-all who consistently loses his money, misreads the running of every race, and yet manages to maintain a formidable reputation for turf expertise among his peers. In "The Cast-iron Canvasser," a pair of desperate publishers build a spring-loaded, phonograph-driven iron salesman to corner the backblock trade. They set the device loose on an aggressive country office where a ferocious guard dog named Tom Sayers bites into the machine's cork legs, leading to absolute chaos.

The book then turns its gaze toward the native fauna and livestock that define the Australian environment. The author offers a detailed anatomical and psychological teardown of the merino sheep, portraying it as a dangerous monomaniac whose single goal in life is to ruin its owner by dying in the most inconvenient ways possible. Cattle are revealed to be equally chaotic, prone to night stampedes caused by ghost sightings or minor rustles in the dark.

Amid these observations are moments of quiet bush camaraderie. A fever-racked drover passes through a station to sell his trusted camp-horse, sparking a moment of silent understanding with a station manager who knows the toll of Queensland fever all too well. Elsewhere, the narrative dips into low-stakes swindles, such as a gang of Mulligan sports who attempt to fleece a traveling priest at poker on a train, only to find themselves outmatched.

The scope broadens to include urban observations, from the daily routine and private warfare of the suburban domestic cat to the precise, professional artistry of hunting dogs. The collection concludes with a parodic short story, "Done for the Double by Knott Gold," following a lost child turned jockey who double-crosses his unscrupulous master to win a race, reunite with his wealthy mother, and ruin the local bookmakers.

How It Unfolds

A high-speed catastrophe On a dangerous mountain pass, a bush mechanic turns a corner at forty miles an hour and crashes directly into a traveling circus wagon pulled and pushed by elephants.

The racetrack know-it-all At the course, a self-appointed expert loses his stakes on every race but loudly lectures his companions on stiff running, successfully cementing his local reputation as a turf prophet.

An automated salesman Two struggling printers build a mechanical, talking canvasser to sell atlases in the bush, sending it straight into the office of a fierce station agent and his aggressive dog.

The madness of livestock A detailed breakdown reveals the destructive tendencies of merino sheep and droving cattle, detailing how sheep will deliberately crowd into dry paddocks or drown in shallow rivers.

A bush transaction A sick, yellow-skinned drover traveling south to recover from Queensland fever sells his prized camp-horse to a station manager who recognizes the shared hardship of the northern trails.

Card sharps on a train A group of confident country swindlers set up a poker game in a railway carriage to fleece a priest, only to be completely taken in by his innocent facade.

A dog-fight in the scrub In a hidden thirty-foot enclosure off the main road, two highly trained bull-terriers meet under strict rules and local supervision for a ten-pound stake match.

The People

• Alfred: A young, weirdly intelligent chauffeur of poor physique who talks and thinks entirely in terms of motors. Confident to a fault, he drives with natural ferocity while entertaining his passengers with outlandish yarns of the road.
• The Oracle: A loud suburban racegoer who claims total insight into the sport of kings. Despite failing to see the actual outcome of races and backing losing horses, he uses loud bluster and post-race hooting to keep his unearned authority intact.
• Macpherson: A fiery bush office-holder who keeps a ferocious dog named Tom Sayers specifically trained to attack traveling canvassers on sight. He physically confronts the mechanical canvasser when it invades his sanctuary.
• M'Gregor: A quiet, experienced station figure who buys a camp-horse from an ailing drover. Having suffered through Queensland fever himself, his gruff demeanor softens out of unspoken sympathy for a fellow bushman.
• Billy: A veteran storyteller who delivers impossibly tall bush tales to his campmates. He refuses to abate or compromise a single detail of his absurd narratives, completely flattening anyone who tries to question his logic.

In Its Own Voice

“He was wood and water joey at some squatter's place until he seen a motor-car go past one day, the first that ever they had in the districk.”

Before his sudden end against a circus elephant, Henery decides on the spot to abandon his humble station chores for a life behind the wheel.

“The truth is that he is a dangerous monomaniac, and his one idea is to ruin the man who owns him.”

The merino sheep is presented not as a passive herbivore, but as a dedicated agent of economic destruction against Australian graziers.

“Arrived on the top of the shed, the cat arches his back, rakes his claws once or twice through the soft bark of the old roof, wheels round and stretches himself a few times; just to see that every muscle is in full working order...”

Leaving behind the domestic comforts of the family hearth, the suburban cat prepares himself for the nocturnal realities of hunting and territorial warfare.

What It's Really About

Behind its sharp comic surface, the book examines the friction between human ambition and the unruly realities of the frontier. It pokes fun at the false confidence of men who pretend to master their surroundings—whether they are driving early motor cars, betting on racehorses, or trying to manage unpredictable stock. The text contrasts the inflated self-image of town slickers and turf "oracles" with the quiet, shared endurance of real bushmen who have survived fever, drought, and scrub. Above all, it celebrates the absurd survival strategies required to live in a landscape where both the technology and the animals seem actively aligned against human order.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate dry, unvarnished observational humor and distinct regional voices will find much to enjoy in this collection. It offers a swift, highly atmospheric window into turn-of-the-century Australia, written with the sharp eye of a seasoned journalist and the rhythmic ease of a natural storyteller. The book feels energetic and remarkably modern in its irony, skipping heavy sentimentality in favor of quick wit and vivid character sketches.

It does, however, present a few period difficulties for the contemporary reader. The prose relies heavily on turn-of-the-century Australian slang, turf vernacular, and phonetic bush dialects that may require a moment of adjustment. Modern readers will also encounter outdated cultural stereotypes and casual historical attitudes native to the era's popular journals. Yet, for those interested in classic frontier humor, early motoring culture, and the timeless comedy of human self-delusion, this collection remains a remarkably lively and entertaining read.