Historical information

This book was owned by Alf Gresham Johnston who was a former SMB mining student from the Ballarat School of Mines. He died at the age of 29 during military service in South Africa. The following is from the Federation Uni Honour Roll at http://federation.edu.au/about-us/our-university/history/geoffrey-blainey-research-centre/honour-roll/j/alfred-gresham-johnston-1872-1901

The October 1901 Ballarat School of Mines (SMB) Students Magazine reported 'Alf. Johnston's gone. The news came as a shock to all of us at the school. He who was with us a few short months ago, in all strength of sturdy manhood, has met a soldier's death in South Africa, and we sincerely mourn his loss…. His heart was in the school, and he did his best to further its interests … His last act on leaving Australian shores was to send a telegram from Albany to Prof. Mica Smith, to whom he was warmly attached, wishing the School and all connected with it "Good-bye". In his short, all to short, life of 29 years, he had more adventure than falls the lot of most men, and possibly the spirit of adventure, and also, of duty, prompted him to throw in his lot with the "colors," and leave for the front. The news of his death comes to us with added weight of sadness when we remember that he was one of the organisers of the School entertainment last year to help swell the fund for the erection of a statue to fallen Victorian soldiers.'

Physical description

A small red book with a double black line bordering the front cover, with the text Longmans Elementary Science Manuals on the bottom of the cover. On the back cover is an L&Co logo

Inscriptions & markings

On the title page is the inscription of the original owner of the book Alf G Johnston School of Mines Ballarat 1899. Inside the front cover and on page 19 is the stamp of the School of Mines Ballarat