Evening star., 1961-09-29
Retired Sailors Family
Prefers Brisbane Life

BRISBANE, Australia, Sept.
90 (AP). - Howard Gardiner
(BilD Ludwig retired from the
United States Navy in Hawaii
in July, 1857, and surveyed his
future.
He had risen to chief war
rant officer. He had pension
of $256.31 a month. He was
46. He had a wife, five chill
dren, and a desire to begin a
new life.
The Navy would fly him
and his family anywhere in
the world outside the Iron
Curtain where he wished to
live.
Should he take his family
back to Santa Barbara, Calf,
where he was born on Bath
street? Or should he take
them to Los Angeles where
his sister, Mrs. Helyne La
Satler lives?
Or should they go back to
BriS bane, the sub-tropical
city where he and
Pat met and married back in
1945 during World War II?
The Ludwigs reasoned, for
one thing, that Bills pension
would go further down un-
der" than it would in the
United States.
Joined 1,341 Others
So the family became seven
of the 1,341 American immi-
grants, diplomats and resi-
dent businessmen who came
to Australia from the United
States in 1857.
(They got here well before
Stanley Yankus, the best
known American migrant who
came from Dowagiac, Mich,
in 1859. He migrated to Aus
tralia to protest restrictions
on what he could grow on his
Michigan farm.
(Mr. Yankus now is working
for an Adelaide department
store at $44.80 week.
(Mr. YankuS told a reporter
the other day: "I am happy
here. My family is happy. Why
should we go home?O
Bill Ludwig quickly got a.
job as Storeman-clerk in a de-
partment store of Brisbane, a
city of 100000. He stockpiled
his pension.
By September, 1859, they
had enough for the down pay
ment on the "Yeronga Service
Store" corner grocery in the
suburb OF Yeronga, 4 miles
out of the city. He borrowed
$6,720 from the bank to COM
plete the purchase.
Today, with the pension still
coming in, business booming
in the shop, and the bank loan
being paid off, they are on top
of the bottom of the world.
Not all the Americans who
have migrated to Australia are
as satisfied as the Ludwigs.
Some have gone home. Some
have stayed, though wishing
they were back home. Regis
tered unemployment in Aus
tralia at the latest count was
2.7 per cent of the work
force.
But the success of the Lud-
wigs is by no means an iso-
lated example of Americans
coming to Australia and doing
well.
1--WE been all over the
world, and Australia will do
me-" says Mr.. Ludwig.
The family lives in a six
room frame dwelling attached
to the shop. 1t has electricity,
a hot-water system-and a
privy down the garden path.
Only about half of Brisbane
is severed, and in this regard
is behind most Australian
cities. Some unsewered houses
have septic tanks; but for
thousands of Brisbane homes
the night-cart is still a regu-
lar visitor.
Pension Goes Further
Being Americans we don't
like that" says Bill referring
to the 10Th century sanitary
system.
But in other ways the Lud-
wig family is very happy as
they soak up the sunshine of
Brisbane.
THE climate" says Bill with
a grin, "is like Southern Cali
fornia-except that it's bet
ter. 1t doesn't get as cold in
winter or as hot in summer;
and you never get fogs like
those in San Francisco.
And I was right about the