WOOL AWAY!

Evening Star, Issue 19658, 10 September 1927, Page 15

WOOL AWAY!

GETTING SET AT “KENILWORTH” [Written by Haiuiv Scott, for the . Evening Star.’] CHAPTER 11. The next morning we prepared fortho road. .As wo had a good dozen miles of desert to cross before we reached Kenilworth, our most important task was to see that our water bags were full. By the send-off we received from. Byrock one would have thought we wore old and much-respected residents. Amid cries of “Good luck!” and “Ring the shed!’' we pedalled steadily out along the dusty road. For about four miles wo went due west alongside the railway line. Then we changed to the south, 'ft was dreary country we passed through, although there was a certain indefinable fascination about it For the most part the land consisted of red soil, with a number of small sandhills scattered hero and there Any vegetation was merely salt bush and small scrub. The sun, blazing down pitilessly from a cloudless sky, caused us to make frequent attacks on our water bags. Eventually we reached Kenilworth. As far as Australian sheep stations go this was quite a small place, but, as the life on and about it was much the same as on any other station, the few notes .1 am about to write apply in a general way. Mr Robert Oliver was the manager of Kenilworth. Tinder him wore about a dozen permanent outside hands, two bullock drivers, and four-rabbit poisoners with carts.

Tn Australia, as in parts of New Zealand, the rabbits are a terrible pest, and it has been proved that wellorganised attack by the poison method is the most effective in their destruction. Although much like a spring cart or gig, the poison cart is really a machine in its own simple way. The driver mixes his poison and puts it into a sort of oil drum in the cart. As he drives along, a small ploughshare like a shoe roots up the ground, and particles of the poisoiy are distributed along the furrow at intervals of about 12in. Rabbit poisoning goes on all day and every day of the year. The slaughter is phenomenal, hut, needless to say, the skins are not worth nearly as much as the winter skins of Central Otago.

Boundary riding is a lonely occupation, but ono not without a certain atmosphere of romance. The vast distances traversed by the riders, and their skill with stock, make them not only important hut also quite .as picturesque as the much-advertised cowboys of the United States. Besides stock work their duty includes the repairing of fences which, owing to the depredations of kangaroos and emus, constantly need attention. Emus, when tilting at a fence, are vigorous to a degree. One day at Kenilworth I noticed one run up to a fence, hop into the air, and kick a t the wires until two of them snapped like string. At normal times everybody on the station used to rise at 7.30 a.m., breakfast at 8, and, with the exception of the poison cartmen, gather at the stable at 9 to await orders from the boss. The rabbit poisoners went straight to their jobs. “Good morning, boys,” Mr Oliver would call, as be strolled down to the stable a little later. “Anything to report?” Occasionally the riders bad something to report,_ such as sheep getting “boxed” or mixed; nr maybe a bullock sick. But usually there was a chorus of “No, boss.” “Well, that’s good, boys,” Mr Oliver would say. “You know your work, and I’ll leave you to it.” Then this easy-going fellow would return to the house and the boys, after a few minutes gossiping, would scatter to their various boundaries and paddocks. At abo"f half-past 3 they would return to < o stables, feed their horses, and go to their huts for a spell. All this seems very ireo and easy. Certainly nobody became unduly excited or bustled, but, from my own observation, I gathered that these men, when they were actually going, could get through more work in. an hour than the average Kiverina hand would in half a day. Australians as a class will not stand too much bossing; therefore the services of a head shepherd wero dispensed with. Mustering in these parts is comparatively easy. One man can muster a large paddock with a dog and a stock whip. All ho docs is to walk to the far end of it and crack his whip several times. The sheep will run together in a twinkling, and can he driven in by the noise of the whip alone. The dog is used for heading purposes only. The men at “ Kenilworth ” were particularly fortunate in having an excellent cook, a Frenchman who had seen better days, but who, nevertheless, was well satisfied to put his best leg foremoat in the matter of catering for the station hands. The morning after our arrival we three ahearoro reported at the stable to Mr Oliver, and explained that we would be glad of any work until the shearing started. In thia matter we wer« immediately successful. Ona Sunday tho two girls from the homestead. Katie Cole and Oiriie Law, with oar three salves, made up a party to go searching for emu e^gs. we must have walked five or six miles before we had any luck. Then I found a nest with ten eggs and Refer ere with six--all fresh. A peculiar fact is that when an emu egg is bad it turn# from its usual dark green color to white. An egg is about Sn in length and Sin through. Roughly, il would bo equal to ton or twelve hens’ eggs. The she'll is rough, and when scraped with a sharp instrument it becomes lighter in color. I have seen such beautiful "pictures carved on emu eggs that, from a distance, you would think they were hand-painted. An emu’s nest is merely an apology for one. A few twigs and wisps of grass scraped together, cither iu the open or amongst some stones, seems to suffice. On our. way home Paul took out a red handkerchief and waved it at four of these birds which were crossing the road in front of us. Immediately they stopped and stared. They ran another few yards; another stop. It was quite laughable. Finally their curiosity got the better of them, and they followed us nearly all the way home. Tho emu is a most inquisitive bird. A colored garment or a whistle is enough to bring it almost within hands’ reach. (To be continued.)