SHOCKING HARDSHIPS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 284, 26 July 1932, Page 7

SHOCKING HARDSHIPS

UNFORTUNATE /WOMAN FACES LONELY ORDEALS. j j In a - cave below the earth, in the i ; very h'eart of Australia, a woman, ! ' alone and unattended, has given. birth to a son. The child was born at 10 o'clock on a sunny morning in an in- j ner cavarn, 7 feet by 7 feet, hewn j from solid rock, and aetually 8 feet ' below sea-level. Last Monday, p.t the age of one month, his eyes first looked on the light of day. In its 20 years' history, this is the ; first child born at Coober Pedy opalfields, 800 miles north of Adelaide, in the Stuart Ranges. The father was 'j away opal-digging when the event oc- • curred. The dug-out town did not | know of its existence initil the infant ' was brought to the surface on Monday. The family has had a hard life. The mother, Mrs. Wilson, said that slie had not spuken to another human being except her husband and children for many weeks. Five Yearj on Trail. For five years, with her hsubarid and five children, she has practically lived in a car, following the trail of work. From Kimberley they went south a few months ago, the first woman and children to cross this country. The seeond youngest child, aged three years, was born on the track somewhere in the North ern Territory. At Coober Pedy the father pegged out a* claim and the mother and children have never been seen outside the dugout, for the mother has no clothing, and does not care to approach the other women for help without the wherewithal to pay. The family had been existing on Government rations, but the father some time ago found £1 worth of opal. This was reported, and the rations were stopped the week the baby was born. The father, a Queensland returned soldier, voluntarily gave up his pension nine years ago because he was able and willing to work. Opalfields folk are kind-hearted, but very poor. They are existing on rations. These six fine children are the only ones in this immense area, and their future is as dark as their cave home. The baby has been called Herbert Coober Wilson.