SOLITUDE

Shannon News, 20 July 1926, Page 2

SOLITUDE

NEVER-NEVER HEROINES. SANDHILL FLOWERS. ADELAIDE, June 26. Mrs T. R. Canning, an Englishwoman who is touring the world, was one of the party which, with Captain Bagot, explored the interior on the 4500 miles tour. Mrs Canning said that in one part of the country they struck a terrific sandstorm, and came to a house where they were entertained royally. “The living-room was an oasis in the desert,” she said. “The woman there made no complaint about the fury of the sandstorm. We grumbled wholeheartedly, and asked liow she stood it. “It is not so bad always”, she said, apologetically. “Y’ou have no idea what pretty flowers grow on the sandhills. They can look really lovely at times.” “Everywhere women told us .that they longed for the sight of another white woman. The society of women is the greatest want of their lives. OUTER WORLD UNKNOWN “Communication outback is another point. A child is sick, or a husband or a mother.. There is no way of getting a doctor. The next homestead is perhaps 100 miles away, and then 200 or 300 miles to the doctor. No telephone nor telegraph is available Just an interminable wait while a life hangs in the balance. Yet they are content, these people. “One family, far away in the N'ev-ev-Never, is comprised of a daughter of 20, a -boy in his teens, and a small child. The girl of 20, a pretty intelli gent* daughter of Eve, was born and bred at her present home, and has never been farther thaji Alice Springs —never seen a railway. Until recently her mother is the only woman she lias met.”