CATTLE THIEVES AT WORK.

Taihape Daily Times, 14 November 1917, Page 4

CATTLE THIEVES AT WORK.

RECRUDESCENCE IN AUSTRALIA. " SYDNEY,, t p.e,tqber..,3L V . Reports from various country districts indicate,.that. the..cattle thief isat work to a greater extent than has been known for years. Somehow, one W" associates cattle stealing in Australia with the days of Starlight and the Kelly Gang—though why, it is difficult tp i say. Recent instances 1 suggest that it is just as easy to steal cattle now as it was .50 years ago—and a good deal more. ; profitable.,-!jjij \ ; ,1' . . There, are,two good reasons; offered for the increased cattle; thefts;.'.-.-.The first, of, course, is the high prices being obtained for cattle. A man can get as much for ten good steers as he could for twenty a few years ago —and it is easier to steal ten than • twenty animals. The other reason is •-. that the voluntary system of enlistment in Australia has naturally taken away the best class of men, including the good and trustworthy type of station hand and has left the rogues, and scallywags. Pastoralists complain j bitterly these days of the lack of dependable servants. Some of the stories suggest that, given, plenty. of cheek, it is not so difficult to steal cattle as might be supposed One well-known squatter, who lives near a country town, decided to sell fat bullocks, and had them brought in to the homestead paddock. They were about for a day or two, and then they failed to discover the slightest trace of them.

One day, in another country, tow* there was a big cattle sale, to which stock was brought from all parts of the district. A farmer, whose land is partly within the municipal boundary, brought in two bullocks and left them in the hotel yard while he had his dinner. After dinner, and a game of billiards, the farmer went for- his bullocks, to take them on to the saleyard . They were gone. Ardent enquiries in every direction disclosed no. trace of them. The farmer dashed off to the police station. The sergeant and the one black tracker were away on a manhunt, The only policeman available made a frantic inspection, but every road and lane in and about the fown held strings of cattle corresponded to the description of the missing beasts* Those two fat bullocks were never heard of again.

There is another story of a young English squatter who was interviewed one day, soon after settling down by two men passing with a string of cattle. They offered him the animals at a fair price, and he them, then and there. The point or the story really lies in the remarks made by the Englishman's head stockman, who came in from the run a few jAira later and recognised in. flic, newlypurchased beeves a small mob he had just been searching for. The Englishman had bought his own cattle.