The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-21

many parts Of the country are such that
for nine months the sheep can feed on the
dry srasses II they can only get water. and
Of late the water in many places has come
from artesian wells. The chief danger IL in
overlooking. 20 that the Sheep eat all the
grass and. Notwithstanding the drinking
water, die Of starvation.
There are In Queensland clone 80 arte-
sian wells and . number more are being
put down. Already more than 00oo. 900
have been spent upon them. The agsregate
depth Of the wells 10 in the neighborhood Of
600 to 1000 feet Some Of the wells are very
deep. There Is one At winton which was
sunk 1900 feet before Il struck water, and
there are many down 5000 and more, One
well flows 100000 gallons day. another A.
000.000 and another 100000 In New South
Wales large number Of 0Qfe1s as they are
called. have been sunk. ana several Of them
are flowing from one to two million gallons
day.
A singular thing about the wells Is that
the water that comes from them Is very
hot. As one Of the squatters says. It Is
hot enough to sca1d dog, and, indeed. a
dog that fell into the stream OF ono of
them the other day was killed. The water
Is slightly salt, and 1t contains some soda.
but the sheep drink and thrive upon It. It
cools. OF course. as 1t runs of. being con-
Quoted in bitches and pipes over the pas
lures
The bitches are made with huge plows
constructed Of logs in the form of . v.
The end is shod with iron. and q team Of
eight or ten oxen drags the pillow along the
course desired for the stream. This makes
a broad furrow. forming the canal, at which
tho stock can drink There are many ca.
mails Of this kind from fifteen to twenty
miles long. and some even longer.
Land Where the Hens
Lay Boiled Eggs.
Australia is the hottest country on. rec
ord. have ridden for miles astride the
equator. but I have never found heat to
compare with thiA Out In the country in
tho dry times there appears to b little
more than sheet Of brown payer hstwesu
you and tho lower regions. and the people
facetiously say that they have to feed
their hens cracked ice to keep them from
laying boiled eggs. The dry lands are hot.
ter than Sahara. Much Of them b desert.
and tho sun beats vertically down upon the
continent during the hottest part Of the
year. three hours every day. in TRAVELLING
across t.
Australia IL a. long from one side % ths
other a. from New York to Salt IAks City,
andths greater part Of Il 10 covsrsd with
granite sand. It has no cooling winds to
speak Of. and the sand and rock bottle
up the heat and give II cut again. Captain
6turt. who crossed the Australian desert
some years ago. records that he once hung
his thermometer graduated 10 In degrees
In the shade. and that the mercury rose
ana broke the tubs The temperature must
have been at least 12s degrees in the open
air outside. which is said to DO the highest
temperature recorded In any part Of the
world.
For three months during that trip the
temperature averaged over 1o1 degrees
Fahrenheit In the shade, and the air Wa
20 dry that Captain Sturt writes "that
evsry screw fell out Of his boxes his combs
split UP into hairs. the lead dropped out OF
his pencils, and his hair ceased to grew
and his nngsr-nails became. 40 brittle -
glass"
All the rivers DOW toward the coast. The
most OF them are short and unnavisablA
There 10. In fact. only one big river System
In the oountry-that Of the Murray, which
lows out the southeast end Of Australia.
The Murray IL 100 or 100 miles long. II
has extensive branches something like the
Aisassippi- Missouri by which It waters Q
vast basin. In which are some Of the best
sheep farms Of Australia Nearly Ill Of its
basin Is taken up by squatters. The greater
part Of It IL fenced. and in certain sections
the lands are worth % much - good farm
ing lands In the United States
South Australia IL the
District of Salt Lakes.
Australia has no fsesh-watse lake. D
speak Of. Its bigEsst lakes ere salt. and
thsrs are very few OF these. The most Of
them lie In South Australia, In what 10
called the lake district. . region about
Lon miles long. AZ the bottom Of this -