Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-03-01
AN EXPLORERS INGENUITY.
Some Incidents In the Career Of a
Famous Australian.

Famous Australian.
There was jubilation in Queensland
on the last birthday Of the Grand Old
Man" of that state. He Is the Hon.
Augustus Charles Gregory, eighty
three years old, and a resident Of Aus
tralia since he was ten. He will be
remembered as one Of the greatest ex-
plorers of the continent
All maps Of Australia showing the
routes of the explorers who solved its
mysteries mark the tracks Of Gregory
through North Australia, through the
inner part of West Australia and along
the southern edge Of the desert. He
brought to light important regions that
were fit for settlement and are now
among the prosperous parts of the COM
monwealth, though it was long sup
posed they could not be turned to good
account.
During the many speeches in his
honor on his birthday much was said
about the remarkable inventive genius
which stood him in good stead at criti-
cal periods during his explorations.
Clocks were few and far between when
he went to Australia.
Young Gregory decided that his par
ents needed a clock, and when he was
fourteen he made one out of such ma
terials as he could pick up, and 1t kept
good time for eight years. When he
was eighteen he built the first flour
mill in Queensland, forging all the iron
work for it from old bedsteads and ex-
ploring the mountains for millstones,
which he picked out and fashioned
with his own hands from the granite
near his home.
He was scarcely more than boy
when he designed the apparatus for
the first revolving light on Rotnest Is
land, where a lighthouse was needed
for the safety of shipping. His con-
trivance worked without a hitch for
thirty-five years, till it was replaced
by larger one.
During his explorations he discover
ed a bed Of iron ore in Western Aus
tralia, fused some Of the metal In a
blacksmiths forge, turned it into steel,
made penknife blade Of it and mount
ed it in a handle of kangaroo bone,
Some officials expressed doubts that 1t
was Il bona fide production, but Greg
ory was able to prove that the steel
was actually the product Of Western
Australian ore.
When his chronometer got out of or
der he was able to repair 1t in the des-
ert and continued the observations In
which it played an important part
Not a few of his astronomical deter
limitations of geographic positions
have stood the test of later observa-
tions.
| One day when he was travelling in
the vast desert plains he decided that
his provisions were too heavy for his
party to carry, and yet every ounce OF
food was needed. He set to work to
reduce the weight while preserving the
nutritive qualities.
He found that he could greatly re-
duce the weight Of his salt pork by
melting it. He also discovered by ex-
perimentation that the flour he turned
into biscuits weighed more than the
biscuits.
The bright idea occurred to him OF
making meat biscuits. So he mixed
flour with melted pork and timed beef
The biscuits turned out we'll and
weirhed only about one-half as much
as the meat and flour separately.
These are only few Of the many
ways in which his ingenuity and ready
resource contributed to the complete
success of his enterprises. He was for
many years supervisor general OF
Queensland, and in his peaceful old age
all Australia delights to honor him.
New York Sun.