Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-05-07

be qualified by the omission of the
word no" 1t is so at any date in
the case of John Romanes, for his
deed was performed in the silence
and solitude of the great Austria
liam bush, without single specta-
tor who could bear witness to its
exemplitude OF courage of the
highest quality, devotion seldom
equaled, and a self-sacrifice so
rare that few men unacquainted
with the perils of the bush can APP
preciate it.
AS the subject of Romanes' hero
| ism it shall be my duty to tell to
a wider circle of readers the events
which earned for a hero no greater
reward than my own undying graft
tude and admiration.
1t seems strange to me that, so
far, few persons outside of Aus
tralia have ever heard of the stu
pendous efforts the government of
Western Australia has made to
prevent the incursion of the rabbit
pest into the farming and pastoral
AOSAOho VI That Stdt6 anu, DIS Iuy
story has to do with that NAM
moth work, feel bound to speak
briefly of it.
For over fifty years the rabbits,
imported to Australia by some mis-
guided immigrant, have been a fear
full scourge to the eastern states Of
the island continent. Net fences had
proved success in the east and the
government at once entered or the
stupendous task Of running rabbit
proof fence right across the country
to act as barrier to the invading
hosts. That fence stands today, a
completed and successful obstacle to
the inroads of the pest 1t is over
1900 miles long, and stretches from
Starvation Boat harbor, in the Great
Australian Blight, to Condor, in the
Ninety Mile Beach, away in the
tropic north. 1t cost the country
over S1,500,000.
To maintain the barrier in a state
OF effectiveness against the depreda-
tons of the hostile natives, the blind
attacks of emus and kangaroos and
the ravages of flood, tornado and fire,
whole army of men are employed
constantly patrolling it.
In the far north, however, where
the fast disappearing bands of black
aborigines are still in great numbers
and are savage and treacherous, the
boundary riders always work in pairs.
They have great hardships to encoun-
ter and. great dangers to brave-con-
sequently they are picked men and re-
ceive high wages. They go armed al
ways, and in the spinifex country,
with which my story is concerned,
they are mounted on camels, because
of the scarcity of water.
was associated in the early DAYS
of the construction of the fence with
the advanced survey party and, on
the completion of the structure, was
induced by the high pay to accept the
position of inspector of a length of
fence in the far north. A length" is
the name given to a section of the
fence which is patrolled or ridden
by one boundary rider, or two, as the
case might be, but an INSPECTOR
length" may consist. as in my case
it did, of three ordinary lengths, a
distance in this instance of close on
three hundred miles. The inspector
establishes central depot where
stores are kept, decent we'll sunk
and where the boundary riders meet
after working back along their
lengths
1t was in April. 1908, that / left Sep
aration Well, the southernmost point
of my section of the fence, and pro-
| ceeded north to the De Grey river. a
distance of 200 miles, where / had my
main depot. There was to meet Ro-
names and his mate Gregory, who had
TO patrol the last hundred miles of
my territory. When / reached the
depot, then in charge of two men
who were kept there as a relief. ]
found Romanes in camp, with his
mate, who was very i'll with malaria
| and quite unfit to take the track for
some time. although his condition
was not serious. | was particularly
anxious to see the northern section of
| my part of the fence. because there
had been a tropical food a week or
| two before and from some overland.
ing stockmen / had heard that the
fence was in bad state of repair.
When l questioned Romanes. whom,
| did not know very well-in fact. |
had entertained suspicion of him
from the moment the reports as to
the state of HIS particular length came
10 me-he was rather nettled and
challenged me to come out with him
without delaying for a weeks rest
to which he was entitled after COM
plet'ng his out and back ride. The
camels were in good fettle and / took
Romanes at his word and decided that