Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-05-08

s5sertion Of the poet, but this must
i be qualified by the omission fof the
word "no.' It is SO at any date in +
the case Of John Romanes, for his
deed was performed in, the silence
4 and solitude Of the great Austria
B liam bush, without a single specta-
y tor who could bear witness 20 it's
exemplitude Of courage Of the
highest quality, devotion seldom
y equaled, and a self-sacrifice so
rare that few fmen una cquainted
with the perils Of the bush can ap-
u preciate 1t. 81 IA n
AS! the subject Of Romanes'' hero
h ism 1t shall benny duty to tell to
4 q wider circle Of readers the events 4
which earned for a hero no greater
reward than my own undying graft
tude and admiration. .:sl i4
.S5 1t seems strange to me that, so III
A far, few persons outside Of Aus
tralia have ever heard of the stu
q pendouss efforts the government OF
Western Australia has made to
u prevent the incursion of the rabbit
n pest into the farming and pastoral
regions Of that state and, as my
b story has to do with that NAM u
moth work, feel bound to speak {
briefly OF 1t. b ss 81 4s.gts
For over fifty years the rabbits,
]. imported to Australia BY some mis-
Y guided Immigrant, have been fear
A full scourge to the eastern states Of
I the island continent. Net fences had
Y proved a success In the east and the
Y government at once entered on the
stupendous task of running a rabbit
proof fence right across the country
4 to act as a barrier ito the invading
4 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 Ito Condor, in the
Y Ninety Al Mile \. Beach, away In the
tropic north. It cost the country
over $500, 900 m ;1$5
M To maintain the barrier in a state
! OF effectiveness against the depreda-
lions OF the hostile natives, the blind
attacks Of emus and kangaroos and
the ravages @of food, tornado and fire,
q whole army Of men are employed
constantly patrolling It. ri,
In the far north, however, where
the fast disappearing bands OF black
abort gines are still in great numbers
and are savage and treacherous, the
i boundary riders always work in pairs.
They have great hardships to encoun-
ter and great dangers to brave CON
seqnently 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
ff.iof the scarcity OF water.
" was associated in the early days
Of the construction Of the fence with
q the advanced survey party and, on
the completion Of the structure, was
Induced by the high pay to accept the
4 position Of inspector Of length Of
h fence in the far north. A "length" is
the name given to a section Of the
h fence which Is patrolled or ridden
4 BY one boundary rider, or two, as the
Y case might be, but an inspectors
'length" may consist, as in my case
i 1t did, OF three ordinary lengths, a
! distance in this instance Of close on
three hundred miles. The inspector
establishes a central depot where
3 stores are kept. a decent well sunk
4 and where the boundary riders meet
after working back along their
4 lengths. 5.f. 4.3 fg;S
III It was in April, 1908, that I left Sep
aration Well, the southernmost point
& OF my section Of the fence, and pro-
ceeded north to the De Grey river, q
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. I
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 week or
two before and from some overland
ing stockmen had heard that the
fence was in bad state Of repair.
I When questioned Romanes, whom
Il 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
to me-he was rather nettled and
challenged me to come out with him
without delaying for weeks rest
to which he was entitled after com.
plet,ng his out and back ride. The
camels were in good fettle and I took
Romanes at his word and decided that