LATE SIR SAMUEL McCAUGHEY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16609, 23 August 1919, Page 4

LATE SIR SAMUEL McCAUGHEY.

PASTORALTST AND PHILANTHROPIST. A LIFE OF GREAT ACTIVITY. Sir Samuc-l McCaughey, M.L.C., the well-known millionaire pastoralist and philanthropist, died at North Yanco, New South Wales, on July 25th. He celebrated his 84th birthday on June 30th last. Sir Samuel McCaughey was one of the greatest- forces, says the "Sydney Morning Herald,'' in the development of the sheen-brooding and wool-produc-ing industry of Australia. lie was a man of wonderful energy and foresight; rind the immeuso pastoral interests that he acquired were largely the fruits of these qualities, and of the liberality which characterised all his dealings. Ii has been said that he bccanio the largest individual owner oi' sheep in the Commonwealth, and his landed properties can be described in 110 other term than vast. It- is only a month or two ago that Sir Samuel dUposc.l of tho last of his great freehold station properties. Tins was t'oonong (Narnmdera), consisting o; 41; ; 0:X) acres, and used chiefly for stud breeding, and trio purchaser was his nephew, Mr Samuel McCaughey. Amongst oth-v w«>!l-known properties* which Sir Samuel lias held aio Yarrabae, Goolagumbla, and Singorambah, in tiie Jiiveniw; loorah, Dunlop, and Xocoieehe in the western division; and Bonus Downs in Queensland. - Samuel McCaughey was born on July Ist, 1835, in tho little village of Tuliynewy, near Bdlymcna, Country Antrim, North Ireland. At the age of 21 ho camo out, with hi.? u:ic-'e, tho late Mr Charles Wilson, to Australia. Mr Wilson was a big station owner in Victoria then, and had rotiirno.l to Ireland for a holiday. This was during the gold rush poriod. Mr Wilson put his nopiicw on at ICewoll, a station in the Wimmera district, as a jackeroo. He was overseer for two years, nnd manager for another two years.• In 18P0 he. became hims'.'lf a sheep owner and landed proprietor by purchasing Coonong, Narrandera, which had until then been a cattle station. Ho also scoured an interest in Singornmbah, a -10.000-aero property adjoining (Joolagumbla. In his early days on Coonong station Sir Samuel was faced with difficulties which would have broken the heart of a man of less dauntless courage. Added to financial difficulties were those of natino. The property had been rogardoi as unsafe* for sheep, on account of tho frequency with which the creoks became dry. But after a hard fight he convorted it into a profitable property, having ensured a water supply by a reasonable scheme of conservation, embracing the deepening of the intake of the Yanco. Sir Samuel was actually a pioneer of water conservation and irrigation, and expended groat sums of money upon his private enterprises. When, in~l9oo, he bought North Yanco, ho constructed over 200 milca of channels, capable of irrigating 40.000 acres. This expensive experiment proved so successful that it encouraged th© Government to proceed with the Barronjack reservoir and the northern Murrumbidgee canal scheme. The Government resumed Yanco as part of the schome, and, in recognition of his great work, granted Sir Samuel tho uso, during his lifetime, of 30,000 acres, including the site of his beautiful homo. Largo sums of money wero expended by Sir Samuel in experimenting with various types of sheep, but he devoted himself more especially to merinos. The Coonohg flock was iounded on sheep from Yr idgiowa, then the property ot Mr Cochrane. Sir Samuel also bought Havilah rams f and others from Mona Yale, Tasmania, sparing no expenso to secure the best animals. In 18(56 he bought two Ercildoune rams, renowned for wool of great lustre and fineness. But coming to the conclusion that the wool was too open for the central Riverina, he secured important Taemanian drafts from the late James Gibson, of Bollcvue. Later ho experimented with Wanganella and Boonoke rams. He camo to the conclusion that tho white yolked sheep were not entirely suitable for the hot plains of Riverina, and decided to cultivate a buff-coloured yolk. Kio bought ten' VJalifornian rams whbh were descendants of French merinos exported to California, and bred there for some year 9. One of those rams had won the prize for-being the best ram at the Californian fair. He paid 100 to 450 guineas a head for tho rams. . A few American ewes were also secured at the same time. Tho results exceeded his anticipations, and he decided .<n a trip to America. Ho went through all tho best studs, and eocurcd some of the finest sheep obtainable in Vermont. His first shipinont comprised 92 rams and 120 owes, and his second shipment totalled 312, all the sheep being fronl tho oldest and most colobratcd strains. Besides these direct shipments he bought largo numbers of United States sheep imported for the Sydney sales. Altogether he spent something like £50,000 0 n Vermont sheep. The Coonong stud for many years was invincible at the Sydney stud sheep fair. Enormous as waa the expense lie had incurred in connexion with his Vermont purchases, Sir Samuel did not hesitate to discard this blood when ho found that other considerations besides weight of fleece were coming to the front. When the pendulum of popular favour swung to the large-framed Wanganella t\|pe he bought heavily, and bred for a larger carcase, recognising that mutton was becoming an important factor. He bought the best Wanganella, Boonoke, and South Australian large-framed sheep that he could secure, and was soon again in the front rank of breeders of popular sheep.

A Legislative Councillor since 1893, and knighted in 1903, Sir Samuel McCaughey was a foremost figure in Australian life. His generosity was as unbounded as his modesty v/as great. Hundreds of men in Australia to-day have benefited by liis personal kindness and material help, and his gifts to public funds and institutions have always been on a lavish stale. But he did good by stealth, and there are counties instances of his munificence known only to those immediately concerned. To illustrate the kind of man he was is only necessary, to quote such gifts as bis contribution of £5001) towards the Bushmen's Contingent at the time of the South African war, and his gift of £10, OOP to the Australia Day Fund, which lis repeated on the further appeal by the Red Cross Society in March, 1918. The Salvation Army. Homes at Bex ley and the Burnside Homes were artiongst institutions which received his liberal support.

Sir Samuel was also a generous contributor to the famous Dreadnought scheme. A proposal was made by .Mr Hugh Dixson to the late Sir Harry llawson, then Governor of Now Soutn Wales, to present a Dreadnought battleship to the Mother Country. Mr Dixson, in hit letter, enclosed a cheque for ££hXX). Sir Harry llawson incidentally mentioned the matter a>t a dinner at the Union Club, whereupon four of those present, including Sir ©amuel McCaughey, announced their intention to contribute £10,000 cUch. Owing to the proposal to establish the Australian Navy the fund, which reached £90,000, was not required, and was devoted to establishing what are known as "the Dreadnought farms for the training of boys in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. During the war Sir Samuel McGaughtfy assisted recruiting by defraying the cost of the insurance of 500 men against death or total disablement —an example which waß followed bj

other wealthy men, end resulted la ft large number of men being enabled to go to the front whq had been deterred by their private obligations. MEN AND MILLIONS. John Stuart Mill, the political economist, declared that the wealth of a nation was the reflex of its energy and industry. This prccept (says the Sydney "Sun") is applicable to many of the great pioneers of Australia —men who have surmounted all difficulties, and have risen to be captains of the pastoral, commercial, and other industries. By indomitable energy these men of grit and stamina lived to experience tho gratification of being placed amongst the leaders of the Australian Commonwealth. Australia, unlike the U.S.A., cannot toast of serried ranks of millionaires. Much more difficult it is in this young continent to amass tho wealth of a millionaire than it is in America, with its 103,000,000 people, and its infinite money-making avenue.".. _ New South Willi's statistics disr-Irse that sho is the wealtliir-st of the States of the Australian union, and that sho possesses many wealthy men, but few millionaires. Amongst these phenomena must be included tho late Sir Samuel McCaughey. Although the shepherd king amassed £2,000,000 and more, still that colossal fortune recedes by almost- £1 ,- 000,000 in comparison with that of another great New South Wales magnate—not pastoral, commercial —tho late Mr Samuel Hordern, the father of tho young knight, Sir Samuel Hordern. Mr Hordern, whoso capacity and industry left the firm of Anthony Hordern and Sons one of tho richest and foremost in any part of tho globe, died on August 13Hi. 1909, leaving a net fortune of £2.925,924. HALL MILLIONS. Tho estate of the late Mr Walter Hall, the Potts Point millionaire, fell short of that of Air Samuel Hordern by £600,000—£2,309,957—and his widow, Eliza Rowdon Hall, who died on February 14th, 1916, at Potts Point, left an estate valued for probate purposes at £802,443. Many and largo wore the benefactions of husband and wife. "JIMMY"' TYSON'S WEALTH. Long before James Tyson died in Queensland in 1899, there was a belief amongst the pastoralists of the Commonwealth that "Jimmy" was thrice a millionaire. Ho didn't make a will, and furnished the pretext for considerable litigation by claimants. His New South Wales estate waa valued at £560,113, but his pastoral and other interests throughout the Commonwealth wore estimated at at least another £1,500,000. Another Australian who amassed & huge fortune was Sir Robert LucasTooth. who represented Montvro in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly many years ago. He died on February 19th, 1916, in England, where he had a magnificent estate. The New South Wales portion of his estate was sworn at £905,000, and his English estato at £276,000. He had been in England since 1883, but tho bulk of his wealth was accumulated in commercial pursuits in New South Wales. Sir James Reading Fairfax, senior proprietor of the "Sydney Morning Herald." was long reputed to be an Australian millionaire. He died a few months ago, and the gross estate was then before the Probate Officc at £587,997. The name of Dangar is also synonymous with wealth, and when Mr A. A. Dangar, M.L.C., who owned Baroona and other station properties in the Commonwealth, died, it was anticipated that ho would take his place amongst the select' few Australian pastoralist millionaires, but those who made predictions were in error. He died sth April. 1913, and left an estate valued at £304,946, - Clive Collingwood Dangar died during the war, and his estate was sworn at £331,167. He, too, was a pastoralist. MR JAMES M!MAHON. Another well-known man. reputed to have been a millionaire, was the late James McMahom, who died a few 1 years ago. He was the founder of tho firm of McMahon and Co., carriers. Mr McMahon failed to reach the million mark, but got half way, his estate being sworn at something over £500,000. • . It is not always men who accumulate large fortunes, as instanced by the will of Mrs K. S. Smith, of Double Bay. She died on May 9th last, and left an estate valued at £191,000. THEATRICAL MAGNATES. Many people were prone to string millions around the name of the late Mr James Cassius Williamson, but he had to disappoint, their expectations with a modest £193,000. He died July 6th. 1913. „ In a like manner, the late Mr Harry Itickards (Benjamin Henry Lees) was credited with the wealth of a Croesus, but had to disappoint them. His estate was valued at £134,999. He died October 13th, 1911. TWO "KINGS " John Brown, the "Coal King,'' and Sydney Kidman, the '"Cattle King," wear the halo of Australian millionaires, but their strides will have to be long and strong to beat thu Hordern millions and the McCaughey millions.