A DIET OF CHURCH

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18204, 15 October 1924, Page 13

A DIET OF CHURCH

CATTLE DEVOUR BUILDING. QUEENSLAND INCIDENT. .raoM or& owx co&fcxsroxDzsr.) SYDNEY, October 1. Many a church building has como to an untimely end in Australia's open, spaces. In cyclone? they have been scattered to ike winds; in bush fires they bare been ivjied to the ground; in floods they have been swept away; th*v have fallen to the ground witii heir timers riddled by white ants; chey hafc even been torn asunder. as i happened in the north a year or two ago, ! n the fierce rivalries of opposing tactions amongi-u their Christir.n adherents • but never before is it on resjord i Miat'so odd :i fate has befnJlen one of the quaint bush sanctuaries which are to i>e found oven in the rente tost spots of the Continent, as that whic.li ]u.£> overtaken tho Anglican church at Thargomindah. in the wilds of Western Queensland. It has been eaten by voracious cattle. Thargomindah lies in ono of thoso vast ar«is of Australia in which timber is almost as precious as gold. Consequently the church had been built of gr.-tss. And that was the cause of its downfall. The story as it reached here is a curious one. It appears that the district had been suffering a. severe drought, and starving, wasted cattle were being moved slowly from centre to centre where water was to be found, in order to get them to better country. One night a mob arrived at the little township and camped for the night nenr the chiuvli. The poor boasts were too weak to stray far, so it was deemed unnecessary to keep watch all night on them, as is usually done when them is j no enclosure. To thoir amazement, upon coming to the mob early the nest morning, the drovers found the church in a state of ruin. Two walls had collapsed and tlie- cattle were -tramping madly about amongst the debris devouring the dry grass of which the structure had been composed. The, little altar and the humble furnishings, which the smsJ.l building had contained were strewn about in the confusion, and tlicso cattle thnt were not engaged in consuming tlie walls that already lay upon the ground were rapidly completing the destruction of those that remained standing. Only a stockman who has been throujrji a drought knows the height of ferocity tliat is attained by starved cattle in the presence of food. As a last resort in the west. when not a vestige of grass remains,, to keep the cattle alive, stockmen climb"" the high trees and loi> down branches that hare been beyond the reaoh of tho cattle. At the prospect of the, green leaves tho cattle surge about under the trees, fear of man or dog being unavailing to keep them off, and it is common for quite a. number of beasts to be killed by tho falling hi-{in-ches. Undismayed, the others will , trample over the fallen bodies wildly g/Vzing with great bloodshot eyes at tlie tempting greenery above. With similar ierooity the cattle devoured tlio grass structure, and when the men arrived it was useless to try to save anything, so that the cattle were allowed to eafc on. Thus the holy labours of the- willing hands that bid built the little church were unexpectedly rewarded by relieving the sufferings of man's good friends.