HEROINES OF THE DROUGHT

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2090, 14 February 1920, Page 4

HEROINES OF THE DROUGHT

WONDERFUL BUSH WOMEN

A correspondent who recently toured the drought-stricken areas of New'South’'Wales pays the following glowing-tribute to the women of the bush:— . , At Wee Waa there was a. little faint green tint to be. seen around the town.' But that was deceptive, "for ail beyond stretched the cracked and fissured black soil. The plains were almost'empty of stock, for the end had come. The surviving sheep were being trucked away as fast as the railway could carry them—down to the pasture land of the far south. _ ■ - It is a remarkable and creditable work that the railways are doing. Think of the tremendous feat. Here iu this district so prolific and prosperous in the good years, were hundreds of thousands of stock; and now it has been emptied of all these great herds. There were no relief pastures near at hand; but' there were, railways. So from the far north-western corner of the State to its far .south-eastern corner the- sheep are being shifted, vast populations of animals trails-, i’orred from the stricken north to the highlands of the fertile south. “The women are, wonderful 1” That is the unanimous opinion of everybody in the bush in-these years of drought —except the women Ihemselves. You come lo some selection in the bush, a two-roomed shanty iu the solitude of ihe'heat. The husband is away doing contract jobs lo earn a few pounds, for there is not a penny to be got from the drought-stricken earth. The woman gives you a cup of (i'a. without milk, of course, and would feel insulted beyond endurance if you insisted on paying tor it. There is no meat. But she can do without that. What she cannot do. v-. it bout, (hough, she will not admit it, and probably does not even know if, is recreation or pleasure. Yon women of the. city cannot understand what her drear existence is like. The hush woman gets no reprieve from her hard day’s work - . It is her task —and even her pride — to keep the little home neat and clean —and she does il. She lias all the work to do about.the place, vet il is the only home she knows, and she does not complain. She carries on in the heal. The hard look iu her face shows il. Oh, all Ihe lit lie refinements that the city “woman loves! Oh, the articles of necessary attire, as tabulated by learned commissions for office girls! Oh, alj the inessentials so necessary to the city girl, Ihc face powder, the lace, phe changes of linen, the good boots, the smart* hat, the novel from the library, (he picture shows, the bathing dress! Cut every one of these out, and imagine life to be lived month after month and year alter year with an uncomplaining’heart. That is the lot of the hush wife. With such high hopes the bride and bridegroom had started out lo lake up a selection In the “green country!” The hush had'to bo ringbarked, the house built, (la* wheat sown; and then to see their little crops fail —not for one year, but for three or four in succession; and with the drought still without end in sight. Yet they carry on, uncomplaining, with no whining to the paternal Government to succour them.