AN AUSTRALIAN BUSHMAN.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 29, Issue 1528, 11 February 1899, Page 5 (Supplement)

AN AUSTRALIAN BUSHMAN.

TniAtr James .tysohj the iiiiliio'iiairej whose death was reported from Sydney a few"dseys.agp, Australia has lost a remarkable" personality,, and a citizen whose career was to typical in some of its leading characteristics as almost to epitomize in itself the history of the. -pastoral., industry in Australia- MiTyson was-as a lad,- and remained to the end-of his a bushman pure and simple: ;Thbugli he' accumulated great wealth he reeognised none of the ordinary civilised uses of money, but maintained throughout his career the frugal habits of, the beginning, working no less continuously;-at 70 than he had worked at 17, wearing habitually a shabby suit of readjlriade clothes, with a" silver watch, of which ai bootlace formed the.guard,; and eating only the. same hard fare that had served him when, as a young labourer, he took the position as " leading scythe" on the station of ,two brothers .of the name of Vine. .. His ;lttfewas"'iiyed.:iut.the open, air, and as a -irftiri. of oyer- 70 years of. age he was ableJxS s^of"himself that he had never entered la church, or- s ar;theatre, or-a. public "bouse, that, he" had never tasted beer,: wine, .or spirits, that Be", had never' sworn, : that he had never washed with soap—he used sand instead-—-nor worn a white shirt or a glove. He was of splendid, though somewhat spare and hard, physique, and at 17 stood 6ft 4in inhis stockings; His figure, as known more familiarly of late years, was that of a square-shouldered, slightly stooping, but active man, with a keen face set below a crop of iron-grey hair, and distinguished by particularly bright, deep-set grey eyes.

He was born in Australia in 1822, his father being a Cumberland man of reputed 'Flemish' or .Belgian descent, and his mother an English woman of the name of Coates. Mr Tyson was interested towards the end of his life to learn that the translation of his French name was "firebrand," aud observed thoughtfully, "May be I could have set the world on tire a bit too if I had tried." But his energies were directed from the beginning into a totally different channel. He was essentially a man of peace. The most offensive weapon that he was ever known to have carried was the scythe, and he himself attributes his success in the world to the simple fact that, having begun life as a mower, he " mowed longer and stronger than other men."

His first experience of earning his own bread outside the family circle began when he was 17 and lasted for two years and a Half, during which time lie received wages at the rate of £3O a year. The position of leading scythe involved work too heavy for so young a man. His fellow-labourers were jealous of seeing him in the post of foreman, and to the end of his life he would tell with the keenness of a wellremembered battle how, through three mowing seasons they tried to " cut him out" by taking a short swath, but he being tall and strong, was able to take his full swath and still keep ahead. Such pastoral contests were, of course, long before the days of improved machinery. At the end of two years and a half, with loyal assisstance, which he never forgot to mention, of the.widowed mother who made and mended for him, he had saved £6O. His next step was to a cattle station where, in a remote district of the then little unknown interior,- he lived absolutely alone, herding bullocks, and in constant danger of his life from the black men still unaccustomed to a white occupation of the country. On this station he remaind a year and a half, working again vcrv hard, and saved £36. With the £96 thus carefully accumulated he proposed to set up with his brother on a cattle station of his own, but at this juncture the bank in which he had deposited his first. £6O failed, and, though he was repaid a portion of the money, he had again to work for wages. Once more he saved till, having accumulated £IOO, he was able to carry out his project and establish himself with his brother on a station on the Billy bong river, in the back country of New South Wales. He had not yet surmounted his early misfortunes, for hen; in their first year they >vere overtaken by drought, and all their newly purchased cattle died, lie received at this time an offer to take charge of some cattle on a system known as " thirds " —that is, the risk to the owner unci a third of the increase to the caretaker. It was necessary to have some money for first exper.ses, and in his extremity he remembered that. Sir John Hay. for whom he had a year or two previously d.ivrn entile, owed him £o. He knew only with- regard to .Sir John May that he lived soni-whero on the Murray river at a distance of about 200 miles. The country lying between the Murray and the liillybong was practically trackless, but deciding that, if he followed the tributaries of the Billyhong into the dividing range, the streams flowing down the other side of the hills must bring him to the Murray, he started on horseback to endeavour to find his debtor He had exactly one shilling, and he took it with him together with some food. The way proved longer than he had expected. After a day or two his food was finished and for three days he kept himself alive by plucking handfuls of the sweet grass and chewing it is lie went along. Mr Tyson was iK-ver married, but •■ven the bu-.h has its possibilities of romance, and it was at this time that lie met the lady in whose power it would seem V> have lain to change the tenour of his life. He was then 23, and 50 years later he described the incident with a xividncss of detail which bore witness to the tenacity of the impression produced

He had eroded the range, and beinp wealc witli hunger had begun to fear what, the ordinary man might well have feared from llie beginning—namely, that lie might, never find the ln.u.se of .-jit- John I lay," when he |ktofived a coltag.: and an old man about to enter. lit- approached wishing to .'isk his way but hesitating in consequences of a shyness of habit which throughout his fife caused him to shun intercourse with .stnuig-'rs. As he

reluctantly drevf. near-the door a young woman :'■-" came "suddenly out —" a beautiful:y6*urig bush-reared girl, dark, rosy, and well grown." ; He told her that he had wished to ask his way. ■She.- looked at him' and without answering his question bade him come in and eat. He refused. She then laid bdth hands upon his arm, and with geritle coraplusion drew him in, saying "You are hungry, come in and eat;" Being •" well nigh famished " and supposing that she " saw the truth inhis face," he let-himself do as she bid. She called to her sister to help to get some food ready and in a fow minutes he was sitting before a good breakfast. He was not in all more than. 15 minutes in the house, he never spoke to-the girl, again, but for 20 years he continued to visit the neighbourhood and inquire after her until he learned that, she was" married. Then he thought it was time to discontinue his visits. His shyness, he explained, in telling-the story after--wards, kept him from seeking to speak te her again, but he added, " She was the only woman I ever thought of marrying."

He did not obtain his £5, but returned, hungry again from Sir John Hay's, not by way of the cottage but following the river and catching fish as he "went. He spent his shilling on the- ferry which took him back to his own side of the river, aiid having, notwithstanding his lack of funds, determined to accept the proposal of taking cattle on thirds he was driving his herd to his station when he met his brother, who told him that he had soli the station for £l2. "With this capital life had to be begun again. The two brothers drove the cattle far afield, and on July 8, 1546, Mr Tvson being then nearly 24 years of 'age, they settled upon the .Murrumbidgeeon land which Mr Tyson continued to hold for the rest of his life. There cattle throve and the beginning was made of the fortune which has since accumulated in Mr Tyson's hands. It was in this way, by the venture of individuals, who simply passed on beyond the borders of civilised occupation, that the pastoral settlement of Australia Was in the early days effected.

About five years l»ter—Mr Tyson and his brother having apparently dissolved their partnership in the meantime —gold was found in Victoria. The Bendigo diggings were opened, and Air Tyson began to supply the goldtields with meat. The profits made were very large, but the general anticipation was "that the market would not last. Stock owners, intending to make hay while the sun shone, of all their cattle, selling but not buying. Jlr Tyson, forming a more accurate forecast of the position, believed, on the contrary, that the market would last. He kept himself informed of all stock being driven towards the field, and while he sold at Bendigo ho bought from the owners for ready money on the road. They, glad enough to take a fair profit and save risk and travel, parted with their stock at a comparatively low price. He extended his operations first to the buying of cattle not only on the road but as far north as Queensland, and then to the buying of stations as well as stock in all parts of Australia. On his stations he was active in sinking wells, putting up fences, and introducing new stock. He came thus to be one of the richest and finally the largest landowner in the seven colonies. At the time of his death his freehold estate comprised no less than half a million acres, and his leasehold extended over many thousands of square miles. Having practically no use for money and spending none upon his personal requirements his wealth accumulated to enormous proportions, and a few years before his death he was accredited with the possession of £5,000,000. His simple habits gave rise to endless anecdotes, many of which weie founded on an erroneous conception that he w.-is of a miserly disposition. Of these the following may be quoted as one fairly illustrative both of his simplicity in regard to money matters and of the peculiarly secular attitude of a mind which placed churches, theatres, and publichouses in the same category of places to be avoided. Near one of his stations it was considered desirable in the interests of the local population to erect a little iroTl church. He was asked to pay for it. He replied that he had no objection, but on one condition only—namely, that the whole bill of costs was to by made out and presented for payment in one sum, 'and that he should not be bothered by requests fur future contributions. The condition w.is accepted, and he gave a cheque without criticism tor the full ] amount of the estimate presented. '< The following year, on his return to ! the station, the. responsible authori-; ties approached him again, remembering his condition and apologising for breaking it, but .saying that a most essential it<;m had been forgotten. They begged that he would, therefore, reconsider his determination, and give them L2O mote for a lightning conductor. His reply was an emphatic negative. ''That I will not," be said, " I have given a church to Almighty Ood, and if He cannot take care of it for Itimsdi lie does not deserve to have it." As a matter of fact it was fairly clear that he had little or no appreciation of the power of wealth. It was suggested to him once '.hat he should give two warships to the nation, and call one the Firebrand and the other the Mower as a memorial to his name and calling. The idea pleased him for a mom mt, but only as a foolish sort of toy with which he had no piaclical concern, and there is no recotd tii.it he ever thought seriously of putting it into execution His money did not interest hint. He used t••> g-iy of it, " 1 shall just leave it behind use when I go. I bhall have done with it then, and it will not concern me afterwards." " But," he would add. with a characteristic semi-cv-dlasit snap of thj lingers, " the money is nothing. H was the little game that was the fun '" Beinp asked once, "What was the little gam:?" he replied with an energy of coucenirif lion peculiar to him, "' Fighting th«desert! That has been my work ! J

have been fighting the desert all my life,"- and I have won ! I have put water where was no water, and beef where was no beef. I have put fences where there were no fences, and roads where there were no roads. Nothing can undo what I have done, and millions will be happier for it after I am long dead and forgotten." To him, as to others of the pioneer stock-owners in the early days of the expansion of Australian settlements the " desert " was an enemy to be subdued and tamed for the uses of civilisation. The fight with it was an epic of heroic endurance, and marvellous achievement of which the incidents that might be related are almost infinite. Mr Tyson was not the only one of the e"arly pastoralists in the back country of Australia who learned to live alone till they almost lost the use of the ordinary speech of human intercourse; But his Ions: and lonely life, in which there was no time to spare from arduous work for the formation of friendship or any of the common ties, no thought of seeking or enjoying any of the 1 ordinary elements of human happiness, no room, apparently,, for any aspiration but that which - impelled him to the everexpandiug though peaceful conquest of fresh territory, is typical of the instinctive energy by which the borders of the Empire have been enlarged.- He was entirely Australian, and had no experience beyond the limits of the Australian colonies. At 71 years of age, having never had a holiday in his life, he entertained for a time thethoughtof winding uphis affairs and starting to see the world before he died, but finally condemned his own project as being too idle and selfindulgent; His life, except for the activity of his work, which obliged him to spend the greater part of his time in journeys from one end of Australia to the other was the life of a recluse. He formed no special friendships with men, and had the reputation of being a woman hater. The reputation was probably no better founded than the reputation for miserliness with which he was also accredited. His attitude towards women, based avowedly on a very narrow experience, was more properly to be described as indifference than hate. He thought that they needed more robustness and simplicity alike of body and mind. Wives generally, he held, were fond of dress and had scolding tempers, and were spiteful to other women. They seemed to him to be bred in such a way that they had their minds full of small things, and he summed it all up in the opinion that "it is a deal for husbands to bear." At the same time he described himself as one whom a woman, who had been any way kind to him, might have twisted round her finger. For which reason he thought that it was for the best that he had not married. A wife would, he supposed, have wanted him to settle down and do as other men, and waste his time which '• would have been a pity, for my work wo'ild not have been done," He preferred to be alone, and had always gone, he said, from first to last, single handed. As for friendship, he would not take the time for it; he could not be wasting his days.

Asked towards the end of his life whether he had ever been happy, he replied with a certain brave simplicity : —" Sufficiently so; I am persuaded that attainment is nothing ; the pleasure is in the pursuit, and I have been pursuing all my life. Yes, I consider that I have been happier than most men." He was a kind though strict employer, a just and exact paymaster, and punctual in the performance of all duties that he recognised. Having read little, and, in consequence of his shy habits, discussed few but practical problems with his fellows, he had arrived by mere process of silenc cogitation at many of the conclusions accepted in the mere advanced circles of English thought. On questions of religion his creed was as simple and effective as the rest of his life. With theology he 'would not concern himself. "It ain't my business. I do what I think seriously right; I stand to take my chance ; and 1 have no fear." Pressed with the obvious qut«tion, " Why do you do what you think seriously right? Why not drink and play the fool like other men V he had an answer which satisfied himself. " You see the fun is in the little game. Every man who choses has his little game, with a fair chance of winning if he keeps straight. It is better worth his while to do wh*t lie seriously thinks right. If he don't he is bound to lose. Yes, I believe every man has a good chance of winning. That's enough for me ; the? rest don't concern me; I don't think of it."

His view expresses the view of duty commonly accepted on the Australian continent. In this, as in everything else, he was strictly of his time and country. In his narrowness, his vigour, his total Lick of aesthetic cultivation, his indifference to the use of the great financial instruments which he had created as a mere incident in his own career, but above all in his latent reserves of heroism and tenderness, lie ottered a remarkable specimen of the rough rock from which British character is hewn. If there had been no Englishmen of Mr Tyson's stamp there would have been no British supremacy in an Empire extending round the world. -London Times.