RESOURCEFUL BOYS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20022, 12 February 1927, Page 23

RESOURCEFUL BOYS.

IN AUSTRALIAN BUSH. LAD WHO LIVED ALONE. OVER MONTH IN HUT. (Fbom Onn Own Cohbespondknt.) SYDNEY, January 27. The Australian bush has bred many resourceful boys in the past, and that the spread of modem settlement and inventions has in no way lessened their calibre has been proved on two recent occasions. Up near Rockhampton, in Queensland, there has just come to light a case in which a 12-ycar-ok! boy left his homo and for over a month lived alone in a bush hut, content with a dog for a companion. The boy, James Kenneth Gregg, lived with his stepfather. When his mother died about 18 months ago the lad found solace and company in the bush, and soon became well versed in bushcraft. Occasionally he would disappear for a fortnight, and everyone knew that he was alright. He never attended school and lived on stowed and baked wallaby and iguanas. On December 3 James left home, and after more than the usual period of absence had passed, his stepfather became anxious, and the scrub was thoroughly combed by search parties, which failed to find trace of the boy. Apparently on one occasion the boy returned to his home while his stepfather was visiting' a neighbour, for, on the latter’s return, provisions were missing from the house. The help of the police was enlisted, but search parties organised by them failed to find the lad. At the end of last week a party of 18 residents was formed, determined to find the little bush lover. It seemed that the task must end in failure until suddenly a dog appeared, and it led the party to a hut on the fringe of some scrub. There little Jimmy was found, not a whit the worse for his long absence from home. The hut was only two miles from his step-father’s house —evidence of how well the boy had covered his tracks. He showed no inclination to go back, declaring that the “bush would do him any day.” But his stepfather insisted, and he was brought home, the stepfather taking steps that his future welfare and education were cared for. Over 20in of rain had fallen during the period of the boy’s absence from home, and this certainly did not add to the pleasantness of Jimmy’s outdoor life. LOST BOY CHASED BY CAMELS. The second example of resourceful and plucky Australian bush boyhood comes from Mount Nor’-West station, near Farina, in the northern part of South Australia. A 10-year-old boy, Harold Moran, was missed from the station on Friday. Parties searched for him throughout the week-end without success. On Monday he was found about 15 miles from the station homstead. A man who was about to saddle a horse to join in the search saw Harold running towards him crying. “I’m lost. I’m lost. During his wanderings young Moran had shown extraordinary commonsenso and courage. When he realised that he was lost he made for and kept along the fences. During the three days he was “bushed” he had only brakish water to drink, but before he found it he suffered severely from thirst. Hunger he allayed bv eating salt bush. At night he slept under trees and by day struggled on in the despairing hope of finding his way home again. His most dangerous experience was when be was chased by a mob of wild camels. Many of these animals, formerly used in the transport of wool from the outback stations in the dry interior, have been replaced by motor lomes* and many of them have been allowed t 0 •Vo bush.” In several district® they have bred rapidly, and it was one such mob that young Moran encountered. He escaped by just reaching a fence before them and crawling under it. A few hours after ho was found the boy was little the worse for his unenviable experience.