Australia's Cattle King.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14284, 27 August 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

Australia's Cattle King.

MR KIDMAN'S BIG HOLDINGS. Within the last decade practically the w Jiole ot Central Auairahu. marked on the maps as a desert, was a vast howling wilderness, and me onlv sound tnaL broke its solemn stUmest, was mo inuui ntui liuwi oi tiio or tlie wild uetrd scream ul the curlew. The laud was considered to be Worthless; "only tit for rabhits/' people used to say. But this lias been lound to be a mistaken idea, just as was tlie once-pop-ular notion mat our own "poor ianas" 01 the North could not be turned to good account.

Mr Kidney Kidman, the Australian cattle king, was one 01 the first men to realise the resources of Central and Northern Australia. "lou know the interior better than most men, Mr Kidman. What sort of country is it)-" This was a question n° UU 11 interviewer. >1 ell, there s a lot of very good land, a lot ol lair, and a lot ol 110 good. Like the. lest of the Continent, it depends on the seasons. Ar 1.e.: a u water aud 11 ligation are going to be a big help m the development of the great interior of Australia. There's water abounding everywhere, if it's only looked for—but it costs money. Yes; I spend quite a nice little sum on it every year, ilow much:- Oh, as much as 1 can spare. I have one place—it's called Owen springs—right up in the MacDonnell Ranges country; a place I lived 011 ior sonia years. There's always plenty of water thereabouts; it does not take much rani to make the creeks and rivers run up there, as the Kaimes country is pretty rough. There are some big springs to the north of tlio Ills, and although there is also tiad country to be found between Hergott Springs and the Knnges, 0:1 the whole it :s surprisingly well water- ' nc 'arly all good, country for stock of all kinds—including sheep". ''At my station, -Eriiiga,' are the furthest north sheep in Australia, and Llicy are doing well. Bores- Oh. plenty all over the place, and with an amazing flow. 1 don't put down anv small bores—don't believe in e'lii. Nothing under Gin. and 1 tell you a 6in surface flow gives a. good stream. The le.rce with which the water comes out may be judged when I tell you that the bores spout up 40ft, "Do they decrease?"

1 " Jvo ; increase, if anything. At a place called Maceumba- I had three bores put down—one 1400 ft, one GOO ft and one 1900ft—and we were gcttin/r any quantity of water. It is very goodT fit to drink, but boiling hot. Manv a time have I made my tea without- fire — just put a handful of tea. in the billy, and held it under the bore, and the tea was made. People down south have no conception of the tremendous possibilities for development in Central and Northern Australia. 'The country should be seen; to talk much about it would seeem like romancing. I have been up, round, and all along the Northern Territory. At present there is a good deal being said about its prospects. Well, they appear to mo illimitable." Mr Kidman broke off here for a few minutes while a friend spoke to him on urgent business. To that friend the cattle king slwnved three or tour telegrams he had just received from the great Australian "Desert." One read. "Ooodnadatta, Tuesday: 1.70 points of rain last night; still raining.

Another ran: "Clayton: Two inches rain; heavier [north towards Mungooranie." • Mr Kidman smiled at the surprise of jtlio pressman. "People dun t quite j realise the resources ol Central I Australia. There is actually real there, as well as artesian fountains." Air Kidman, lord of a hundred stations, 10,000 horses, lialf-a-million cattle, and uncounted sheep, with all his possessions, responsibiities, and big enterprises, has no time for worry. As he says, why should he? Here are some of his remarks:— "People think that I've had a. hard life." (A little laugh). "I've had a very easy l life, and —Im well satisfied. Never been ill for a single day. I feel 1 well, and I don't go to bed unreason- | ably late. 1 don't get up to early | either. I haven'e forgotten how to I sleep or eat. j "Where from? Tlie North. Just j dropped in yesterday from Townsville, ' and I leave for Adelaide to-night. Get there Thursday, and next week 1 shall 'start with my two daughters overland I for the North of Queensland. I'm I generally on the move —yes, perhaps as I much a.s most people. You might say more. I've been all oyer and over Australia—Queensland and the Northern Territory espeeialy." "Yes,, but. your birth-place, Mr Kidman ? Wlurre —and when —if it is a, fair question?" "Adelaide —well, only a Few miles ont anyway—May 9th 1807. My people j are English, of the good old farming j class. They came out to South Aus- [ trail a in—let's see: I was born about I eight years afterwards—oh, 1849 or 1 1800, where they went in for farming [as at Home. Kapunda, is the name of i my birth-place, and it's where I have j my home now —when I am at home. I j ent to school at Norwood, a suburb iof Adelaide. The first job I went to I after leaving school was at Mount , Gipps station, where I got 10s a. week [ Mount Gipps is now Broken Hill. I j asked for a rise after a time, but all I [ got was the sack! I took my swag on my back and went off to a place called J oolamacca, where they gave me £1 a week. In the early days I was out at Cobar, and had a. selection where | the town stands to-day. I made my i start f or myself buying horses " '/)0U still deal in them. T believe 0 " j 'Oh, yes—and cattle. A few" CV smile.) "By the way, the Bulletin said some time ago that T bought a 14th share in the original Broken Hill nune for 0 team of 10 working bullocks but I did better than that. They were only stores. ' (A smile.) "It was this way: f went back to Mount Gipns station and found Philip, Charley and George MacCulloch there—one "siurekeping. the other managing D-iv'd James and Jim Poole and Charles Hasp weie tank-sinking on the station, and they founn out what the place was. They pegged out Broken Hill I was going bv just then, and thev offered oel-s a T el ®W® for , £fio ' 10 hnlWI-y \f+ tlieni the f, n-n \ ftvn r inh 1 mv share -ot T ' V :Clo °—the agent Foni-tr-pn P n - ' commission I call in 0,",er n to P p,ft 40,M0 n!fe™ls 1,0'7i 1, . i B„ e 3S r, > at least as much again.