IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16813, 3 June 1926, Page 3

IN THE EARLY DAYS.

the comma of the allans. MANY CHANGES WITNESSED. Mr 11. 0. Allan, who has been appointed undcr-sccretary for Lands in Victoria, is a member of a family which has been associated with that Stale from the beginning (writes 11.P.8. of the Melbourne Argus). His father struggled with the natives in the Western district after having been driven off the pasture lands of New South Wales, and his grandfather owned land in Australia which is worth many millions to-day. At one period his father won a reputation, quite undeservedly as it appears, as a physician and a brother, with more justice acquired the unofficial title of the bowler of the century. Of the tens of thousands of people who cheered the bowling of Frank Allan probably very few knew that his skill with the ball was acquired largely through his early association with the natives. Colonel David Allan arrived in Sydney in iSi3 to take up the position of ■ Commissiary General. lie had previously seen service in Heligoland. Ho had six sons and three daughters. The Duke of York had offered commissions to Hie elder sons, but the old soldier had determined that they should go on the laud. The Governor of New South Wales made him a land Rrant of 2200 acres at' a point then known as Five Islands Estate. It was near Port Kembla, and was the first land alienated in the lllawarra district of New South Wales. Colonel Allan farmed the area for a few years, and it then passed for a lime to the Wentworlh family. In 1015 blocks of the land were sold as high as £2 5s a foot. There is a tradition that Colonel Allan was also made a present of a land grant embracing the greater portion ■ of Woolloomooioo. He was buried in I he cemetery where the Sydney railway station now stands. His remains were removed when the cemetery was abolished, and they now lie under a handsome monument at La Perouse. One of his sons entered the public service of New South Wales. When he retired from that position he had a record of having built ;>OO bridges. J In was a member of the board lliul met in Melbourne, and recommended a fixed bridge over the Yarra at Spencer Street. On his mother's side he was a descendant or Mr John llennic, the builder of London Bridge. Rough and Ready Doctoring. i Mr John Allan, the father of Mr 11. j 0. Allan, had a youthful ar.'.bition to I go to sea. At the age of 19 years he ! applied to be taken on board a whaler. | The only vacancy was that or a snip's I doctor, and the captain advised young ! Allan to "get a few lessons in bloed- | ing, and come along." Young Allan | did as lie was directed. When off a fori | ! on the New Zealand cost a bout was | | seen signalling the whaler. Those j j in Hie boat said that Ihc child i ' of Ihc military commandant had he- | I ebmc ill, and that Ihc fori doctor was j ' suffering from delirium tremens. It was requested that Ihc doctor from Hie whaler lie allowed lo come ashore and allend Ihc child. Young Allan i.id below dock, bill he was drugged our by I':., raplnln. and lold Dial 111.'re must, he no confession that a duly qualified : practitioner was not on board. "You had better give the child a hoi bath," ; Urn captain said, "D cannot, do any ' 'larm. and it may possibly do some ,

! good." Allan went ashore, and ord- ! cred the bath. The child made a rapid i recovery. Allan's troubles were not over. Many women came forward with ailing children, and Allan had to prescribe in the best way possible. Peculiarly enough all the children that he treated made a good recovery, and [he was indeed happy when his ship sailed out, leaving behind many grateI ful hearts, and a high reputation as a physician. About the year ISIS three brothers, William, John, and Henry Allan, sons of David Allan, took up a station on the Darling River, in New South Wales. The natives speared their cattle, and ate them, and the three brothers decided to move south to Victoria, where squatting was just being talked of. Sending their "assigned servants" back to Sydney, they began a trek southward with bullock waggon, horse, and cattle. One youth, a free man named "Billy" Abrahams, flrcd with the spirit of adventure, begged to be taken. He was too young, however, and it was decided to send him off with the Sydney party. Three nights afterwards, while the trekking party was camped, "Billy" turned up beside the fires. lie could not be. sent back then. In later times he became the progenitor of a fine family of settlers in Ihe Allansford district, and many residents to this day remember his 1 picturesque old figure. The parly crossed the Murray, and passed down into the magnillccnt Golac plains. "Rolfo Uolderwood" in one of bis books expresses wonderment that, the Allan brothers left this proline country and went on- into the poorer areas on the southern coast. The answer is that in the Colac country the Allans saw the heads of many natives sticking up from among the tussocks. Remembering Iheir experiences on the Darling River, they moved further on. Arriving on the Hopkins River in 1830, they took up a station, which they called Allandale. William and John entered into partnership. Later they separated, and John look up Tooram, an aboriginal name for "great fishing place." It adjoins what is now known as the town of Allansford, but which was then known simply as the Ford. The brothers prospered. The natives of the Tooram tribe were quiet. Raids, it is true, were sometimes made by llio wild Cape Otway blacks. i Aboriginal Savagery. <

One grim incident stands out in history. A poor, old woman was burnt in her miamia, and a child was stolen. Along Hie cliffs ils little body was found partly cooked and partly caien It has been asserted that the Australian aborigines never bad the cannibalistic tendencies, but according lo .Mr 11. 0. Allan, this incident is fully vouched for. One night when there were rumours of a great raid, John Allan, sent-., drove off the intruders by hie old-fashioned device of cutting out a pumpkin to resemble a human face, lie put a light into the "skeleton" or the pumpkin and attached a white flowing gown. Next day Hie footmarks of hundreds of warriors testified that the tribe had come within sight of Hie apparition, and had then fled from the "<lol.il dcbil."

In J Si;) John Allan married Miss O'Farreil, of Melbourne. The happy pair set out from C.oelong on a bullock dray. It look one week lo reach Hie bush home. When Allan and his bride, then aged 18 years, called at. Noil Hlack's station- in their bullock fir..%. ihc owner gave! up Ids home lo [he bridal pair for Hie nighl. He slept under the bullock waggon. The home, it may be added, consisted of one room, .which stood near where the magnificent mansion of the Black

family (known as Noorat) is now situated. Mrs Allan's chief help in those far-off days was an aboriginal woman known as "Diana the Huntress." Mr Allan was a protector of the natives, and he and Mrs Allan each sent a young lad away to be given religious education. Mr and Mrs Allan were of different religions, and each youth was to be brought up respectively in the religion of the benefactor or benefactress. The young natives learned all the vices but none of the virtues of Christianity. They were the worst boys on the station, and they; were chiefly noted for their singular j aplitude in teaching the game of marbles and in cheating at the game. ! The late Mr Frank Allan, the eldest j son of Mr John Allan, was a remark- j able shot with a waddy. His only j companions in very early youth were j young aborigines. Among the natives j his ability In throwing was regarded j as almost supernatural. In later j years he could throw a cricket ball j over 100 yards, but it was his ac- j curacy of aim that was most remarkable. As cricketers know, he won the bowling average for years in the "intercolonial matches." The great W. 0. Grace was so impressed by Frank Allan that he offered him 1!700 a year to play with Gloucestershire. Frank Allan was a member of the first Australian Eleven. Both his brothers were good cricketers. 11. O. Allan, the present Under-Secretary of Lands, once performed the remarkable feat of making 101 not out with 22 men in 1110 field. In another mulch of a similar kind J. W. Allan, now a retired bank manager, clean bowled the first 18 out.