Entering The Mechanical Age

When Noel and I were at school,Dad usually had a man working for him,and it wasn’t until the mechanical age came along,that we didn’t employ anyone.One of the early workers was Sam Crocker,a one armed aboriginal stockman.He camped down at 49 waterhole which had this name becaue it was John McKinlay,the explorer,forty ninth camp,from the start of his exploration trip when he discovered McKinlay.He camped under a big Coolibah tree on the bank of the 49 waterhole,no tent ,so when it rained he n must have put his swag cover over him to avoid getting wet.When Dad wanted to muster some sheep he would get Croker to give us a hand ,and pay him ,and even when Dad didn’t want him,he would give him food and meat,but most of the time he was employed by the council,to eradicate Noorgorra burrr along the Gilliat river,by pulling it by hand-in Crokers case 1 hand. On the other hand he just had a steel hook,which he used to pull himself on a horse with.When the burr got dry he used to burn it ,and one day he started a bush fire on Glenbede,and burnt out about 2000 acres,before we could put it out.After camping for a couple of years ,on the 49 waterhole,he moved up closer to the house and camped under a whitewood tree in the horse paddock,and we still used to give him odd jobs,until he got old,and then we arranged to get him to an old age care home in Charters Towers,where he spent the rest of his life.Before sending him on the train,we had to cut his hair,as his hair was matted and long.I took on the job of cutting it,and got a real big of scissors,but it wouldn’t cut itso I got a big pair of blade shears,and eventually go it off.Croker must have gone to school at sometime for while he was in this retirement home,he wrote a letter to Dad,asking Dad would he send his gramaphone and records down to him.He said enclosing five pounds,but there was no five pounds,then 6 months the same letter but no 5 pounds.We had a look at the grammaphone and half the parts were missing,so it was mever sent and there was no 5 pounds enclosed in either letter.Croker was an excellent stock man ,but you dare not ride past him ,and take his place on the wing of a mob of sheep,as I did this on 1 occasion and he just rode off and went back to his camp,and left dad and I with the mob???? All good stockman would to the same during the horse era,but not now in the mechanical ageThe next workman I remember that stayed a few years while I was at school,and after I came home was Bill Hansen,otherwise known as Scissors,because he was a travelling tool sharpner,and he arrived at Glenbede looking for a job.He arrived at Glenbede on horseback,and as well as the one he was riding,he had 2 other saddle horses, he had 2 pack horses on which he carried his sharpening equipment which was only a couple of files and a couplee of carborundum stones,and a saw set,but as well he had all his worldy possessions on those 2 pack horses,and camped under the stars when he came to a station and sharpened their tools.Once he sharpened the few tools we had Dad offered him a job,so he let his horses go in one of our paddocks,and camped in the saddle shed at Glenbede on an old stretcher,and had a carbide light at night .He was a ‘bender” man,which meant he would work for 6 months, the get his wages,go to McKinlay or Gilliat throw his cheque to the Publican,and just drink and drink until the cheque run out,and the return to Glenbede in the “horrors” take another week to get over the “bender”,and then go back to work,which was mostly fencing with a crowbar and shovel,which was hard work for a 70 yr. old.One day he come to Dad and said I am leaving now Peter,so he mustered up his 5 horses put the pack saddles on 2 of them ,and took off.His horses must have been disappointed, because,they had a 4 or 5 year holiday at Glenbede,because in those 5 years he never put a saddle on his own horses,and they were fat and shiny when he got them in.Scissors was pipe smoker with plug tobacco,and what he didn’t smoke he would chew,and spit ou the juice.Quite a few of these old blokes in this era chewed plug tobacco!!!!!! I heard that he died a couple of years after he left GlenbedeMy favourite workman was Tommy Porter.He fitted in perfectly at Glenbede,and was like family.He camped on the front verandah of the house,,grew a vegatable garden,helped wih the cooking,was easy o live with,except when he went on a “bender”,which was about every 6 months,when he would go to the Gilliat Pub,and hand his cheque over to the publican,and drink the 6 month s cheque out then come home again,with at least 2 bottles of rum in the swag,which you had to find and hide and dish it out to him in small nips,until he got back on his food.It would take him a week for him to get back to normal