July 1956 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

July, 195S

July. 1956

eration and which, in some cases have become rather dilapi- dated. These people are cultured and send their children to boarding schools from an early age. But there is still much work to do, and the wives work, driving cattle and providing for their husbands, work starting at an early hour in the morn- ing. The tempo of life in such a town varies. On one day the town may be flooded with farmers collecting their milk cheques or delivering produce, on another one may find the streets devoid of life but for the many dogs roaming about, belonging to none, but known to all. One of the big days in the year is sale day. Over-night the cattle are driven along the stock routes into town, penned on arrival early in the morning, and wait until the sale be:;rins. Throughout the day the bellowing of the cattle and the monoton- ous voice of the auctioneer are heard, the saleyards are shrouded by a cover of dust, and the prospective buyers sit on the stock-rails while the stockmen skilfully draft the cattle from pen to pen. Night falls, and the cattle are driven to the rail yard to wait for the train. The stockmen may camp the night about the sale yards listening to the incessant low mooing of the cattle. The successful buyer celebrates in town, and the red rim about the sky seems to seal in the little town, telling of the frost of the morrow, and setting the tired stockman to rest after the toil of the day. Entertainment may not be profuse or of a high class judg- ing by city standards, but Saturday night holds an air, almost o f festivity, as the local cinema is crowded by town and country folk, some of whom come from properties miles out of town. There are four or five Balls held each year and the little town comes suddenly to life as all flock to the Show Ball , the social event of the year. Everyone knows almost everyone else, and a stranger to the gathering is soon noticed and his history known. News travels fast in a small town and it is difficult to keep any information confined to a few people, somehow it seeps out and suddenly everybody knows. A band may travel 60 to 100 miles for such an event, and charges a high rate for the night, but this cost is counteracted by the number who attend, as it is thought that regardless of its tune ability, 29

THE FAR COUNTRY. The pioneers were the first settlers in the country districts o£ Queensland, and they were quickly followed by men who saw that a future lay in farming the soil, even though it might be accompanied by hard work and failure. Land was taken by the small or large farmer who a rrived with his family hoping to make a living, bare though it might be. Railways were built throughout the country areas, and a t the rail-stops grew towns, perhaps only a store at first, but ex- panding to form a nucleus about which life in the district circu- la ted. These towns are spread throughout Queensland, some prosperous, some decaying, but all necessary for the livelihood of those for whom it is a link with the rest of Queensland and the outside world. The personality of a town depends on its people and their occupations so that towns in the same district are very much alike. Goomeri is a typical south-eastern Queensland town situated in the South Burnett district. Many of the townspeople are timber-haulers, driving huge trucks from the scrub to the rail yard in the centre of the town. Others are storekeepers. Goomeri has two large stores and numerous small shops, and the remainder are bankers, teachers and Post Office officials. As in most country towns, the greater part of the population comes from surrounding farms and larger properties. The small farmers are, for a great part, not well educated, and do not encourage their children to advance further than they in. this field, partly because they ore required to do heavy work on the farm, and thus have little time to study and portly be- cause their parents know no other life than that which is lived from day to day on the fa rm. The condition of the farm de- pends on the amount of work a nd knowledge of agricultural methods of the farmer, and of course on the land which he occupies . Efforts are being made to increase the sc:entific knowledge of the farmer, although some are quite content to continue with the horse and plough methods of their fathers. There are also the larger land-owners who can trace their a ncestry back to the first pioneers and live in the old home- steads which have been handed down from generation to gen- zg