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A Shipload Of Kimberley
Bullocks Made History
Messra. George Booth. Car. ui&k Agnew and Arthur booth examining a loading .chart. Help
Messrs. George Booth, Gar-
rick Agnew and Arthur
Booth examining a loading
chart.
Towards the end of
last week, a big party of
Australian emigrants
stared with large brown
eyes upon the summer
blue waters of a strange
and historic tropical
island republic.
Sailing between the Pacific
Ocean and the China Sea,
they passed through the 7,083
islands of the Philippines
where Spanish, American and
Japanese conquerors have
trod.
REACHING the largest of the
islands, Luzon, last Satur
day, their small, blunt-nosed.
low-lying craft, the Wan Kuo.
glided into the flourishing port
of an old Spanish capital, the
walled cathedral city of Manila.
We can scarcely blame them
if the rich history of their sur
roundings failed to impress.
them. They were making his
tory themselves-these 578 bul
locks from Anna Plains station
in the West Australian Kim
berleys.
Descendants of pioneer cattle
which swam ashore from a de
livery ship on the 80-mile beach
[By W. MITCHELL
between Port Hedland and
Broome last century, they made
their exit from this self-same
beach.
Droved into a wartime landing
barge, which beached itself
upon these sands, they are the
first West Australian cattle to
be exported in this way direct
from station to market.
Their arrival brought to frui-
tion nearly nine months' think
ing and planning. It will earn
American dollars for Australia.
and temporarily ease a critical
meat shortage in the Philip
pines.
The Beginning
It all began last December in
the mind of a 23-year-old West
Australian university student,
the Australian swimming cham
pion, Mr. Garrick Agnew.
Studying business management
at Harvard University, he had
met 35-year-old Mr. Gus
Trippe, former U.S. major, who
joined with a one-time squad
ron-leader in a post-war trad
ing partnership known as Hen
derson, Trippe, Manila.
Trippe was doing a post
graduate refresher course to fit
himself for wider business activ
ity, and when he went back to
Manila Agnew went with him
on a 12-month contract.
At Manila, working for Hen
derson, Trippe, the idea of
cattle shipments from Aus
tralia grew on Agnew and his
talks with the partners were
spurred on by a Philippines
Government decree.
This was a ban, imposed last
March, on the slaughter of the
Philippines caribou (water buf
falo), a vital unit in the re
public's primitive agriculture.
Killed for meat at the rate of
2,500 a month, the caribou was
declining in numbers.
The Deal
Trippe recalled in Perth re
cently that the Philippines
Government immediately allo
cated dollars to purchase cattle
for slaughter from any source.
The Philippines Minister in
Australia asked for an emer
gency allocation of cattle, and
a provisional grant of 2,000 was
made by the Federal Govern
ment after consultation with
Britain, with whom there is a
long-term meat contract.
Meanwhile, back at his par
ents' home in Nedlands after
the end of his Manila contract,
Agnew says he began to think
of Anna Plains station, as a
"natural" for the sort of cattle
shipment he had in mind.
When Trippe came to Aus
tralia on other business, Agnew
put the proposition and they
went to work on it.
During negotiations, an ex
perienced Fremantle cattle
handler, Arthur Booth, flew
North to lend his knowledge in
the fixing of average weights
and prices for the cattle.
His brother Stan, who travel
led to Manila in the landing
barge with the cattle, culled
them from 1,000 head before
loading. He will stay with them
in Manila until they are sold.
Together, under the direction
of their father, Mr. George
Booth, president of the Fre
mantle Trotting Association,
the brothers combed the coun
tryside for "100 tons of hay in
a hurry" to send away as fod
der with the cattle.
Using The Tide
Working quietly in the back
ground all this time on calcu
lations vital to the success of
the project was Agnew's father,
a Perth City Council engineer.
Agnew, sen. also flew to Anna
Plains with his son and Trippe
to take important tidal measure
ments. By the simple method
of sinking stakes in the sand at
low water, and observing
exactly the rise and fall of the
twice-daily tide, he helped to
ensure the success of the ven
ture.
Using the known tide move
ments at Port Hedland as a
guide, he drew comparative
graphs estimating (very accur
ately, as it turned out) the time
of high and low tide during
days when the cattle were to be
loaded.
After initial beaching troubles
which delayed the shipment,
the landing barge, at the peak
of high tide, nosed cleanly into
a specially-built cattle race on
the shore, and opened its bows.
The tide receded, leaving it
firmly beached.
The cattle were loaded during
two day time low tide periods
on Sunday and Monday, Aug
ust I and 2. About 40 per cent
were penned on the open deck
and about 60 per cent below.
Trippe and Agnew estimate
that future loading could be
done easily in one tide, now
that certain lessons have been
learnt.
They are also negotiating for
supplies of fodder from the
cattle stations themselves. Two
of these, with hay balers, have
indicated that they could pro
vide ample supplies of the sta
tion pasture, buffel grass.
Big Dollar Market
Steps to arrange future ship
ments are now being taken.
Trippe has spent the past week
in Canberra.
He says the Commonwealth
has been extremely helpful in
making possible the first ship
ment, but has been naturally
cautious pending its outcome.
The fact that it was carried out
successfully, he feels, should
support his case for exports to
the Philippines at the rate of
600 to 800 head a month.
He points out that each ship
ment would have a gross value
of 75,000 to 90,000 dollars
Monthly shipments would create
a 1,000,000 dollar market.
Trippe and Agnew take the
view that, with many Australian
abattoirs killing more cattle a
day than it is hoped to ship to
Manila in a month, there should
be little trouble filling the or
der.
The cattle shipped from Anna
Plains were in good trade con
dition and paid for on the basis
of Australian trade cattle rates.
In other words, the undisclosed
price was about 20 per cent
higher than if the cattle had
been droved 180 miles to Port
Hedland, shipped to Fremantle
and sold as store cattle at Perth
markets.
Trippe and Agnew are natural
ly keen salesmen for their pro
ject. They are quick to point out
that their type of deal gives the
station owner a firm price on
the property, without the risk,
weight loss and market fluctua
tions possible during transit.
They realise their shipment in
directly affects Perth markets
but claim that shipping for that
outlet is inadequate anyway.
Other Shipments
Another important factor, they
say, is that the good, firm prices
payable for cattle sent to the
Philippines can encourage fur
ther steps by station owners to
make possible increased turn
off.
Better to do that and gain a
market, they add, than leave
production with only the home
and British markets to provide
incentive for progress.
They agree that West Austra
lian cattle stations are hamper
ed just now by the need to re
stock after drought years in the
Kimberleys, but they have been
told the weather conditions
would probably prevent ship
ments between November and
April.
Trippe says he is already in
vestigating the possibility of
shipments from other parts of
Australia, possibly the Cape
York Peninsula, during those
months.
However, he says many north
ern pastoralists are interested
in the present shipment, and he
is confident of supplies if the
Australian Government feels it
is right to grant permission.
The fate of this venture of
young men now lies with Can-
berra and the British Govern
ment.
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