Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin, NT : 1873 - 1927), Friday 13 March 1891, page 3


Macarthur River Notes.

(From our own. Correspondent ).

Borroloola, Feb: l8.

By this mail I am able to report plenty of rain everywhere. The up country mail has just arrived, and we have news of considerable floods on the Tableland. At Anthony Lagoon the water was three feet high, at the police camp, and two and a half feet in Luxton's store. Both are on high ground. We also hear that the sixmile hut on the boundary of Corella and Brunette is, washed away. This has taken place rather suddenly, as two weeks, ago rain was anxiously looked for- The coast eo>aintiry has aïs«* had plenty of rain, a.n,d the- river here has been a fair height cot&pitredl to- former years. 'At the- tarne- of - writing w» have-.tV^dJ asfoort spell of fine weafcliei%bttt tlv»|hentt is teîfribî>e. with, tv» moverâenfc ÏOù tfee avv töi speak of,, and signs of' plenty more rain. . .\

The steamer Adelaide is looked for. to-inorro.w, and the pul>!ic have-' been wondering whether tly^ Goverrunent have allowed; 115 any money for «xw.opv ço.Ujntçy- road. It is to. be I hoped1 that they have-wï:h a sup/ ateo,, that will be. bar sorç.e ose.-for. it- is. ajgseed! on all si dies, that we; shall; he. in, a had way if spmetlnjngi is not done v'*ry.'soon to some, of the crossing* Messrs. Jolly and Luxton ka ve,, posted a, notice on the'iK door to.the. effect t mt they won't be aas.wera.ble fgr any damage to goods

done on the river owing to the virgin state of the channel and " the apathy qf the Government." Ho*"' far such a notice would protect them if», doubtful.

On the 2nd inst. we held a meeting at the iioya) to consider the advisabi-lity of holding races here same time during the oqld season, when it would be most convenient for the Tableland people to attend, It is quite likely that the event will come oft", but so far wp have to get the up country people to replj' to the minutes drawn, up. We all want to encourage the local horses, and if possible have a well 'considered programme drawn up to exclude horses . which travel the country **on the job."

If we give the matter due considera-tion it ought to be managed.

I will now turn to a subject which has been talked of somewhat of late, and if you are in a position at any time to give the public any informa-tion on it you would oblige several here, to wit, the cattle shipment scheme. We would like to know how far the scheme has advanced, and in-formation as to the details. For instance, how is the market where the cattle would be disposed of1? What steps have been or will be taken to provide cattle for shipment ? How are yards to be erected at the port of shipment" We are all in the dark in

these matters. One business man here suggested that a suitable person might visit the various ports in the east and report on the chance of a good market, quote a prolxible price for the catt le landed, also weight per head; at the same time he could find out how the people were disposed towards h-ef.

At the end of January our old friend, Mr. M. Kirwan, from the Rop«r, piid us a visit. All who know him will readily understand that Borro-loola shook itself up under his influence. A billiard tournament was amongst the first, and afterwards anyone who had a horse got the "two to. one" fever and backed his opinion of bim for a pound or less against any other moke. It caused a little diversion during the dullness of the wet season, and was harmless enough, so we won't

say any more.

Last month I had a chance to examine a horse which died of a disease which seems peculiar to these patt«, as several have died at one time and another from it. This subject was a chestnut filly ulonging to Mr. J. Clark. Mr. Clark had heard'that oil and turpentine cured some eases, but when administered in rhis instance the

I lilly died in »lout three hours, after.

Several of us were present at the post mortem. The animal was destitute of every vestige o£ fit. The lungs were slightly congested, but not enough to cause death. The trouble was dis-covered in the stomach, which was infested with a fine thre.idrlike worm about one inch or so in length. They were almost as fine as sewing cotton, and their mode of progression was lil«* certain caterpillars, via*., by bringing Elie taih np to the head in the form of an inverted letter fj, when the head was thrust forth, and then the tail brought up again, &c. I have had no dunce to examine them under magnify ing power as yet. Tlw» effect of these

worms in the stomach is to destroy the lining membrane, and they exist in hundred ... Fully one half of the lining membrane in this case was quite eiten away, leaving the walls of the stomach very thin indeed. We could not find

this peculiar worm anywhere beyond I i the stomach, though we saw three or

four of the usual intestinal worms two or three inches in length. This sub ject led to a, pretty warm argument yesterday, and I was requested to a>k

you to let us know whether boiled or | i mw-linseed oil was tho proper oil for

.i horse. The contention on the one hand was that boiled oil would poison .1. horse, others said not. Xti\ Clark I know gave his horse boiled oil, though in the then denuded state of tlie coats of the stomaoh the turpen-tine miuht have hpe-n too much for it We suppose here that the worms are bred in some other host besides the ; hoirse, and i« picked up by Hi is la m mentioned animal with the grass (we don't know under what conditions) v and take posse-sion of the stmiach of the new hoe* and in a short time destroy it. Any good remedy for the disease wiuld be a great gain to many here. Such authorities as are to hand make no mention of any worms in horses such as thr.fi«? »polten of above.

From Brunette I hear "creeks aro higher than last year, and will no douht fill all large lakes and so give the. station nearly three years' supply of water. Total; rainfa.ll si nee.tanita ry 1st to Fehrtvwy 5th,,, IV&10; inches for

BjowvIW

j. One Police Court ease to reportWilliam Wright was had up for l>angMi!» his gin about, and pleaded guilty and' was cautioned. He wits also sorry to the extent of §2. and. lus-, costs»

Several Local Court sum-mouses haVe been taken out» which so fir have been «M settled out of court, hence I ani unable to. give particulars. This Court wil!î he of considerable benefit to the tradespeople and others, ©>f the distrit!*,. as it now makes people nsiore

: «ireful of how they rtan into debt, and { perhaps wey may have l>e*-n better o&'if it had lieen established long aga.

I was-.shown a "faked" brand rvi.a young horse a fe^w days ago. It lacked liiike-a Sarge No." Î placed horizontally on the- new sh<***jT!dle*-» Not being up to> thés?* sîufuï games niyse.lf Ï e"«n only relate- ILk»w it was possible- to> arrive at this' conclusion. Some isaicî th* fcide. .was SUyed off with th« Iwans! on *t" a«*di the skin induced to coin'* together. Othe-rs. say it vras effectodl hy ra*si Kg» the. hiwilf» from, the rS"i=h and inserting, son?/*-foreign bndiy» of ' the nature- of-* a -:t>ro>wel^* Tuehich- causes in.firim.'nation, andi a cPistifureti'crH of tfeVand. The al'teríísfcieíi. was only recent li}-"* ii^idj*\ and!

showed' some considerable- sfe;ilii Ia> ' " wa\rs; tfef^t are du ¡rkr It is. cu-n-ejiitly reported* th^at some; of this fraternity havfc. been seh.-et.ing. a-bo-jalr fcrrâji-y head! of louses for ^b^J-ö^d-vef*- «-V^t tl»e. TaJ*J**%v*ads of- ji.il>. Ho\y. nwclv truth, there ujav be in Üt one cannot sav at present-.. 1Í " trite» they have- much in

! favour of a clean get away.owiug to ¡the rains. If the Government could | ftnly see their way towards,giviig usa I telegraph lilie tq Powell's. Creek, via Anthony Lagqqn, it woidd heip to. reduce â lot qï tins work, tqa upniin.um Jt is not sQ'npicli what ve.do-hea.r-of, ?is cattle and, horse stealing wljich. is p.qt reported (perhapsalmost unknown,^. wh.erc the publjc sqffe.r most,

February -2.ftt.h, . The mail arrived, to-night about 7 ¡¿m.» tq the great relief «f everyone, as we were wondering what had. kfcpt thp ''. Adelaide." , We pit it down tp had weatheij .which appears %o \\nve been correct* as we \y.\\e had ?v sample qf it here. Jt set in to rain oi^ the 19th, cQutinuing for five days to the extent of sixteen inches, with heavy squalls, when the wind, changed, to. west to «outh-west.and blew, a hpavy gale. The mail communication, with up country *s, stopped^ but we nmy reasonably suppose thut the rain is general. Owing to floods the, last mail

up country did not fetch beyond/ Anthony Lagoon. The total rainfall for February to date h;is been 32 inches At present it looks set for fine weather, but I dou't think it will last long.

The rain brought the Macarthur River down about 15 feet high, which means a large volume of water in such a wide open channel ; but. at present it has retired much to its usual level.

In business circles I can only report t!ic same old thing. Insufferable dull-ness, and money uncommonly tigh.t.

1 hear that as soon' as passible Correll«, will send a mob of cattle south, Mr. T. Brown in charge.