South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Monday 28 October 1895, page 6


MOUNT REMARKABLE.

Too section of ton committee which bad to S' ) to Mount Remarkable Ktlt Adelaide by tbe roken Hill axpress'on Thursday. Arriving at Gladstone as 2 a.m. on Friday, a drive ot

tony .. mue* to me . setuemenk wa* begun immediately, and Mount Remarkable was reaobed at 8.30. Tbe *ettler* bave at tbeir dUposal U32 acre* of land, a lari?e |-oriion of which, on the precipitous slopes of Mount Remarkable, is fitted only to graze a few cattle ; only about 500 acres is oultivatable. There are only eighteen men on the ground now, but as women are here registered as villagers the registered number of settlers is thirtytwo. This represents slightly under one-half tbe of original sixty-six sottler*. When tbe settlement was formed tba baais of membership wa* that each married man should put down £'20, and each single man £10, while the contributions ot a proportion of paying settlers in Adelaide were to keep tbe working settlers goiog until tbe settlemept beoanie remunerative. Most of tbe original «etsler* failed to maintain their contributions, but those now ou.th* ground bave iu uash and kind put about £160 into tbe oomaiou fund. The *9ttler» who are now working state tbat there naa been a deal ot dUcontHDt, but add that the d i soon t»n ted ones have left, and expn**s them*t*lve« hopsfully of tbe future. Although at various times settlers have dune outside work in the neighbourhood, with tbereaultthatthefundnof the Association bare been augmented bvi'321 15s. 6d., the villager* havetoucd time to clear 200 acre* of heavily timbered country. They bave done a fair a-mouos of planimir, but, in common with other northern ar«wt, tbeir wheat crop of 74 «sre* id (uttering from want of moisture, llio averatte annual rainfall of 25 iuohea is sutfioien: lor fruit-tree*, but tbe settlers have *scur -d euoush watHr to irrigate two acres by dammini; a creek, aud they bave on the stocks a Urf,--r «ohoine to throw an embankment across obo of tbe gorge* a: tbe foot of tbe Mourn, so tha: tb*y may irrigate 82 aore*. At uoostof £5^0 i; is believMl tbat

a res»r«oir to bold G.UuO.COU gallon* of water could be constructed. Tho bricks uted in tbe buildinu* on tbe settlement have b*en made by She sattler*. Pha settler* further do no; buy anv flour, milting their bread of whole meal, whioh they crush ou sue .lettlement. After making a thorough irnpection the Committee, with she Uomiui*Mouer of Crowa Land* iu the chair, tojk ovidence. Daniel Touuheil, Chairman of the settlement, said there had b-en six ohan^es of Tru«tee», although none of thn Trustee* had b.wn ooin|-f iled to resign. A p»r t^raph in the Rtiitif ou Oj'.ober 17, from Mr. Cook', wbo had been x villa^^r, was .% tissuo of inaccuracies. Mr. Cock* had be^n a o*u*e of trouble, and wa* expelled by the Trustees, but ou *pp«ftl to the villagers he wa« allowed to rrtiuAin by a majority of one vote— hi* wife'*. They hvi 2'0 uures ole art»d, of which 150 were rultivatt- d, there being SO acre* under cercala, 10 fodder crop*, IU 2»rd«ri, 40 vin*s. They had constructed 4 mil?* C4 chrjins of feaoing. C; mile* b«-ing wire-netted. He considered tbe bill a goo : one, and did not fear extra powerb beinz given to tbo Ciramitsioner. Tbeir advances amounted to £03-4. and tbeir outstanding liabilities to £337 10?. 2-jd. Ho was t-atiib'ed tbat if the Bill pa«ted they wonld be able to make a success of the settlement. They could not begin tboir repayment* at the end of three years. By Mr. Blacker-— He wa* a firm bsliever in cooperation. To make tbe settlement a thorouch success sbey would like 3,000 acres of land. Twenty-four of tha original villagers left because of dissatisfaction. Mr. Wilton Hack, the instigator of tbe me vein tn I, wu not suited for a villager's life, because be wanted to ba

a kind of autocrat, be bad left. Theyoouid not get through without further Government aid. John Willis Bankhead, Secretary, stated that the actual cost of living bad *inco July bean 2s. Ad. per sttult, counting two obildren as one adult. TliVy had spent 2.Vd. per week for clothing, but money wu needed at ones for clothing. He believed in their nyneus of working and in the future of tha sottlt-meu:. Alfred Riohard Sayoe pave oorrouorntive testimony, but added that the ratten scale had been out down to en almott impossible limit. They worked torty-eight hours a week, in addition to which tbe settlers did a lot of work on their own blook«. Goorge Henry Payne, Thomas Ibnry Casely, and Andrew Birr also gave evidence. After partaking of tbe hospitality of the Chairman the visitors left for Uladstono, whence on Saturday morning they proceeded to their homes.