LIFE OF A STATION HAND SIXTY FIVE YEARS AGO A TALK GIVEN BY THE LATE  Mr W.F. RIDDIFORD, O.B.E., ON 14TH JULY. 1975 T0 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. To the best of my ability I will describe the life of a station hand sixty five years ago.  I was that station hand and I arrived in the bush about the latter end of 1910, and was successful in obtaining a position on Nundora Station which was part of Wonnaminta at that time. I was born at Mount Browne on 28 March 1895, which puts me at a little over 80 years of age.  The only children that my sisters and I were able to play with were aboriginals  –  the real aboriginals.  The genuine aboriginal was a very  noble type of person until he  became involved with Europeans; he then deteriorated, and lost his native arts, and his Identity.  However, my task is to describe the life of a station hand.  I was sent  to school in Adelaide for a few years, but my older brothers attended school three three days a week at Mount Browne, and two days at Milparinka, which meant they used to ride six and eight miles a day.  They would ride from Millring Station (or selection) to Mount Browne for three days, and the teacher would then move to Milparinka and teach for two days.  My brothers would ride to school, hobble their horses on the common and, after school find their horses and ride back to the station; this was the way they received what little education they could. After a few years schooling in Adelaide, my education was abruptly terminated for economic reasons.  When I returned to the West Darling District, I began working on a sheep station.    A large station consisted of a number of buildings  –  the principle one is the “government house”, the main station building.  There was a form of caste system on the station at that time  -  firstly, there was the upper class, then there was one a little lower, finally descending to the level of the station hands.  The people who lived at the government house were the overseers, the bookkeepers and the jackaroos.  They had their sleeping quarters, their dining rooms and their lounges (they did not called them lounges in those days, they were known as parlours ).  In the general homestead of the station (the station house) were accommodated the married man and his wife, the governess, and the young ladies who perhaps worked at the general manager’s house.  The general manager did not live at the government house as he had a special place of his own.  His home was rather superior  –  and in fact there are some of those fine old buildings still standing in the district today. Finally, we come to the men’s quarters.  These consisted of several buildings.  Some huts would contain about ten beds, or bunks but no mattresses or pillows were supplied.  We used a couple of sheepskins for mattresses, covered with calico to help remove the smell.  We would roll up our clothes to form a pillow.  The men’s quarters accommodated employees whose duties were separate from the government house staff.  There was the station cook (generally a male), the head stockman, the blacksmith, the saddler      (Saddlers were employed part – time, and they  generally  migrated from one station to another on contract), bullock drivers (all stations had one bullock driver for wood – carting  and other transport work ), and a horse breaker. The number of stockmen and station hands varied according to the size of the station.  Places like Yancannia in its heyday would have about 12 or 14 men in the mustering camp all the time. In addition to the various buildings there were sundry sheds, a saddler’s shop, blacksmith’s shop, harness room where all the saddles were placed in rows, and a stockyard  –  located perhaps half a mile from government house.                                                CONTINUE