THE REAL New South Wales Outback and people like Frank Olerhead 1934

THE REAL WEST.

Its Varied Resources.

(BY R. H. CAMPBELL.)

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Source:"THE REAL WEST." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) 13 Jan 1934 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17039917>.

                               WESTERN HOSPITALITY.

The hospitality of the west is proverbial. At first the people manifest a certain reserve, but once confidence is established their kindness knows no limits. At some of the wayside homes along the less-frequented routes you will often find a man who acts as host to all travellers with a generosity that is most embarrassing. Tourists on the lonely road from Wilcannia to Broken Hill are unanimous in their appreciation of Frank Olerhead, who has made Dolo Tank seem like an oasis in the wilderness...

The homely philosophy of the westerner finds expression in the following lines:

Let me live in a house by the side of the road

where the race of men go by -

The men who are good and the men who are bad

As good and as bad as I.

I would not sit in the scorner's seat

Or hurl the cynic's ban:

Let me live in n house by the side of the road,

And be a friend to man.

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Note: The above extract about Frank appeared in a two part article about the lives and mentality of the inhabitants of New South Wales Outback.