The memorial to Jacky Howe, the inventor of the Jacky Howe blue athletic singlet.
Just kidding, although the creation of the blue sleeveless athletic singlet is attributed to him and it still bears his name.
The memorial to Jacky Howe is in recognition of the world record he set in Oct 1892 when he blade shore 321 sheep in 7hrs 40mins at Alice Downs Station just outside of Blackall. The week before, he set a weekly record when he shore 1437 sheep in 44hrs 30mins.
The record has never been broken and it wasn't until 1950 that shearer Ted Reick exceeded Jacky's number but he was using mechanical shears while the hand shears that Jacky was using were little more than heavy duty scissors.
It was also Jacky Howe and another local Blackall resident, Paddy Sheehan (I think he may have been of Irish origins 😁) who convinced T.J.Ryan to stand for the seat of Barcoo which he subsequently won and became the first Labour member of Parliament as I mentioned in one of the postings from Barcaldine.
