Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Tuesday 14 June 1910, page 6


SIR ROBERT KYFFIN-THOMAS.

In the death of Sir Robert Kyffin-Thomas the Australian press has suffered the loss of a notable figure, and the Common-wealth a good citizen. In his native State of South Australia he was well known and esteemed as the holder at different times of important public offices, and also as the senior proprietor of the Adelaide ''Register" -one of the oldest of Australian dailies-and other important journals, and in this latter capacity he gave generous proof of his devotion to high journalistic ideals. The personality of the deceased gentleman received, however, a much wider introduc-tion to notice at the Imperial Press Confer-ence which sat in London last year. By general consent of his fellow-delegates he was one of the most able and useful, as he was also one of the best liked, men at that remarkable gathering; and the estimate of him was definitely regis-tered in his election to the chairmanship of the entire Overseas Dominions section. A knighthood conferred on this occasion was the well-deserved official recognition. Sir Robert was a consistent upholder of the doctrine of Empire solidarity, and in the ways that were open to him influenced thought and opinion along Imperial lines. He will be missed as a man who, in his lifetime, played an important part in the life of his State in a very unobtrusive way, and leaves behind him a very full

record of good citizenship.

The Late King Edward.-Messages of sym-pathy in connection with the death of his late Majesty King Edward continue to be received by his Excellency Lord Chelmsford. The last to hand are from the State Children's Relief Board, the Bexley branch of the Political La-bour League, tho Coolah Shlro Council, and tho Carrathool Shire Council. Parliament, will bo askod to-day to pass suitable resolu-tions in connection with the death ot King Edward and the accession ot King George.

A Fairy, a Half Fairy, and a Mere Mortal.- j In opening his address £o tho gathering of nurses at Government House yesterday, In connection with the district nursing schomo, I Mr. Boulton Indulged in an allegorical flight, which quite appealed to his audience. Once, he said, there lived a good fairy, with heal-ing in her wings and love in her heart. She

was sent by King Oberon and Queen Titania.

to a far country to carry out her charitable |

inclinations. In this country the people were gay and happy, but a few were not. So the good fairy sent to the other fairies to help her make them happy. She then summoned a half-fairy, and a mero mortal, to toll tho fairies how to sot to work. Tho good fairy Ayas the Countess of Dudley, the far country, Australia; the fairies were tho nurses she appealed to; the half-fairy was Miss Hughes, and the mero mortal was tho speaker, Avhoaa knowledge ot the work of organisai ion was

requisitioned.

Stockholm and Buda-Pesth.-"I was more struck with Stockholm lhan with any capi-tal In Europo," was tho opinion given yestor day by Dr. Mawson, the Australian geologist, who accompanied Shackleton to the South, and who has lu the last seven months truvolled tho round of the scientific world. "But per-haps that was on account of the reception by the members of the Swedish Antarctic Expedi-tion. I was very sorry to leavo there, as In two months' time they are having a moot-

ing1 ot the Geological Congres« In Stockholm, i

at which polar geology will ho discussed, and they aro to havo exhibited thoro, if possible, collections mado hy every expedition that has I sailed to tho North or South. Professor .David Is sending a synopsis of our own collec-

tions." Another capital which struck Dr. Mawson groatly was Duda-Pesth, the capital 'of Hungary. "It is u magnificent city," ho

said. "It has been mostly rebuilt this last 20 years. I stayed a good deal in Hungary. They aro a most intelligent, well-to-do people, and they havo a great friendship for the Eng-lish. Tho Hungarians are not in a happy position, though. They aro botweon a sea of Gormans on the one sido and a sea of Slavs on

tho other."

The People's Hope.-Georvo V. Avns pro-claimed King, with stately coromony, and amid tho enthusiasm of London (writes our special correspondent, under dato May 13). The now King is probably the most discussed man in Europo to-day. In England the record of his life is being searched minutely for indication of him. Ho comes upon tho dlfflcult task ot succecdiug a King universally beloved and universally trusted. It is of the nature of things that a Prince of Walos looms somewhat shadowy beside tho substantial prominence of the sovereign. He has littlo chanco to display that which is in him and all that is possible to him Is tho sug-gestion of promise for the days to como. People in general hero aro satisfied with that pro-mise in tho caso of King George. Ho is believed to have a strength of purposo in reservo that will serve him well. All over London one hears quietly confident hopes çf him. And the Queen is no less looked up to with respect and with confidence. She, too" succeeds one who, universally beloved, will long he followed by the tender thought of the great moss of English people. But overy

Iwhere ti feeling is manifest that the now

King and Queen will riso to the great occa-

sion. The responsibilities of their ofilce aro

Immense; but it Is already obvious enough

j that, facing those responsibilities, they will

havo to the full whntcvor support there may be In the sympathy and the conlldenco of their

poople. " '

Residential Blocks at Broken Hill.-The pro- ' cedure to be followed with respect to tho throwing opon of the ^Waterside Hal and the Willlam-strcot North Government reserves at Broken Hill has not yet been decided upon. The reserves have boon subdivided into 230 'Mocks, but no dato has been fixed for making

thom aA-nilable. Should a final doclsion be come to to cancel the resorves and mnlto them aA-ailable for residential sites, the blocks will bo open to amy person holding a miner's

righ't. | University Commemorations.-At the monthly meeting of the Sonato of the University of Syd- I

| ney yesterday the following recommendations j

were received from a comnjiuco appointed to | consider the best method of celebrating thu¡

annual commemoration in futuro years:-1. !

I That degrees be conferred In December or| ¡early in Lent'term, at such time and place as j the senate may -direct, only those graduating

¡to bo admitted. 2. That a commemoration j meeting bo hold In tho Great Hall on some

evening in the Soptomber vacation with the ¡commemoration of benefactors, an nddross by tho Chancellor, such other speechos as may be

determined, and music. The report wus, adopted. I

Bricklayers in Demand.-Those In charge of operations at the Zig-zag deviation works state

j that thoro Is a great difficulty in obtaining | bricklayers. Thoro aro 10 tunnels to bo bricked, and although a number of mon have

'boen employed for some timo there is room I for more. This scarcity is interfering with tho 'completion of the work. Bricklayers with local 'oxporlonce aro preferred. Several recent arrl IvalB from England have boen tried, but thoir 'efforts in tho direction of speed are not to bo

compnred with Australians'. Although brick-ing tunnels requires somo special knowledge, ordinary bricklayers will find work Availing for Ithem at Clarence.

Tho Late Mr. O'sullivan.-Mr. Geo. Briner, M.L.A., a close personal friend of tho lato Mr. E. "A". O'sullivan, and Mr. Minaban, who suc-ceeds the deceased U3 me'mbor for Belmore,

have addressed a letter to the Premier sug-| gostlng that a Government grant might fit-tingly be given towards a memorial which it ¡is proposed to raise to Mr. O'sullivan. The ¡Premier intends to bring the request before

the Cabinet. I

Use for Opium.-Ono Australian industry haB pracllcally boon destroyed, ,for the pre-sent, at any rate, by the Commonwealth legis-lation against the uso of opium. Mr. G. II. Smith, assistant curator of tbe Technological Museum, explained during tho'courEe of a lec-ture to the Naturalists' Club last night that in past yenrs many Quecnslnnd aborigines had been emplo/ed in the gathering of leaves of certain eucalypls for the making of citron ellu oil, which the lecturer observed was used 'to attract and not repel mosquitoes. Tho re 'ward which kept the natives at work was opium, and since its distribution had boen preventod, the blacks had ceased to work for

anj thing else, and the industry was at a very, low ebb. A capital lantern slido showed a' great gathering of native workers in front of tho boilers and stiiis when the industry was

st Its height of prosperity. , Wireless Telegraphlc Record. - The wireless operator on the R.M S. Makura, Mr. M. A. Mulrony, reported on arrival yestorday that the vessel had broken all records for wire-less messages in the Pacific by speaking North Vancouver when 2080 miles off. The Makura is fitted with a United wireless plant, and her latest feat represents the longest aerial communication made by any vessel in the Pacific. Over such a great expanse of ocean the message was somewhat weak, and represents the limit of the vessel's radius. The Makura's wireless outfit is said to be the most powerful of any vessel trading to Aus-tralia. Mr. J. H. A. Pike first "picked up" the Makura on Wednesday last, and had main-tained communication with her since.

An Auctioneer In Revolt.-A remarkable in-cident occurred yesterday during the sheep sales at the Homebush yards. In the ordinary course or events, yard 2 was. allotted for the penning of a portion of a draft of primo woolly

merino wethers from Wonbobbie, the prop-, erty of M. and A. Bolger. The yard has a number of holes in it. nnd was generally In a mucky state. As the auctioneer deemed tho yard unfit to pen the primo sheep of his cli-ents' in, and ns ho thought that the buyers should not bo called upon to handle the sheep In the yard, ho refused to pen them there for sale, preferring to sell them in ono of tho lanes in tho yards. When offering tho shoop for sale, he said that ho thought the condi-tion of tho yard was a disgrace to tho City Council, and thnt stock owners who paid yard dues, had a right to expect better accommo-dation for their Btock. Other agents, referring to tho subject, said that the auctioneer was justified in tho course that ho had pursuod.

Tlie wethers were a Ano oven lot, but IS.

penned in the yards would havo np-1 poarod uneven and badly classod.' Moroover,, ! the mucky state of tho yard, Avlth the holes '

full of dirty water, Avould havo stained tho .

fleeces, if any had slipped down, In tho rush, j and depreciated the sheep. Ono or two own-1

jers alluded to the subject, and pointed to

other pens, some' with"Avater troughs In, with

water coA'ored with slime, Avhilo three-fourths I of the. pens woro not provided with troughs

j at all. Altogether, they said, It was high \

timq thoro was serious notico taken of tho

saleyards hy the Goyornmont, and stops taken,

j to put now yards in a suitable aroa and un

dor moro satisfactory control.

j A Veteran School-boy.'-Among those pre-

sent at tho Fort-street Old Boys' Union smoko concert last Saturday night was Mr. Edward Downey, whoso school days at Fort-street bo-, gan in 1S4", a fortnight hftor tho school Avas first opened. The veteran of Fort-street took tho proceedings quietly, not taxing himself by malling a speech, but lils eyes glittered with an oloquonce more expressive than words Mr. Downey hi3 the' honour of being the oldest living ox-pupil of tho oldest school In the Commonwealth. When bo joined tho school the pupils were a mere handful of boys and girls, throo dozen at most, who occupied four rooms In what was then the military hospital attached to the old barrack's. On the site of tho barracks now stands the city block boun-ded by Barrack, Clarence, Jamieson, and Geoigo streets, while tho military hospital is embodied in the front building at Fort-street, lately occupied bj tho Training College.

Not Fit for Antwerp.-In a case In ono of the Jury Courts vesterdny a good deal of evi-dence was given In regard to tho condition

|at on« period of certain horses and their!

ability to do the work demanded ot them.

One witness who was examined on tho sub-1

ject said that "two of the animals were all i right, but as for the other three-well, I hav«

not seen worse sent to Antwerp." !

Tho Echo of a Tragedy.-Dr. Mawson, tho old Sydney University graduate, who Avoht with Shackleton to the Antarctic, and has since examined most ot tho Arctic and An-tarctic rolles and spoken to most of tho ex-plorers at tho other sido of the world, brings back to Australia with him no news of the Ill fated explorer Andree, Avho started towards tho North Polo In his balloon some years back. "Ono year Andreo's start was a failure," said Dr. Mawson yesterday. "But tho next year ho got away all right. Tho wind was in tho right direction. Ho rose in tho afternoon, and sailed away north. The balloon was In sight for an hour, and that was the last that was over seen of It. But Andree took Avith him a number of small receptados In which he could drop messages on the way. Four of theso messengers have boon found. Two of them wore empty-two contained rocords. The first was droppod at 11 o'clock tho night ho sailed away, saying 'All's wall.' Tho second was dropped an hour later, also saying 'All's well.' Aftor that thoro Is an absolute blank. There's no doubt his balloon went wrong, and they wero dropped In amongst the polar pack, and, not being AVCII equipped, could not make their way back. The balloon would bo lost In the pack, but tho records wero specially made to float. Those two empty records tbey found-they wero 'not thrown out Intention-ally." ' .

An Old Identity.-"This old dark mun you Bee on tho scroon Is none other than tho famous 'Billy Blue,' " said Dr. A. Houison at a lantern lecturo on "Old Sydney" last night. "Ho was a A'ory fine fellow," remarked tho lecturer. "Ho Ava3 one of the most popular nautical men In the old days. Ho followed the occupation of a water bailiff, in spito of the fact that ho wan a West Indiaman. He had a nice house within tbo Govornmont House grounds, and In return for this ho Avas granted a largo block

,0t land at Blue's Point. This point derived its ,namo from Billy Blue. If you go up in tho

tram from Bluo's Point you will seo the 'Old Commodore Hotel.' This placo originally be-longed to him. Ho had a fairly largo family. Ono of his daughters married a waterman, Avho used to ply from Lavendor Bay to Dawes Point. His namo Avas Moxham, and he gave his namo to this bay. AATion he died, Mrs. Moxham mar-ried another waterman namod Lavender. Tho name of the bay Avas changed to Lavendor, and it still retains it to this day. Old Billy Blue jAvas u good old follow. Ho was a very gener 'ouB old mau, and was respected by all who

knew bira."

| Volcano In Eruption.-Captain Armstrong, ¡of tho four-masted barque Poltalloch, which ¡arrived from Portland yesterday, states that ¡Avhen passing tho Samoan Islands on May 14 la A'olcnno Avas In eruption. Dense A'olumos of smoke and fire Avore Issuing from the crater, aud lava waB running down into the sea. "It was," said tho captain, "an impressive sight."

Football Extraordinary.-A striking featuro ' of this .season's football is the number of big

engagements that are taking placo in Sydney. t Tho Quoesiandors have already performed their I part, and havie returned home. Tho Maoris

are touring inland, and play in Sydney again ,011 Saturday, while New Zealand Is also re-presented by the "All Blacks." Tho Ameri-cans arrived yesterday, and a Victorian team is to como across next month. South Aus-tralia is represented in the Australian gamo by the North Adelaide team, and the League has (ho Englishmen wider Its banner. On the'23th last tho Maori. Auicrlcab, New Zea-land, and New South Wales teams will all bo playing on tho Sydney Cricket Ground. This undoubtedly must stand as a record for one aftornoon, and is an instance of how sport , affords opportunities of seeing the world.

j "Dorrlgo's Impassablo Itoads."-"I under-

stand the main road between Coramba and the Dorrigo has boen- Impassable for tho

I last three or four months, and as a conse

quonco tho sawmills aro at a standstill,'' i Avrltes a St. Potors- correspondent. "Team-

sters and tlmbor-gettors are idle," ho says, ' "and storekeepers experienced much diffi-

culty in obtaining supplies. A number at settlors, with their families, left Sydney ro

| cently, only to bo strandort at Coffs Har-

bour, with their goods and chattels, which they AVero unable to get carted up to Dor-rigo. If tho present Government," contends the writer, "Intends to carry out Its policy of settling people on tbo land, they should en-courage people to stay thero by giving them reasonable facilities for getting to the town-ships or to port, instead of allowing them to be cut off from the trading centros."

' Naval News.-H.M.S. Powerful loft Melbourne yesterday, and is expected to reach Farm Cove to-morrow morning. H.M.S. Encountor left Sydnoy yesterday for Molbourno. H.M.S. Chal-lenger, Avhich nrrivod In Molbourno from Ade laido on Saturday, will remain there for about ,a fortnight.

The Big Fight.-The R.M.S. Marama (Canadian-Australian line), which loft Syd-ney on the 6th Instant for VancouA-cr, has i been chartered to take 500 excursionists from Vancouver to San Francisco in connection with the Johnson-Jeffries Dght, fixed for July 4. Mr. Tommy Burns, Mr. H. D. M'IntoBh, and others aro travelling per the Marama.

,Tho Kilburn Wreck.-Further particulars were recelA-od per the H.M.S. Makura yester-day respecting the fato of the steamer Kilburn, which was wrecked on Ethel Reef whilo bound from NeAvcastlo to Guaymas coal-laden. At the timo of the wreck Lhe chief officer was on tho bridge, and there was no sign of shallow Avatcr. Tho day was uno. Without any Indi-cation ot shoal water the vessel struck, gave a lurch forward, freed horsolf, and then took the ground again.' Sho was at tho moment passing the group of islands on the north side. Tho rocks went through tho bottom. Captain Vs'ooloy, Lloyd's surveyor, visited the scene, and found tho vessel with her back brokon and docks buckled. Thero was also 20ft of water at the bow, 30ft amidships, and 22ft nt the stern. Tho wrock will probably bo sold at auc I tion.

White Man Missing.-When tho Gorman mail I steamer Prinz AValdemar Avas at Manila It I took back to Yap flvo nativos who had drifted

away from Angaur Island In a small sailing I vessel. Aftor eight days, spent without food or

Avater, they succeeded in reaching the coast of Samar (Philippine Islands), from where they wero convoyed to Manila. Thero was a wblto man in tho boat originally, but, according to the talo told by the natives, ho lumped over-board. They said this man had on two occa-sions got out of the boat and Avas pulled back, but that tbo third timo ho got out they wero too Aveak to rescue him, and (he disappeared. The . story was accepted for want of proof

to the contrary.

A Forgotten Pedestrian.-Speaking at an Il-lustrated lecturo on "Old Sydnoy" last night. In St. Philip's Hull, Dr. Houison told tho audi-ence of the history of some of the old tdonti 'tles ho had porsonally seen and spoken to. Ho Instanced William King as an athlete. This man. ho said, was knOAvn as tho "Flying Pie-man." "We often used to see him," ho con-tinued, "with his tincan strolling around tho city. One time this man walked from the obelisk in Maoquario-placo to Parramatta, covering the distance and baok again in six hours. He walked from Windsor to Sydnoy, and beat the coach by seven minutes. On an-other occasion he carried a live goat from tho Talbot Inn, In George-street, to Nash's Inn nt^Parramatta. Tho goat weighed 721b, and ho also had to boar 101b doad-wolght as well. At any ralo, ho covered this distance In

seven and a half hours. ^ Ho carno hero In

1840, and he died In 1874."

Salo of the Wauchope.-The woll-known coastal steamer Wauchope, 209 tons, which used to trado between Sydnoy and Port Mac-quarie, in tho Interests of N. Cain's Coas-tal Co-operativo Company, Ltd., has been purchased by a Tasmanian firm, and will pro-bably run between Molbouruo, King's Island,

and Launceston.

Big Stamp Duty FigurcB.-Tho »mount paid in Sydney last week as stamp duty totalled £351,316 10s I0d. Of this amount £294,087 was paid by the executors of the late Mr. Samuo] Hordorn, ' whoso ostato was valued at £2,047,875; £33,203 by tho executors of the late Sir John Hay, of Coolargatta, whoso es tato Avas valued at £132,030, and £22,315 by the »xecutors of the late Mr. Francis Sadlier Falkiner, of Boonoko station, near Cobargo, whoso ast*te yu valued »t £?23,lli.