Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Thursday 12 December 1940, page 38


WESTERTS AUSTRALIA.

Railway Dams Benefit.

A return of the volume of water which poured into railway dams as a result of the recent rainstorms was received on Dec. 4 by the Commissioner of Railways (Mr. J. A. Ellis). The depth of water at the various dams increased as follows: Pithara No. l dam, 2ft. 8in.; No. 2 dam. 1ft; Merredin, 14ft. 6in.; Kellerberrin No 1, 9ft.; No. 2, 5ft., 3in.; Bruce Rock, 3ft.; Northam, 8ft. 61n. The dam at Mer-redin had been empty, and the depth of 14ft. 6in. represents an intake of 3,700,000 gallons. The rain gave the two . dams at Kellerberrin an addi-tional 2,775,000 gallons. The Northam dam also had been empty and 1,500,000 gallons was impounded.

Street Appeals.

There was considerable variance of opinion in the Legislative Council on Dec. 4 as to the maximum number of days that should be allowed for the holding of street appeals for charitable or patriotic purposes under the Street Collections (Regulation) Bill. Amend-ments proposing substitution of 75 and 52 for the maximum number of 50 days provided for under the Bill were nega-tived, on the voices, but the Chairman of Committees (Mr. Cornell) decided in favour of the "Ayes" in a vote on a compromise amendment seeking a maxi-mum of 60 appeal days.

The Chief Secretary (Mr. Kitson) suc-cessfully moved for insertion of the word "similar" after "other" to the following definition:-''Collection includes the soli-citing of funds or contributions and the selling or offering for sale of any button, badge, token or other thing, for - the purpose of raising funds or con-

tributions." He said that the amend-ment, together with another that he proposed to move would remove from the scope of the Bill shops conducted for patriotic purposes.

Mr. Fraser, as a compromise, moved that the maximum number be 60.

This amendment was agreed to on the voices.

The Bill, as amended, was read a third time and was sent to the Legisla-tive Assembly.

Defence Works.

A further order for the manufacture of gear for Australian defence vessels has been placed in this State. The con-tract, which is valued at £23,060, will be carried out at the Government rail-way workshops, Midland Junction.

The Minister for Railways (Mr. E. Nulsen) said on Dec. 4 that in June last the Railway Department put in hand an order for the supply of three sets of steering engines and steering gear for local defence vessels of the Royal Aus-tralian Navy. In response to an invita-tion from the Deputy-Director of Con-tracts, a tender was recently submitted for the supply of additional sets of en-gines and gear, complete with acces-sories. Telegraphic advice had now been received requesting the department to proceed immediately with the manu-facture of 26 sets under the same con-ditions as applied to the previous order. At £886/18/7 a set the total value of the further order was £23,060/3/2, f.o.r., Midland Junction.

This State's Flax Crop.

Harvesting of flax crops grown under the Commonwealth Government spon-sored scheme is about to begin in Western Australia. Farmers in this state will be the first to garner their crops from seed sold to them by thc Government, Victoria and Tasmania fol-lowing in that order.

The West Australian crop will be pro-cessed at the mill recently established at Yarloop. Arrangements are being made for payment direct to the farmers and the first distribution will be made following deliveries of the flax straw at the mill.

Drought Relief.

There was much criticism to the Legis-lative Council on Dec. 4 of the Govern-ment's proposal that drought relief ad-vances to farmers should be made under the Industries Assistance Act, the con-ditions to be prescribed by regulations. The critics of the Bill, however, did not maintain their opposition to the extent of seeking a division at the second reading stage. The measure quickly passed through Committee and was read a third time, completing its passage through Parliament.

Mr. Baxter considered that the drought relief funds should be handled by the Rural Relief Fund trustees. He said that, under the Bill, everything that farmer clients of private banks owned would be brought under the Industries Assistance Act. He questioned whether private banks would allow their rights to be set aside and contended that, if funds were distributed under the In-dustries Assistance Act, only people who were operating financially under the Agricultural Bank would be able to secure money at 2 per cent.

Mr. Cornell expressed a belief that every endeavour would be made to ease the situation in regard to repayment and rate of interest. The Bill would make the Act elastic for the purpose. The house should take the Government on Trust and not "breathe anything sinis-ter into the proposal." If the Govern-ment did not do the right thing, the House would have its remedy next ses-sion. Until then, the only considera-tion should be how to get the money to the men who needed it.

The second reading was agreed to on the voices and the Bill passed all stages without amendment.

. Mishap to Plane.

A single-engined monoplane owned by . the MacRobertson-Miller Aviation Com

>pany, piloted by Mr. C. L. Browne, made 'a forced landing alongside the Wan-neroo-road about ten miles from Perth late on Tuesday afternoon, while return-ing from a special trip to Carnarvon, The pilot was unhurt. There were no passengers.

r It is believed that a faulty petrol system caused the engine to cut out. Mr. Browne had to choose a clearing in fairlr heavily timbered country. He brought the machine down in a newly-planted vineyard. The plane sank in the soft

soil, damaging the undercarriage and th

propeller.

The plane was dismantled yesterda; and brought into the company's hanga at Maylands.

Mr. Noel Coward's Visit.

During his visit to Western Australii Mr. Noel Coward, the English play' wright, actor, and composer, will appeal for 40 minutes at each of the two con certs included in the itinerary. Hi first appearance on the platform will bf at the Capitol Theatre, Perth, on Satur-day, December 14. On Sunday evening December 15, he will appear at Hoyfe Theatre, Fremantle. At each concert h< will be supported by the A.B.C. Sym-phony Orchestra, and a celebrity pro-gramme arranged by the Australiar Broadcasting Commission. The box office for both concerts is now open at Nichol' sons, Ltd., prices for seats ranging from 6/ to 2/. Mr. coward's public appear-ance in Western Australia will be solely in aid of the Red Cross Society. His itinerary will be as follows:

FRIDAY, Dec. 13.-6.25 p.m.: Arrival bj Plane at Maylands. Official welcome by Gov-ernment representatives and officials of thi West Australian branch of the Australian Red Cross Society. 8 p.m.: Press interviewa

SATURDAY. Dec. 14.-ll mn.: Civic recep-tion by the Lord Mayor of Perth <Dr. T. W. Meagher) at the Council Chambers. 3.30 p.m.: Garden party at Government House. Mr. Coward will be received by the Lieutenant Governor (Sir James Mitchell) and Lady Mit-chell). 8 p.m.: Concert at Capitol Theatre.

SUNDAY. Dec. 15.-In the afternoon Mr. Coward will drive through the metropolitan area over a route arranged by the Premier's Department. 8.45 p.m.: Concert at Hoyts Theatre, Fremantle.

MONDAY, Dec. 16.-Departure by plane for Adelaide.

Rail Concessions for Soldiers.

In the Legislative Assembly on Dec. 5 the Premier (Mr. Willcock) said that the Government had taken up with the Rail-ways Department and the Department of the Army the matter of rail fare conces-sions for members of the overseas forces on leave. He was speaking on the fol-lowing motion by Mr. Watts (CP., Katanning): "In the opinion of this House the Government should give im-mediate favourable consideration to the issue to members of the forces, enlisted for active service overseas, of free passes over Government railways to enable them to visit their homes when on leave."

Mr. Willcock said that the Govern-ment favoured travelling concessions. There had been negotiations and although the concessions had not yet been put into effect it was hoped that arrange-ments could be completed within a few days. The general expression of opinion in the House had been that the Govern-ment should give concessional travel to members of the A.I.F. The Government had endeavoured to give effect to the spirit of the resolution.

The motion was agreed to on the voices.

R.S.L. Defence Corps.

Rail fare concessions granted by the State Government and the Midland Rail-way Company, Ltd., to members of the Returned Soldiers' League Volunteer De-fence Corps in country centres travelling to the massed parade of the corps to be held on the Perth Esplanade on Decem-ber 15 in honour of the official visit of the ^Tnspector-in-Chief of the corps (General Sir Harry Chauvel) have been extended to provide for first-class pas-sengers. A maximum second-class return fare of 5/ from country districts, avail-able for a week, has already been granted. It is now announced that if members of the corps wish to travel first-class they may pay 5/ for the second-class fare, plus the difference between the first and second-class holiday excursion fares. For

example, the first-class holiday excursion I fare from Narrogin is £1/19/, and the I second-class is £1/4/6; but if the Narro- ! gm members wish to travel first class they will pay 19/6 return. Members re-quiring sleepers will bear the extra ex-pense. . If members wish to stay in Perth longer than a week, the railways will carry them back to their country centres for the single fare to that centre, less 2/6, which is one-half of the 5/ fare already paid, but they will require to pre-sent the return half of their ticket when paying the single fare to return home.

State Parliament. v

The work of the State Parliament in the session just ended represented a break from the depression and post depression conditions which stamped the legislation of the thirties. The new era has the emphasis on war require-ments.

One result is a greater centralisa-tion of financial direction. This was clearly Indicated in the Loan Estimates speech of the Treasurer (Mr. Willcock), who explained the sacrifice of indi-viduality made by the States to enable the Loan Council, with the advice of the Co-ordinator-General of Works, to conserve the nation's finances for the prosecution of the war.

It was shown also that, as a result of enlistments and war work on the home front, unemployment was now de-tached from the depression framework, having receded in number to the ex-tent that works could be selected for their usefulness and not primarily as labour-providers.

Thus, the only legacy from the de-pression in the business before Parlia-ment (apart from heavier taxation hav-ing become the normal order) was the mortgage-restriction legislation, which, from being part of the deflationary Pre-miers' Plan, has developed largely into a measure of continued help to produc-

ers.

The higher scale of taxation that originated in the depression has been taken from the category of an emerg-ency measure, being incorporated in the general income tax structure. The financial emergency tax, as such, has been eliminated and the income tax has been increased to yield what both in-come tax and emergency tax yielded before. The emergency tax device of payments at the source of income has been adopted for the income tax and the revised rates were made easier to reckon. The main result of the change is to benefit taxpayers, with dependants at the expense of taxpayers without de-pendants.

Another financial measure was the Bul to amend the Tramways Purchase

Act to terminate, the payrtente made out of tramway revenue to local authori-ties. A more important instrument of the Budget was the proposal to take £75,000 from metropolitan traffic fees into consolidated revenue, compensating payments being made to the local authorities from the main roads fund. Two attempts by the Government to get the approval of the Legislative Council failed.

An important wartime measure was the Civil Defence (Emergency Powers) Bill, under which a Civil Defence Council will be appointed to take steps for the protection and safety of the civil population. To enable it to meet emergency requirements that cannot be foreseen, the Government was given un-usually wide powers of administration by regulation. The regulations will be subject to disallovance by Parliament in the usual way. Other Bills will set up control of metropolitan street collec-tions, the number of appeal days being limited to 50 a year, and will authorise local authorities to make patriotic gifts from their three per cent accounts.

I The continued difficulties of producers were fully discussed. The Government did not have time to go into the report of the Royal Commissioner on the Pastoral Industry (Mr. Fyfe), but it brought down a Bill to enable it to make drought relief advances under the In-dustries Assistance Act. The terms for the advances are to be prescribed by re-gulation, the Government having given an assurance that the proposed interest concessions under the Federal loan will be passed on to the farmers. The Country Party succeeded with a Bill to create a charge in favour of the grower on crops subject to a bill of sale or other security. To protect the dairy industry under an Australia-wide plan, the Government imposed a limitation on the manufacture and sale of margarine.

The most important of the other leg-islation were the Companies Bill, the Petroleum Act Amendment Bill, the Re-serves (Government Domain) Bill and the City of Perth (Rating Appeals) Bill. The Companies Bill, a comprehensive measure revising the company law and bringing it up to date, was not pro-ceeded with for the time being. The Government had it referred to a Select Committee of both nouses, with the in-tention of having it inquired into fully and then considered by Parliament next session. The other three Bills were passed. They will enable prospecting for oil to be conducted on a bigger scale; give the Government authority to excise eight acres of the Government Domain, between Government House and the Christian Brothers' College, for new public offices; and provide for a board of three to replace the Perth City Council as the body for hearing city rating appeals.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Latham) introduced a Bill to amend the University of Western Australia Act to change the constitution of the Uni-versity Senate, but withdrew it when Mr. Willcock proposed a Royal Commis-sion to make a survey of the University's activities. Principal of the private mem-bers' Bills passed was one to amend the Medical Act to enable use to be made of refugee doctors, primarily with the object of relieving the shortage of doctors in country districts.

Leprosy in the North.

''As a result of the work of the medical officer of the Native Affairs Department (Dr. A. P. Davis) and Dr. L. A. Musso the number of natives and half-castes in the leprosarium at Derby has risen to approximately 200," said the Commis-sioner of Health (Dr. Everitt Atkinson) on Dec. 9. "The segregation of so many natives and half-castes means that the leprosy infection rate in the North-west will diminish."

Dr. Atkinson said that Dr. Musso be gan to supplement the work of Dr. Davis about-two years ago. He had been con-stantly travelling between Broome and Wyndham by motor car and had in-spected natives in otherwise inaccessible areas by accompanying police patrols on horseback. The National Health and Medical Research Council agreed to pro-vide his salary for two years on the understanding that the State paid his travelling and living expenses while he was engaged on leprosy work in the North-west. Dr. Musso's two-year period would conclude at the end of February. He would submit a report on bis work in this State to the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Yacht Capsizes.

Two men who tried to swim ashore from a capsized yacht about four miles off Woodman's Point on December 8 are missing and it is feared they have been drowned. Five others, including two small boys, who were on the yacht, were rescued from the upturned boat by an-other yacht. The two men who are missing are:

JOHNSON, William, married, registration

petty officer, of the Naval Depot, Fre-mantle. Home address, 56 Clayton-street, East Fremantle.

DOUST, Ronald S., single, writer, of the

Naval Depot, Fremantle. Home address, c/o State School, Picton Junction.

The yacht capsized when the party was returning from a week-end trip. The vessel, an 18ft. cruiser, Nice Work, is owned by Wilfred Wallan, of Stanley street, South Fremantle. Besides Mr. Wallan and the two missing men, the party comprised Mr. Wallan's two sons, Leonard (9) and Malcolm (8) and Harold P. Paterson and E. Nevin, stokers, of the Naval Depot, Fremantle.

The party crossed ia the yacht to Carnac Island on December 7 and camped there for the night. They left Carnac about 10 a.m. on December 8 and ar-rived at Garden Island shortly before noon, leaving there again on the return journey to Fremantle about 2 pjn. About half an hour later, \ lien heading for Woodman's Point, the yacht was caught in a sudden squall and a rough sea and capsized about four miles from the shore.

About three-quarters of an hour later the two missing men decided to leave the upturned yacht and to swim to the shore, taking with them a spinnaker boom to assist them. They were watched for some time, but were lost to sight. The five who remained hanging on to the boat were rescued, after having been in the water about 2¿ hours, by another yacht. An unsuccessful search was made for the missing men and the party then returned to Fremantle to re-port the mishap. A naval launch and the Lady Forrest immediately put out to look

for the men, remaining at sea until well into the night in the hope of picking them up. Last night police patrolled the shore and about 20 men from the Naval Depot also joined in the search along the beach.

Describing the mishap, Mr. Wallan said that when the boat capsized it turned completely over. It floated and all those who had been on board managed to hold to the upturned craft.

"About 3.15 p.m.," said Mr. Wallan, "Mr. Johnson decided to swim to shore for assistance. He had gone a few yards when Mr. Doust called to him, Til come too,' and he then swam away from the boat with Mr. Johnson. They took a spinnaker boom with them to assist their

progress.

"We watched them for about 15 minutes making good progress towards Woodman's Point, but the sea was very choppy and we lost sight of them. I was very busily engaged myself ta en-deavouring to keep my two children on the upturned keel of the boat. About 5 p.m. I managed to attract the atten-tion of the yacht Zealandia, skippered by Mr. Mann, of Britannia-street, Leed-erville, by waving in the air an oar with a white distress signal attached to .it. Immediately Mr. Mann had taken CT party from the water I told him the two men were missing and we arranged for lum to sail towards Woodman's Point. We did not see them and re-turned to the scene of the capsized boat. We concluded they must have reached the shore at another point or have been ¡drowned in their attempt to reach the shore."

Mr. Wallan said he was landed at South Fremantle about 6.15 p.m. and took his children home, after which he went to the Naval Depot to report what had happened. He said that Mr. John-son had had many years' sailing experi-

ence.

The two naval men who were rescued were taken to the sick bay at the Naval Depot, but were not greatly affected by their experience. Mr. Wellan's two child-ren were also unharmed.

Two Men Still Missing.

Despite an extensive search, no trace was found on December 9 of Petty Officer William Johnson and Writer Ronald S. Doust, both of the Naval Depot, Fre-mantle, who have been missing since they tried to swim ashore from a cap-sized yacht about four miles off Wood-man's Pdlnt on December 8. Until darkness on December 9 police "patrols searched beaches to which lt was thought the men may have drifted and a naval cutter assisted them. The search will be continued this morning.

ROAD AND RAIL Man Killed by Car.

Horace James Clements (57), of Rox ton-street, Midland Junction, was fatally injured about 9 o'clock on Dec. 4 when struck by a car opposite the Freemason's Hotel, York-road, Midland Junction. He suffered a compound fracture of the skull and was brought by the Midland Districts St. John ambulance to the Perth Hospital, but died shortly after ad-mittance.

The car was driven by Lance Aleck Charles Gale, of Market-street, Guildford. Fatal Fall from Truck.

MANJIMUP, Dec. 5.--Pantelis Chris toa Goutis (40), married, of Perth, was killed in a road accident about five miles from Manjimup this afternoon. It is under-stood that Mr. Goutis arrived here lase night to take up employment on one of the Michelides, Ltd., tobacco plantations. He was travelling there by motor truck this afternoon, when his hat blew off, and it is presumed that in an effort to re-

cover it he lost his balance, with the . result that he fell from the truck and the rear wheels passed over him.

Girl Killed by Waggon..

Running from behind a bus, Betty Melva Ward (10), of Mooliabeënie, was knocked down and fatally injured by a motor waggon on the Wanneroo-road, Tuart Hill on December 6.

The girl's father, who is an employee of the Midland Railway Company, had driven the child to his grandmother's house to Tuart Hill to spend the week-end.

Motor Cycle and Utility Collide

When a motor cycle and a utility truck collided at the intersection of Walcott street and Raglan-road, Mt. Lawley, about 3.30 p.m. on Dec. 7 two men riding on the motor cycle were severely injured. They were Percival John Spouse (25), single, of Orrong-road, Carlisle, the rider of the motor cycle, who received a possible fracture of the skull, concussion and a fractured nose, and Edward Francis Sherwood (30), single, of Cambridge street, Wembley, the pillion passenger, who received a fractured right thigh. They were taken by a St. John ambulance to Perth Hospital, where they were ad-mitted.

The accident occurred when the motor cycle, which had been travelling along Raglan-road, collided with a utility truck driven by Ernest George Riley, of Gingin, westward along Walcott-streét.

CRIME AND LAW.

Gold Slimes Stolen.

KALGOORLIE, Dec. 10.-Slimes con-taining about 289 fine oz. of gold, valued at about £2,890, were stolen from Norse-man Gold Mines, N.L., last week. A gold precipitation press was noticed by an employee to be leaking badly, but there were no apparent signs of any robbery and it was not until a check had been made that mine officials were satisfied that the leak was not due to any mechanical fault.

The disappearance was then noted of a quantity of slimes weighing about

1501b. and estimated as likely to yield . about 289 fine oz. of gold. The link mesh netting that forms the gold room was also noticed to be torn away at the bottom, making it possible for an ent-rance to be gained. Detective-Sergeant McLernon and Detective Woodley, of the Gold Stealing Detection Staff, are investigating.