Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Thursday 3 November 1938, page 6


Brisbane Diary

HIS Excellency the Governor and Lady Wilson are kind to our artists, and the artists deeply appreciate their interest and encouragement.

Last week Sir Leslie and Lady Wilson visited the Jubilee Exhibition of the Queensland Royal Art Society, then being held in the Randall Gallery at the Town Hall, and made a purchase; yesterday they visited Mr. Neville Cayley's exhibition of water col-ours of Australian birds and flowers in the Gainsborough Gallery and bought a beautiful picture of a pair of kookaburras. Both the Governor and Lady Wilson ex-pressed their pleasure at the excellent repro-duction of the colouring of the birds and their life-like attitudes on branch and twig. Our birds have two firm friends in Sir Leslie and Lady Wilson. They can see beauty in them where many Australians, I fear, see only a commonplace. After 14 Years FOURTEEN years ago Mr. Charles Chauvel produced in Queensland his first picture for the screen; incidentally, it was the first big picture ever "shot" in this State, being an adaptation of Mrs. M. Forrest's novel, "Moth of Moonbi." In the cast was a little girl named Darla Townend who took the part of "Dell Ferris," and played it remarkably well for a child of four years of age. Yesterday Mr. Chauvel was in his audition room receiving applicants, when his little friend of 14 years ago came in submitting herself for the screen test that he is conducting. She brought back pleasant memories of days when picture-making was not such a perfected art as it is now. Playing His Catch A TALL experienced rod-fisherman from the United States is in Brisbane. He is Mr. A. Carleton, a Wall Street broker, who arrived yesterday by the Nieuw Zee-land, and will stay for a few days as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. F. Z. Eager. Mr. Carleton is not a big game fisherman.

He is a trout man, preferring to cast his flies in a cold mountain stream, and to play his fish for half an hour or so, rather than rush about in a boat seeking marlin and other big fish. I should imagine that he would be ready to argue that angling for trout is the more fascinating pastime, but there is a Game Fish-ing Association in Brisbane, and I'm steering clear of any such controversy. Mr. Carleton will be taken down the Bay by Mr. Eager to look at our fishing grounds where marlin and mackerel and other big fish sport, but nothing will tempt him from trout. After trying the trout streams in the South Mr. Carleton will cross to New Zealand. Feathered Federation IN Queensland we have a Nature Lovers' Society, and Mr. Neville Cayley, the Australian bird painter and ornithologist, yesterday revealed his real mission to Brisbane when he sought to bring about its federation with the Gould League of Bird Lovers.

This movement was started about 27 years ago in New South Wales by two school teachers. It has spread through 3000 schools in New South Wales and nearly as many in Victoria. The total membership since the league was established has been more than a million. One of its mottoes is "Shoot birds with a camera"; another is "Education is more potent than legislation." Every school has its sanctuary and its bird day, and one little school in faraway Derby, in

north-west Western Australia, actually pro-duced its own little bird book, which is now in the Mitchell Library. A proposal is afoot to bring the different leagues into a federation. Queensland is ready to co-operate in the general principle, but I understand difficulty arises about the change of name. That, how-ever, may be overcome. The meeting yester-day prepared the way for more exhaustive con-sideration at a later date.

Mr. Cayley.

Mr. Cayley.