Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Thursday 19 August 1948, page 8


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ENGLISH XI:

English migrants Mr. and Mrs. D.

Hitêhings, of South Harrow, Middlesex, with their nine children, who arrived in Melbourne in the

Asturias last week.

OVERSEAS New Atomic Pile

NEW era in atomic energy in Britain began last month when thë second and more power-ful atomic pile was put into operation at Harwell. Sir John Gockcroft, head of the Harwell research station, in the presence of other distinguished British scientists, began the work of the new atomic pile by pulling out a set of neutron ab-sorbing rods.

The Harwell pile is vastly more powerful than the Gleep (graphite low energy experimental pile), the first, experimental pile which was put into operation in. August last. With a rated output of 6,000 kilowatts, the Harwell pile will provide all the probable needs for British atomic experiments in the near future. In addition, when operating at the full rated output, the pile will produce all the artificial radioactive isotopes required in Britain by medical and other research workers.

Atomic research scientists in the United King-dom have hitherto been producing isitopes from the Gleep, those sb far prepared in greatest quantities being radio-sodium, mostly for the use of hospitals for diagnosis. Other radioactive elements eagerly sought are radio potassium and radio bromine, which are chiefly used in biological research.

Stone Walls NoyPrison

POLICE at Miyazu (Japan) were baffled by a

series of nightly burglaries. Then early one morning they caught Saburó Takeda, serving a two years' sentence for burglary, trying to re-turn to his cell by the main gates of the local prison. Finding the lock on his cell defective, Saburo Takeda had embarked on a nightly housebreaking campaign, returning safely to gaol before dawn. To his sentence was added an-other two years "for repeated burglary while still officially a prisoner."

[U-Informed Americans

l^DUCATORS, politicians and newspaper editors

are alarmed by recent Gallup surveys which show that, despite universal access to current in-formation by means of both newspapers and radio, millions of Americans are completely ignorant of the most important happenings of the day. When Congress was considering legislation to restrict the powers of the trade unions, 39 per cent of the public knew nothing of the matter, although it was front-page news for weeks in every paper in America. Seventeen per cent of those questioned failed to recognise General Eisenhower's picture; 7 per cent could not identify President Tru-man, 38 per cent stared blankly at Henry Wallace's portrait.

In another test, 28 per cent did not know where to find England on the map, 33 per cent could not locate France or Greece, and nearly 50 per cent were unable to point out Spain.

Leaders of public opinion admit that it is a pretty serious situation when the average voter is so i-TT-rrate. Such people fall easy victims to unscrupulous demagogues. America has more schools, newspapers, magazines, radios, libraries and museums than any other country, but Gallup surveys indicate that a large proportion of the voting population is as ill-informed as a nomad of the Russian steppes or a head-hunter in Borneo.

Wealthy, but Starving

\|RS. JULIA KEARNEY, 67-year-old recluse,

died recently from starvation in hospital at Miama (U.S.A.). The pitying hospital staff was staggered to find diamonds and other precious jewellery sewn inside her clothes. Police searched her junkpile home-found 2*0,000 dollars in cash and 80,000 dollars in stocks and bonds.

The Battle of Mons

rfHE 34th anniversary of the Battle of Mons in

World War I-an epic in the annals of the British Regular Army-falls on Monday next. The batik was fought ón Sunday, August 23, 1914. In this engagement and the. subsequent retreat large forces of cavalry were employed by both sides on a scale not afterwards attempted.

The British Army was deployed along the MonsConde Canal in Belgium and made its first con-tact with the Germans soon after dawn when an artillery duel ensued. Dense masses of German Cavalry (Uhlans) and infantry were repeatedly hurled against the British line later in the day and were repelled with terrific loss. Kaiser Wilhelm had issued the following army order:

"It is my royal and imperial command that you . concentrate your energies for the immediate pre-sent upon one single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill and all the valour of my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous Eng-lish and walk over General French's contemptible little army."

Though outnumbered four to one" the British yielded no ground. Superior marksmanship of the infantry, the use of snipers and arrangement Of the line in such a manner as to focus maximum fire-power on any point from which the Germans

made a thrust, were lessons from the Boer War that had been turned to good account. Learning that the French 5th Army on their right was in full retreat, the British began the same night a continuous retreat lasting 12 days, with an un-broken rearguard action during the wole period.

. *'01d Contemptibles" in Perth will commemorate the battle on Sunday.

lust a Joke to Baboon

BABOON in Johannesburg Zoo baffled all

efforts to anaesthetise him before he had, some teeth extracted. In their first attempt, his

keepers gave the baboon 18 narcotic pills. Each ( pill is enough to put out a man for 10 hours. The baboon only coughed.

Keepers then gave him a bottle of red wine and

two grains of morphia. The baboon laughed.. Keepers put a bag over his head and poured. ether over it. The baboon still laughed. Finally, a veterinary surgeon pulled the teeth while the keepers held the baboon down.

PERSONALITIES

Honeymoon in Jeep

EITHER mechanical failures nor caustic jibes

deferred stubborn Mr. Frederick (Ben) Carlin, of West Leederville, and his wife from their attempt to cross the Atlantic from New York in an amphibious jeep. Son of a former electrical engineer in the W.A. Government rail-ways, Ben Carlin was born at Northam in 1912, and

educated at Guildford Grammar School. After working as a miner at Kalgoorlie, where he qualified at the School of Mines, he went to China as mining engin-eer to a British coal company. He joined the British Army at the outbreak of the recent war, serving in Irak, Iran, Italy, and India. Discharged with the rank of major, he went to America and became a builder. Soon afterwards he asked an American

girl to marry him and they agreed to make their honeymoon a round-the-world trip in a jeep. He spent 18 months converting the jeep for land and sea travel and plans to visit Australia on the way.

At their first start in June the Carlins beached the jeep at New Jersey with a broken rudder. On their second attempt they were nearly asphixiated owing to a cracked exhaust pipe, and on their third venture ignition trouble sent them back to New York. Setting out again, they were last reported on the way to the Azores. Interviewed before leaving, his plucky bride said: "I love jeep sailing -the only trouble is that I get seasick every

time."

TROPICAL HATS IN LONDON:

With thermometer readings in the nineties, hawkers outside Wembley

Stadium, London, lound ready sales tor topees at a shilling each on tue opening aay ot me üiympic

Garnett

COMMONWEALTH Sex Crimes Move

THE New South Wales Cabinet has instructed

the Minister of Justice. (Mr. R. R. Downing) to prepare a Bill providing for medical treatment for sexual offenders. The Premier (Mr. McGirr) said that Mr. Downing had suggested legislation "for an effective and practicable method of meet-ing the problem of sexual offenders." The pro-posed, legislation will apply to persons convicted for sexual offences for which the death penalty or penal servitude or imprisonment for two years or more, may be imposed. It will also apply to persons convicted for wilful obscene exposure. In these cases the person must be remanded to an institution for examination by two or more legallyqualified medical practitioners, at least one of whom must be a psychiatrist. The offender may then be kept in an institution for a term decided by the Court or during the Governor's pleasure. The Bill gives an offender certain rights of appeal and of regular medical examinations.

Whales in River

r j

'J'WO whales, the larger of which was estimated

by local fishermen to be 70 feet long, spent four hours in the Port Adelaide River the other day. It is the first time that whales have ever been known to enter the river. After frolicking, basking and spouting water near the I.C.I. wharf, they twice reached the North Arm, a quarter of a mile upriver*, before being turned back by the dirty water. The whales moved down Outer Har-bour with the tide, stopping several times on their way out to "blow." They narrowly missed a small outboard motor boat which was the only craft in the vicinity. It is believed that the whales were a cow and her calf, the cow having come to warmer waters to have the calf.

"Come to Church"

THE Rev. H. M. Arrowsmith, vicar Of St. John's,

Toorak, Melbourne, is conducting a "Come to Church" campaign, which will be continued for several Sunday nights. "Come to church and hear the facts," is Mr. Arrowsmkh's invitation, and he hopes to prove to those who accept that

they not only need Christ, but need the Church.». ,

A recent Gallup poll showed that, whereas 95 per cent of people believed in God, only about 10 per cent took part in corporate worship in church « On Sundays. This meant, he said, that to a large proportion of people the Church, in its organised sense, was not relevant to life, and this was the root problem which the Church must tackle.

St. John's has been called a ltgem of a parish church." It is unusual, in that so much of it is Australian in its carving and other decoration, which depict native animals, birds and flowers, and examples of Australian life and history. Its charm also lies in the Early English architecture, copied from an old parish church, and various attractive features inside the building, all of which are described by the vicar when he conducts a public inspection on the third Sunday afternoon of every month.

TOLD IN A TRICE

Medals: Failure of war veterans to claim medals to which they are entitled is puzzling United States army and navy officials. New York area officers

say there are almost ,1,000,000 medals in that city, alone still awaiting claimants.

Navy: Royal Australian Navy authorities in London are seeking 1,000 recruits from former Royal Navy ratings.

Obliging: John Morgan, of Northampton (Eng-land), caught burgling a house by 68-year-old Florence Mustill, good-naturedly admitted his crime, accompanied his captor to a police station,

and drew a minimum one-year sentence for his. good behaviour. '

MOSCOW TALKS:

Mr. Frank Roberts (left), principal

private secretary to the British Foreign Secretary (Mr. Bevin)/ abd the American Ambassador in Moscow (General Bedell Smith) during the recent talks with the Russian Foreign Minister (Mr. Molotov)

on the Berlin crisis.