Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Friday 2 April 1954, page 6


I MELBOURNE

I NEWSLETTER

. One of the olcL?.. high quality atores thal help-

ed to make Mctbdnrnrs

reputation for ^tpoa1 shop« will be umier tho ouainess control ' of a woman for the next lew

months.

?. '.? "*i .» . She to Miss KilamvHaataa. wno wat appointai! aatsatar* of Ow company' aa Janear?. general manager (Mr.-1*. Bec«) on a boaineai tour of tte world,

Waa Hughes wffl be l&ef ad

mmistratrve officer , of tba company.

Very few big Melbourne bus-inesses nave appointed women ' company secretaries. To gain

appointment to the top manlgerial position was a big step orward for a.woman, even.for one of the city's most capable

business women.

*> *

Beside-the guttering picture theatres, which somebody once called: "the gilded palaces of the movie moguls," Melbourne's handful of live theatres, nuke a modest showing. -:

The contrast is the - more marked in a city whose, rather smug assumption of superior cultural consciousness has from time to time been found a little tiresome by other cities.

But the movie moguls are af-ter the handful of live theatres, modest as their competition is. When an American musical comedy achieved a quiet suc-cess on the stage a few months ago-largely because - Evie Hayes, the most popular box office attraction in Australian musical comedy since Gladys Moncrieff, was palying the lead part-the film version' waa

rushed into the city to compete ¡ with it 's- " . Now the film version of ?Re

luetant Heroes" has opened in : compétition with the play

which has been drawing steady < houses for six months or «x

The only course for the jive theatres seems, to be to put on

plays that Hollywood dare not > film «

*, * 1

Mr. R. G| Menzies was about

Melbourne at the weekend . happily busy at not bahia

Prime Minister. --:'- 1 ' On Saturday he turned up at the Victorian Cricket Association district cricket final." He waa an honoured guest, as pat-ron of the association.

On Sunday he went with, his wife. Dame Pattie, to the Pion-

eers Memorial Presbyterjan ? Church at Cheltenham, an out- ; er suburb of Melbourne, for;the

Christening of his second ,

grandchild. j-.

The baby, christened Lindsay : Ian, is the son of Mr. Ken Men- ; ates, Mr. Menzies son. aa - offi-cer of the Church.

Tea. The Prime Minister dbl kass the baby, but because he wanted-to, not because, ne needed the votes

.* * .

Just when the Victorian police and public , were con-gratulating each other on their Superb behavior during the Royal tour, and glowing; with satisfaction at the new spirit of goodwill and co-operation which developed, a nasty shock came out of a case before the Police Disciplinary Board.

The board, reducing a Ser-geant at Wonthaggi, a big coal town, to the rank of Senior

Constable for railing to report evidence against an alleged Sf. bookmaker, and failing to report a conviction against a man applying for a hotel licence, reported:

"The board feels that the at-mosphere of lying, intrigue and perjury which has surrounded this inquiry is rather frighten-ing." Reading about it . was

thoroughly frightening, FoUee powers are very wide tbroughout Australie; much wider than, tor. instance, in Britain.

\ It si faa well to ' wah» the eteesr ia Iselbourne, whether you want a pound of butt«. csjarettss. » drink, an asniria tabla* or petroL Business hours ssw tightly regulated, and un-der the Cain Government are bang more closely policed.

. The nick-name "the curfew Government" is being well

earned. '

'; -PrssBssr Cain baa expresed Ms coacern, at the growing number of petrol service Stations springing up along the Victorian roads, and bas hinted at. some new form of licensing, ansi control,

Kew South Wales judicial re-commendations that times for patrol sales should be unlimi-ted, or at least greatly extend-ed, be received very coldly.

Week-end motorists heading inter-State usually make . a point of getting over the bord-er on Saturday night Victorian service stations are limited by law to opening for only an hour, about midday, on Sun-days.