Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Tuesday 24 May 1927, page 4


, . OUR LONDON LETTER rJoNDON, April 14. The Accnt-Generul, Mi* J* lluxlmm. and hte^ecretary, Mr P. J. Dillon, have Just returned from another visit to the North on official business con.necttd with Queensland. At NowcasUconiTyn*' they Inspected the workntiopa ot Messrs Armstrong, Whltworth ond Co.. where 25 locomotives mo belnB mnflc for Iho Queensland (State railways. O,ne of these en- ' sines. Uo(ng qulic -complete, was photom-aplicd with Mr Huxham and Mr Dillon standing In front of It. ana I have this week seen a print of the photograph In London. Wlicn the 26 locomotives are completed they will ull lie placed on board one ship and despatched to Queensland. Prom Newcastle. Mr Huxham and Mr Dillon went to l*ort Glasgow for Ui« launchIng, from the yard of Messrs Ferguson Brothers, or the TJugong. the first of two hopper bar^ea ordered by the Queensland Government. The trials of the Dugong qre expected to take plncc soon of tor Basler. and then the craft will proceed under her own steam to Brisbane, followed not lone afterwards by a sister barge now being constructed In the same yard. The Prime Minister or Queensland Is expected to reach Plymouth on board the Narkunda on the !Oth Instant. There he will be met by the Agent-General, uit they will journey together by train to London. The new Governor. Lieut. -Genornl sir John Goodwin, will have several consultations with the Premier before himself sailing for Queensland. Sir John, by the way, wa» recently receive* by the King at Buckingham Palace on hla appointment as Governor, and subsequently he and Lady Goodwin lunched with the King and Queen. Mr Bert Hlnkler. the well known airman. Whose homo Is at Bundaberg. , called this week at the office of the I Agent-General and signed his name In the visitors' book. It Is his arnbttion ond Intention to fly a.lon-9 from England to Australia. He will start as soon as the weather Is f&vorable tn an Avro 'Avian' light aeroplane, fitted with a Cirrus II. engine. He hopes to be able to reach Australia In arteen days. Approximately the route will be that followed by Elr Alan Cobham, except that Mr Hlnkler will tly from landing ground to landing ground and not from harbor to harbor. The line will be by way of Borne, Athens. Aleppo. Baghdad. Jask. Karachi. Calcutta, Rangoon. Point Victoria, Singapore, Sourabaya. and Port Darwin. It Is understood that Mr Hlnkler Is going to Australia on business connected with aircraft, and may possibly remain In the Commonwealth. The Anglo-Australian beam service of wireless messages opened for public traffic last Friday. This service places London In direct communication with Melbourne. For the present It Is only available for telegramB to and from Australia The rates per word are for ordinary telegrams 1/6, for deferred telegrams lOd, for dally letter telegrams (with a minimum ot 20 words), Cd, and for week-end letter telegrams (with a minimum of 20 words), Cd. Messages may be handed in at any postal telegraph office, and should be mar)-ed 'via Emplrado.' Mr Arthur Shirley, film actor and producer, of Sydney, has recently arrived In London His visit is connected with the formation of the Australian National Films, Ltd., with a capital of £600.060. of which over £200.000 (a already guaranteed. In the course of an Interview, Mr Shirley said: 'While Parliament In London Is finalising the British Film Quota Act. Australian film producers are making a strong bid to develop their own film Industry and to help the distribution of British films In Australia as much as possible. As regards the Australian National Films, Ltd., we are going to act both as film producers, and as distributors of British films throughout Australia and New Zealand. With American and pther apreign. films. we have nothing whatever to do. Of course, we shall have to overcome very strong opposi

tion, but we shall soon have a 25 per cent British quota In AUEtraUo/a much better percentage than the new law now under iKscusslon provides for this country. I am sing to stay In London for as long a period as will be required to make arrangements which will be entirely satisfactory to both the British and the Australian film interests. Mr Kenneth Goschen. Chairman of the Bank ot Australasia, Ik not very optimistic about cotton growing In Queensland. 'Cotton,' hie said at the annual meeting ot hla bank tn London. 'Is not making much headway. Climatic conditions during the ptantlng season were unfavorable. To encourage the industry a bounty Is granted. A word of warning as to the prospects of cotton growing In Australia in successful competition with that produced elsewhere by means of colored labor was uttered by your Chairman In Mt. Although, given good seasons, Australia can unquestionably grow cotton of fine quality. It has yet to be proved that It can be ? economically produced, for It must not be forgotten that the rest of the community pays, more than It would otherwise have to pay for commodities that have to be artificially supported by State aid.' Among Queenslanders now or recently in London are: Miss C. Denehey, of Toowoomba, who hae Just passed a muBlcal examination here; Mr N. Skene Smith, of Brisbane; Mr F. Palmer, formerly of Brisbane, but more recently of Singapore; Mr G. F. Sanders, of Dfracombe; Miss Jessie Moodic, of Brisbane: Mr H. R. Bickerton, of Boonah; Miss B. Cralne, of Mackay; Lieut-Commander W. F. Andrews, of Innlsfal), and Mr E. H. Fox, of Babinda.