SYDNEY SCENE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 19, 24 January 1939, Page 8

SYDNEY SCENE.

HERE AND THERE. .. TRAVELOGUE AWUSES CITY,Sf EMPTIES AS AIR FREIGHT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, January 19. Sydney has not yet caught the plague St! of hero-worship which has Europe in ' ite grip. During the Fizpatriek Travel- fR ogue of Sydney, , Fitzpatrick explain! that Australia is divided into six State* v each of which has a Premier. "Talking -||fi of Premiere." he says—and then the New South Wales Premier (Mr.' S : Stevens) appears on the screen. So far all has been well, but when Fitspatrick proceeds to extol Mr. Steven, / as an example of the hardworking spirit which has made JS? Australia, the audience always laughs derisively. They know, of course, thftt the Premier has to work hard, but to compare "Tubby" with the pioneer* it a little too much for their sense of humour. • j|Dead Marines by Air. QaJita* Empire Airways officials an becoming used to curious freight, b«t they were mildly surprised the other day when they were asked to carry four W empty beer bottles to IMarwia. lt seems that Darwin residents have been pro- - ® testing against having draught hter drawn off into ordinary sued beer bottles. A Darwinian, on holidays ia ? Sydney, had seen the quart bottUs M" need here, and decided to send Mw» m ft to Darwin as samples of how wJL should be bought. Banning Stage Oaths. State Chief Secretarv Gollan is read 'W ing the script of "The Women" and "Idiot's Delight." shortly to be produced '• in Sydney, chiefly with the idea of usins ? the blue pencil on Australia's red? # blooded national adjective if he finds it • in the plays. He holds stag* • "'•/ expressions which were all right in Shakespeare's time, are not necessarily 11 all right in 1939—whose ultra-sensitive S3B people have only to put up with being M blown to bits in air-raids. Mr. Gollan ® was surprised when he was reminded that the word is used ia Shaw's V- 1 "Pygmalion," now screening in Sydney. v He said he must* have been chocolates and missed it. Now Sydney - knows the Chief Secretary's secret vice. "V'V

Bandit Put to Flight. When the manager of the Ultiß* 1; branch of the Commonwealth Swim $ft Bank asked a shflbbily dressed nut with a dirty face what'he wanted, thft ®1 man suddenly pulled a revolver from his pocket and said, "Come on, hand fcyfef over." For a second, the bandit aad ft the manager stared at each other. Thy, |§. the manager snatched a revolver froa fSII below the counter and levelled it at th* M-I stranger. The bandit ducked ud for his life. .|j Unexpected Tire works. A big crowd at Luna Park on Saturday ' night was provided with an -unexpected thrill, when a speed boat suddenly bunt into flames. The craft had been talcing - passengers for a ride front the g|| P ar k jetty and had 14 in it when an explosion blew the engine hatch cover : off and enveloped the craft in flames. A 8 i launch and a ferry nearby immediately swung over to the assistance of the®® speed boat, which was burning' so fiercely that one of tho women jtfntpod $&:• into the harbour, fearing that they 3": would all be burnt before they were taken off. The speed boat then drifted dangerously near other small craft, but the fire was put opt by sea cadets. ;3if| Millian Pomd P.O. jj| To cope with tho huge telephone ;Jf traffic between Sydney and Melbourne, 5 the Director of Postal Service* has *&H| announced that the world's first 12* channel telephone service wflt b» .reinstalled between the two capitals. Xkn will enable 13 simultaneous con versa- 7 tions to be carried by one wire, but even that is only regarded as a tern* Jsgf porary expedient. Plans will be prepared :'V meantime for a 600-mile underground ® telephone cable. A similar cable will bt laid down immediately between Sydney and Newcastle. Tenders will also Wgj jlf called very soon for. Sydney's new 1] G.P.0., beside the present one, which will be eight storeys high a ltd Will cost £1,000,000. Even that, it is anticipated, will provide for requirements only ter'-sy another 15 years. ," g Librarians' School. * The State Government intend* to *.'£ establish a training school for librarian* - at the Public Library in Sydney. The s| purpose is to have trained librarian* available when the Statewide free -ly library service begins in January nert year. Free reference libraries are to be established all through the State by the -councils, who will be empowered to levy a small rate for the purpose and will also be subsidised by the Govern- |j uient. . ■'&(