SYDNEY SCENE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 99, 29 April 1939, Page 11

SYDNEY SCENE.

HERE AND THERE. SLOP BEER PROBLEM. DISCOI«OURATION PLAN. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 21„ A new regulation compelling hotelkeepers to discolour all waste beer is proposed by the Health Department and, if approved by the Pure Food Advisory Committee, will be sent to the Minister for Health for inclusion in the Pure Food Act. Heavier penalties and probably cancellation of licenses will be provided for breaches of this and other regulations proposed, and a watertight definition of waste beer will be recommended to include any beer not drawn direct from fresh containers. The new regulations have been rendered necessary by the revelation that many Sydney hotels have been selling drip beer, and that many of them have been allowed to fall into an indescribably filthy condition. The object of discolouring waste beer is, of course, to make it distinguishable at a glance. The plan was suggested by the hotelkeepers themselves, who suffered a heavy drop in their takings for a short time after the revelation of the misdoings of the minority in their trade. Sydney's 259 Hotels. Sydney contains more churches than theatres, more banks than churches, andj far more hotels than banks. This is revealed in the City Health Department's annual classification of city assessed premises. It must be undferstood that by "city" is meant the City of Sydney only, that is, the central business area and a small but densely populated residential border which takes in King's Cross. The figures show that the City of Sydney has 259 hotels, 124 cafes, J1 saloons, 30 private hotels and

three wine cellars. Banks number 74 and theatres 24. Churches number 42, but there are also 17 presbyteries and rectories, seven convents, a synagogue and a temple. Houses (10,758) still outnumber flats (5942) by nearly two to one. Action on Betting Forgery. The State Treasurer (Mr. Mair) has promised to confer with the Government Printer on the best means of making bookmakers' tickets proof against for" gery. Bookmaking is legal on Sydney race courses, but at Bandwick on Saturday a man tried to collect £130 with a forged ticket. Sydney bookmakers are urging the adoption of tickets similar to those used in Victiria. On these the number of the ticket is printed in figures almost the full size of it, and also in several places in smaller figures. The number is also printed in words in several places so that a forgery is practically impossible. Animals Warm; Pupils Shiver. A sudden cold snap in Sydney this week has drawn attention again to the deplorable condition of many schools in! winter. Many of them are old stone or brick buildings and have no fireplaces or stoves. The teachers cannot get radiators because the Department has refused to pay for them, and even in schools which have fireplaces the maximum allowance last year was £3 for the whole year. This means that a school with several classrooms might just as well have no allowance at all. In many schools both pupils and teachers work in their overcoats and children are exercised every quarter of an hour to keep them warm. In contrast with I this shocking state of affairs it has been announced that the Zoo Trust is buying extra fuel to heat the water in the shark's pool. This aroused such an outcry that the Minister for Education, Mr. Drummond, has announced that the fuel allowance will be doubled | this year and the schools equipped as I fast as finances permit with proper heating appliances. Warders Dissatisfied. Prison warders are also thoroughly dissatisfied with their conditions, which they ventilated at a Public Service Asso ciation annual conference this week. They, too, complain that on night duty outside they have no boxes to protect : them from the weather, and have to .'walk about -with f%st forming on their

overcoats. They are demanding a publie inquiry into prison administration, alleging that promotions are made by favour of the Minister and that Tin* suitable officers are appointed merely on his recommendation. Drive against Night Clubs. Following the recent murder of a man \ at a night club known as the Pirates' Cave, the Licensing Bench in its annual | report states that the increase in the number of night clubs where liquor is sold illegally requires the urgent attention of the Government. Some of thes* clubs, it states, are controlled by peopl* with criminal records and are frequented by "the dregs of the city." Some of them have continued in business under various names for as long as 14 years, despite several convictions for the illegal sale of liquor. For a second offence the minimum penalty is £100, and six i months' gaol may be ordered in addition, but in fact it is always the waiter who is caught, and if he is caught a second time he is sacked by the night club proprietor and a new one engaged. It is now proposed to introduce legislation making the owners of premises used as night clubs responsible for the observance of the liquor laws. Saved Life With Thumb. During a bumpy ride in a truck three miles to the nearest doctor, a woodcutter, John Hennessy, 50, kept his thumb pressed against a severed artery in his groin and thereby saved his own life. A splinter from an axe-head had cut his leg and an'l a tourniquet had failed to stop bleeding. The accident happened when lie was fitting a new handle to his axe. When his mate got him to a doctor at Dee Why he had lost a pint and a half of blood. "Potential Murderers." Judge Curie wis in the Appeals Court this week allowed a labourer a bond of three years for having driven a car while under the influence of liquor, but made it a condition that during that time the man should not enter an hotel, drink intoxicating liquor or drive a vehicle. When asked to substitute a fine because the man would lose his job If-he could 1 , not drive, the judge refused, j saying, "I am always sorry for people (who lose their job, but there is to r*> member: Some decent man will get this Ijob. People in charge of motor vehicles who get drunk are all potential mur* - derers."