SYDNEY SCENE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 144, 19 June 1940, Page 5

SYDNEY SCENE.

DROWNING TRAGEDY.

BOY AND GIRL MARRIED. VON LUCKNER'S CRUISE. (Special—By Air Mail.) SYDNEY. June 12. William Albert McCann, 45, of Leichhardt, was drowned before his family's eyes when his rowing boat overturned at Lillipilli on Sunday. The family were at their week-end cottage and McCann and his son-in-law had gone out in the boat fishing. The boat is believed to have overturned when the anchor rope caught round McCann's ankles as he was attempting to throw the anchor overboard. McCann was jerked into the water when he threw out the anchor. He was jvearing a heavy overcoat, and his son-in-law had great difficulty, clinging to the boat which overturned, in supporting McCann with his other hand until help arrived. McCann had been, badly gashed, and when he was got I ashore he was dead.

Two other people were drowned in the week-end. James William Coulashaw, 63, of Rose Bay, was walking on the rocks at the foot of the Gap at Watson's Bay when a big wave suddenly rolled iin and swept him away. His body was recovered by a police launch. The body of an unidentified man was found floating in the harbour near the city. Youth ana Age Wed.

Two unusual marriages took place in Sydney on Saturday. The partners in one case were a youth of 17 and a girl' of 15, and in the other a widower of 09 and a widow of 66.

The first couple were Richard Chapman, mechanic, of Manly, and Doreen Ingram. They were married in St. Matthew's Church, Manly, by the Rev. A. R. Ebbs. Mrs. Ingram eaid she was satisfied that Chapman was the right man for her daughter, who was old

enough to know her own mind. Mrs,

Chapman described her son as a steady young man who was not rushing into marriage.

The elderly couple were Mr. James Charlson, who had been a widower. for thirteen years, and Mrs. Martha Hearling, who had been a widow for 11 years. They decided that it would be better to spend the evening of their lives in married companionship than living singly in •boardinghouses. More than 100 wellwishers attended their wedding. Social .Tragedy.

A 12-year-old Liemore girl, who is ■soon to become a mother, has been brought to St. Margaret's Hospital for Women in Sydney for special care. Her father was sentenced at Ldsmore Quarter Sessions to twe and a half years' hard labour for carnal knowledge of hie daughter and the Crown hae appealed against the sentence as being too lenient. Doctors, clergymen and social workere have urged that legal sanction should ■be given for an operation on the girl, but the Rev. Father Cullen, of Liemore, said no operation would be sanctioned by the Catholic Church to which the girl and her family belong.

The Mother Rectress of St. Margaret's Hospital eaid: "I hope the hospital will be a haven of rest for the girl, where she will be able to forget her terrible experiences. She acts like any other girl and. looks much younger than her age." "Smarter Than von Luckner."

Returning to Sydney th» week, Captain James R. Patrick, ship owner and U.A.P. Senate candidate, who wae a prominent host of von Luckner during the latter'e visit to Sydney, was interviewed to see what he had to say about the official admission last week that the authorities knew all along that von Lucknw was a spy. Captain Patrick said:

"I don't give a damn for von Luckner. If he is a epy for Hitler, I hope he gets his deserts, and I'll do what I can to see he gets them. But I'm not a fool. If von Luckner tried to pump me, he didn't go on with it. Call me conceited, <but I reckon I'm smarter than von Luckner. Certain things he confided to me were passed on by me to our Admiralty officiate. I thought they might be handy. One piece of information wae that Germany was building battleships for Turkey, and that sabotrge would eieure 6erioue errors in con-j

struction. This was soon aQfcerw&rdi borne out by results. Anyway, what could von Luckner have learned while here, if he came as a spy? Nothing more than the fact that. we have n» 'planes or tanks, as everybody known

"I entertained von Luckner. Fm n«fc ashamed of it. We were not at wtr then, and the chances are that a>. thu moment he is in an internment camp, or shot. Never at any time did he discuss Australian military matters witli me, although he did criticise Nazi Germany. I know, although I have kept the secret until now, that he quarrelled with the German Consul General (Dr. Amiss) because he could not get any of his money." Sydney's AJLP. Plans. The Minister in Charge of National Emergency Services, Mr. Bruxner, told a conference of wardens yesterday that A.R.P. plans were complete covering the following points:—

Shelters for school children within r six-mile radius of Central Railway Station.

Provision of trenches, footpath protections, cliff face shelters and brick «r concrete pillboxes in streets, lanes, vacant land, and strategic points. Utilisation of underground areas, such as stations, for public shelters. Evacuation from thickly -populated areas. Transport to, and billeting in, safe areas. In the metropolitan area. 14,000 persons (3000 women) had been trained in firet aid, 4355 as wardens, and 2000 in decontamination, Mr. Bruxner statedHundreds in this country had been similarly trained, and there were 2600 additional first aid trainees in business houses, factories, banks, and public offices.