TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14900, 13 February 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Real Australia. The old conception of Australia as a drought-stricken land dies hard, even among Australians. Mr H. A. Hunt, the Commonwealth meteorologist, is doing his best to kill it. In hi s latest statement on the subject he deals with the idea that the recent good seasons in Australia have been due to exceptionally bountiful rains. According to Mr Hunt, the reverse is the case. The last few years cannot be compared with certain other periods as regards abundance of rainfall. His explanation of the great wealth that has been produced is that Australians have learned by experience. "The capabilities of noil and seasonal distribution of rain are better understood. The adoption of dry farming methods, and the cultivation of drought-resisting wheats, hare given payable crops in spite of poor rainfall in many districts. The use of artificial manures has opened up vast cereal areas such as the Mallee and Pinnaroo conntry, adding to the national wealth, and more than compensating tor shortage of results experienced on '<ho Commonwealth's former and only arable lands, thoso . nearer the coast." He also opposes the popular belief that in some seasons no rain at all falls, that Atistralia is a land of a feast or a famine, and says that such an idea is harboured in all new countries at a certain 6tage of their development. He explains that the more stable demand for Australian products is causing farmers and pastoraliste to spend more money in fighting drought and increasing production. Auetralia is so far from being a particularly drought-stricken country that its rainfall is generally ample for pastoral and agricultural industries over two-thirds of its area. With, increasing population will come a wider war on the drought that from time to time lays hold of parts of the continent. The subjugation of Central Australia is a problem to quicken the intellect and harden the muscles. The locking and damming of the Darling is the first great work to be done in this war. 'Our eastern mountain chain, extending from Cape Howe to Cape York, is honeycombed on its western slopes with natural basins only waiting for dams to imprison periodical tropical rains which at present flow away unchecked to the Southern Ocean. From these great storages, canals and pipes may carry water to our thirsty interior, and transform country which, in some seasons, is a barren waste, and at present useless, into agricultural and pastoral lands."

A Safety Crusade. What is termed a ''children's safety crusado" was organised early last year by the transit company that operates the surface and elevated lines of Brook- j iyn, New York. The object of the crusade is primarily the instruction of children as to how to avoid accidents j wltile in the streets or vehicles. The }»ew York Board of Education took the matter up, and lectures were established in the schools, the lecturers j being provided with a model trolley- j car, caution signs, and drawings show-jJl£L-j» ''ow accidents; hapnen, ' 'safety

kindergartens. Interest having been aroused, a safety committee was formed and a "Safety Day" arranged for, while one of the New York school magazines pamo out with a "safety number." This journal reaches about 5000 families. As the school campaign progressed, safety plays were written and performances given. An interesting feature of the work is a inoviugpicture film prepared by the supervisor of the inspection bureau of the Brookiyn transit eystern, which depicts the doom attendant on the unwary pedestrian or heecilefs driver, and points a salutary moral. The object of the campaign, from being confined at first to the prevention of street-car accidents merely, has been broadened to include all common sources of danger. A Bumau of Public Safety has been organised to educate the general public in matters of safety, and leading citizens of Brooklyn have been invited to co-operate in the work of a Brooklyn Committee of Public Safety. This committee consists of numerous sub-committees to deal with schools and playgrounds, boy scouts, church and civic organisations, public institutions, vehicular and pedestrian traffic, pavements and excavations, street railways, explosives, fireworks and firearms. Many lives have already been saved, and doubtless a far greater number will yet Be saved by these efforts to persuade peoplo, whether children or adults, to tako adequate precautions against the increasing dangers of busy city streets.