OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 281, 20 August 1908, Page 2

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER.

NEWS AMD NOTES ON THE WEEK. THE AMERICAN FLEET. . (from our special correspondent.) . Sydney; August 15. _ Nothing but "The Fleet" : is" talked of now in Sydney and Melbourne. The warships are to arrive at Sydney on Thursday morning, :i A n . Reparation of the--event Sydney is attiring itself in its gayest colours and decorating all its principal streets and public buildings. Venetian masts , and whita obesurniou nted by golden eagles and British lions, enter largely ■ into tlio scheme of decoration. Georgo Street, from Market ui? -t° Place, will bo adorned on o 1 sides by lines of, these masts,'all con--118 j j i,^ lol3le Hiics of greenery festoons, and docked out in bunting, flags, bannerettes, and shields, and from each central pole there will bo streamers of bannerettes stretching across the street. Bathurst Street will be treated in like fashion. A great display, ypically American, is to be made in Pitt Street, from the Post Office in Martin Place 1 ? er ?< a " " A,nor i cau 4venue will be formed. Grouns nf fintnrl co urans, all in white, make a feature in the sideTnf « d ? gP °* GS Will down b °th l ' , carry,n ? «' re aths and streameis, and everywhere will be thd'Amorican ilag and American shields and eagles. +),; l 3 that the warships will strike the Australian coastline at Marouba or Botany Hay, and coma along slowly to Svdney Heads, instead of following the direct ThfJ^lfo SS w+i i? ow Zoa ' an(J steamers: ... 11111 e " a ble the thousands of people who will assemble on the bluffs overlooking the oqean at South Head to enjoy a-.magnificent the vessels as they approach Sydney

The official landing will tako place, in Farm Uove, at a platform erected at the waterside in the Domain. A domed pavilion, beautiluly. decorated, has been erected in the Domain, where the addresses of welcome are to be presented.

mi illuminations are to be on a fine scale, ■though the city will not be by any means so gorgeous as at the - Commonwealth celebrations, when the people went wild with excitement, it will look very striking, for Sydney is a city which repays ten-fold any .'attempt to. make it more'beautiful. The illuminationswilll be on a comprehensive scale, and the sight on the shores of the-"beautiful harbour " when the stately public buildings aro decked out in blazing designs of electric £ ), t " e worships are- illuminated, should be remarkable. *" , , ' . THE BRITISH TEAM DEFEATED. That the Western District footballers are adopts at the game they proved on Wednesday, when they inflicted upon the British visitors the first defeat they have suffered in Australia. The Britishers-were on the defensive for the greater part of the game, and appear to have run up against a tough proposition we are cultivating American phrases - w view of the coming of .the Fleet, lbeir forwards, it seems; wero of toil practically overrun by the AVestern meu, whoso strong rushes- smothered even the British onus-.in many casos before they could get moving.; The game had been in progress 17 minutes when K. Gavin, of Orange, buinp.his way through several opponents in j British territory, passed to Curran, another, Orango player, who ran over the line, scoringtlio first try _ for the Western team, I amidst great excitement. The Britishers I then organised a strong attack,. and after | meeting-with strong resistance, managed to I break through the lines of the enemy, Williams scoring from a 'pass from "Ponty" Jones. For the'remainder of the spell the visitors made great attempts to score, and ; some- fine pl&y w^s, witnessed, the Western men-i.defending-' , -'a'dtairably. y «Tust, on,'halftime, ; -th'e' AVestei'lfei's a penalty Kkick;iiiu ; >i&i of Bathurst,' kicking ? a goal:'""Wlieii play wasresumed in the_ second spell, the-Western team was penalised three times in succession. Then play was taken ilito British territory, and 11. Gavin scored. - When the Britishors' were in-great peril, they-succeeded 1 m relieving by fine dribbling tactics. Green, one of their forwards, carrying the ball well down the field at his too. Smith, of Mudgee, darted forward, however,. and picking the ball up, came with a dodgy run through his opponents/and scored. According to the "Daily Telegraph" correspondent, the Britishers now assumed a more determined attitude,, and came with apparently irresistible force towards the Western line. Gibbs, who was the last to handle the ball after a passing" rush, was about to cross.tho line when" lie was downed by Kenna, and Morahan, securing, found the line near the twenty-five flag. Tho attack was renewed, and the. ball travelled from Laxon to "Ponty" Jones, to Gibbs, to 'Griffiths, who scored near the corner. with the AVestern full-back hanging on to him._ Gibbs added tho extra points with a magnificent kick. Another great attempt was made by the visitors to- scoro again, but the defence proved too sound,' and suddenly Kenna and Morahn,u , broke away at the head of a rush, and beat the British' fullback, Jackett. As he would not release his hold of the ball, ho was penalised, with tke ( result that Kenna kicked a goal, amidst a scene of great excitement. The match tlius ended—AVestern, 15 points; Britain, 10' points.

THE SYDNEY TRAMWAYS. It has been freely rumoured in Sydney during the past few days that tho tramway men, dissatisfied at the fact'that the whole of those who went out on strike had not been taken back into employment by the. Railway Commissioners, were contemplating another strike, and that they wero incidentally thinking that American Fleet week would be just as handy a time as any other in which to hold up the service. This appears to be simply idle gossip, and nothing more. A big meeting of the men having been called for yesterday morning, the alarmists saw in this a confirmation of their story; but the fact appears to, be that the men are thinking of an entirely different course—namely, applying for the appointment of a board under the Industrial Disputes Act, in order that their grievances may be investigated in a legitimate way. This completely disposes of the strike N story, since under the law it is impossible to obtain a board if the Union concerned is out on strike. ■ At the meeting formal resolutions were oarried that five employees should be nominated to act upon the board— namely, three members from the tramway traffic employees, one from ; the electrical branch, and one from the power-house employees. The number of ex-tramway men out of work, it is now stated, is not nearly so great as has been imagined. Thero ar.e several men standing out simply because their positions were filled before the striko ended, and they are > simply being taken on as vacancies occur either in tho railway or tramway branches. . Arrangements wero made by the Commissioners that married men should as far as possible rcceivo preference over single men; but those amongst tho ex-tramway employees who were informed definitely that thoy could not be reengaged do not number moro than.. SO'in all branches, it is stated; and mon are being taken on daily. THE CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT. Some strange revolutions .hare been mado as to tho opportunity recently afforded for fraud by the manipulation of drawback' entries as tho result of lax administration of the Customs Department in Sydney.' The history of ,thoso. discoveries, which has been brought to light as the result of investigations on the part of tho Mclbourno "Ago," is significant and interesting. The Customs Department in' Sydney wrote to a certain firm in November last, stating that if, was alleged on a given date a quantity of timber cut in bond was removed from bond and exported without notification from tho department, and that entries wero not tendered for the drawback of duty until tho nfternoon of tho day. the timber was sent away. After somo' correspondence the firm deposited tho amount of duty involved and' to an inquiry taking place'under part XV of the Customs Act, which is supposed t.o. apply to minor offences onlv in which intent to defraud is not alleged. When the inquiry. took place, it ' appears, a seu-

sational^condition-of laxity in the'depart" n )®"t was disclosed. It was admitted by official after official: under; examination' that it had been the practice for years' to allow exports of timber cut in bond to take place boforo an entry was passed, and before the sizes on which drawback of duty was claimed u 111 cll . ec ' ic ' d w ith the sizes of the timber shown in the papers of the vessel in 'm ■'' was originally imported. Ihe irregularities revealed were.apparently the result of a lax system of , supervision existing in regard to timber bortds. • As the inquiry proceeded, moreover, it turned out that the firm had submitted export entries ■ .1 in . no way corresponded, with the specifications of the import ships, and that altogether a shortage of duty amounting to" more than £100. could be. ' traced- 1 for- a period of four years. The Crown Solicitor advised a prosecution, but this suggestion was abandoned in favour of another inquiry und?r part XV of the Act. The firm, which disclaimed any intention of fraud, and de- . clared tlio irregularities were , the result of. carelessness of employees, was' fined £25, and ordered .to .pay the shortage of duty. Tho result of all these revelations is that tlio system of supervision has' been materially Altered,. and the officers concerned dealt with. , " " .