Sossip from Sydney

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 870, 9 March 1917, Page 11

Sossip from Sydney

Dsiab Chhistabel, ' '-T EH HI>S city has been with . es/citem'ent over the possible departure of the State Governor, Sir Gerald Strickland. With .■ more zeal (for headlines) . than discretion, one local newspaper fluilg the fat in the fire with .-such frizzling. stuff as. "The Governor .Recalled," etc. « ■st- » . Then,' as Alice, in Wonderland might have said, "Things were wOrserer and =more worserer." Next day the Premier, always courteous in his dealings with the Governor, though the twain havn't liked each'other since his Ex. sent.-Mr. Holman to the right-about (he didn't .-go!) in November, with genuine vexation gave the official, statement that the Governor had applied for. leave -of absence to the Colonial Office. Until the answer came, Mr. Holman praised the silence of those papers which knew, and sternly rebuked the exaggerated rstatement in the offending journal; £>• There is more than half a truth in the news that Sir Gerald wants to return to England. Strained relations "with his Ministers, and a delicate wife, "who grows no better, made the application for leave of absence a-. dignified ahethod of exit. , - •» ■ *• ' ■ «• His Ex. will have . been here five ..years in November next. Six years is •the allotted span of vice-regal life; though very popular Governors have exceeded the limit:. With twelve months' leave of absence a. little- later, there "would have been no return to New South , Wales. But the Governor's hand has been, forced by the blazing indiscretion of one- newspaper. • Whether he will promptly face the submarines, .with an invalid wife and two of Tiis five girls very young children, is the -problem. ■ . a- 9 •' ® Too devoted to official details, and "too fond of personal power in Cabinet matters, Sir Gerald has never been popular with his Ministers in New South Wales. The same "perniketty" ways in social matters, _ and the drawback of being a most indiffer*ent, not to say usually dull, speaker in public, make him a dry negation in the •eyes of the multitude.

No man ever hold a- liiglier'notion of the duty of the King's representative than Sir ■ Gerald Strickland. But he overworks himself and everyone about him, straining at gnats while cainels and-donkeys-are offended at his indifference ' to their existence. Respected even by those who have suffered most from his .unusual ideas of a Governor's duties, our present vice-royalty has. almost failed to-' please anyone. Yet his passionate desire from dawn to midnight has been to give every moment of his life to King and country. One hopes; the historian of the future will write a -very kindly 11-.1.P. on Sir Gerald's official' tombstone-amongst the records of New South Wales.- „ Sydney is to liave a Thrift Week, in March. Anyone with an "approximate idea of his duty to' the war funds, is having a hearty snack of Thrift everyday. . But, the worthy ladies, intent on impressing heedless sisters, are nothing daunted. Hence a campaign which will, presumably, invade the kitchcn and forage for the uttermost .mutton bone, begins on March • 25. 'Miss''-M. 'E. Roberts, head of the -Technical College dressmaking department, is president. Mrs. F. Woods, Mrs. John Mackay, and Misses Ruth Beale and Murray are members of the executive. ». / * . •» V * One of the planks of- this rounding- ' up of ..the thriftless is "Backyard Poultry Raising." _■ Pi-obably this item will, be coldlv received in closely-popu-lated suburbs; The dismal crowing of penned-in roosters is not conducive to neighbourly love. Nor does the _ Sanitary and Health Department- smile on bedraggled fowls scratching a backyard" from sheer weariness of spirit, while the week's - washing drips on their dusty feathers. . . x O. « C O However, there's an old Somerset proverb: ''Do zummat —do gude if- ye can—but do. zummat." The Thrift -campaigners are going to do zummat! ° •/ The New South Wales Daylight- Saving Bill is to drag its way through March. -On. April Fools' Day we get -back to, the'right time. Mr. Holman is divided between the Ayes and Noes

as to the use, or otherwise, of this fad. In. England" in the long summ'er daysj where it helps . the munition workers, and other war interests, it is undoubtedly a success. Here, it helps no one but the surfer, the tennis player, and other daylight pleasure seekers. The fact that even the wharfie is • "agen" the Government in , putting on the clock, may hasten the Daylight Bill to an early grave. * *■-' - ■* «• The Win-the-War League had its day out towards the end of February". The idea was to. extend its membership by the sale of the inevitable .button. The seller then tried to get the name and address* of the buyer, in writing, as a new helper. But everyone', worth . while is doing his or .her best already. And the shirkers of both sexes are not so easily entangled. So a , tremendous beating up of city and suburbs 1 only dragged 1000—-mostly old workers- for war... funds; —into the League. About £700, a very smalt mite for a Sydney effort, goes to the League's credit from * the button sale. The Win-the-War League is rather an overlap. On this subject (though not > in connection with this League), Dr. Mary Booth has just been making very vital remarks. As on>e of .this city's most unselfish and tireless workers for our.; soldiers, her opinion 'carries great weight. Sh'e says that the constant overlapping is wasting and duplicating . women's war-work in every direction. - This can be seen anywhere.- ' Unfortunately—.though Dr. Booth does not say so—it often springs from the vanity of women who desire to figure on the com- ' mittee of every other effort for Red Cross or comforts' funds. They become eventually mere talking machines, whirling—(very, often , in Red Cross cars)—from one meeting to, another. Nothing short of exporting these ladies to a better organised country will alleviate the nuisance. . « # ■, £ To-day the official statement ap- " ' pears that thd Stricklands ■ make, their, exit from Government House in . April. They are still at summer resi- rdence, Sutton Forest, though the Governor coines, to town nearly every day. Lady Kdeline has shown great pluck in her constant fight against serious' ill-' ness. Her courage is, one holies, not to- be put to the desperate test of meeting a Hun torpedo at close quarters. Whether the family will take a possibly safer route than His Ex. contemplates or whether the Government will issue, passports to a hopeless invalid and her young daughter is still a moot question, o © «■ © Sir Gerald is'openly announcing his intention of calling at Malta, his. mother's birthplace, on. the way . to England. Therefore, he chooses the- danger zone, and makes no bones about it. . N- ' ■ * •» -a- ".» If many Sydney people have hitherto, regarded ill 1 . Carmicliael (Labour), formerly Minister for Education, as a merely showy individual with a' good share of native smartness, they will now soften their estimate of his complex ; character. He formed the.'. Riflemen's Battalion here, a year or so ago, and was for many months with it in training, at Salisbury' (England). For conspicuous bravery during a heavy bombardment on the Western Front,, Lieut. Carmich'ael has just been awarded the Military Cross. In the coming State elections, his return at a Labour constituency, is likely to be a walk over. Lieut. Carmichael's wounds, in face and eye, "are now almost well, according to. the latest cable. One trusts that-.a politician who lias so proved himself , -will be- spared to come back to our public life. • Of course you know the Clifford family in New 'Zealand. . A nephew of the Dominion sheep magnate is' the last A.D.C. to join our now departing Gov-' ernor's staff. Captain - Bode Clifford, well over 6, feet, is a delicate-looking man under 30. ;He . was in the firing *- line in France for a short time, but his health wasn't':up to the trench stand-

ard. If lie pursues the peaceful occupation- of standing .behind the vice-regal chair, it is oot from choice, and' one wonders; if lie will stick to dull business and .'attend" our next; Governor. . In peace time, the; had a giltedged billet.-. But now—-he'g- .amongst, the grandfathers and sisters - Susie, at most big gatherings. '• ' "Mr. Budden, one of our Red Gross Commissioners, who has do"rie excellent work at the front, is already in Melbourne. A big public welcome in our Town Hall is waiting for him when lie steps off the Victorian express. ; 6 " .a ■ ' o We have a new. State- Commandant, a -matter of some congratulation to the soldiers in'the commrunity. BrigadierGeneral Lee has had many years? lex- , perience oh the; staff of Permanent Forces. . He . lias ,iust arrived-: from • Queensland where, as Commandant, rhe was extremely. popular. Yours discursively. ; ■ Koka.