AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13926, 7 December 1908, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

AMERICAN TRANSPORT.

SUPPLIES FROM AUSTRALIA AND

NEW ZEALAND.

The American naval transport Glacier, which arrived at Sydney on Sunday says the Sydney morning Herald of Tuesday last), left' American fleet at Alauila, loaded beef at Townsville, and will ship coal, potatoes, and meat at Sydney. Mote supplies will bo taken on board at Auckland, and the Glacier will then proceed to Chili-to meet the South Pacific squadron of the United States navy. The Glacier is equipped with wireless ' telegraphic apparatus, and Commander Hogg is regarded as on© of the wireless experts of the U.S. navy.. He was chief officer of the Celtic, which traded here from Manila several years ago. According to advices recently received from America, the advertising now being conducted by the New South Wales Government in the United States for immigrants js most opportune. American naval officers who visited Sydney after tho departure of the fleet claim that their appreciation of the unbounded hospitality displayed by the Australians to the navy will have a great influence in inducing Congress to grant a subsidy for the American ships in the trans-Pacific trade. The officers and men in the battleship fleet have influence in, all quarters—in fact, cadets at the Anapolis. Naval Academy are nominated by different; members of Congress. The officers and men accompanying the fleet sent hundreds of letters from Australia describing tho country in glowing terms.

, CABLES AND "WIRELESS." Mr. 0. Milward, the recently-appointed manager of the Australia-Pacific Cable Board, arrived at Brisbane by the Aorangi on Tuesday last. Mr. Milward said the Pacific cable was making headway. Everything in connection with it was working satisfactorily. Mr. ' Henniker Heaton's penny-a-word cable scheme was impossible at present. If the cables were to be worked on a paying basis it would require an enormous subsidy. It would mean duplicating the existing cables. Presumably there would be such a rush of traffic that the present lines could not possibly carry it. If such a scheme came to pass it would mean .that the cablegram would take the place of the post-card. People in Australia and England and in other parts of the Empire would use the lines very freely in transacting business. As far as he was able to say at present, there was a possibility of the cable rates being reduced. There was a distinct agitation throughout the Empire on that point. , Personally, he would be very sympathetic towards reducing the rates if it were found possible to do so on a commercial basis so as to make the cables earn a reasonable revenue to pay expenses and interest on capital. Even the private cable companies recognised that they would be doing good service if they could reduce the rates. Discussing the wireless telegraphic system, Mr. Milward said he hoped to see it extended to the islands in the" Pacific. This would have to be .done by private enterprise. . But its establishment would be an important adjunct to the cable, There were many islands in the Pacific which were now practically isolated, and it would cost too much to connect them by cable. In Canada wireless telegraphy stations had been established right along the coast. . , .- . r ; ■ " ,