AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17533, 27 January 1919, Page 8

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

(Fbom Oob Own Corhestondent.)

SYDNEY-. January /8. The abandonment of hostilities has meant that a great camp, comprising many permanent buildings, is thrown empty at Liverpool. This was. expected, of course^ — and tlio place will, in any case, have a decided usefulness for military training purposes. Thero is in this State, howover, another groat oamp, which has never boon occupied, and concerning whion the public knew notliing until the lifting of tho censorship the other day. 'ibis is the Mo-, ksiglo Camp, near the Federal capital of Canberra. It will be remembered that less than a year ago China, under pressure- from the Allies, decided to intern nil the Germans in China, and it was then resolved to send same 3500 Germans- to Australia, where they would be more easily fed and be well out of tho way. Australia was asked to prepare the necessary accommodation, at tho expense of the British Government. Tho site was selected near tho Federal capital, and an army of workmen sot busy. No less ■ than £157,000 was spent on the work, and it was completed only a few months»'ago. In many respects, it is a model camp. The camp comprises 80 blocks, each containing 21 rooms. Electric light, a sewerage system, and a water supply have been connected with each block, and a branch railway has been run into tho camp. There are a canteen, bakery, meat stores, recreation halls, police barracks, etc., all carefully laid out, with a view to beaiuty as well a3 utility. About tho time tho work was finished negotiations between Germany and Britain resulted in the abandonment of the plan to send these Germans south from China. So tho big camp stands empty. All sorte of suggestions aro* beinsr made as to its use. _ One that is getting some support is that it bo a sort of Dr Barnardo's Home for poor Australian children. CYCLONIC STORMS.

This is the season of the year when cyclonic storms, or hurricanes, are common to the South Seas, and this part of Australia is receiving an unusual share of them. The genuine hurricane seldom appears south of Rookhauipt/On, but gaies oi cyclonic force have caused much damage iin tho past week or two in this State.

Last Saturday, for instance, a storm which, lasted only about 15 or 20 minutes burst with groat suddenness over the eastern portion of this State. The brilliant sunshine was suddenly blotted out by masses of inky clouds, and rain and hail fell in great showers literally within a few minutes. Litti© if any warning was riven, and tens of thousands of people were caught in the open. Tennis, cricket, and bowling matches were taken unawares, and spectators and players were soaked by rain and battered by enormous hail—hail with a temperature over 90deg—before they could reach shelter. There were extraordinary scenes on the race courses, where there was shelter for only a tenth of the people assembled. At first there was a mad scramble for a roof, but when the futility of it was seen, thousands just stood out in the deluge and the hurricane-like wind and laughed at each other. What else could they do ? At Kensington Racecourse when things were at their worst, a large and much terrified black cat appeared out on the abandoned course, where it engaged in''a frantic effort to dodge the pelting hailstones. Its tail like a bottlebrush, it dashed around in a most comical manner. The soaking crowd roared with laughter, and forgot its woes. Of such is an Australian racecourse assemblage. ■The tens of thousands of surfers on the beaches, although industriously seeking wetness, made helter-skelter for shelter when the storm broke, but few escaped. Huge hailstones on bare arms and shoulders aroused .protesting shrieks from the ladies and children, but few were hurt. At Bondi, however, a young married wonian, surfing with her husband and chiW, was struck dead by one of the almost constant flashes of vivid lightning. Water everywhere poured through weak roofs and unprotected cellars, and considerable loss was caused. In certain country districts the hail fell in such masses that stock wero buried alive in the drifts, and crops were completely destroyed. In Sydney, 20 minutes later, the clouds were gone, and tho sun, boating down on the still warm earth, was raising <rreat clouds of steam. Such is a typical summer thunder-storm along the eastern coastal belt. ! INCORRIGIBLE GIRLS. The small town of Kiddell, near Melbourne, knew an hour of wild excitenierit one evening last week. . . The cause was the return of seven young girls from the local Salvation Army Home, who escaped from the institution on .New Year's Hive. The girls at this home in the majority of instances are the genuine "hard cases." The army courageously atempts to relorm the incorrigibles, but often knows moire than a little excitement in the process. The girls often escape and reach, the city, and a score of slums have to be combed before they are. found by the police and sent back. Frequently, they, disappear altogether. The seven who thus celebrated New Year were discovered .by the police and sent back by train in charge of a plainclothes constable. The officer had an unenviable task, being badgered all tho way by th© undisciplined young women. Go. the railway platform tho girls , refused to go to tho home. They made a violent scene, and a crowd gathered. The worried and perspiring constable tlien tried -to get them to the local police station. They went, protesting loudly, and their language was scorching. Unhappily, the local constable was away, and tho -iris promptly ran amok in tho station. They broke all the windows in sight, smashed some furniture, and turned on their unhappy guardian with stones. JEe tried to fight, but. tie was sadly baftered when the wife of tho local constable, courageously and in a very timely manner intervened with a revolver. The weapon cowed tho riotous girls; the manner of the constable's wife, who was outraged by the damage done to her home, plainly showed a determination to shoot.

The plain-clothes man ,got possession of the revolver and regained control of the girls. Obviously, they were still ready for any mischief, but the revolver disturbed therh. Very reluctantly they allowed themselves to be formed up, and with the constable and the revolver menaoing them behind, they were marched to the home. Here, they broke loose again for a while and broke all the windows in the house of one of the army officials.