AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22628, 20 July 1935, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

GALE IN MELBOURNE DAMAGE ON THE FORESHORE MELBOURNE, July 19. • A fierce gale is lashing Melbourne. The interstate liner Westralia, from Perth, was forced to anchor in the bay and send its passengers ashore in tugs. Damage was done on the foreshore. Piers were damaged and small craft _ blown ashore. Fences were levelled in the suburbs. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE MELBOURNE, July 19. (Received July 19, at 8.30 p.m.) The whole of the southern portion of the State is being swept by a 45-mile-an-hour gale, considerably hampering shipping and doing extensive damage to property and electric light and telegraph lines. Attempts to berth the Monterey to-day proved futile, and the liner was finally compelled to anchor off Port Melbourne. Smaller ships were unable to enter the Yarra River. Reports from the country state that there have been heavy falls of snow, a regular blizzard prevailing in the southern Australian Alps. COLD WEATHER IN QUEENSLAND BRISBANE, July 19. Bitterly cold weather in the western districts resulted in heavy losses of sheep in poor condition. On one station 15.000 sheep, which had been kept alive through the drought at great expense, were lost. On another station 20,000 head which had survived the drought were all wiped out. A third station had 10.000 killed. CASUAL WATERFRONT LABOUR SYDNEY, July 19. (Received July 19, at 11.55 p.m.) Mr Justice Beeby, in the Federal Arbitration Court to-day, condemned, labour on the waterfront during the hearing of a claim by the Ship Painters and Dockers’ Union for a new award. He said there was nothing worse in any community than casual labour. The man who had no place in society but just wandered about hawking his labour by the hour was in an unenviable position. He pointed out that there was a small group of ships’ painters and dockers earning a little over 60s a week, the\next group 40s, and the last group under 40s. The remedy seemed to be to limit the number of men scrambling for jobs and throw the responsibility upon the State of finding work for the surplus. Mr Justice Beeby mentioned the case of wharf labourers in Brisbane a few years ago, when at least 1400 men were competing for work. These were eventually reduced in number to 700, with the result that all were earning £4 a week and were permanently employed.