GROWTH OF GANGS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 88, 5 July 1927, Page 15

GROWTH OF GANGS

GUNMEN IN SYDNEY INFLUX OF ALIENS SYDNEY, June 29. Recent events in Sydney have caused the official mind to consider more intently than usual the question of the entry of undesirable migrants to the Commonwealth. The vendettas or feuds among dwellers in certain city localities, which have made Melbourne notorious, appear to have spread to Sydney. Razor gangs and gunmen have started to liven up the place at nights, and although many regard much of the stories which fill the newspapers as mere figments of the imagination, others trace the whole thing back to the wholesale entry of Southern European people, which has been practically unchecked for several years. There are whole communities of these people, both in the cities and in the country, and they have brought with them their peculiarities of living. Mr. Lang has publicly stated at last that his Government does not approve of this type of settler. But it is a bit late now. and even if the immigration authorities put a bar on the entry of more of them, those already in will still have to be reckoned with, and it will take a generation to eradicate their Southern European ways and make them good Australians. RAID ON CHINESE GARDENERS The Customs authorities developed suspicions last week that some Chinese who had no right to be in Australia were working in market gardens at Rose Bay. Deserters from ships and Chinese who had used other men’s passports were the suspects, and it was decided to raid the gardens and, without causing any disturbance, look over the Chinese engaged in the peaceable occupation of making vegetables grow. These gardens adjoin the famous golf links, where New Zealanders recently made history. With police to help, the Customs men went out in two cars and were dropped one by one at various strategic points. Houses overlook the gardens, which are in a valley, and nobody in any of the homes suspected that anything unusual was happening. One Customs man standing at his post, saw housewives buying vegetables from an innocent Chinese, who shortly afterwards was being quietly questioned in his hut. Five men were taken into custody and charged next day, but were remanded for further evidence. One of them was heard to say that he was glad he had been taken from the gardens, because the work there was too hard. SYDNEY AND AMERICAN BUILDINGS COMPARED Interesting reference to architecture in the United States, and its application to Sydney buildings was made by Mr. H. White, the well-known theatre architect who recently went to America with Mr. Stuart Doyle of the Union Theatres, to get the latest ideas for several new theatres which the company intends to build in Australia. Mr. White returned in the Ventura and in an interview he said that the factor which regulated the heights of buildings in New York was simply that of traffic congestion. If buildings went up high enough, the people who occupied them would conceivably he unable to move along the street in which the buildings stood, if everyone left their work at the same time.

Traffic problems, rather than any hygiene or mechanical limits, set the pace for high buildings. With narrow streets in the city, Sydney will have to keep her buildings down, even if the present limit of 150 feet is dispensed with. The theatres which Mr. White is now engaged in planning will have an enormous seating capacity and huge stages. The one to be built in Market Street will have a 40ft. clock in a tower which will be visible at sea. ADVERTISING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Every Australian who returns from a visit abroad complains that this country is not advertised, even as much as New Zealand is, and there seems to be truth in this complaint, although Australia House and Australia’s commissioner in New York are supposed to be making themselves felt. Perhaps General Ryrie, the new High Commissioner, in London, will do better. In the meantime, a proposal has now ben made that Australia and New Zealand should combine in a huge advertising programme to attract tourists and their millions over here. The ambassador, who puts forward this idea is Mr. H. R. Hobday, an Australian who has lived in New Zealand many years, and realised the importance of advertising that Dominion. Representing the Community Tourist League of New Zealand, and with credentials from Mr. Coates, he is meeting with cordial receptions at the hands of individuals. His remarks about New Zealand are striking. He says: “New Zealand is one of the most remarkable countries in the world. It is literally bubbling at one end, and in the grip of glacial ice at the other.” His idea seems to l * that the joint advertising programme should be based on the fact that New Zealand is a unique tourist countr; and having brought the travelleß there, they should be switched on t Australia. This country has been mucii misunderstood, however, and on the coast from Bulli to Cape York in Torres Strait there .are continuous scenes of great beauty—to mention only a coastal part of the continent. The joint idea is an excellent one if it will work, and maybe Mr. Hobday will be the man to do it. NEW NORTH QUEENSLAND LINERS

The neglect of the glorious North Queensland coastal tours, which has been noticeable since the A.U.S.N. Company sold the steamers Levuka and Wyreema, is to cease. This week the oil-burner Orungal. formerly the Fezara, of the Khedival Mail Line of Egypt, will sail on a cruise to Cairns with a full complement of passengers The vessel has been entirely refitted to suit Australian conditions and has many roomy one and two-berth cabins with every luxury provided. A sister ship, the Ormiston, will follow a week later.

The suggestion has been made that the ideal way to conduct the New Zealand and North Queensland passenger services would be to run them jointly, so that in winter all the ships but those necessary to maintain a weekly service to New Zealand should be used on the Queensland runs, and vice versa in the summer. This seems to be a common sense proposal, there is even a rumour abroad in shipping circles that an English company is contemplating taking it up. Though it sounds too good to be true, the time is not far off when the present lop-sided arrangement must be adjusted.

THE KOSCIUSKO SEASON Winter af Mount Kosciusko is a de-

lightful time, and the hotel there becomes the centre of great social and mountaineerii*g doings. Though the mountain is only 7,000 feet high, it has the advantage of being accessible almost to the summit, so that Kosciusko House stands much higher than the Mount Cook Hermitage and perpetual snow lies on the ground all aroui j it for several months. Skiing, tobogunning, skating and sleighing were regular pastimes, with mountain climing as well, though this is not anything like the scaling of the peaks in New Zealand. The tours are very cheap and from Sydney for from £ 6 to CIO a very enjoyable week or week d may be spent in the snows. The r I popular tim for Kosciusko, however, is when spring begins to throw a little warmth over the land along the coasts. Then the mountains call and hundreds answer. —WILL LAWSON.