AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1929, Page 12

AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS

THE WOOL POSITION LACK OF CONFIDENCE. DROUGHT IN THE MALLEE. (From Our Own Correspondent). Sydney, Sept. 20. The Queensland Bowling Association is moving to make the minimum size of bowls 4Jin across the major diam-' eter, instead of 4 7-Bin, as provided foi in the present laws of the game. The motion will be discussed in February, when the Australian Bowling Council meets in Launceston, Tasmania. Many hundreds of boivls in every State will be out of court if 4 7-Bin is to remain the minimum measurement, and a great hardship will be imposed upon bowlers unless the size is modified. It is amazing the number of bowls that receive adjustments and alterations. Apropos of bowls in Queensland, it is astonishing the number of visitors that flock thither to enjoy the ivann, sunny winter climate. Many bowlers make a regular habit of it, and some of them come • from New Zealand. Mr. Martin Taylor, of Auckland, hibernates in Brisbane, and last year played many great games. The visit of a New Zealand team, some years ago, is kept on record in club houses in various parte of the State by the photographs hanging on the walls. Mr. T. Bush (Wellington) was manager and Dlr. T. Nixon (Wanganui) a member of the team. WOOL SALES. The wool season of 1929-30 commenced in Adelaide and was followed by sales in Sydney. Sales in Adelaide disclosed good competition at a level of values which is quoted in the case of ordinary to good wools (Merino) 25 per cent, below prices ruling at the opening sale last season, and for inferior, earthy and wasty wools, which in Adelaide were very much in the majority, 33 per cent, lower. France lifted the great bulk' of the offerings in Adelaide, Italy being prominent as regards the better-grown wools. In Sydney, the Continent as a whole wa,s the mainstay of the market, Japan being quiet, and Bradford operating but very sparingly. On the whole, competition was better than had been expected, although the level is low; but the trade seemed prepared to go on and buy at the prices established. Evidently mill men are confident that the raw material is safe buying at present rates. Trade in wool, and in the goods made from it', has suffered from lack of confidence during the past half year. The growth in the production of artificial fabrics has been rather over-estimated, and to a great extent was responsible for nervousness and the resulting low prices now ruling. It is not expected that values will reach the higher basis that lias ruled in the previous five years, but a limited improvement is expected as the season advances. SCHOOLBOY ACTORS. Play Day at Petersham (Sydney) Boys’* High School is one of the rare and looked-for pleasures of the year. It is the occasion when the boys present in dramatic performance a series of events in world history. In .all there were over twenty episodes enacted. Seven hours of entertainment — with a brief adjournment for nourishment —were provided. Mr. H. G. Wells could hardly better the achievement of the Petersham boys in putting history into a nutshell.

The episodes were not arranged in chronological order. That was the surprise and joy of the thing. The curtain went down on Henry V. at' Agincourt, to rise again on Moses; then the scene was set in ancient Britain, or in revolutionary Paris, or even in Antarctic regions. It was Ulysses in the adventurous days of travel one moment', and the luxury of a modern liner the next. As for humour —of the unconscious sort —there was Master Peter Quince’s rear view. While he faced the audience, his costume was a sartorial success. But when, in an unguarded moment, he revealed his back, the crowded school rang with laughter at the complicated harnessings of string and safety pins. Then there was Ancient Pistol, a regular fire-eater, whose helmet of o-leaming steel reminded everybody of a rakish bowler hat titivated with a coat of aluminium paint. It was funny, too, when a maidenly young thing uttered her liues in a voice of astonishingly bass quality, and when the cutthroats of “Treasure Island” (scholars of Form 1 to a man) sang “Yo ho, and a bottle of rum” in shrillest sopranos. Some of the actors suffered from the misfortune of their age. Voices which opened in firm tones tumbled from one key to another. What made the day even more enjoyable was the zest and sincerity with which each actor tackled his part. Rough and ready comedy, pathos, soliloquy, rant, sentiment, badinage —they took it all in their stride. The wonder is that Play Days are not part of the annual routine of more schools. DROUGHT IN THE MALLEE. In the north-western area of Victoria and the adjacent area of South Australia, there are thousands of square miles covered with a eucalyptus scrub called “mallee.'’ It is the vegetation evolved by nature after countless thousands of years of low rainfall and blistering heat. A few years ago the pioneering Australian fought this territory with fire, plough and harrow. He

sowed it with wheat and if he were lucky in the matter of a few inches of ' rain, he prospered. It -was a gamble. To-day the settlers find themselves in this predicament —they have not had a wheat crop for three successive years, and nearly 2000 men are receiving sustenance from the State. They have absorbed all their financial resources and many of them are struggling with a heavy debt—not alone to the _ State authorities, but to outside financial institutions and storekeepers. The position of the settlers has been discussed in the Victorian Parliament and it is suggested to re-enact' the Postponement of Payments Act. There has also been a movement to provide the Mallee women with a holiday rest. The idea was to raise funds to give the families of settlers a trip to Melbourne and the seaside. But the women were totally opposed to the scheme on the ground that it was conceived in an atmosphere, of charity. As Australians, both in character and spirit, they resented any offer having about it any semblance of patronage. They preferred to be independent. What they really would appreciate would be a little sympathy and generosity from the Lands Department, and freight concessions from the railway, so that the burdens of their men on the land might be alleviated.