AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 123, 26 May 1936, Page 11

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

ITEMS FROM QUEENSLAND BRISBANE, May 17. Artillery Memorial. The officers of the Royal Australian Artillery (Militia) in Queensland have the distinction of completing the first memorial in the State to King George \ . It is the George V. Artillery Memorial, a trophy in the form of a miniature 4.5-inch howitzer for perpetual competition among the Field Artillery batteries in Queensland. Made of bronze, the trophy is 12 inches in length, and is rifled’to scale, while the elevating and traversing gears operate exactly as in the full-size howitzer. The compensating brake gear, baud applied from three places, including the emergency gear, is exact in construction and mechanism. The sighting and breechclesing follow exactly the system on its prototype. A total of 282 parts have gone into the model which is in every }»articular a miniature replica of a 4.5-inch howitzer. Queensland’s New City. By the raising of Warwick to the dignity of a city, there are now 12 cities in Queensland. They are Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba. Gvmpie, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville. Charters Towers, Cairns and Warwick. Warwick last year celebrated its diamond jubilee as a town, and at the request of the residents the Executive Council has raised its status to that of a city. Record Marriages. The number of marriages registered in the_l2 cities of Queensland in 1935 was 5732, which is a record figure for the State and is 517 more than in 1934. The marriage rate was 11.85 per 1000 of the population, which was approximately I per 1000 higher than in 1934. Bundaberg had the highest birth rate of any urban area in Queensland, lhe figure for 1935 being 22.9 per 1000. The metropolitan area had the lowest rate at 14.5. In the 12 cities in Queensland there were 7471 births in 1935, as again 7294 in 1934. The mean population of Brisbane at the end of the year was 305,542. and including Brisbane, (he population of the 12 cities totalled 483.75 G. The latest estimated population of Queensland was 970,108 at the end of September 1935. Zane Grey to Visit Barrier. Believing that he has not yet scon lhe best of Australia. Mr. Zane Grey, the well-known writer and sportsman, proposes to spend three months on the Great Barrier Reef with an expedition which will cost £15,000 to equip. A steam ’yacht is to be used as a base for big game-fishing off the reef, and it will also act as a floating talking picture studio. The personnel of the expedi- , tion will comprise about 20 people, including a crew of 12. The latest talkie equipment, together with American technicians, will be brought out for the filming of ft travel feature of the reef. It is intended to import a diving bell for the shooting of under-water scenes. State Aid for Purchase of Rams. Biy a scheme which has been in opera tion for a few months, the Agricultmal Bank Board has been making available 80 per cent, of the landed cost of good Merino rams for small sheep farmers. The number of applications which has been received by the board has justified the scheme. The Government adopted the view that, with the recent hardening of values, the cost of good rains was beyond many small sheep farmers, and as it was essential for Queensland to maintain her quality wools it was decided to offer facilities foY the purchase of suitable sires. Motor Trucks Registered. Motor vehicle returns issued hv the Minister for Public Works (Mr. Bruce show that 499 utility trucks and 3? pneuniativ-tyred trucks were registered in Queensland in March. At the end of March there were 106.386 registered motor vehicles. The total a. year earlier was 98,469. Motor collections last month added £50.127 1o revenue, and the net increase in the number of vehicles was 662. In addition to the trucks there, was an increase of 155 in car registrations. Great Demand for Milk. Milk bars have sprung up in every corner of the city within the past year or two. and milk has never been more prominently before the public than it is now.