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LOCAL & GENERAL
By advertisement in this issue the
Albany District A. and H. Society invites
tenders for services in connection
with the amiual Show and Show
Ball. The services concerned are the
publican's booth and the stall for the
sale of ice cream, fruit and confectionery
at the Show, and for music
at the Show Ball. Tenders close with
the Secretary, Mr. A. J. Collins, at
Stirling Terrace, on Monday, October
18 at 4 p.m.
The Japanese Side.—
We have received a copy of "The
Trans-Pacific," a weekly paper, published
in English by the "Japan Advertiser,"
at Tokyo. The issue to
hand, of August 3, contains lengthy
^fF? nces , to the , Smo-Japanese
the ° way 1 it ~ stigmatises the Chinese. It
states carefully that Japan's actions
do not go beyond the protection of
Japanese nationals and property, and
extracts from several Japanese papers
quoted In this journal, re-iterate that
Japan was trying very hard to avoid
aggravating the situation. With
naive simplicity, however, every paper
emphasised the necessity for Japan
to teach China such a drastic lesson
that no further trouble need be
feared. Reference is made to unpardonable
actions, such as the cutting of
Japanese military telegraph lines, and
firing on Japanese soldiers. It might
almost be believed, from the articles,
that the Chinese had invaded Japan.
A report of proceedings in the Japanese
Diet (Parliament) contained this
gem: "The territorial integrity of
China is a principle which Japan has
been advocating for the past 40 years.
In other words, as Mr. Sugiura has
pointed out, we must prevent foreign
Powers from taking aggressive action
against China" (applause). That is
an extract from a speech by the Japanese
Premier, Prince Konoe, on July
28. We might perhaps be pardoned
for interpreting the applause as
"apple-sauce." Mr. Takeo Sugiura
was more honest. The nation's fundamental
policy in. the North China
trouble, he said, should be to subject
the Nanking regime to "a thorough
Bombing." He said that on July 28.
It almost looks as though the bombing
holocausts were cut and dried by
Japan before any hositilities occurred
at all.
Rubbish For Reclamation.—
Bunbury Municipal Council is at
present carrying out a fairly ambitious
scheme of reclamation alongside
the Estuary, adjacent to the residential
portion of the town, with the object
of transforming an ugly mud-flat
into public gardens and recreation
grounds. As other towns have done,
Bunbury is making good use of domestic
rubbish in filling the ground
behind the retaining wall, and already
a considerable area has been levelled.
It does not appear that any complaints
have been raised by residents,
although houses abut right on to the
reclaimed area. We hope that the Albany
Council will decide before long
that the household rubbish of the town
could be used profitably to reclaim
some of the. low-lying areas, such as
the foreshore, with a view to future
improvements, and the development of
garden spaces.
Community Concerts.—
Small audiences at the Albany Community
Concerts recently have caused
some depression among the organisers
and helpers generally. It is regrettable
that these concerts, which have
done so much for local charities,
should be lacking in public support. A
devoted band of workers have laboured
very hard for more than a year
to keep them going, but lately the attends
ees have been falling away
sadly. Three concerts are still to be
conducted for the St. John Ambulance
Association, and it will hardly be denied
that the object is one that is deserving
of full support. It is to be
hoped that the public will realise the
importance of the concerts as a means
of helping local charities, and that
even if it is impossible for people to
become regular patrpns, they will
show, by occasional attendance, that
they are in sympathy with the organisers.
Stopping Stay-in Strikes.—
According
to
an
Eastern
States
contemporary, they have novel ways
in
America of
bringing a
sit-down
strike to an end.
There were 80 men
in a factory.
They sat down.
"All
right," said the boss, "make
yourselves
comfortable boys."
He sent
out for a few dozen bottles of brandy
and shouted all round.
Then some
cooked chickens came.
A little later
cars arrived outside and a couple of
scores of blondes from a neighbouring
chorus arrived.
The party went with
a zip.
A little later cars started to
arrive with the wives of the strikers.
They settled it on the spot.
A Trail of Damage.—
• The iieavy squall, which struck Albany
during the night of September
15-16, and which blew down portion
of a wall of Simpson Bros.' new shop
in York Street, was merely the attenuated
shadow of the sharp gale
which swept the extreme South Western
portion of the State the same
night. From Denmark onwards, to
Manjimup and again down the West
coast from Busselton to the Leeuwin
the storm left a trail of damage, with
immense trees down in all directions.
Road gangs were busy for days afterwards
clearing the roads, and in many
places travellers had to detour
through the bush to avoid, fallen
, slants. The road through the Valley
j yf Y 1 the Giants was completely blocked
by an enormous tingle-tingle .tree
which had blown down. At Cape
Leeuwin the full force of the squall
was felt, -driving up from the Antarc-
tic. The lightkeepers stated that the
squall came from a clear sky and sea
practically without warning. So
heavy was the initial blast of wind
that it rocked the 135 feet tower of
the lighthouse so violently as to spill
mercury over the edg of the trough
in which the lamp floats, something
that had never previously occurred
in the history of the light. The anemometer,
or wind guage, proved unequal
to the strain and w&s blown
completely away. Some time ago the
old water wheel which pumped water
to the lighthouse quarters was retired
from service, being replaced with a
mindmill, but now, alas, the windmill
is no more. The squall took it.
A Cyclists' Paradise.—
Busselton may aptly be termed a
cyclists' paradise, and it is not surprising
to note that a very large percentage
of the people of the old port
use cycles for their journeyings. The
jetty there is more than a mile long,
ships berthing at the extreme end.
Almost to a man the lumpers ride to
work on bicycles, and the cycle "park"
near the end of the jetty, is an impressive
sight, with possibly 50 or
more bicycles standing beside the
rails. Even quite tiny children ride j
to school on bicycles, and the motorist
travelling in and near Busselton must'
proceed warily. The popularity of the
cycle in Busselton is explained by the |
fact .that there is not a hill of any j
size within miles of the town, most of
the country being almost perfectly
level. The roads are very goodŁ so
what more could a cyclist want?
C.A.P. Dance.—
Owing to Friday night having proved
unsuitable, the dance advertised to
take place in the Oddfellows Hall on
that night has been altered to Tuesday
night, which it is hoped will prove
generally more satisfactory. The
dance will, however, be held on this
Friday (to-morrow)' night as advertised.
Appropos "Familiarity Breeds . . ."—
About a week ago in this column,
we published a reference to the
Mayor's comparison between the
"Gap" at Albany, and the much pub-
licised beauty spot, of the same name,
near. Sydney, and it is astonishing to
note, on investigation, what a high
place Albany holds, at least amongst
the "show places" of the West.
Glancing through last year's Christmas
Number of the "Western Mail" it
was surprising to notice what a remarkably
large portion of its pictorial
pages were devoted to the beauties of
of our own South West.
Civic pride, is an entirely different
pride to any other species of that commodity,
and it is a pride that may be
even slightly bumptious, and certainly
considerably outspoken in retailing the
virtues of its possession. To get some
idea of what the real thing is, in that
respect one has only to listen to a
native of Sydney talking about "his"
bridge, and "his" harbour. St. Paul
never said, "I am a citizen of no mean
city," with half the pride that any
compatriot of Bradman's will extol aU
the beauties of his incomparable
birthplace.
Albany certainly has "the goods,"
all ready to deliver, and she has an
efficient agent for bringing these
goods to the notice of the general
public. We refer to the Albany
Tourist Bureau. Unfortunately, this
body, to function properly, requires a
certain amount of local support, which
has not been given too readily. The
work of the Bureau is of definite benefit
to all inhabitants of the town,
and we hope that in future, greater
assistance will be given to it, in the
laudable work of telling the world
about Albany.
Phew! What a Prize!—
Yes, £15,000 is the first prize in No.
59 Special Lottery on the Melbourne
Cup now being conducted by the W.A.
Lotteries Commission. Tickets are
selling freely everywhere at 10/- each.
£15,000 goes to the drawer of first
horse, £3,000 to the second, £1,000. to
the third. Other final acceptors divide
£1,000. Four other cash prizes of
£1,000 each, and many others totalling
£30,000 in prize money. No longer
need you send vour money out of the
State, no overseas lottery can compare
with it, and it's" conducted right
in your own State—it's too good to
miss, get a ticket as soon as you can
to avoid disappointment—it's very
popular.
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