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By Sydneysider

Sydney is the hub of the South Pacific, and its news is your news. Here are some of the things that made Dec.-Jan. headlines.

It was a record Christmas-New Year: Record spending, record road deaths, and, most of all, record lousy weather of a kind resented by Australians more than most.

Except for three fine days, holi day weather consisted of rain, gales, grey skies and drizzle. It was a tale of woe from bogged and bedraggled Xmas campers, to the 3rd Test Match, which was dampened if not washed out in the second week of January.

Only one person was happy about it —Queensland long-range forecaster Walker (upon whom the mantle of the late Inigo Jones has fallen), who said long ago that it would happen just like that. * * * Amongst the seasonal crop of accidents there were the well tried favourites—drowning, boat ing, being thrown from horses, not knowning the gun was loaded.

But there were other victims who got their names in the papers for more unusual accidents —40 who were crushed by a 60-ft high ferris-wheel that collapsed into a crowded carnival at Coogee (one woman died of her in juries, many others are still in hospital); a boy who died after being bitten by a snake; and an infant after being bitten by a funnel-web spider.

Death reaped his biggest harvest on the roads, of course.

With 31 killed between Christmas and New Year it was the biggest piece of mass suicide since the season of 1955, and brought the State’s grand total for 1958 to a record 825 road dead.

The Christmas toll was in spite of the new law that suspends licences for short periods for two traffic offences (including not giving hand signals), in spite of the threat that stiffer driving tests and full scale medical tests will be intro duced in 1959; and in spite of the fact that 300 motor cycle police were on duty in the metropolitan and near-metro politan area, and booked the phenomenal total of 4,000 motor ists for various offences during the 10-day period. * * * THE PRESS; Following in troduction of publication of free birth, death and marriage notices in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald prin

cipals took out an injunction against the DT. SMH alleged that the DT had been copying birth, death and marriage notices from early editions of SMH, traditionally accepted as the only newspaper in which to die, marry or be born. According to SMH, there were 73 more deaths in the second edition of DT on January 5 than in the first edition. And amongst the 73 were two fictitious names which the SMH had cunningly run in its first edition. * * * SPORT: Over 22,000 attended Sydney’s first “Twilight” race meeting (4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.). To encourage patrons, free betting vouchers, valued from 30/- to £6 each, were distributed to 60 lucky punters. (Of the 20 in the Paddock who got £6 worth of free bets, five lost the lot, no one made a fortune, and most made a modest gain by backing favourites). The AJC promises more Twilight meetings. * * * COMING: US Evangelist Billy Graham will arrive in Australia for five weekc crusade in Feb ruary— complete with file onj Australia’s besetting sins, pro vided by advance agents. * * * COME: Ava Gardner, in early' January, en route to Melbourne 6 to co-star with Gregory Peck: and Fred Astaire in Nevil Shute’Sc On the Beach. * * * MOTOR MARKET: Statisticss show that of the new motor vehicles registered in November -7,781 or one-third were in NSWV and that Holdens still dominatea the sales field with 9,500 regis trations for the whole country.", Ford was next. * * * WRATH OF GOD: Apostolic* Delegate Archbishop Carbonil who travelled 160 miles from Syd ney to Ulladulla to bless the fish--: ing fleet on December 28, returned) displeased and without having: performed the ceremony the Italian fishermen had note turned up to the preliminary Mass. Parish Priest Father*: Weatherall finally did the job then God whipped in some colbi driving rain and dissolved ther party. The spaghetti eating championship, the greasy-polel climbing and the procession haoi to be abandoned.