Home Base

By Sydneysider

Sydney is the huh of the South Pacific, and its news is your news. Here are some of the things that made September headlines.

NSW Auditor-General Camp bell’s criticism of the Rural Bank’s loan of over £4 million to Metropolitan Portland Cement Ltd. over the last half-dozen years (“little prospect of the bank avoiding a heavy loss”) has been “bitterly resented” by the President of the Bank, Mr.

C. R. McKerihan; the subject of radio and TV interviews and newspaper leaders; and now has degenerated into the usual

political plaything.

Mr. McK, who claims that everything is for the best in the best of all banking worlds, never theless came home hot-foot in a matter of jet hours from mid way through a world tour when Mr. Campbell said his piece.

What old John Cit would like to know is how the cement com pany induced the Bank to throw so much good money after bad in recent years when every petty fogging regulation is put in the way of the would-be home owner who wants to borrow a few modest hundreds from the same institution. * * *

The Ethics Of It; “Grisly”,

“macabre” and “not very nice”

said pure-minded Sydneysiders

when a local undertaker com plained to the BMA in September that two doctors while still maintaining their practices, had also gone into the undertaking business. What the non-medical undertaker was complaining about was the unfair advantage the doctors had over him in be ing literally in at the death of

prospective customers.

* * * METER-MARTYRS: The just over-the-Bridge suburb of North Sydney has fallen victim to the galloping desire of local govern ment bodies to rake in more from parking meters. In spite of pro tests, North Sydney Council de cided at an October meeting to instal meters in residential streets. This brought such a howl of rage from interested parties, in the public gallery that the Mayor threatened to have terjectors thrown out. forgetting perhaps that if sufficient irate ratepayers gang up on him tney could return the compliment at the next Council elections. Mean time, residents who are in the habit of parking their cars in the street (and private garages

are the exception to the rule in the older, built-up suburban areas) they are faced with feed in g the iniquitous meters a steady diet of 1/- pieces. * * * WEATHER-WISE: The weather bureau was blamed for Sydney’s wettest, bleakest Labour (or Six Hours’) Day week-end in years.

Promised fine conditions after Saturday showers, Jupiter Pluvi us thereafter set out to show that Aunty’s pet corn is just as reliable a weather indicator as a ton of fancy modern gadgets and a squad of high-priced weather scientists.

Nonetheless, sufficient motorists crowded onto the highways to cause 11 road deaths; and one fellow who stayed quietly at home was killed when a TV aerial blew away in the gale and brought down high-tension wires on top of him. * * *

Business Extends: - The

NSW lotteries, the most lucrative State enterprise, has opened another office to make lottery ticket buying easier. The new office is in Market Street, and a queue of 500 was waiting for it to open on the first day when over 15,000 tickets were sold. It was, said Mr. C. T. Tallentire, Director of State Lotteries, a “very heartening start”. Depends how you look at these things, of course. * * *

Old Soldier Fades Away;

Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie Morshead, veteran of two World Wars and Australian hero of Tobruk, died in Sydney, aged 70, on September 26. * * *

Preference To Union

ISTS: The Australian Musicians’

Union demand that the 110 mem bers of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra should pay local union dues while on the current tour was declared “unprincipled by the director of the orchestra it couldn’t happen anywhere else in the world. . , Countered the Union’s secre tary: The Union wouldn’t stop

the orchestra from performing,

but he would have talks with them after which he was con fldent that the Czechs would pay. (He did but they didn t— which maybe shows that Social ism and Communism arent the same thing after all).