12 Sep 1930 - Sydney Letter

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Fri 12 Sep 1930 - The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954)
Page 6 - Sydney Letter

Sydney letter

SYDNEY, Thursday.

There are no more 'pathetic figures
in the city at the present day' than
the hosts of women and girls who
have been thrown 'out- of work by the
economic depression1 and who are
striving to maintain some- shred of
dignity while struggling ^o keep body
and soul together. .' It ' is estimated
that there are 5,000 6f them in the
State and most of them are in Syd

ney. Hundreds of these girts have no
homes to go to when they lose their
jobs, and unless they can pay the rent
of their flats or rooms, their position
is a hopeless one. The inevitable re
sult ot this position is not' pleasant
to contemplate, and, though the. Con
sorting Act has driven off the ?streets
th eplain manifestations of the des
perate times, it is .known that there
are many unhappy girls who have *a
ken the easiest road 'out of their diffi
culties, ignoring the ultimate cost
The police, particularly the' women's
section of the force, are doing their
best to prevent a spread of this evil,
but there is necessarily a percentage
of the weak minded who cannot see
beyond the needs of the moment. To
save these unfortunates from them-,
selves seems to be a hopeless task
and very little has been done by the
special committee which the Govern
ment appointed to inquire into the
problem of jobless women.
THE BBIBGE AGAIN
The central point of interest to the'
visitor to the city these days is the
giant arch of the bridge which now
opens the harbor, and I suppose I can
be forgiven if mention of it creeps
over often into these notes. The pre

sent excuse for reverting to the sub
ject is the fact that yesterday the
final locking of the arch was per
formed and the great steel span now
.stands as it was planned, four square
on the enormous bearings, and as
solid as the rock on which It is built.
The final operation which made the
arch secure consisted of forcing apart
the top chords and wedging them in a
position which imposed a compression
strain on the whole structure which
will hold it rigid. The job was a deli
cate one and necessitated the temper

ature of the whole arch being uni
form. Thermometers were hung all
over it, therefore, and at the righ',j
moment pressure was exerted by
hydraulic jacks and the stejl wedges
inserted. The supporting cables have
now been taken away and the city
for the first time has a clear idea of
the genius that planned ' the harbor
link.
THE CENSOKSHTP BUG
The idea that the mass of the people
do not know what is' good for them
and must be severely rationed in their
literature and amusements seems to
have taken a firm hold and is even
being carried to lengths 'winch many
people cannot help describing as ab

surd. Mr. Ford, *he Assistant Minis
ter for Customs, recently 'made him
self ridiculous in this regard, and the
Commonwealth Film Censor, Mr.
Cresswell O'Reilly, bids fair to add
another laughing stock to the long list
with which we have been provided
by officialdom gone mad. The extra
ordinary part about this censorship
bug is the way in which stories which
are allowed into the country as books
are banned as plays, what is spoken
may not 'be shown on the screen, and
the printed word becomes decent
v/hen it is translated into pictures by
some far distant actor. Thus, All Quiet
on the Western Front was not allowed
to be read, but the picture had a long
and successful run, and the latest
freak is that the British play, 'Young
Woodley,' which was produced
throughout Australia, is banned as a
picture. Surely it is time that some
body laid down a standard.
THE HIT-BUN FIEND
mu~ _~a_*«'::i.. *«« 41... __.. —.I.. _.:il

1. UXS - MICH VCUI 1.^ Ul LUG UiCIl WUU Will
drive a motor car over a pedestrian
and then speed away, is, I think,
largely misunderstood by the news
papers. The hit-run driver is describ
ed as a callous fiend because he leaves
his victbm for somebody else to pick
up, but to my mind such an action if?
indicative to nothing else but panic. A
man with the mentality of a callous
fiend would know that in nine cases
out of ten he would escape all legal
consequences if he stopped and did
his best to look after the injured per
son, whereas to run away Is a confes
sion of a guilty conscience and seldom
means anything but delay in facing
the consequences. Nevertheless, phil
osophy of this sort does not lessen the
horror of the cases which crop** up
from time to time. The latest happen
ed only last night,* when an elderly
woman was frightfully -mutilated by a
lorry which drove on and disappeared.
It is not hard to imagine the feelings
of the driver of thit vehicle. J have
no doubt that he suffered' from mo
mentary panic and has ? regretted it
ever since. ' ? ? .
EPIDEMIC OF GOLF
' Sydney is suffering from an epi
demic of eolf. desmte the ;fe.'c- that

the depression haa-le|t:'ixpcahcle's on.
the membership 'lists ^f'rm'Wt' of the
best clubs. The present! outbreak is
talcing the mild form of cheap golf
and the symptoms are crowded ses
sions at Moore T'ark and other public
links near the city, where an after
noon at the Royal and A&cl'ent game
can be had for*a few snHlifcgs. Club
makers are reported Jfl -bevhavlng a
boom season, especially slnde sine new
tariff' duties have giy£j^^eta£prac'tic-.
ally- a mdhopoly ot ?j)$jmaf$$el_. over
overseas firms, There'*1 is Scarcely' an
office in the city where the craze has
?'.'. ??.'' ..v''';'^' ?.?v'i'-:^;';!-^i*^S'*^^'-:--V'..-.'';

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