FAIR AND WARMERBUT STILL NOT SUMMER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 191, 2 November 1927, Page 13

FAIR AND WARMER—BUT STILL NOT SUMMER

THE srnyjyr J.rrTER.

IN SYDNEY NOW BOOM IN ROMA OIL SYDNEY, October 2S. After just three days of warm weather last week, the promise of sumi mer faded, and cold, showery condi- | tions prevailed. Several days since then have been clear, cool and sunny, so perhaps the seasons are beginning to adjust themselves. New Zealanders on a visit to Sydney are enjoying the climate, which is not so much in the way of a jolt from .Yew Zealand weather, as summer conditions would be. As the majority of these will find business or pleasure in Melbourne about Cup time, the state of the weather here will not worry them. Timber Men’s Picnic One of Auckland’s leading timber merchants, Mr. A. E. E. Dodd, is visiting Sydney. Among the men he met here was Mr. Fin Stewart, of Lamb, and Co., who told him of a bush luncheon which was arranged in Sydney for Mr. Joe Butler, when passing through to V anikoro. The story is that Mr. Butler was telling, of impromptu luncheons on the Waitakeres, when Mr. Stewart decided to take the wind out of his sails. Inviting Mr. Butler to meet him for lunch on the following day, he gathered a few friends and loaded his car with a huge griller and frying pan, and stacks of meat and other food. When the guest arrived he was invited into the car and whisked away to Kuringai Chase, ten miles out of town. There a fire was. built and meat and potatoes roasted. "With something copious to wash it down, one of tlio most enjoyable meals was disposed of. The whole outing was intended to prove that, for all its city attributes, Sydney is just as near the bush as Auckland. . Great Airman Runs Passenger Plane The Montoro from Rabaul brought a number of men to Sydney who have been in the heart of things on the goldfields of Hew Guinea. One of them was Mr. R. J. Parer, who. with McIntosh, another Australian, made the first flight from England to Australia, by the route afterwards taken by Sir Ross Smith. Mr. Parer is a principal of the Bulolo Goldfields Air Service Co., and flies one of the planes between the coast and the fields. His object in visiting Sydney is to get another plane to cope with the traffic which has risen till the amount of freight awaiting- transhipment each day is now seven tons. A slight, dark man of medium height, Parer strikes one as an airman from head to foot, and his quiet recital of trips when every move had to be carefully calculated, to avoid crashing in razorback country, marked him as one of the world’s heroes. Yet he takes it all very quietly, and was more intent on getting his extra machine and flying it back to Salamoa than in seeing Australia again. An Australian's Adventures Returning yesterday by the Otranto from a tour of the world, Mr. L. Arnott, the big biscuit manufacturer of Sydney. told of some strange experiences in Southern California, where he saw a lion farm and an alligator ranch. On the former there were over 100 lions, of which only three showed any signs of intractability of temper. One day he saw a man with 40 lions in a paddock being “shot” by the camera-men. The lions ancl alligators arc bred and reared to be tame, and to take part in movie plays. Though their dispositions are said to be thus modified toward human beings,, it cannot be claimed that their blood-thirstiness is eradicated. Only a few weeks ago a movie actress arrived here on a nerve cure trip, following upon the loss of her husband who had been killed by a tame lion in a jungle scene, staged for the camera. In the case of Mr. Arnott, he merely related what he saw, and his impression of the herd of 40 lions was that they looked as harmless as a lot of dogs. The Boom in Roma Oil There seems to be little doubt that petroleum in payable quantities has been found at Roma, in Queensland, hitherto famous for its grapes and wine. Private reports state that the drills are right on the oil, but further work has been stopped till preparations are made to deal with the “gushers,” which will result when the drills pierce the lafge deposits of oil. The company’s geologist is hurrying back from New Guinea, where further prospecting is going on, and will advise on the geological situation. Meantime £1 shares have risen to £JS 10s. It happens that this big “strike” of oil has been made when the railway from Sydney to Broken Hill, 700 miles away in the opposite direction from Roma, has been opened. And Broken Hill is as dead as a door nail now, since the big zinc works closed down owing to Mr. Lang’s ruinous labour legislation. It might be possible to shift Broken ITill, holus bolus, to Rorrfa. Queensland already is attracting men from all parts of the Commonwealth. The situation, is an example of the whirligig of time, that sleepy Rdma should suddenly blaze into fame and Broken Hill die out like a spent star. WILL LAWSON.