New capital rises in outback

Sydney, January 30: Today marks an historic event in the progress of the commonwealth by reason of the fact that the first Cabinet meeting to be held at the Canberra, the new Federal capital, is being held. Canberra is still little more than what the Prince of Wales called it on the occasion of his memorable visit in 1920 — a city of foundations — but those foundations, in the last year, have greatly increased in extent, and considerably more than 1000 men are employed on the various works that are in progress. The purchase of the fine old homestead of Yarralumla, about a mile from Capitol Hill, and its conversion into a temporary hostel for Federal members and others, has made official visits more practicable, and it is there that the Cabinet is assembling. This practical demonstration of the Government’s earnestness regarding the capital has encouraged confidence that the next Parliament will assemble there. A start has been made with the construction of the Parliamentary buildings as well as with hostels and homes. It is a regrettable fact that some of the beautiful foundation stones laid by notable persons have been grievously damaged by souvenir hunters. Even that laid by the Prince of Wales has had one of the corners chipped off. — by ODT Sydney correspondent

 

Professor Dalbe (of London University) in London, on January 4, said: "I am certain that television, or, in other words, seeing by wireless, will be an accomplished fact in 1924. I will stake my scientific reputation upon it. I think that television, though somewhat crude at first, will be among the wonders at the Wembley Exhibition." Professor Dalbe has been working on the problem and has reached a point where success is assured. Other scientists are studying the problem, with the keenest competition, in the hope of being the first to construct satisfactory apparatus.

 

Where in this town of Dunedin are the Queens Gardens? Presumably in some public place, since it is proposed to erect there the Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial. But where, not one man in five that you might interrogate in Princes Street could tell you. Nor could one man in five explain why the Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial may not stand in Anzac Square as originally proposed. No conceivable extension of the Railway Station could approach the site, that would be assigned to this monument. But, if go it must, the one place to which it ought to go, the place preordained from the beginning of things, and which from the beginning of things we should have thought of, is the Octagon. At a recent meeting to debate this matter to one citizen only was the 

word of wisdom given — he said that the proper site for the Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial was the site occupied by the Burns Statue. But to lay a sacrilegious finger on the Burns Statue would be to raise a riot; at the bare suggestion, if I ventured so far, the Times and Witness Office would be mobbed. What is left is that the Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial should stand within the Octagon enclosure, on the upper side, opposite the Burns Statue, and facing the street. His Worship the Mayor promises that on next Anzac Day he will lay the foundation stone. Let him lay it here, and good patriots known to me, not a few, will double their subscriptions. He says that he will lay it in the Queens Gardens. But where are the Queens Gardens? — by ‘Civis’ — ODT, 9.2.1924