"si dBadanger an Oil Tanker Frou Oux Own Melbourne, Aug, 1.
The. bombshell hurled by the Federal Ministry into the midst. the motor world brought forth a how! of protest which: has occupied front-line "headings "in the daily press for nearly a fortnight. Tt was merely a matter of 2d. per gallon on petrol, 6d. per Ib. on Tubber tyres and 2% per cent, on chassis but, itis the most unpopular measure—amongst—motorists—that our Federal Govern. ment has put forward. The Prinie Minister, Mr. Bruce, intends to finance the building of main roads by means of this measure, but, evidently, Australia does not' want roads. The motorists wre willing to run on the town roads, or travel along bush tracks making them impossible for horse and dray to travel: on afterwards. The most Feeeht move has come from the State legislatures, The New South Wales Government as refused to sign the road subsidy agreement; the South Australian Government protests against it, and it is alleged "the Victorian Assembly, with their farmer government control, is opposed to it, No mention is made of the other three States, or to their views upon this delicate subject. 'The N. S. W., and South Australian opposition' has evidently been, engineered in capital cities dt those States, and the movement, which has' been given so much airing, is in reality combined effort of the importing] interests to detent, at its commencement, a Bill which will compel them' to sell, either at a higher price than the Australian Company;—the Commonwealth Oil Refining Coy—or mako provision for the mixing and storing their oils in this country—so giving employment to a considerable number of extra men hen 'A Charmed Ship Surely the oil tanker Ampullaria can be claimed to bear a charmed life." When loft Singapore bound for Australia with a full cargo of all aboard no one on the ship dreamt that stowed away in her holds were ten Chinese who regaled the hours of their Tong and tedious Journey by smoking cigarettes within a few inches of the inflammable cargo, If any-Dody had guessed at" such a proceeding they would have had sleepless nights, and many anxious Mays before the port of Sydney hovered into view, Upon the vessel reaching port, few hours secured a light boat and to mixe their way to th at the early of 6 am. A watchman at the British Imperial Oil Company's works saw a rowing bout leave the Ampullaria, and, securing a light, he rowed out meet it. To his astonishment Aiscovered who the occupants wore, The watchman secured the capture of nine of the stowaways, one man escaping. The officers of the ship were astounded when they discovered the hidiiz place of their sngers in the forward sel, Not only had cigarette smoking been indulged in, but, before leaving the vessel, the aways actually burnt all letters and papers they had with them. It} is to be hoped that they do not! seek passages so perilous next time. There has only just conclud. oda case when an oil ship, the Kooringa blew up at sea, owing, it is alleged, to the port holes being closed and the rising fumes of the oil exploding. And it required no cigarettes or paper fires to cause the explosion.
Oil Prospecting Australia is in the grip of oil, whether in the form of oil taxes, or in the search for the precious liquid within her own boundary The Commonwealth government is out to help prospectors, and the eum of £100,000 is to be spent in the aiding of the search for oil and precious metals. An Australian with considerable oil experience, chiefly in Roumanis, is to be the Jeading authority upon the subject and to pot enthusiasm into its Activities. °- Various are to be subjected to deep boring, and these fields cover. distant portions of the Commonwealth being so far apart as Central Queonslnd, where the famous Roma bore is, which on one occasion ignited owing the oil flowing in conjunction with the artesian water in use by {the townspeople, and the—Fiteroy river area of West Australia. The Belford Dome area in New South Wales was one of the districts Dr. Wade, the American expert, re ported favourably upon, and it is to be given a fair trial. In the House of Representatives, Mr. Forde, Maiti, the member for Capricornia, Queenstand,—mentioned what considered 'a peculiar incident, and that was the damage done on' three occasions when the Queensland bor-{ing operations had come-to a point where they considered supees possible, It was at the 3,000 ft. depth when on these three occasions some obstruction was dropped into thevholes making further boring at that spot impossible. The Assistant Minister, Mr, Mi hen Putting the proposal "forward in the House of Representatives said, of was of paramount importanes to Australia as~ the country was the grip of a gigantic cornbin which was charging for all a great amount in excess of what should be paid. The exploration of New Guinea for oil is to be continued. Just recently precious metal was discovered there, but, the difficulty of transporting of stampede to a new Eldorado, although many experienced miners eft Sydney, and the North, willing face the dangers of the tropical Jungles if only they could catch a glimpse of the precious metal once again, Australia badly requires a find similar to the famous Ballarat and Bendigo ones, but, if she should strike the "flowing gold," nature will have treated her more bountifully than even the most optimist! Australian expects.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.