Column 8
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday June 11, 2008
"Further to your current theme of 'fear of flying'," adds Janet Rogers, of St Lucia, Queensland, "dare I ask the question: how many passengers in major airline disasters have been saved by life jackets?" Does anybody know?
Now, to the constitutional status of Jervis Bay (Column 8, Monday). "I can remember being taught in primary school (back in the Dark Ages) that Jervis Bay was actually part of the ACT," recalls Margaret Squire, of Rylstone. "I don't know whether others remember this, but it must have made an impression on me - I remembered it!" Ogden Browne, of Balmain, agrees - up to a point. "Jervis Bay is indeed a separate territory," he writes, "all 6677 hectares of it. In the last census it had 611 people. It was acquired by the Commonwealth from NSW in 1915 so that the national seat of government in Canberra could have access to the sea. It is not part of the ACT, but it is policed by the Australian Federal Police. I reckon it needs its own flag. And a capital."So what was 20 quid worth in 1871 (Column 8, Saturday)? "To answer Peter Bogan's question, Australia's average inflation rate from 1901 to 2007 was 3.9174 per cent," David Roche, of Annandale, writes. "If this same average inflation rate is applied from 21 January 1871 to 10 June 2008, then that #20 rowing prize would now be worth $7849. By a strange coincidence, the Sydney Stock Exchange, which has since become part of the Australian Securities Exchange, was formed in 1871, and the average return on shares since then has been 12.42 per cent. Those not familiar with the power of compound interest might find this hard to believe, but if that same #20 had then been invested in listed shares rather than spent on a horse, it would now be worth over $386 million!" "Your comment [Column 8, Monday] about commercial pastry makers using chokos as a replacement for apples in pies is true," Terry Bingham, of no fixed address, writes. "My grandfather was one of these people (he retired in 1964). He and his wife ran a bakery shop in the Maitland area during the Depression and war years. His wife and my mother were always making 'apple pies' with cloves for the family's enjoyment. I was in my late teens before I found out about the substitution of the choko.""While I was of course happy that you decided to include my bit about the 'totally ominous' survey [Column 8, Monday], I couldn't help noticing that you misspelled my name, which is rather sad. My last name is not spelt with an 'r' and is not Drummett, but rather just plain Dummett. After going through a school system prone to making the obvious jokes, I now have a form of pride over my surname and its origins and so forth. As such, and as per your code of ethics section entitled 'Complaints and Corrections', I would appreciate it immensely if you could print a correction as soon as possible." Ben Dummett, we take our obligations seriously, apologise profusely, and stand corrected, good and proper.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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