July 1963 School Magazine

Brisbane Girl!l' Grammar School Magazine

Tuly, 1963

Brisbane Girl'l' Grammar School Magazine

Tuly, 1963

The period between 1960 and l970 has been designated "The Decade ofi Development" by the United Nations Organis- ation. During this time the United Nations, and also individual nations, aim to raise living standards in the underdeveloped countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa. One of the grea test problems in these countries is food. The many organisations of the United Nations rue trying to find the quickest solution to this problem by promoting the growing of food in the underdeveloped countries. The F.A.O. is one of these branches which has a threefold aim - to give advice in agricultural problems; to give technical and financial assistance to underdeveloped countries, and to help in the joining up of international aid plans. One of the campaigns of this organisation is the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. a cause which interests many of us. The main purpose of this Campaign is ·to spread knowledge of these problems to the people of the developed nations, and to get finance, not only from these nations as a whole, but from their individual citizens. This is one way in which we, both as individuals and as a nation, can help the United Nations in its work. Another is through education. . Alliances such as the Colombo Plan should be promoted and we should do all we can to help foreign students, so that they ·can gain knowledge of our life and customs, and thus cement the friendship and understanding between our countries. Every plan for development needs finance and it is in this field that the United Nations can be most helpful. Inter- National aid is often given by a nation not to countries which need help, but to areas where friendships are politically desirable. Because United Nations' aid is completely disinter- ested, however, money can be given by it to countries where it will do the most good. Developed nations can contribute more directly through_ investment .in growing industries and through creating markets for the increasing export trade of the underdeveloped countries. These are a very few of the topics which we discussed at the Conference, and which I hope that you will discuss also. Remember that United Nations carries out the wishes of the member nations, and that soon it will be yourl responsibility to determine your nation's policy. The purpose of the Conference was to spread knowledge and encourage students to think about these international problems. It is up to you to make sure that it has not failed. - E. NOSWORTHY, VIA. 18

TO A PAPER MILL

During the May holidays, the Science Club organised an excursion to the Petrie Paper Mill. We hired our own bus and at a quarter to nine, forty-five girls all eager and prepared with hats, cameras, big bags and broad smiles arrived outside the school. Mrs. Dingle accompanied us and we are indebted to her for her interest and perseverance with the Club. On arfiving at the mill, we were greeted by several men. We were divided into three groups and allotted a guide each. We began our tour. As the mill was not operating at the time, owing to repairs and maintenance, it cut down the noise of working machinery and allowed us to ask the guide many and varied questions. Our first inspection was of the powerhouse where coal is fired to heat water from the Petrie Dam to make steam. Sixty to seventy tons of Ipswich coal are used every day. The rate of wateJI use is two hundred and fifty million gallons a year. After generation, the steam passes through a turbine which reduces its pressure to that required for drying on the paperboard machine. From the powerhouse we went to the mill itself, a nine hundred foot long building. Waste paper is fed, together with wood pulp into hydra- pulpus, two large open steel tubs. These act like a washing machine, swirling the mixture around to break down the waste paper info slushed pulp. The stock is cleaned and refined in an elaborate system of three classifiners, two vortraps, two hydrafiners and four Jordan refiners. Alum and rosin size is added as required before it passes to the tile-lined stock chests and eventually into the paperboard machine. This great machine has 1::ix cylinder moulds, forty-nine dryers and a size press. The size press enables the application of special finishes to the board and the production of improved products. The paper or cardboard is wound onto large reels which later are wound onto smaller reels or cut into sheets for ready use. . The final inspection was over the laboratory where various tests are carried out to check the density, texture and quality of the paper. An interesting highlight was the museum in which samples of damaged footwear and headgear display the importance of wearing such protective articles. One man,

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