7 Thursday Mar. 12: Newspapers here have much to say about the weakness of the Arab-Israeli situation darkens, but most of the criticism is done with a light touch which might be deceptive to a stranger. The flavor of the radio's, too, is different from that of the U.S. & some things seem a bit incongruous. Evenings from a local station before breakfast today: "Saw shillings on turned field at Woolworth." "Miracle bra that lifts you to higher heights." Yesterday, crowds of browsers often waited in the rain at the airport to see the arrival of what one paper calls "any-and-some" crooner "Johnnie Ray," from the U.S.A. Today the town is at the feet of the "American Wool Princes," Ollas Patricia (from cotton-growing South Carolina), who is here with a return for Wool Week. Most of day spent on business in connection with my brother's estate. Called on H.C. Giblin, manager of Australian Estate, & R.M. Bean of Cotton Branch, Dept. of Agriculture & Stock. Giblin reflects the happy financial position of the cattle & sheep men. Giblin said the proposed dumping of U.S. surplus cotton has knocked the cotton out of the market for Queensland's small crop, which is sold to spinners in Southern States. The spinners have stopped buying. The industry here was nothing below the grade of "middlings", which in the U.S. a grade lower is acceptable. Spent the morning at sister Edna's. Tuesday March 13: Took letters, did some shopping, & worked out a ration list for New Guinea. Stopped awhile to see a demonstration of sheep shearing in front of the Town Hall. A replica of the interior of a small woolshed was rigged under an awning before the august entrance. Two men shone with machines, and an elderly man with