Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-06-14
res: Plowmen receive from 81 to Ell

uIoS. IIOWInen receive IIOm I'll 10 IL
5s per week; ordinary laborers from
los to FL, and mowers from FL to FL
los. To these wages are, Of course,
added rations to liberal extent. The
cost of living in Australia is materially
less than in California, because of the
abundance and cheapness of the meat
supply. During the height OF the gold
excitement in 1854 a carcass of NUT
ton could be purchased on the diggings
for 4s., the shepherds seeming to re-
gard only wool and pelt as articles of
commercial value. Beef brought a
higher price, simply because it could
be made available on the hoof for
draft and burden purposes. 1t does
object to the Chinese element in their
country, probably because of the fact
that the Mongolians have not focked
to Australia in such numbers as on our
coast. Besides, a special tax is levied
upon every Ch1naman, and there are
some other restrictions which serve as
a check upon any food-tied of emigra-
ton from Asia. Among the many
IDUsTRIAL RESOURCES
of Australia represented at the Mel
bourne exhibition, grape growing was a
conspicuous feature. Nearly 800 sam
pies Of vines were offered in COM
petition. During the years 1915 over
one million gallons of wine and brandy
were manufactured in Victoria, and
about four million pounds of grapes
otherwise consumed. In the other
branches of horticulture Australia has
made rapid progress and is fairly en-
tilted to be designated the fruit
garden of the southern hemi-
sphere. The quantity of tropical fruits
produced is enormous. and as a conse-
quence prices are very reasonable.
Pineapples are sold at Sd piece and
grapes Sd per pound Oranges are also
cheap and of the mostsdeicous flavor.
AS already intimated, sheep husbandry
is the most important industry in the
Australian colonies. The peculiar to-
biographical features of the country fa-
vor enterprises in this section on a
large scale which attended with enorm-
GUS profits. The magnitude of the wool
trade of Victoria is illustrated by the
published statistics Of last years bust
ness. The amount of wool exported
reached the enormous figures Of over
1O0,0O0,OOO pounds, representing a
money value of 96,373, 641. In one of
the departments of the Melbourne ex-
hibition thre weres several groups of
animal products used as food or as the
basis of manufactures. Prominent
among these were the preserved meats
and canned goods in preparation Of
which our South Sea neighbors are sue
cessful competitors with the best pur-
veyors of London. Curried rabbit is a
favorite meat in the colonies, and is
extensively used in districts remote
from the great cepters of population.
The aggregate wholesale value of the
canned products of last year was over
100000.
The tanning of hides and pelts is ex-
tensively carried on in the Australian
colonies. kangaroo and rabbit skins
are procurable in vast quantities, so
rapidly do these animals multiply. The
leather business of Victoria during the
past year amounted to s7O1, 100.
THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN GOODS
is comparatively new industry in
Victoria, a fact the more surprising
because of the extensive imports of
foreign slop clothing to supply the local
demand, and in view of the extent and
quantity Of the wool product of the
colony. 1t has required time and dear
experience to convince Australians, as
it did Californians, of the folly of rely
ing upon foreigners for what can be
better produced at ones own doors.
This mistake is being rapidly corrected,
and already the hum of the spindle and
the click Of the shuttle are becoming
familiar sounds to Australian ears.
The public library of Melbourne is an
institution of which the people of that
fourishing city may well be proud.
The building itself is of massive pro-
portions-its style of architecture of
the Romano orinthian order. Itstands
on broad terrace, reached by two
successive flights of steps and two broad
landing places. The great reading
room is 40 feet long, so feet wide and
80 feet high, rivaling in extent and
convenience of arrangements the finest
library room in all Europe. The seat
ing capacity of the reading-rooms for
visitors is $50 each, the reader finding
ample table space without crowding a
I01OW VlSlGOT. Lie shelves OF GnlS
splendid library contain over 10000
volumes, many of which have been
purchased from the choicest catalogues
of London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and
Amsterdam. There are mary other
public institutions in Melbourne fos-
tered and maintained in the most
liberal manner. The charitable organi-
cations are not only numerous, but of a
diversified character. Orphan asylums,
schools for the deaf and dumb, for the
blind, and for neglected and criminal
children; hospitals and infrmaries fo1
all classes and public dispensaries, are
provided with liberal hand
METROPOLITAN NEWSPAPER PRESS.
There are thirty-two newspapers pub.
lished in Melbourne, of which five are
daily. That Victoria has outstripped all
the Australian colonies in commercial
prosperity and material growth, is Ger.
tainly not owing to her superior geo.
graphical position. New South Wales
possesses advantages over her in this