Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-06-10
ANTIPODAL PROGRESS.
Queensland ~ tho Rxhibitisn...she Shows
that she has Many More Useful ThinGs
than kaugaroos,

II there is any quarter OF the globe
which the American people have nc
been looking for an extraordinary dii
play OF national resources and progress
at the Exhibition, that place is probabl
Australia, But the exhibits Of Queens
land, Victoria, South Australia and Ne'
South Wales, In the Main building, dis
pei any preconoeived ideas of insight
canoe relative to these colonies, and ar
not surpassed either in extent or interes
by those OF nations that were in tn
zenith OF their power when the shaggy
haired and aabby muscled native Aus
tralian was undisputed monarch OF tn
greatest island on the globe. OF thes
four colonies Queensland takes the palm
Her goods are not exhibited for sale
but to show the superior advantages thu
country offers to colonists, and thereb.
to encourage immigration. This is t
be said OF the other Australian colonies
also. Mr.. Angus Mackay, chief com
missioner Of Queensland, and editor O
the Queenslander, is instructed, while
experimenting the display, to examine
American machinery, it being proposed
to introduce it in the colony, which thui
far has been producing and not
manufacturing country. Queensland
comprises over one fifth of all Australia,
and is more than three times as large as
Texas. The style of living corresponds,
as rule, with that in California, owing,
in o great measure, to the similarity Of
climate and industries between both
countries.
The section of Queensland in the
Main building is inclostd by neat,
plain, rectangular structure and has nine
hundred and sixty square feet of wall
space and 1000 square feet of floor
81 ace. The aggregate value of the ex-
hibits is hardly less than q quarter mil
lion dollars. The upper half of the
walls is covered with charts showing the
geological formation of the country as
far back as the most unpronounceable
OF the epocbs, and also the relative
prices and productive capacities of farm
lands. The lower half of the walls is
occupied by hundreds of colored pho
tographs of romantic scenery and land
scapes, designed, with the aid of refer
ence schedules, to show the kinds of
farm lands which may be purchased for
specified prices. For instance, there is
a piece of fertile lowland sprinkled with
wood growth marked " five shillings per
acre." there, m undulating region of
cleared land, with streams gliding
through the valleys, and to be had for
ten shillings IN acre; and over further
level, cultivated strip Of unusual rich
ness, with flock of sheep rushing
toward stream in the foreground and a
pioneers thatched and comfortable cot.
tage in grove in the rear, which may
DO purchased at fifteen shillings an acre.
The most prominent feature OF the floor
space is gilt monument, twenty feet
six inches in height, three feet three
inches square at the base and sixteen
inches square at point one foot from
;he top, where it begins to taper to a
point. This represents the bulk of all
The gold mined in Queensland during
he years 1868 to 1875, inclusive. This
precious mass weighed sixty-five tons,
;welve cwt., forty-one pounds and six
ounces, its value being $35, 600, 900. The
wealth of Queensland in minerals is in.
and doubtless when the gold
mines of Victoria and California shall
AVE been worked out, as are now those
If Havilah and Ophir of cid, the
nundic reefs of tropical Queensland
will, with tho aid of chemical skill, be
'nly just commencing to distil their
ong boarded treasures, so wisely guarded
~ nature and kept back from too early
ansacks, in wait for the time of need,
yhen other sources of gold will have
become exhausted. This metal is ex-
libited here mainly in quartz. The
country possesses the richest gold reefs
IL the world, averaging over two ounces
o the ton of quartz throughout.
Tho principal other metals are copper
nd tin, and these are shown in pyra-
nids of ingots as well as in the natural
tate. Huge nuggets of almost pure
opper in the latter condition exhibit
he effects of fire to which they were
objected in some prehistoric age.
'pecimens of chrome iron, occurring in
rock in inexhaustible quanti-
les near Ipswich, and of spicular iron,
ound in various parts of the colony,
re shown. The iron and anthony,
owever, though both of them abund.
Mt, are not worth working in Qeens-
md, as compared with other metals
here. Walls full of free gold, of vari-
us degrees of fineness, are arrayed as
lentitully, and rather more temptingly,
han the bottles on the shelves of an
All the coal thus far dis
overed in Queensland has been btu
linous. The coal fields cover an area
f about $4,000 square miles. The
uantity of coal mined in 1873 was 49,
ID tons. 1t is, however, too unfavor-
bly, situated for bringing to market.
. curious Specimen is the rosewood coal
-fossilized piano, probably-retaining
II the sensible properties of rosewood
kept color. Lauds containing coal
lay be purchased anywhere in this
olony before or after survey, and in
ny quantity not exceeding three hun
red and twenty acres at thirty shilings
n acre; the buyer, however, must ex-
end one pound per acre in working the
lines within one year from the time
sale. Though the display of white.
ray, red and variegated marbles is OK.
VuCoO uAutC1Adlb lpl I'LL
rable portion of the mineral wealth of
ne country.
From the prominence given to the
KILLS and other bones of the dugong
+ sea COW, one might imagine that beast
} be the idol of pagan country. The
secret of it is, however, that the dugong
lords delicious meat, combining the
ainty flavor of the turtle steak with
10 delicacy of the veal sweet bread, and
ithout trace of fshiness about it,
mother Curiosity is the thick, strong,
ven fiber of the Gida Retuso, or
Queensland hemp, a plant that grows as
weed, and could be cultivated to any
ktent. The yield of the fiber, taken
Mt by merely soaking and washing in
alter, is fully one thousand pounds per
,re. The plant, it is supposed, would
ield abundance OF paper making ma
rial. The Angora and other varieties
wool displayed are of the finest
APPLE and length. OF this product the
export over $50 worth
ar onnnm for every man. woman and