Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-09-25

oAhihB looking at the harbor m,
WINDOW OF my room in the Australi,
a MOTEL takes in the onchantment. and
0 watched the coming of the dav into tb,
haroor. Tho whole sky first tool, ON
palior not sickly, but healthful a,
though there were white wings from
tho other side shining through. Tber
'hofe came coruscations, and deep indi
goes, and irradiations, and sadnessas nj
color, and unrolling scrolls prophetic OF
more llght, and somber and holy CLEANS,
and rhapsodies of advancing day. and
then banners of victory over the dark.
ness. Then in this wall of heaven the
gates began to swing open. 1t was nc
sudden swinging back of the panels OF
fire. There was no grinding Of the Rates
on the amethystine hinges; there was
no clang OF bolts hurled back from the
imperial portals, but a slow and grad.
ual and overpowering movement that
made me feel there was more to come.
and l wondered if could endure the
expanding vision. AS looked into the
gate l saw what described to my son
atterward as a scepter, scepter Of great
length and brilliance, such a scepter as
no earthly emperor ever had in his
| throneroom. The handle of the scepter
had all the colors of the prism. The
edges OF 1T were translucent. The point
OF it was tipped with waving light all
the time changing Yet what scepter
What king would dare to handle it?
What monarch would dare to lift it?
But while | wondered the question was
answered. The king of day, the rising
sun, took hold of it, and the scepter
which l had seen few seconds before
lying on the shelf of heaven was first
hoisted, as though to command the hid
den glories Of the skies to come down,
and then it was pointed to the harbor
as the place of their destination, and on
that sapphire of the waves both the
scepter that had seen and the crown
Of the king who took it were put down,
and from green island to green island,
and from beach to beach, and all up and
down the promontories, and from sky to
water, and from water to sky, it was
morning III cyunoy narDor.
Have you ever realized that there is
only one being in the universe who can
scoop out and mold and buttress and
build harbor2 At Napier, New Zea-
land, where we sailed in and staid
only long enough for an hour and a
half's address, hundreds of thousands
of dollars were expended in building a
breakwater. And SO at Osborne and at
different points ON the Australian coast
harbors have been constructed by hu-
man hands, but the storms looked at
these defiant ramparts, and in the night
tumbled the costly works into the Pa
cifio Harbor building is the reserved
right Of the heavens. Gates of palaces
and gates Of fortresses may be turned
1ut from earthly foundries or pounded
together by hammers of human mechan-
SIN, but an ocean gate like that near
which l am now seated needs omnipo-
5ence and omniscience and infnity to
plan and construct 1t.
No one but the Eternal knows where
uch gate is needed. He sees the his
III Va q OOAUlAO4O DO1O1O ~ 10 POPuAdO~
ID, and he only can decide where its
ront door ought to be hoisted and
wung. Besides that the gate must COR
espond with the size and greatness of
he main building. The door of the
dadeleine church would be absurd at
he front of Quaker meeting house.
Bronze and gold would make an inap-
ropriate entrance to rookery. Such
N entrance to Australia as Sydney har-
or would be something for all time
nd eternity to jeer at if the country
hus entered were not something i'm
neasurable for wealth, resource and
rand opportunity. Had / known moth
ng Of the history of Australia what l
aw between the doorposts Of this har
or and the wharf of our disembarka-
ion would have convinced me Of the
resent and coming opulence of this
fifth continent Of the world.
With such an ocean gate am not sur
rised that Australia is IA times as large |
S France and SS times as large as Eng !
and, Scotland and Wales. 1t has been
stimated as capable of supporting l00,-
100, 900 people. All wealth of mining
nd agriculture and commerce and art
nd scenery are here. Caves larger than
he Mammoth cave Of Kentucky; lakes |
ike Como Lucerne and Geneva; bot
ny so rich In flowers that Captain
Jook called one of the entrances Bot !
ny bay; whole Pennsylvania of coal
mines, discovered by shipwrecked sail
r In 1897, but now defying tho crow
ars of the earth to take one-half of
heir treasures and having enough ma
srial to warm a continent and keep |
glow the steamship furnaces Of an
cean; enough sheep pasture In the wales
nd ON the hills to clothe with their |
yool whole nations These sheep, kill
d and frozen in refrigerators here, arc
-ansferred In carts which are refrigera-
1rs into ships which are refrigerators
nd carried across the seas to the refrtg- I
rators of Europe and Asia, SO that
yhile write this letter, almost within
1und Of the bleating Aooks Of this sheep
aising country. the legs Of Australian
lutton hang in London markets, and
40 inhabitants Of India are breakfasting
a lamb chops brought from the banks
/ Sydney harbor. One sheep paddock
early 200 miles squarel
q, IT - kloea colonies Il I'm fha