The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-05-12

bright and nearly all charming, So that IL
Is 10 wonder that the men like to come In
Tor chat and drink.
Business in Australia.
Melbourne is one Of the best business
cities of Australia. 1t has number of
rich men and its people are great spend.
erS. They are fully as well dressed as tue
New Workers, and the most of them live
up to their incomes. The town has good
stores, and lots of them, There are 400
groceries, 1000 fruit stores, 900 butche ;,
4UO tobacco shops, 300 laundries and more
than 800 bakeries. There are 800 lawyers,
800 doctors, 800 preachers and GOO cunlec.
TONERS and pastry cooks. Ii takes $40
dressmakers To make clothes for tne
women of Melbourne and there are 400
tailor shops for the men. The city mas
a large number of Insurance companies,
real estate companies ana lIu banking In
stltutions It's chief banks have branches
III the state of Victoria and In all par )
| of Australia, and II Is to large extent
the money center of the country.
| Sume of the stores are large. Some arc
called universal providers, taking the place
OF our department stores. All nave <, Cd
displays In their windows and all advertise
! In the spread eagle American way. one
bookman boasts of having l,oO0.0OO books
| In his shop and nils the newspapers with
| his poetic illusions as 10 his goods. This
J is called the Book Arcade, II is a sort or
| department store, in which books are
most prominent 1t sells also stationery
/
| tooth pulled or your photograph taken
| while you wait.
Many Of the large stores are in arcades
| running from one principal street to an
! other. In the summer the sun is very hot,
/ and these arcades protect the shoppers
Opals Are Cheap,
Among the most interesting stores are
those selling jcwelry, for they give you an
idea of the wealth and luxury-lovng ten
denotes of the people. There are quarts Of
! diamonds and peaIls exposed in the eases,
and the windows are decorated with rings,
| brooches and precious stones. Among me
most common of jewels are opals, which
come from Australia, They may he seen
! everywhere. | verify believe ! nave
| handled half bushel of them during my
stay In the country, They are sold set
and unset, and are cheaper than with us,
| but the better stones bring good prices.
| An opal the size of small pea costs 50,
while for SO YOU can get one full of fre
as big as your sweetheart's thumb mai.
| As q rule. the stones are sold by weight,
at so much per carat.
Queer Signs.
In walking through the business streets
you see many curious signs There Is one
John Jones Fellmonger." That is fur
store, as you can see from the possum,
p4itypus and other skins inthewindow.
/ Tue shop next door has the word Draper
above It, That is a dry goods store, whilc
| The sign "Ironmonger' ON the building
over the way shows that II is place ior
selling hardware, The druggists IN Aus
store Is n chemist shop. Lumber dealers
are timber merchants, and the inm
herman is called timber getter.
As to the hours of business, they are
much shorter than with us Most of the
big stores are not open before hnlf-pasl
on a. m. all close AT 6, and all are re
quired "a shut up for the half holiday
which comes once week.
The Xapkee Citv of Australia
Melbourne makes me think Of an Ameri
can city. It is called the Yankee city Of
Australia and It's people are considered tn,
most enterprlsng and venturesome of al
south of the equator The Americans
accked here during the gold excitement %
the early hfties and many of them stayet
and bought property. some of the hncs
business blocks are owned 10y Americans
Tor instance, that Of the Equitable Lift
Insurance company of New York is tn
best office building here. The people
pride themselves on being like the hnn
town did not remind me of home, ~
whether we have anything better OF Tn,
same kind In the United States.
Melbourne Real Estate Speculations.
A great many fortunes have been mad
in Melbourne la real estate. The romance
Of It's specuatlous Of this kind is simlla
r. Tint of New York and Chicago. Th
island NJ Manhattan Was boupni OF ID'
Indians for about q peck OF beads. button
md trinkets: Chicago could have been one
nnrchased FOR pair OF old boots. The slit
~ Ncihourne Including goo 600 acres abou
n was originally bought OF the Australian
ahorielnes 10y John Batman for forty pair
, ~ hiaukets fOrtytwo tomahawks and
- ~, tuiyeg scissors looking glasses an,
, eirts Tue same ground Is worth NOR
, ,San slG0,O1OO0 today The man VIII
hought H. however. was not allowed |,
ra,a1m II His claim was disputed by 9th
49, and few months later the goveTno
, ~ Australia came down from sydney ant
,atd ont the town, selling the lots at anc
ton.
r An Auction Which Made It's Bidders Rich
rha, auction made the fortunes ~ IT
h,ehost bidders. There were only two hun
; drsd msh present, and nesriy all bough
: ~, - zach lot was half 40 acre. Tn
+ CITY W. ~ slbo and another for tylc