The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-26

! a t@-ttt recently received IN TINS city
tells Of the celebration in Sydney. y. 5.
". on The occasion of the Commonwealth
/ Jubilee. The letter was written by an
A1crican woman. who was visiting Aus
! tral.a AT the time and is as follows
The rapid progress Of decorative art
in Australia during the last few years
was emphaticaIIy illustrated during the
I Commonwealth ceIebra lions in Sydney. es-
peciaIly in connection with the numerous
| triumphaI arches and abundance OF house
and stree ornamentation. which IN sever
a respects fairly rivaled. If not surpass-
ed. similar displays in older and more
denseIy populated countries. In queens
! Square. . large open space in the heart of
! the city, ana so called from q fine statue
| OF Victoria erected IN the centre, rose a
| white ObelIsk, displaying. al a height Of
! seventy feet. the royal standard and hav-
/ ing on each side Of its square base an
/ ornamental badge. At some little dis
/ lance the ObeIisk was encircIed by two
/ lines OF white iUted marble columns. each
. OF Jhe SIX forming the inner ring having 4
! mast carrying the royal standard; and
. each Of the eighteen columns forming the
/ outer ring displaying the flags of some
! foreign nation Suspended between each
/ or the outer columns near their SUBMITS
were tablets painted in the coiors Of the
/ various visiting Imperial and Indian regi-
/ ments, and bearing their names in silver
! and gold letters Slightly below these
( name tablets each OF The outer columns
! was oTnamented with a bracket in mar
/ bic, bearing seated lion. and from these
brackets the outer columns were connect
! ed by dropping ropes Of greenery, bearing
/ colOred electric lights.
Q
: nected. and from the summit Of the cen
rraI obeIisk radiating ropes of floral
. ropes Of rOral wreathing. bearing cOlOred
electric lamps, were connected with each
OF Inc surrounding columns. The effect
/ was extremely artistic and beautiful, and
/ considerably enhanced by the manner in
/ which d beautiful garden had been con
: sJEuctco round tie base OF the statue, with
I masses of foliage and lines Of electric
/ light rising toward the statue itself.
At the entrance to the grounds Of
! Sydney Government House was erected
. large arch Of Australian foliage thanked
! by two others Of smaller size Above the
/ centre OF the main arch with the sky for
. background, was large gilded Imperial
! crown. on a crimson cushion, with gold
{ taSSels pendent. Three flags connected
with light ropes Of greeaery. were dis
posed ct the back OF the crown and from
The tops Of the superStTuctuTes of the side
arches Venetian Hasts projected. bearing
{ banEerettes Of the HOpetoun colors-
dark blue and gold. Shield and flag troph-
/ les surmoUDted the crown OF eaCl side
arch and depending from the main arch
we're iuterlaced ropes Of leaves and flow
ers- There were Wheat Wool and Coal
arches. each emblematical of the indus
tries represented. the Inscription on the
Y heat arch being, Ceres Welcomes the
Commonwealth -
played their enthusiasm by the coustruc-
tion Of q French arch and avenue. The
arch. an imposing structure. bore on IT'S
supporting pillars the coats-of-arnls OF
Paris. Lyons. Marseilles and Bordeaux. In
ire centre Of the arch vas displayed the
coat-of-aFns Of the French Republic, sur
rounded b. Australian and French flags,
and al IFS base Ws.- the words Pax ct
LabCr''-PGace and Work. Below tins. eX-
tending from one column 10 the other,
vas the principal PtiOn-' France
Welcomes Australian Federation The
summit Of either pillar vas surmCuntei
b. thEJ Australian emu On enc hand, and
the Gallo cock on the other. both with
. the flag of each country waving over them
The French avenue was formed with
maSls bearing shields. suitably inscribed
with the names of large French cities
having direct commercial relations with
Australia. as for instance. DunkeTGue.
zamet. lie Havre, GrenobIe. Cognac,
NAMES. Lille, etc; these we're each sur
mounted with the mural crown Tae
shields aIternated on the masts with
similar ones bearing a wreath of laurel
and oak leaves encircling the Inscription,
Pro parria 81 orbe-" Underneath The
inscriptions were the names Of iilustTicus
Freedmen, such as Pasteur. De Leaseps.
Gcunod. Victor Hugo La Perouse. De
B0ugainyiIie, ID E8trecasteaUX, MoIieTe,
. I-ayoisier, Cuyier, and Anpere-. The
whole Of the avenue was art.sticany dec
GRATED with French and Australian flags
and tricolor fcstoons extending across the
avenue
The Americans and Germans each had
{ their own arch and avenue
The German structure like the others
an imposing affair. was decorated with
elaborate plaster enrichments and wood
panels bearing paintings of the German
States The central span bore the mes
sage United Germany greets the Com
mOnwealth of Australia" in bold raised
letters Each supporting pier was capped
by an Imperial German crown. while the
German coat of-aTms, placed over the
centre span. carried q huge eagle, mCd-
eled in plaster. which in turn supported
the German national flag In addition TO
embIematic paintings. which adorned the
arch. some effective contrasts were Sc
cured by decorations IN silver and color
and number OF flags. grouped in series.
together with an extensive use of foliage
Silken and silver trapping and fcstoons
of foliage tended TO increase the artistic
merits Of Germany's greeting 10 Austria
liza
The Commonwealth arch erected by
The citizens Of sydney that contributed by
the Fictoriaus and magnificent military
coIOnnade were each fine examples Of
decorative art; as were the aIIegUricaI
cars III the Commonwealth procession.
especially that representing Canada This
drawn by six horses. was square al she
sides and draped there in pieats and fes-
tC0ns OF sky blue. Slightly above the or
binary level Of the floor Of the vehicle
lightly coICred woodwork appeared. raced-
ing upwards IL graceful curves to a dias
surmounted by a light blue silk canopy.
these. dressed classically in white with
yellow spangled body and sitting on a
throne. represented Canada. and the other
Who was standing clothed in blue with
a white spangled body. imDersonated Aus
traIia.
The driver Of the car occupied a char
ioteeT's seat ia front and below the po-
men He was dressed in a blanket most
cgriousIy. but appropriately enough for
the bleak northwest On hisSfead was q
Canadian boatman's cap By the side Of
The driver was an armed New South Wales
soldier The car bore the words IN gold
letters, just below the driver Canada
Welcomes Her Sister Australia At the
fg.lr corners of the ear on al.vraref ,,,srs