Evening star., 1901-07-13

mining is quartz mining, some of the mines
being very deep. Up to 1875 So.oo0,0U
worth of gold had been mined, and at
present about $500 are paid out every
week in wages. large town has grown
up about the mines.
Another mining field is that of Gympie.
where. 1t is said, the boys pick up gold
in the streets after a rain, sometimes get
ting as much as half an ounce day. 1t
was in that town that man picked up
a nugget worth SLIGO not long ago. He
was walking in the outskirts when he saw
little lump of yellow sticking out of the
clay bank at the side of the road. He dug
It out, and, 10, 1t was gold. At that time
Gympie was already thirty years old. So
far Queensland has produced about $500
on.oeo worth of gold. and mines are being
worked throughout large area. There
were 1000 mines in operation ten years
ago and there are more today
The tin mines exist near the southern
border and also in the north. There is one
district in the latter section along the
Wild river which is very rich. There are
also copper mines and lead mines as well
as mines of iron, biSmuth and silver Iron
deposits are found in all sections. and in
one district there are little mountains of
iron ore. Mt. Leviathan is a quarter of a
mile in diameter at the base. Ii is 300 feet
nigh and is said to be composed of pure
magnetic iron.
Some of the best opais of Australia come
from western Queensland. They are
brought into Brisbane by the handful and
sold at low prices More than 100000
"Niti are diihhafit mined, ana there are
hundreds of men engaged in the business.
Many of the opal miners are sheep-shea
ers. who hunt for opals in the off season.
The opals are found in quartz and In
sandstone, some OF the best lying within
SIX inches of the surface. The mining goes
down as far as thirty feet and more. but
always stops when the clay is reached
The City of Brisbane.
write this letter at the capital OF
Queensland. where L have spent some time,
going from here out to different parts of
the state. Brisbane has now more than
100000 people. 1t is situated on the Bris-
bane river in the southeastern part of the
state, and owes it's growth to a fairly. good
harbor and to the Darling Downs nearby,
which are, as have said. one of the rich
est agricultural regions of the world.
L came into Brisbane from the sea trav-
cling for several hours up the wide Rris-
bane river. The water is very clear and
as our steamer made its way through Ii We
could look over the railing and thou
sands of jellyfisn, little mushrooms of
opalescent hue floating about tossed this
way and that by the steamer.
The lands on both sides are low and
covered with bushes. There are .rozen
meat factories as you near the city. each
surrounded by little houses rooted with gal
vanlzed iron, the homes of the workmen.
Farther up there hills. and when you
come to Brisbane itself you find that it
has as many gulleys Kansas City. The
most of the town lies on the right bank of
the river. There are many pretty villas.
and rising high above them are the houses
of the colonial parliament a great yellow
stone building. with a manSard-like roof of
galvanized iron.
After an examination by the customs Of
fcer. which was very lenient, / took a
carriage and drove to the hotel The
streets Were not unlike those of an Ameri-
can town. The stores looked the same and
the big buildings alone surprised me
af h. k,,-t
magnificent public buildings and in all of
the larger cities there are big business
blocks. The treasury department of Queens
land would do credit to Washington city.
lion dollars. the law courts cost about
100000, and 1t has many buildings large
for a town of this size.
The stores have awnings over them which
cover the street. so that you can walk the
full length of the principal thoroughfares
and keep out of the sun. Most of the
streets are wide and well paved and an
electric trolley line goes through them.
Holidays in Queensland.
1 find that there are more holidays here
than in New Zealand. Every town has its
half holiday every week, different trades
choosing different days. They had races
the other day at Charters Towers. and the
municipal government declared that no one
should work while the races were going on,
and that the racing days should be public
holidays. In Townsville the dry goods
stores close al IL o'clock on Thursdays. and
on Saturdays the factories and meat-IreeZ-
ing establishments shut down at noon. In
Brisbane you can buy nothing in grocery
or butcher shop after u O'Clock Wednes-
day, and on Saturday you must buy your
dry goods before midday if you want them.
| got up early the other morning expect
ing to buy some things before taking a
train. / found none of the grocery stores
open. although it was already o'clock.
and l learn that the dry goods stores do not
expect to do any business before 9. At my
hotel the elevator does not start running
until s. and If the guests wish to go down
before that time they have to walk The
telegraph offices are closed all day Sunday.
Not long ago there was murder near Bris-
bane one Saturday night. The people could
not wire the police and they did not get
word to the police station before Monday
These easy hours and many holidays have
made the QueenSlanderS a great sporting
people. Every town has it's cricket grounds
and every little city it's race track The
people go wild over cricket, so much so
that / am told a funeral procession re-
Gently stopped on passing a bulletin board
to read the score of a big cricket match.
doubt this.
Whisky and Soda
find drinking here even more common
than In southern AuStral a. Every block
has its hotel or public house, or, as we
would call it, saloon. and every saloon has
it's barmaids The barmaids are not as
pretty as those of Melbourne and Sydney,
but they do on the whole quite as much
business. Nearly every one drinks both
in the public houses and at home In many
respectable families it is common to serve
whisky and soda at afternoon teas The men
taking the whisky and the women the tea
The Queenslanders are very socia BILE
They will not drink alone and the custom
of treating is universal. The most common
drink is whisky and soda and the most
common way of drinking it is to sip it. In
our country a glass of whisky goes down
at one gulp. Here the same amount mixed
with water may last for an hour
Australian English.
/ am surprised at the amount of slang
used among these English people south of
the equator. The Australians have more