The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-27
CONCERNING AUSTRALIA
BY r. |. MONKS.

The report recently issued by the bu-
reau of statistics showing the trade be-
tween this country and Australia has
drawn the attention of many people to
whom that country Is not only an I'M
known but also an unheard of land.
1t is certainly strange thing to find
we'll educated people who are sublmely
ignorant of that great island continent.
almost equal in size to the United States.
and having cities of nearly a million
population Yet such is the case, and TO
such an extent does this ignorance go
that some people even express surprise
at hearing that the Australians speak
English.
The passenger going to Australia from
the United States sails a steamer
from San Francisco, which calls at Homo
lulu, the Fiji Islands and New Zealand,
on it's way to Sydney, New South Wales.
His journey lies amongst the islands of
the North and South Pacific, many of
them veritable gardens of Eden, but in
habited by demons. There are islands
today in the South Pacific ocean where
cannbalism is practiced, where the bones
of the trader and the missionary are
used as ornaments by the chiefs of the
tribes, where clothes or any shape or ex-
tent are utterly unknown by either men
or women, and yet where nature has
opened her hand and practically emptied
her cornucopia into the laps of the in
habitants.
1t is not the voyage to Australia or
the islands or their inhabitants that 1
, wish to describe, but rather Australia
itself, it's cities, people. climate, resources
and general conditions, so that there
may be something known about coun-
try with which we are destined to de-
velop a great trade in the near future
if the Panama canal is built
The continent is divided into five colo
MES. namely New South Wales, Victoria
South Australia, Queensland and Western
Australia. The capitals of these colonies
are. respectively, Sydney, Melbourne,
Adelaide Brisbane and Perth, and of
these cities the two largest are Sydney
and Melbourne, with a population of
necrly one million each. Sydney Is the
oldest city in Australia, and partakes
very much of the nature and character
istics of an English city. Its streets are
narrow and, with few exceptions, irregu-
larly laid out but there are very fine
buildings especially those belonging to
the government. being built of species
of sandstone which is very soft and
easily worked when taken fresh from the
quarry but which hardens by exposure
and age The particular pride of the peo-
pie of Sydney Is the harbor. one of the
finest and most picturesque in the world.
The public parks and gardens are also
beautiful. and to crown the whole mat
ter, the people of Sydney are the most
hospitable, generous and pleasure-loving
of any people in the world Paris for
gaiety, Sydney for society," might be ac-
cepted as truism The nearest approach
of any American city to Sydney would
be Baltimore or New Orleans and Wis
itors to either of these two cities well
know what is meant The climate all
the year round is almost ideal except for
certain short intervals when the hot
winds blow, during which periods relief
can only be found by closing all doors
and windows and keeping out the wither-
ing and scorching blast. AS no part of
the world is perfect, the best place is
where there are fewest faults. and sgd
ney may well claim pre-eminence in that
respect. 1t Is the workingmans paradise;
wages is good, cost of living very low.
hours of labor short, recreation of all
sorts free to the public and popular gov
eminent based upon universal suffrage.
So much for Sydney.
Melbourne, the capital Of Victoria. is a
great modern city, with a busy. hustling
population principally bent on making
money 1t is only few feet above the
level of the bay on which 1t is built, and
has none of the natural beauties of Its
sister, still 1t is grand city, with noble
public buildings, broad streets. large
parks and beautiful suburbs. with splen-
did private residences. Melbourne is a
great horse racing city, and one of the
great annual events in Australia is the
Melbourne Cup, event on the result
of which no true Australian Is so poor as
not to invest at least a dollar. Sixty
years ago the aborigines camped on the
banks of the Yarra- Yarra, a little stream
which flowed into Hobson's bay at the
point where Melbourne now stands, and
that same little muddy stream has been
dredged and deepened and widened until
the biggest steamers in the world can
NOW discharge their cargoes on its
whsrves. The people of Melbourne might
be termed the Australian Yankees. They
are largely the descendants of the pio-
neers who came to that colony in 1854
when the great gold fields of Ballarat
and Bendigo were pouring out their floods
of the precious metal. For many years
these two cities. Sydney and Melbourne.
adopted opposite policies with regard to
foreign trade. Sydney being free trade
port and Melbourne holding to a pro-
tective tariff. 1t was an everlasting sub
iect of discussion between the colonists.
and never was decided until the con-
federation of all the colonies under one
government settled the question.
/ There are many more and very interest
ing matters which are worthy OF notice
in respect to Australia. and which will
form the subject of another paper on
the island continent.
A.