The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-10-23
SYDNEY, QUEEN CITY OF
THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN

which traverses the eastern portions OF
the city, and serves the palatial resi-.
dences that line the foreshores of the
harbor. King street is the highway for
shopping, and hosts of fair ladies trip
its pavements, looking with absorbed
attention at~window displays Of silks
and laces, coats and curtains, or cast
ing glances at the latest walking ex-
Iponents of fads and fashions.
The city itself, as a town, independ-
emily of its harbor and suburbs, was to
me pleasant and interesting. Unlike
most modern cities-which are laid out
with more attention to convenience than
to the suggestions of beauty. and whose
streets are straight. and cross each
| other with the regularity of chess
board pattern, quite irrespective Of the
contour of the ground-apparentl no
unyielding plans determined the course
of the Sydney highways. I learned
from my guide that the main business
thoroughfare, George street, merely fol-
| lows the route of the original bush
track by which bullock drays jolted to
and from the little settlement at sgd
/ ney Cove a hundred years ago. The re-
suit is a pieturesqueness with which few
| deliberately mappedout cities can hope
| to vie.
| We travelled on the George street ears
through the business quarter TO what
is perhaps the most interesting portion
| of the city. In the block between Mar
| ket and Bathurst streets three remark
| able edifices seek companionship-th
| Queen Victoria Market, an enormous
and imposing structure, with the dis
tinetive features Of the American
Romanesque, having a frontage TO four
of the city's most prominent street;
the Town Hall, with its clock tower
surmounting the highest point of the
city, and commanding a wonderful view
of the harbor; and St. Andrew s Cathe-
dral. in the construction of which archi-
teetural science has reached its highest
expression. Sydney has reason to be
proud of its Cathedrals-St Andrew IS
(the Anglican) and ST. Mary's lthe
Roman Catholic The spirit which
dominates them, their quiet restfulness,
their unique beauty and fitness of de-
sign, have sunk deep into the lives Of
the earnest men and women Of the city
Behind the Markets, and running
parallel with George street, is York
street, the wholesale center, which is
even more exclusively the haunt of men
than King street or the Strand IS of
women. Numbers of splendid modern
structures substantial, and sim
pie in design-have been erected coin
eidental with the expansion Of this
wealthy city's commerce with oversee
countries.
At the head Of King street Is Mac
quarie street, a broad asphalt avenue,
lined with costly homes, containing the
Houses of Parliament, the Royal Mint,
and the Sydney Hospital. facing the
Botanical Gardens, from which one can
drink his I'll of the beauties Of the pam
Drama Of harbor and cove spread out at /
his very feet. The people Of Sydney /
are laudably addicted TO recreation
grounds Parks for the people were |
not among the requirements Of human
itv when American cities were first
built. and the grounds necessary for
such purposes had become so valuable
when the necessity was recognized that
it has only been with great difficulty,
and occasionally through the munif-
cence of individuals, that they have
been acquired Australian cities have
profited BY this experience. The land
has been public property. and space for
recreation has been taken without the
payment of any price. Public gardens
abound IN and about Sydney, and their
beauty ca he appreciated alike by 1g-
norant and learned.
The public gardens. scarcely half
nile from the general postofiee. boast
one little nook Of harbor all their own.
There is a walk from the bottom Of
Iacquarie street. leading round by the
ACKNOWLEDGMENT : house. through the
gardens. It runs close along the shore
# the bay. with beautiful grassy slopes,
N which one NAV lie and see the moon
yimmeg on the water at one s feet
within a quarter of mile Of one s club.
)ne could imagine that the height Of
Hiss would be the after-dinner cigar IN
ne Of these cosy hooks: but the civic
athers do not admit "the weed IN
he gardens.
Long ago did Anthony Trolope, that
amous and versatile traveller novelist,
ing the praises of Sydney 5 harbor,
'ort Jackson, and place il in the fore
ronr of the world 5 waterways. Today
-hen 7 saw it. respondent IN all the
Tory Of a spring sunshine, its placid
-aters ripple3 nv every class Of sea
raft. from the greatest hatTleship that
yer pSQwed the waters OF the Pacific
Q the Mminutive sailing skif, It's
aores covered by wOndrous little cities I
red-ti}ed roofs. its Utmost recess :
raced BIZ the palatial residence Of Aus,
-afa : oyernor-General. I regarded
2e scene as impossible 70 he adequately
aseribed by any mere word-picture. 4
zee sweep of water, navigabIe for
le largest ocean vessels; land
excl harbor. with but a single
assage. a mile in width. leading to its 9
.quesrrated waters: such is Port Jack
~. with its 200 miles Of shore line
be waterfront IS crowded with ships /