The Jones County news., 1921-06-30

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ciaty. Washington. d. 81
The summer conference of the pre-
mlers Of British domlnlons, including
the premier of Australia. and the gen
eral Understanding that Australia Is
ia close sympathy with the United
States In the matter Of oriental i'm
migration makes that far-away com
monwealth Of more than ordinary in
terest TO Americans just now.
Australia. is the most Isolated of all
Inhabited continents and Is remote
from the center Of all of the worlds
activities. Northward the sailing dis
lance to japan Is approximately 5000
nautical miles; to India, $500 miles.
South America is 1000 miles to the east I;
and Africa an equal distance west
From London TO the capital Of Aus
tralla ships by the Suez route traverse
approximately 1900 miles Of water
and by the Panama canal, 1874 miles.
From California ports the routes via
Samoa. oa Fill, or Tahiti cover quar-
ter of the circumference Of the earth.
Australia's only large civilized neigh
Dor within a radius of 1000 miles is
Java.
Few Americans Co There.
The continent, lying thus far out
side the ordinary routes of travel, is
rarely visited by Americans. For most
Of us knowledge Of this fascinating
land is obtnined by study of few
pages In the back of schoo. geog.
raphies-pages descriptive of Aus
trnlP and New lealaNdr end. accom-
panied by map Of "Austmlla anc
the Islands Of the Pacific on a seal,
too small for the recognition Of signif
icant features.
One Of the first surprises awaiting
fhe tourist from tba northern hemi
sphere is to find that Australia anC
New Zealand mag not be grouped as
two islands or ike appearance differ
lhg mainly IN size; near neighbour
which mag oo treated as unit. New
Zealand IS nearly twice as far from
Australia as Bermuda Is from New
York, and is not only east but als'
south.
: The southern coast Of the Aus
hNlian mainland has the latitude 0
central New Jersey, while the south
ernmost OF the three islands ahicl
comprise the Dominion Of New zea
land occupies the position Of solitner
Newfoundland.
Unique vegetation Of remarkabl
: variety and beauty animal life Of By
gone geological periods. and an at
original population, the lowest IN th
scale Of beings having human form
stand out as features distinctly Aus
trallan--a never-ending source Of il
terest to the geographer.
Australia is a large country. 1t
about fourteen times the size {
!. France or Germany. twenty-five time
I. the size Of Italy, or Ecuador, and tw
y and one-half times the size Of A
gentina. its CHIEF competitor in Il
: southern hemisphere. Its area Is equ,
to three-fourths Of Europe, one-thil
Of all North America, or one-fourt
j, Of the British Empire. The contineI
Is almost exactly the size and Is nea
!. ly the shape Of the United States.
Level in Surface, Low in Eievatio
q Australia Is the most level in su
face and regular in outline of all Il
IS continents, and even Of most large
y lands. 1t is also the lowest continen
with an average elevation about thi
Ie Of Ohio. It's surface lacks variet
The change from one type of topo
D. raphy is SO gradual and significa
natural features are so few and
Il. widely spaced that. with the exec
tion Of the Murray river. they are n
ot utilized in merilng the boundaries
NJ states.
N The traveller IN search of dupicat
Is of the Canadian Rockies. the Yosel
lite and the Grand canyon. of No
wegian fjords and Alpine scenery. ne
not visit Australia. Its mounta
Us scenery is that Of the southern A
Us palachians. the White mountains, a
he the low ranges Of Arizona. Its plai
1d and plateaus are comparable wi
N, those of the Rocky Mountain foothi
ed and the. arid expanses OF Utah. Ida
al aud Oregon.
at Although tie moutains are low co
re- pared with those of other continen
IN, their influence is great. for nowhf
to Is their control Of rainfall and C
re- sequent distribution Of vegetation a
nd people better exempiified. A birc
ed eye view Of Australia shows a belt
ho vegetation extending along its nor
er-
ed