Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02
QUEENSLAND HAS
MANY ADVANTAGES
Large State Rich as Sugar
Bowl" of Australia, and
Has Minerals.

Children years old recently tugged
at parental apron strings In Western
Queensland. Australia, when the roofs
OF their homes resounded with the tattoo
- tns arSt rain they had ever seen or
heard.
Queensland is not an arid desert, as
the report would indicate" says a bull
lCtin from the National Geographic So
Ciety.
"Quecnslanders. nearly all of whom
are boosters OF their state. if tWitted
about the report would counter with
boast that Queensland is large enough
to accommodate many different CHI
mates. The state occupies the north
eastern corner of Australia, including
the Cape York Peninsula, the tip end
OF which is the northernmOst point on
the continent. This tip is but $50 miles
south OF the Equator.
Maine the northeastern corner of
The United States. could be swallowed up
within the borders of Queensland 20
times and then there would be room
enough for a Rhode Island or two. If
the tip OF the Cape York Peninsula were
placed on the northern tip of the Mich
jgan Peninsula, QueenSland's southern
border would lie III the Gulf of Mexico
in about the same latitude as Tampa,
Fla, And at its widest part the Austral-
as the distance between Washington
and Des Moines. Iowa, as the crow files.
The traveller can ride for miles over
roads between thiCkly planted fields OF
cane, so high that only the sight of
sugar mill breaks the monotony, and
now and then the silence of the vast
area Is broken by the chug of donkey
engines which haul the cane from fields
to mills. Vast cotton fields here and
there in the northern part of the state
are not unlike those of America. but
they are worked by white laborers.
Years ago white Australians decided
that they wanted the continent to be
white mans country, so they sent the
South Sea Island labOrerS back to their
native homes.
Farmers Paradise.
Listen to q QueenSlander of the
Darling Downs. in Southern Queensland
and he will nearly convince you that he
lives in one of the worlds finest of ag-
T1cultural districts. Here are 1000 900
acres of rich soil where seeds are merely
sown and nature produces enormous
crops without the use of fertilizer. This
region was opened up less than a CEN
tury ago. Today it is an endless piano.
rama of orchards, cattle ranches and
farms Corn, wheat and alfalfa grow
abundantly. On some portions of the
OONnS nine crops OF aI1alfa nave been
harvested in single year.
''ToOwoOmba, the capital of the
Downs, reflects the prosperity of the
district in its fine buildings and resi-
dences set in garden-spotted lawns
There is an air of wealth and impor-
lance to Toowoomba, yet at times its
STREETS resemble those of small Ameri-
can county seat on court days. for it is
here that the rural folk come for amuse-
nPnt N1lt finally Io
corners and in the shops talking sheep,
grapes, wheat, wool and corn.
Precious Metals.
While Queensland is not Johannes
burg. Mount Morgan, near the Pacific
coast. has produced more than Sl25,-
00O. 1000 worth of gold
northampton, a city of 10000 in
haoNants, owes its existence to the
gold mines. A busting town today.
IL was formerly known as the City Of
Three S'S-Sin, sweat and sorrow. The
sweat portion of the name is derived
from the torrid climate of the CITY. 1t
Hes 80 miles from the seacoast and
Is shielded from the sea breezes by a
hlgh ridge. Large gold mines are also
10 be found near Townsville a seaport
about midway of the Queensland Coast.
Altogether the state has produced more
than half billion dollars worth of the
precious metal. Copper and lead now
are important mineral products of the
gold-mining region Tin is mined on
Cape York Peninsula.
Large Areas Cultivated.
In Western Queensland, the traveller
passes through cultivated areas, larger
than entire States in the United States
which were once arid. There are also
parts which man has not exploited
Rain here is seldom seen, but artesian
wells are brought in by drilling Western
Queensland is the land of the Austria
Ian opalS. These gems. which are valu-
able on the gem markets of the world,
are found in diggings from inches
to 30 feet deep. About 200 miles from
Rockhampton, the Anakie gem fields
produces about 100000 worth of sap
phlres a year.
"QueenslandS drawback according
to QueenSlanders, is its small popula-
ton which is slightly less than that of
Boston, Mass More than a third of
the inhabitants of the state live in
Brisbane, capital of Queensland, which
was made famous by the landing there
of the Southern Cross transpacific
flyers. Lying on both banks of the
Brisbane River, the capital city. in