LETTERS FROM ABROAD

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 116, 2 May 1911, Page 7

LETTERS FROM ABROAD

MELBOURNE

are of course hosts of other sigiits to be seen in Melbourne, and 11 ie visitor who attempts to "do'' them in a day and a half as we did, finds that there are still realms to explore which must be regretfully leit until some inilire visit.

But there is one institution wlnch is not possessed by ery town, but which .Melbourne has, and that is a Royal Aiint. By the courtesy of Mr Manson, the representative oi the N.Z. Government, we were able to gain admission to this "holy oi holies.'' Hie system of admission is select and exclusive to a degree. The visitor must be respectably recommended, and an appointment must be made tor a spec-inc hour, only a lew persons being admitted each day. You present yourseh at an iron-barred gate, ring an electric bell, and an oiticcr m a policeman’s uniform comes and conducts you across an open courtyard to a handsome building which more closely resembles a private residence than a coin foundry. Here you are ushered into a spacious vestibule, and a clerk approaches you and in subdued tones invites you to sign the visitors’ book. This you do as well as you can—somehow no one ever writes their name just as tliej would like in a visitors’ book—and then it is borne in upon you that there is an air of solemnity pervading the whole proceedings. Everyone moves about quietly, no one speaks above a whisper, you become conscious of the fact that levity is not expected of you, and as you sit in the waiting room you resemble nothing so much as a number of patients waiting to consult a dentist. Presently you are asked to follow an attendant into the smelting room, where the same air of quietude prevails. Everything is courteously' explained to you, and demonstrations in this form oi money-making are given; but you are carefully reminded that you are not to become too familiar, by the fact that you are asked to stand behind an iron railing. You are slxnvu, and allowed to handle, w edges of gold said to be worth from £l2OO to £l5OO, the New Zealand specimen being purer and of more value than the Australian. You are next taken to inspect the retorts, and the “good red gold” is run out into moulds, and cooled off while you wait. Gold Jias a way of burning holes in one’s pocket, but no metal cools more rapidly at this stage of its treatment, for within three minutes of the molten orc being poured from the crucible, we had the slugs in our hands. Next you are shown the gold being rolled out into thin plates, from which the coins are cut by a punch. They are then placed in the dies, and stamped and nulled at one operation at the rate of 3000 per hour. From here they are passed to other machines, where they are automatically weight'd, the slightest variation either over or under the standard weight being detected. They’ next pass through the hands of the tester, and supposing they ring true, the sovereigns or the shillings, as the , case may be, are issued to the public as coins of the realm. The process was more interesting to watch than any description of it can convey, and in our ease it was rendered especially so because the sovereigns which we saw’ being struck were the first of the new issue, with Bertram M'Kennal’s design of King George’s head. Before leaving we were presented with a bag containing 3000 sovereigns, not to keep, but just to test its weight. It was beastly heavy, but there is something in the sensation of feeling that you have more money in your hand at a given moment than you have ever had before—or are ever likely to have again. While in Melbourne I had the opportunity of visiting the New Zealand Government tourist office, which is under the management of MiHenry Manson, a former resident of Palmerston North. The office is admirably situated, close to the railway station, and is a fine roomy apartment.. It has been tastefully decorated with pictures, curios, ana national trophies likely to excite the interest of tourists. In Mr Manson New Zealand lias an admirable representative. the soul of courtesy, blessed with the virtue of patience, brimful of energy, enthusiastic in his work, and a perfect encyclopedia upon such details as the rates and distances to our scenic resorts. Under bis direction, the Melbourne office has set the Victorian travellers thinking seriously about New Zealand, and every year they are crossing over in increasing numbers, so much so that, since the New’ Zealand office was established, the Victorian Government lias awakened to the fact that they have scenic resorts of their own, and they too have established a Tourist Department, issued pamphlets, posters, and photographs, all to boom their own attractions and keep people at home. Thanks to the foresight of the late Mr Seddon, we have got a big start of them, and the Victorians will continue to be, as they have been for some years past, annually worth many thousands of pounds to NewZealand.