SYDNEY AND THEREABOUTS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 92, 18 April 1908, Page 3

SYDNEY AND THEREABOUTS

(By Marlburian.) PartllL ';■.;.'• TWO GREAT SIGHTS .which must never be '■ neglected by visitors td Sydney, are the/Botanical Gardens and the National Art GalI lery. This is my fifth visit to Syd- / ney, and yet I would no more think of leaving these two splendid institutions out of my/programme- than I would miss a ' walk down Regent ■ Street were Ito visit London. This particular. Sunday afternoon the Gardens are thronged, and no wonder, for liere is, beauty at its grandest— and so much of it. Full forty acres and. more of garden filled with the rarest and loveliest products of Mother Nature, plants and flowers, many;of which come from far-off countries, the whole a perfect feast for the eye, even of the unskilled in matters horticultural. And: all within a couple of minutes''walk from the busiest centre of the city. ■ Fortunate . people these Sydneyites are, to bo sure! The lower gardens run round the shores of Farm Cove, one of the most picturesque inlets ~of the harbour, aiid here is a bewildering wealth Of superb and often most curious vegetation. Malaysia, Nigeria,

Java, Japan and, of course, dear little New, Zealand, have all been, drawn upon to furnish' rare plants, shrubs, and flowers, and as everything is duly provided with neat littlo boardsj giving English and scientific names of the plants and the z source of origin, one gets lessons in geography as well as history. At /different points lovely views of the harbour can be obtained, but personally I had no time for aught but the flowers. Oh! the orchids—one would want an enchanted pen to do them justice, so quaintly, sometimes almost weirdly, beautiful they are. And on the lily ponds, what a host of novel beauties in these nymphea, from Central Nigeria; lilies in scarlet, heliotrope, purple; lilies long and langorous; lilies short,, stumpy, and broad-flowered, all with exauisitely veined palm-like leaves floating in placid loveliness on the clear water! Erary possible variety of palm, too, p iiore; palm from Norfolk Island, Fiji, Queensland and Malaysia. And (■VvH-ything so beautifully kept; no . paper strewn about, walks as tie an as the proverbial "new-scraped pn,* and a by no?means contempt-i-Ue shop of marble statuary to set o.T the beauties of nature. "No smoking allowed, sir," an attendant •juu; teously reminds me; and out £ces my cigar. The rule is necessary, it is said, nominally to prevent rubbish, but in reality it checks and scusibly diminshes the crowd of larrikins who would otherwise defile the place with rough horse play, generous expectoration and bad language, for your typical Sydney larrikin will i:of go where he cannot puff at his everlasting cigarette (12 for 3d; *>: ns "stinkers" they arj& generally called), and so, compulsorily bevoft of nicotian comfort, he gives the gardens a wide berth. Round the ■vvatc-r-edge to LADY MACQTJARIE'S CHAIR is only a short and pleasant stroll. lue lamous ," chair " is only a rockii&wn seat, but the inscription above is historical, and so I jot it down i" my pocket-book: "Be it thus rethat the road round the in- . t lU« of the Government Domain called V-'s. cacquane's Road—so named by ;.,-* governor on account of her hay- ;.;;■ : >ngmally planned it—measuring ;■•■'■•■>■■?■ miles and three hundred and -v;aty-seven yards, was finally com,':m on. the 13th day of ■•-.■■■-"■ Eighteen hundred and fif- ■■•;-•■>, the year of Waterloo! This i-'.^\r shows how old and grey Sydney i; f .is compared with our oldest New rV'' l'A d f* ies; S l6 yarn goes, lam ■c <\a. -hat Lady Macquarie was wont .--.. >.;.''«ne_ twice or thrice a week and ■: i die seat which now bears her ' ■■•i:< ! -. and in the Mitchell Collection ■•■■■ P.f.oks and Prints, referring to old r-v;/-v (a collection to house which ■- ~ '-:; o ---•^ to far 11 a1

ment House and the entrance to the Botanical Gardens) j there are two small water-colour sketches done by the Governor's wife from this point. From the "Chair" you can get a magnificent view of. nearly the whole of the harbour, and if you like -to continue your waterside walk you can go right along for a mile or so into dusty and dingy Woolloomooloo (my apologies" to good Mr. Comp for again using that awful name). But it is Sunday afternoon, be it not forgotten, and Sunday is the day par excellence for a stroll through

THE DOMAIN. How many-acres this'beautiful park contains 1 really don't know,'.and if I had been told, should probably have forgotten, for to statistics my brain pan is sadly non-sympathetic in its powers of reception. Anyhow, it is an immense area y of greensward and fine trees, with plenty of shady walks and comfortable seats. A few years ago the Domain- at night was reported to be a favourite huntingground of footpads, and even garrotters, and even now I would not care to cross it at night, for the "tough" element in Sydney, though not so prominent as it was a few years ago, is still very much to the fore after dark. On Sunday, however, especially in the afternoon, the Domain is thronged with respectably dressed, well-behaved crowds. Its special and partictilar feature on Sunday afternoon is v THF. DOMAIN ORATOR. A long row of fine trees, about twenty yards apart, runs parallel with the j main path, and every tree has its orator, and every orator his own particular audience. I proceed to sample a few of these open-air orators; and find them very amusing. A big crowd surrounds a wildly gesticulating negro, who is holding forth, and in well-chosen, vigorous English —the English of a well-educated man —on the wickedness and folly of colour prejudice. He "goes for", the "White Australia " theory tootftand nail, and his retorts to sarcasti/comtnents from the crowds . are remarkably apt. . A little further on, and a thin, gaiint, elderly man with a keen face, the face of an ascetic, is discoursing upon "Anglo-Israel" and the " lost tribes." His audience is almost as thin as himself, and the faces wear a palpably " bored" expression. Not so those of the crowd which surrounds three or four young men wearing red ties, -and one of whom occasionally waves a red flag. The orator here is denouncing the capitalist—"the thrice accursed enemy of the worker,'" in a thin, shrill, squeaky voice. His eyes blaze

with excitement; he waves his arms about;'his is the attitude of the fanatic. "Go slow, ole man, or yer'll bust yer biler," shouts a youth from the outskirt of the crowd. The interruption only feeds the flames of the orator's indignation. "Yes; that's all • you fellows think of, is ' ' going slow.' There's too much 'going slow' here in Sydney amongst the workers. You don't want to go slow, but go fast, faster, and faster, faster, to break down this accursed tyranny, faster to get a ' fairer share of the world's pleasure, leisure and treasure.' " And this quotation from a well-known English journalist (H. W. Massingham) is received with rapturous applause by the crowd, which, it is easy to perceive, is mainly composed of sympathisers.

TWO EVANGELISTS preaching the doctrines of true Christian love and charity with great earnestness, the, while two ladies go I round the audience distributing tracts, are listened to with respect. | But further on again a white-haired veteran, who is advocating singletax (I think it was, but it was I mainly on land taxation that he :,spoke),, is being stibjected, to some frequent and occasionally noisy inj terruption. The orator appears to have a particular "set" against Mr G. H. Reid, why I cannot exactly understand; but the famous "yesno " politician has evidently some friends in the crowd, and the veteran's oratorical path is thorny. Other orators hold forth on various forms of religion, and there are others yet again in the distance whose specialities Ido not investigate. The whole sight is amusing, and by no means uninstructive, and should not be missed by any of your Marlborough men who happen to be in Sydney on a Sunday. From our orator friends THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY is a pleasant change. If there is one public institution of which not only Sydney but all Australia should be proud, it is the superb collection of pictures, sculpture, and •> choice ceramics. It would do credit to a great European capita), and considering the age of the colony, and the indifference quite naturally shown towards matters artistic in the early days of pioneerng settlement, the number and excellence of the works collected are really remarkable. The Gallery, itself is a fine sandstone building covering a large area, and the first thing one notices is the admirable lighting. In this respect it is immeasurably superior to some of the great galleries of the Old World that 1 have visited. The second point to be noticed is the excellent arrangement of the pictures according to , their various schools. For instance, the European oils are separate from Australian oils, ditto with the water-colours. Dotted about the various^1 galleries or sections are beautiful pieces of statuary and sculpture, never obtrusive or blocking the view, but in keeping with their surroundings. Personally, lam not an admirer of art on a very large scale, and can see no great beauty in , Poynter's gigantic painting of " Solomon receiving the Queen of Sheba.V I am told that everything is correct from an, architectural and costume point of view, that the painter devoted three years to preliminary strokes and so forth, but I confess it does not "touch" me. De Neuville's "Rorke's Drift" is also a much-admired picture, full of smoke and blood, and commemorating one of the most gallant exploits at arms of which British soldiers have ever performed. But a quiet little landscape by half a dozen painters I could mention appe.als to me more, and I spent a gopd full hour amongst

THE BRITISH WATER-COLOURS. Theer is a superb sea scene by Edwin Hayes, a tug towing in astormshattered > vessel, whilst on a sprayswept pier a crowd of spectators anxiously watches. Here are specimens of the old English water school period, pictures by Prout and Cotsman, and by Copley Fielding and Birket Poster. The later schools are well represented, and I notice with pleasure Mr Haite's beautiful " A Venetian Fruit Stall" is hung in a conspicuous position. This was one of the most admired pictures, you , may remember, at the Christchurch Exhibition. last year, and it is a great pity that it was not bought for a New Zealand, gallery. In the Australian section, one cannot fail to notice that "Impressionism" is, a dominant influence with the younger artists. In the basement is a ,fine collection of ceramic ware, including some splendid Sevres and Wedgwood ware, and some perfectly exquisite I Japanese and Chinese inlaid vases and other ware. One could easily spend, not one afternoon, but several afternoons, in the Art Gallery, but in matters of art an ounce of personal inspection ds worth yards of descriptive writing, and so we will "pass on," as the kinematograph showman says, to a new series of pictures—outside the Gallery. After a Sunday taken up mainly with the admiration of Sydney's gardens and Art Gallery, " Marlburian " had a quiet day "off," but Tuesday brought the opening of Parliament, and, having been courteously pro-

videdwith the necessary ticket, I found my way to

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, ! with a view to studying men and manners political, as they have them in New South Wales.. • The first, thought that occurred to me when the opening ceremony was over (as tedious and unexciting as such ceremonies always'are in Wellington) was that what is wanted most at Sydney's Parliament House isa big. fire, which would sweep the tumbledown, dingy buildings off the face of the earth. Parliament House was origin called (by old Sydneyites) the " Rum Hospital," the hospital, for such the building was at first, having been erected by private speculators in return for a monopoly of rumselling. Rum was a big factor in the life of early Sydney, indeed there were times when it was practically a currency, you paid or were paid in so many gallons of rum instead of gold or silver coin. To-day Parliament House is a ramshackle collection of dingy, dusty rooms, complicated corridors and > passages, the whole having a stuffy,1 fusty smell about it that is indescribable. There is a good library, but nothing like so good a one as that in ' Wellington, and, of course, a large Refreshment room (" Bellamy's " is word unknown to Sydney legislators). Also, I noticed several card tables and two billiard tables.1 Having duly, sampled the liquid refreshments at the service of Members, I can see with Betsy Prig that "the drinks is all good." The trouble is that, there are occasions when the Sydney legislator takes his ''lotion" too often, and then " scenes " follow compared with which what are called " Parliamentary storms" in New Zealand, are the mildest possible zephyrs. Later on in the week I am honoured with a seat

BEHIND THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR, and witness a long and rather animated debate, a .no-confidence motion having been moved by _Mr McGowen, the Leader of the Labour Party. Mr McGowen, by the way, makes an opening speech of close upon two hours' length, and the Premier, Mr Wade, an insignificant looking man, with a weak, reedy (almost squeaky) voice, replies, ii you please, in another speech which runs to about two hours and a half. I begin to long for the time limit of my own Dominion, and to wonder how it is that I hear some Australians alluding to the late Mr Seddon as being "awfully long-winded." They should look at home and mend their own manners first. ' After supper there is a succession of shorter speeches, but nothing remarkable is said or happens. 'Tis as dull as ditch, water. " Wait till you hear John Norton or Crick," says a pressman.. I wait, but these two famous persons do not appear—in the debate at least—and towards 2 a.m., after a final refresher at Bellamy's (I beg pardon—the refreshment room) I wearily and sleepily wander back to the Grandopole, and as the lift is not working after midnight, groan up four flights of stairs to bed. No wonder Sydney. legislators occasionally "refresh" too much. Many such dry debates would make a tippler out of a confirmed prohibitionist. Sydney's Parliament House and her leading politicians so depressed me that the next day I cast the dust of her streets off my shoes and "took the car," as the Yankees say, up to the Blue Mountains. Concerning which more in my next.