LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9506, 5 May 1911, Page 2

LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

(By T. Lindsay Buick.) MELBOURNE. .

Wlmt a time we havo had! Such.was the universal .verdict of the New Zealanders' who, en route to England by the Grosser Kurfurst, returned to thoir ship at Port Melbourno after a- day spent itt tho city. The Victorian capital, though smaller than Sydnoy, has the same power of fascination possessed by her elder sister, and though tho cause- of the at* ■ traction : maybo'quite different, the effect is the same—you grow to admire the place. Devoid of a beautiful harbour, for tho port is some distance from tho city, with lees of the hill and_ crag, and bare of the native growth, which is such a charm about Sydney, Melbourne has a beauty of her own which is not without its claim upon visitors. Laid ou| upon a, plan of rectangles, i; the' streets' are broad and clean, with a beautifully asphalted or paved surface. Her building 3 ai'O equ- . ally stately, and decidedly more ornamental than those of her rival, tho Melbourne architepturo Being to my mind infinitely tho more chaste. I do not remember ever having seen a finer thoroughfare''than Bourke street, dipping gently towards the centre,_ and rising in a gradual slope towards-either end, with the Federal Parliament buildings as one of its terminal . points. As a resulfc'of her better buildings, the retail shop displays appealed to me as being more telling than those in Sydney, and although there, was obviously not tho same volume of business doing,, the fact that there was less of that mad 'u sn ' n the streets was conducive to the greater comfort of the visitor. Melbourne's tram system seems to be the, mo»t antiquated thing about it. Not only are tho cars delightfully slow, but they are decidedly expensive, the penny fare, 60 popular in .our New Zealand towns, being unknown. Tho explanation of all this lingering bohind tho times is that the city at some period allowed a private company to take over its tram system, under the old bogey that at the expiration of some other period, the system would fall into the hands of the' council free of cost. Tho result of this bargain is now perfectly obvious, The city is impotent to do anything because it has parted with its rights to tho company. The company will do nothing to improve its system because tho day is rapidly approaching' when it will have to relinquish its property, and so Melbourne, which ought to have one of the best electrical system in tho world, is dawdling away back in tho prehistoric age of tram life—a shocking example of municipal folly in parting with industrial rights. In other respects, however, I learnt that tho civic authorities had been commondably energetic of late years in effecting city improvements, particularly in the direction of beautifying" the place, and developing its attractions, which are neither few in number nor meagre in quality. More in a colonial sense has been done in the Art Gallery, in tho form of busts, and this leads mo to remark that Melbourno, like Auckland, appears to have been .fortunate in possessing a number of private collectors, who devoted no moan portion of their wealth to tho patronage of art, and who on their death donated their collections or endowments to the community. Wo paid an enjoyable visit to tho Zoo, and spent a still moro enjoyable afternoon at the Aquarium. This, which is_ a residuum of tho last Melbourne Exhibition, is a source of never-failing joy to tho juveniles, and equally so to their elders, and makes one wonder why the similar attraction and tho fernery, which were so popular at our own International Exhibition, must needs fall under the hand of the vandal, and could not have been prcservod, as they havo been at Melbourne. Wo also had the privilege of being shown over tho Exhibition Building, which contains a fine organ, and is used for concert and choral purposes. In a portion of tho same building the State Parliament is "temporarily" housed, pending the vacation of its own build--ing by tho Federal Parliament, when it removes to tho future Federal Capital. Melbourno, however, is not going to let tho Federal Parliament go one hour ■ sooner than it can help, and so everything in connection with the establishment of tho new capital hastens very slowly. In this connection it is interesting to note that on tho day of our arrival in Melbourne, as wc sat at lunch in what proved to be a fashionable cafe, an elderly gentleman camo and sat down 1 at the samo tablo with us, I looked at ' him once, I looked at him twice, and then mado a guess at his identity. Somo remark of his led us into conversation, and I availed myself of the opening to introduce a few questions about Victoria and Federal politics. At first he was not to be -drawn, and, I tried another lead in tho direction of the politics of the local papers and tho position of the Houses of Parliament. On theso subjects ho became cheerfully communicative, and on his learning that we were New Zealanders, and would liko to see the Federal House, he took a slip of paper from his pocket and wrote on it in a hand characteristic of a public man, " Kindly show bearer over ttio Houses of Parliament," and signed it "George Turner." This exactly verified my first speculation, for although I had never seen Sir George in the flesh I recognised him by tho publio prints which were more frequently in circulation in the days when ho was aotive in public life than they have been since his retirement. Needless to say, wc found'the ox-Premier of the State, and the Treasurer in. the first Fedoral Government, a most affable companion for the rest of tho meal. He asked some searching questions about New Zealand; confided to us tho fact that after eighteen years of politioal servioe, fifteen of which were spent m office; he was glad to be> out of it, and as tho reiulfc of his introduction the utmost courtesy was shown to us when we visited the Federal House, even to an invitation to sit in the chair occupied by Ring George when he inaugurated tho Commonwealth! There are, of course, hosts of other sights to be seen in Molbourne, and tho visitor who attempts to "do" them in a day apd a half, as wo did, finds that there are still realms to explore which must be regretfully left until some future visit. ; "■ But thoro is one institution which is not possessed by every town, but which Melbourne has/ and that is a Royal Mint. By the courtesy of Mr Manson, the representative of tho Now Zealand Governmest, we were able to gain admission to this "holy of holies." After signing the visitors' book you aro asked to follow an attendant into tho »melting room, whoro the same air of quietude prevails. Everything is courteously expmined to you. You are shown, and allowed to handle, wedges of gold said to be worth from £I2OO to £ISOO, the New Zealand specimen being purer and of more value than the Australian. You aro next taken to inspect the retorts, and the "good red gold" is run out into moulds, and cooled off whilo you wait. Gold has a way of burning holes in one's pocket, but no metal cools moro rapidly at this stage of its treatment, for within three minutes of the molten ore being poured from tho oruoible we had tho sjugs in our hands. Next you arc shown the gold being rolled out into thin plates, from which tho coins are cut by a punch. They are then placed in the dies, and stamped and milled at one oporation ftt tho rate of 3000 por hour. From here they are ! passed to other machines, where they aro automatically weighed, 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 oaso may be, aro issued to-the public as coins of tho realm. Tho process was more interesting to watch than any description of it can convey, and in our ease it was rendered especially so because tho sovereigns which we saw being struck were the first.of the new issue, with Bertram M'Kennal's design of King George's hoad. Beforo leaving we were presented with a bag containing 3000 sovereigns, I not to keep, but just to test its.Woight, i 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' havo ever .had: boforeH)r are ever likely to have /again;: .. 'While in Melbourne I had the.'opportunity of visiting, the New Zealand Govi eminent tourist office; ■. whiph. ifl ~iindoi; .the management of Mr Heriry/Marisohia. a former resident of Palmerston /Nottlfe The office is admirably situated, (ilosp. to the. railway station, and is a fine;roomy apartment. It has been tastefully decorated with pictures, curios, and national trophies likely to. exoite the .interest of tourists. In Mr Manson Now Zealand has 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 fates and distances to our scenic resorts. Under his direction, the Mcjbourno has set tho 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 had awakened to the fact that they havo 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 homo. Thanks to the foresight of the late Mr Seddon, w/e 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 New Zealand.