THE TRAVELLER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1731, 24 January 1885, Page 8

THE TRAVELLER.

NOTES ON AUSTRALIA. III.— A Walk Round Melbourne.

Although most educated people know that Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide are populous towns, I should doubt whether one Englishman, who has not been to Australia, out of a hundred realises that fact. I well remember that, although I had pretty wall posted myself with information about • Melbourne, I was never more thoroughly surprisad than during th«T first few houra after my arrival there. And I hear almost everyone who comes out from England say that his experience has been the same aa my own. In one sense the visitor is disappointed with his first day in an Australian city. The novelties and the differences from the Old Country do not strike him nearly so much aa the resemblances. Ifc ia only as he gets to know the place better that ho begins to notice the differences. The first prevailing impression ia that a bKco of Liverpool has been bodily transplanted to the Antipodes, that one must havo landed in England again by mistake, and it ia only by degrees that one begins to see that the resamblance is more superficial than real. Although Sydney is the older town, Melbourne is justly entitled to be considered the metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere. The natural beauties of Sydney aie wonderful, while the situation of Melbourne is common place if not actually ugly ; but it is in tho Victorian city that the trade and capital, the business and pleasure of Australia chiefly centre. Whether you compare the public or the private institutions of the two cities, the public buildings or the private residences, the banks and offices or the shops and warehouses, the cities themselves or > their suburbs, the organisations for education or charity, the facilities for business or pleasure, there are very few items in which Melbourne is not a little in advance of Sydney, and in many the superiority is marked. Is there a company to be got up to stock the wilds of Western Australia, or to form a railway on the land-grant system in Queensland, to introduce the electric light, or to spread education amongst the blaokfellows, the promoters generally belong to Melbourne, or go there for their capital. The headquarters of most of tho large commercial institutions which extend their operation ' beyond the limits of any one Colony are to be found there. If you wish to transact business well and quickly, to buy or to sell, to organise a new enterprise — in short, to estimate and understand the trade of Australia, you had better go to Melbourne rather than to Sydney, and this in spite of the fact that Victoria is a small Coloiw handicapoed by heavy Protectionist duties, ?vhile Sydney is, comparatively speaking a free port, at the base of an enormous area. The actual production does not take place in Victoria, but it is in Melbourne that the money resulting from the production of other Colonies aa well aa of Victoria is turned over. It is Melbourne money chiefly, though mot solely, that opens up saew tracts of land for settlement in tha interior of tha Continent, and Melbourne brains find the outlets for fresh commerce in every direction. There is a bustle and life about Melbourne which you miss in Sydney. To exaggerate a little, it may be said tfcat the Melbourne man is always on tho lookout for business, whilst tbo Sydney man waits for business to come to him. The ono takes life easily, the other is always in a hurry. And as it is with business, so it is to a stillgreater degree with pleasure. „ The man of leisure will find more society in Melbourne, more balls and parties, p. larger measure of intellectual life— i.e., more booko and men of education and intellect— more and foetter theatrical and musical performances, more racing, cricket, football, and athletic clubs,' a larger leisured class jfcban in Sydney. The bushman who comes to ti^n to "knock down bis cheque," tho squatter w^P wants a little amusement, both prefer Melbq^rne to spend their money in. The Melbourne races ■attract three or four times as many visitors as j&he Sydney races All public amusements are feetter attended in Melbourne ; the people dress better, talk better, and think more. There is more " go " and more " life," in every sense of 4hese terms, to be found in Melbourne, and it is there that the visitor must come who wsshes tfo see the fullest development of Australasian civilisation. Justly may the resident of Melbourne boast— and hs does not forget to do it — that he is "a citizen of no mean city."

Passengers by ocean- going vessels to Melbourne land either at Sandridge or Williamstown, small shipping towns situated on either sichJ of the river Yarra, which is only navigable by tbJB smaller craffc, A quarter of an ho^r in the train brings tho visitor into the heart of the city. On geltfog out ho can hardly fjvil to be Impressed by the size of the buildings Around him, and by the width of the streets, whicfc aye laid out in rectangular blocks, with broad footpaths well pavad or asphalted. In spite of fcho number of large acid fine-looking buildings, there is a rather higgledy-piggledy look about the town— the cifcy be wiW by this time own it to be. The most distinctive feature of the street architecture is the number of verandahs, though unfortunately fchfso are disappearing in «tho main streets And newer buildings. Thero are no building laws, and every man has huilt. as seemed best in his own eyes. The town is constantly outgrowing tho majority of its buildivyjs, and although tho wise plan of allowing tor the rapid growth of a young community, and buiLdjng tor the requirements of the future rather than of the present, is generally observed, there aro still gaps in the line of tha streets towards the outskirts, and houses remaining which were built by unbelievers in the future before the Colony. In the main thoroughfares you might fancy yourself in an improved Edgeware road, and in a few years Collins and Bourke streets will be very like Westbourne groee. The losbfrequented streets in tbo city resemble those of London suburbs. There are a few backslums, which it is wiser not to go down after- 10 o'clock at night. But " outcast Melbourne" has no one but himself to blamo for the state in which he lives. If there be poverty it is caused by drink and dissipation. Nowhere is there anything resembling Stepney or the lower parts ,of a European city. The Chinese quarter is tth.e nearest approach to these, but it is quite .su£ generis, and equalor is absent. Tat> town is well lightod with gas, and the water «upply- from the YanYean reservoirs •on the EJenty River, which runs into the Yarra .a few, miles above— is plentiful, but not good •ior drinking. An underground drainage system is being introduced, but at present tha sewage is carried away in buge open gutters, which run ;all through tho town, and are at their worst and widest in the most ,central part, where all 'the principal shops and business places are .situated. These gutters ars crossed by little bridges every 50 yards. Vv'han it rains 'they rise to the proportion of small torrents, -and have on several occasions proved fatal to drunken men. It ia & law in every Australia© town that no

visitor shall be allowed to rost until he has seen all its sights, done all its lions, and, above all, expressed his surprise and admiration at them. With regard to our public iuetitui;i"ns we aro liko children with a new toy— delighted with them ourselves, and not contented until everybody we meet has declared them to bs delightful. There are come neopio who vote all sight-seeing a bore, but if they come to Melbourne they had bettor at lea«t do the last part of their duty— express loudly and generally their admiration at everything that is mentioned to thorn. Whether they have seen it or not ia, after all, their own affair. Of the public buildingn, which are scattered in considerable numbers about, tha town, tho largest are the new Law Courts, which hava just been erected at a cost of nearly £400,000. They contain 130 roomc, and provide accommodation for the Supreme Court, the County Court, the Insolvent Court, the Equity Court, aud for the various offices of tho Crown Law Department. The plan is that of a quadrangle, with a centre surmounted by a domo 137ffc high. Still more elaborate ;\nd magn>ficent are the Parliament Houses (not yefc cuinploted), the front alono of which is to cost, £180,000. With regard to tho architecture of theae buildings there is ample room foe diil'orenea of opinion, but everyone will agree to admire tho classic simplicity of tho Public Library, erected some 20 years a^o, and planned with a view to the subsequent erection of a National Gallery and Museum, to complete a really noble pile of buildings. And ifc is well worth while to go inside. Tho Library is free to everybody, contains over 110,000 volames, and has accommodation for 600 readers. An interesting feature is tha large newspaper room, where scores of woiking men can be seen reading the papers and magazines from all parts of the world. At the back of the same building are the painting and sculpture galleries, with which is connected a school of art and design. Behind these again ia & museum. In the galleries there are a few good modern, paintings, and a large number ot mediocre ones. The statuary consists mainly of well-executed casts. The museum is only likely to be of interest to entomologiato and mineralogists, the collection in both these departments being considered very good. The foundation and the success of this institution are mainly due to the lato Sir Redmond Barry, who, though he did not found ifc, did almost as much for the University, which has also been very useful and successful from evory point of view. As a building it ia not equal to the Sydney University, although it possesses a splendid Gothic hall, tho gift of Sir Samuel Wilson, who now lives at Hughenden. In connection with the University is an excellent zoological museum, which ia interesting to more than specialists. Other fine buildings ara tho Government Offices, the Town Hall with a magnificent organ, the Post-office, tho International Exhibition — all built on a truly metropolitan scale, which is even exceeded by the palatial hugoness of the Government House, the ugliness of which is proverbial throughout Australia But perhaps the class of buildings which must in every city most excite tho surprise of the visitor ace the hospitals and asylums. There are no less than 10 splendid structures in Melbourne dovctod to charitable purposes. Ecclesiastical architecture is a weak point. The finest building ie the Roman Catholic Cathedral, but it is not yet finished. The Church of EDgland is also building one, opposite which a public.liourq called tho Cathedral Hole) has already opened its doors. Meanwhile tho prettiest church belongs to the Presbyterians Anyone who has not seen tho London Mint will find the Melbourne Mint worth a visit. The Observatory contains one of the largest telescopes in the world : and oveu if there are no races going on, the Flemington racecourse is a "lion "of the largest dimensions. There are four theatres, only two o£ which ate well fitted up. A new- comer will notice that drink-ing-bars are an almost invariable aad very disagreeable accompaniment of every theatre. One bar is generally just opposite tha entrance to the dress circle —an arrangement which is particularly annoying to ladie3. Altogether, thepublic buildings of Melbourne do the greatest .credit to the public spirit, if not to t&e taste of the Victorians, and ofi'er substantial testimony to their enterprise, the largeness of their yiews, and tho thoroughness of their belief in the_ future of their country. There is certainly no city in England which can boast of nearly as many fine buildings, or as large ones, proportionately to its sijse, as Melbourne. And this is the more remarkable, remembering that masons are getting 103 6d to 12.3 a day ut eight hours, and often a very dawdling eight hours too. The Botanic Gardens, just outside ths town, aro well worth a visit. They havo no great scientific pretensions, although the shrubs are 'grouped botanically, but are merely pleasuregrounds, decked with all the variety of flowers which tp!ib ]and of Cockaigne produces in abundance, aud somo splendid fern- trees. Besides these there a#a several pretfcv reserves, notably the Eitzroy, .Cariton, and University Gardens, and the Regent's Jtexjii, which aro all well kept aa<J refreshing i;o tjfae aya after the dust and glare of the streets, and ac|d consider ably to the general oft'ect i?f the city. The proportions of the commercial bqildings and business premises are on the same largo and elaborate scale. Of the architecture, perhaps tha less said tho better; but everything is at least more spacious than at Home. The oijtm^fce and the comparative cheapness of land make us f verse to height in our buildings, and even in 'the feu.siest parts of Melbourne most of the buildings L&ye only two storeys— i.e., a ground floor and' one Ojhove. The sums which banking companies pay for ,fche erection of business premises are enormous. Thirty to sixty tiuyjsand pounds is the usual cose o£ their head«t<*arters. ' The large insurance companies have also caught the building ojania, and the joinfc-a£pck companies which ar& now springing up uj all directions emulate them. The Australian likes to have plenty of elbow-room. He cannot uadgrstand how wealthy merchants can work in the diugy dens which serve for the offices of.many a Londots merchant prince. In this matter, contrary to out usual practice, we are apt to consider the surface rather than what as beneath it ; and it is an accepted max;im in commercial circles that money Bpent on buildings— which is borrowed in Engl&nd at English rates of interest — is amongst the cheapest forms of ad 1 vertising a rising business and of keeping an established business going. Nobody in a young country has a long memory, and fow things are co firmly established but that they may be overthrown if they do not keep up, with tha times, Mo3t of the ehopa are little better than in English towns of the same size, if we except those of some dozen draperß and ironmongers, which are exceptionally good. Of these it may be said that they would be creditable to London itself. Both trades are much more comprehensive than in England. A large Melbourne draper will sell you anything, from a suit of clothes to furniture, where he comes pito competition with the ironmonger, whose businesa jnQludes agricultural machinery,

crockery, and plale, Tho larger firma in both these trados cqmbino wholesale and retail business, and their phop* are quite amonpsfc tho sights of Australia. Nowhere out of nil exhibition isnei Whit,elrty'dis it possible to cwet so hotcotfenoius a collection. A peculiarity of Melbourne is that the shop- windows there, are mui;h better sot out than ia cu^tomnry in England. Ifc ia aot so ia Syduep. Indeed Melbourne baa ik-eUledly tho bp&t eat of shops, nob only in outward pppaiuaiica, but i-.h lo tho variety a;jd quality of lhn articles sold in thorn. Next to tho diapers and ironmongers, the booksellers' and music-shops a\e tho moit creditable. Tho stylo of tho smaller shops in every Colonial town in aa English as English, can be. The only difference is in the prices. Tho livor Yarra ruus through the city, and is navigable as far as Malbourne by coasting steamers svnd all but the larger Bailing craft. Above tho i city it ia vary pretty. Tho becks are lined v/if.h trees, and in epite of many windings it i*i wide enough for boalrniws. Below it is lmintoresfciag, and chkfly remarkable for tha number and varioiy of ihe Plumes which ariao from tho manufactories on irs hanks, Next to the monotony of tho Suez Canal, with which it presents many points of rasomblanfp, there aro few things more tirosomo than the voyago up th? Yarra in an intercolonial steamer of 600 or 700 tons', which goes aground every 10 miuut*:*, and generally, as it" on rmrpone, jujt in front of a boiling-down establishment.

If the Australian cities can claim a sad eminence, if not an actual aupremacy, in tho number of their public-houses, of which there ara over 1100 in Melbourne, it must be conf 3ssad that they ara as much behind London in fcheir idoas of the comforts of a hot") as London to behind San Francisco. Melbourne is certainly batter eft' than Sydney, bub bad are its bisfc hotels. Of th«so Mmzies' and tho Oriental are moat to ba recommended for families ; after these try the Unitrd Club Hotel, or, if you are v bachelor, Scott's is tho best. Tho botals, almost without exception, derive their chief income from tha liar ta-ifio, with which, at all buc tho faw meu/.ioß'jd above, you cannot help being brought more or loss into contact. Lodgers aye quite a secondary consideration, and the proprietors prefer bachelors. A Now Zealand fricuid cf miuo lait his wife on board tho steamer whilst he went to see if he could got rooms at the principal uutul in Sydney. At first ho was i,'>ld that thorn were several rooms vacant, buton hia mentioning that his wife was with him, tho hotel clerk replied, "We don't want anymore ladies. Too much ringing at the bell," aud refused accouuflodiition. Tho best hotels, moreover, have no table d'htitc — only tha old-fashirmaci coffee and cummorcial rooms ; so tbah if you aro travoliiuc with ladieo you have no chniuo bnt io have your meals in a privato sifting room. For a bachelor, who is not particular so long as his rooms aro clean, and can put up with plain faro, thero neod, however, ba no difficulty in gutting accommodation; but anyone who wished to bo really comfortable had better livo at the clubs, which aro most liberal in their hoHjikaliW and havo bedrooms on their premises. Visitors to the Colony aro mado honorary members for a month on tho introduction of any two members, and tho term is extended to six months on t.bo small pubscriplion of a guinea a month. The Melbourne Club is tha best • appoiuted in tho Colonies. The rooms are comfortable, and a gond table h kept, Tho servants wear full livery. There ia a pmall library, all the usual appurtenances of a London club, and a racquet court. The othpr club-*, though less pretentious, are all comfortable.

Colonists are poor walkera, and Melbourne is wdl provided with cabs and omnibuses. You can take your choice between one-hors9 wagßonettOH .and hansoms, though a suspicion of Bohemia still lingers about the latter. Happily Mrs Grundy has never introduced "growlers," The waggonettes are light boxes on wheels, covsrod in with oilcloth, which can bo rolled up in a few seconds if tho weather is fine or warm. It ia strange that victorias like those in Paris have never bean tried in this warm climate, A few years ago Irish jauntingcars and a jolting vehicle called a "jingle" were much usod, but they have slipped out of favour of late, and are now almost obsolete. Tho fares are usually moderate, from a shilling for a quarter of an hour to the same coin for tho first mile, and sixpence for every subsequent one. Cabby is fairly civil, but, as at Home, always expects more than his legal fare.

Nowhere do omnibuses drive a more thriving trade than in Melbourne, and they desorve it, for they are fasfc, clean, roomy, and well mapaged on a system first introduced in America. Tha prica of labour malted conductors too expensive a luxury, and passengers have to put th'Ui" fare — iv most cases three-ponee-~-into ft little glasn box close to tho driver's peat. Th's unfortunate man, jn addition to looking' alter tho horses and opening and abutting tha door by moasis of a strap tied to his foot, which you pull whors you wp.nfc to get out, has to give change whenever a little bell ia rung:, and to see that tha threepences in the glass box correspond to the number of passengers. Yefc not only does he drive fast and carefully along tho crowded thoroughfares, but it is difficult to escape without paying. If any ona forgets to pay, tho driver touches his bell, and if that is not attended to, he put his face fco the .chinji: t through which change is passed, and haying ro-.coun.ted the number of people in the 'bus, civilly intisiat.es that " some gentleman has forgotten to put in his fare." Where the omnibus companies have not penetrated, waggonettes similar to those previously described pioneer the road, and on some well frequented lines they run in competition with the omnibuses.

Tramways have not yet been established — a $6fo,efc which visitors from the other Colonies are quick t,o point out. The delay in adopting them has be9a clue partly to most of the suburbs being too far for tramways to compete with the suburban railways, aud partly to the excellence of the omnibuses. And this delay will prove advantageous. Melbourne is now <?oing to profit by the experience of its neighbours, A system of cable tramways, which are infinitely superior to horee or steam tramways, is being established. When this is complete, there should be no better or more comfortable tramways in the world.

It would, perhaps, be hardly true to say that ,the number of horsea and vehicles in the streets strikes the stranger's eye. As a rule a man accustomed to the traffic of London streets passes over the traffic of Melbourne, great as it is for a town of its size, without notice. Bub he will probably notice the novel nature of the Melbourne traffic, the prevalence of that light four-wheeled vehicle called the "buggy," which we have imported via America, and the extraordinary number of horsemen he meets. The horses at first strike the eye unpleasantly. They look rough, and are rarely properly groomed ; but, as experience will soon teaoh the stranger, that they are far less delicate than English horses. They get through more work, and are less tired at the end of it.

A walk down Collins street or Flinders lane, in whioh the principal warehouses and

places of business are situated, would astonish sorau of yomvcitv Grammes. But if a visitor really wishes to form an idea of ths wealth concentrated in Melbourne ha cannot do batter than spend a week walking round the suburb?, and noting the thousands of largo roomy houses and well kept gardens which botoken incomes of over two thousand a year, and the tens of thousands of villas whoso occupants must be spending from a thousand to fifteen hundred a year. All these suburbs aye connected with tho town by railway. Half an hour will bring you 10 miles to Brighton, and 12 minutes will take you to St. Kilda, the most fashionable watering -place. Within 10 minutes by rail are the inland suburbs Toorak, S rath Yarra, and Kew, all three very fashionable ; Balaclava! Elaternwick, and Windsor, outgrowths of St. Kilda, also fashionable ; Hawthorn, which is budding well ; Richmond, adjacent to East Melbourne, and middle class ; and Emerald Hill, Prahran, and Albert Park, with a working class population. Adjoining the city ifcaelf are North Melbourne, Fitzroy, Carlton, Ilotham, Collingwood, and East Melbourne, all, except the last, inhabited by the working classes. Emerald Hill and Hotham have handsome town balls of their own, and the larger of theae suburbs form municipalities. Nearly everybody who can lives in tho suburbs, and the central situation of the railway-station enables them to extend much farther away from tho cifcy than in Adelaide ur Sydnoy. Tho Ausbralian townsman hat inherited the English love of living as far as possible away from the scene of his business and w'oik during the day.

The names of the suburbs afford food for reflection. Yarra, Toorn-k, and Prahran are the only native names. Sir Charlos Hotham and Sir Charlea Fitzroy were tho Governors at the time of the foundation of the municipalities which bear their namea. Tho date of the foundation of St. Kilda io told by the name of ir,s streets — Alma, Inkerman, Redan, Malakoff, Sebastopol, Raglan, Cardigan, and Balaclava, the last of which gave its name to a new suburb which grew up at one end of it. In the cifcy proper the principal streets are named after Colonial celebrities in tho early days — Flinders, Bourko, Collins, Lonsdale, Spencer, Stephen, Swanston, while King, Queen, and William streets each tell a tale. Elizabeth street was perhaps named after the virgin queen, to whose reign the accession of the Princess Victoria culled attention.

As you walk round you cannot fail to notice the Hun burnt faces of the peopley ou meet. Melbourne is said to have the prettiest girls in Australia. In dress tha Melbourne ladies are too fond of colours, but it can nover be complained against them that they are dowdy, and they certainly Bpend a great deal of money on their dress, every article of which costs about 50 per cent, more than at Home. In overy town the shop girls and factory girls — in abort, all the women belonging to the industrial classes* — are well dressed, and look more refined than in England. Men, on the other hand, ate careless about their attire, and dress untidily. The business men nearly 1 all wear black shiny frockcoats and top hats. They mostly look like city men whose clothes have been cut in the country. The working men are dressed much more expensively than at Home, and there are no threadbare clothos to be seen. Everybody has a well-to-do look. There is not ao much bustle as in the city, but the faces of " all sorts and conditions of men" are more cheerful, and leas careworn and anxious. You can see that bread-and-butter never enters into the carea of the Australian ; it is only the cake which is sometimes endangered or has not sufficient plums in it. *

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