CELEBRATIONS IN AUSTRALIA

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5904, 23 June 1897, Page 3

CELEBRATIONS IN AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE, June 23.

The weather yesterday was fine. A procession of thousands of children marched through the streets to the Exhibition Grounds, where a demonstration and sports were held, followed by the Governor's levee and a review of the troops. In the afternoon the Governor opened the new Victoria bridge. The city was brilliantly illuminated last night, and the streets were densely crowded.

MELBOURNE, June 23,

The official programme yesterday included the Governor's levee, and a review of the naval and military forces, who afterwards marched through the streets. The programme was successfully carried out. The illuminations last night were general in character, and on a brilliant scale.

SYDNEY, June 23,

The weather yesterday, though gloomy, was dry, and the darkness of the night greatly heightened the effect of the illuminations. Trains from all parts of the country poured their living freights into the metropolis yesterday at a great rate. The streets last night were densely packed, and it is estimated that about three hundred thousand persons were viewing the illuminations, which were of a most brilliant character, the Government'offices, financial institutions and insurance companies vying with each other in the splendour of the decorations. The tower of the Post Office and Town Hall was a brilliant spectacle. As compared with the 1887 Jubilee, the illuminations, perhaps, were not so general, but the effect was more gorgeous than on that occasion. On Monday evening, although thero were great crowds in the streets, thero was only one fatality, a little girl being killed by a tram, but the various police offices, at a late hour were converted into nurseries, over fifty small children managing to lose their parents in the crush. The scene in the harbour was very fine, searchlights playing over its waters, while the warships made a magnificent pyrotechnic display. The official programme yesterday opened

with a commemoration service in St Andrew's cathedral at ten o'clock, the Governor, and military and naval officers attending in their official uniforms. There was a crowded congregation. ■ Tho National jubilee prayer was read, and special hymns, and the National Anthem, were sung. At eleven o'clock the Governor reviewed the military and naval forces in the Centennial Park, and a feu-de-joie and sixty guns were fired. Afterwards the troops marched through the principal streets of the city. In the afternoon the Governor, in the presence of a large gathering, unveiled Governor Phillips' statue in the Garden Palace grounds, and eulogised him as the first governor, and the founder of Sydney. In the course of his speech his Excellency stated that he had received a cable message from Mr Chamberlain announcing that the Queen had conferred the order of Knight Commander of St Michael and St George upon Chief- Justice Darley, and that the Hon G. H. Eeid has been made a member of the Privy Council.

There were celebrations on an extensive and varied scale throughout the country. Similar official functions took place in Brisbane and Melbourne. In the latter city there were hundreds of thousands of people in the streets.

Bain set in shortly after eight o'clock last night, and considerably marred the illuminations.

The non-receipt of the cable message announcing the commencement of the thanksgiving hymn at St Paul's is understood to be the result of a breakdown in the arrangements in London. Everything was in readiness here for its receipt, and there was great disappointment at its non-arrival.

ADELAIDE, June 23,

The chief events were a procession of 20,000 school children, the Governor's reception, and a Jubilee concert. The city was brilliantly illuminated, and the crowds in the streets have never been equalled. The weather was splendid.