SYDNEY’S STATUES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 308, 29 December 1937, Page 7

SYDNEY’S STATUES

A CLEANING CAMPAIGN PREPARING FOR ANNIVERSARY SYDNEY, Dec. 10. Left for many years a prey to birds and dust, the statues and monuments of Sydney are now being cleaned. Scrubbing-brushes, hoses, and a great deal of human energy arc being applied to make them respectable for the 150th. anniversary celebrations next year. Competition between the Government Architect’s department and the Staff of the city engineer has resulted in an almost complete transformation of the appearance of the city’s statuary. The Government Architect has so far been content to let his men coniine their labour to washing and scouring. The city engineer has ordered, as a final process, a generous coating of oil. Thus the bronzes “controlled” by the City Council shine with an almost dazzling lustre, while those “belonging” to the State, such as the Shakespearean group, are merely less dirty than usual. Nobody could doubt that the statue of Queen Victoria or its neighbour, William Bede Dailey, have been thoroughly bathed and prepared for a party, but there may be some doubt about Portia, Falstaff, and even poor neglected Governor Bourke. A certain charm attaches to the stains of oxidisation, and this fact is admitted by the city engineer. He pointed out that his chosen oil veneer was not a beautilier but a cleanser. The real question, however, is not whether oil is belter for statues l han soap and water. It is whether, once having been made tit for fastidious eyes, they will always bo kept in that condition.