B
Tropics of Australia Have Many Resources
people Ilotli town nml tountry demand all
sorts of things of It- N long ago n depu
tattou called upon tlio olllrinlH hero nt
Hrlshntie ami demanded tlmt they sliouM ex
periment as to tulslug certain kinds of
trees. Til- demand Iti this- rani- whh pru
poHlcroiiH ami the nilleuil angrily said:
"Wo can't upend tlio state inonuy In that
way. You ink tlio government to do every
thing. I "I" Hiirprlmil that you do not de
mand that u MUcklo your bnblcs."
I culled at the agricultural d pu liiioin
In Brisbane the other day to ask an to tic
expel Inn nt it I fa i inn. I was told that theg
had lueil established In all parti of the
italo mid the best of experts mid
specialists woto Imported to Buprvise
ilium. A number of the expert me Ameri
cans mill BOtllo of them lvcilve vei y high
' ' . . . ... tt .1... u.irvrif ftVliltrf
slowly hut Httrely ptiihliiK the nummus on nninr.es. nr. .mi ::',:, '
,. tho Interior, and enough pa.luroi for onn.o hcio fiwn l he ' '"'J l'0HU;
.Koiioo slurp tire now In iiw. Quuens- dor u contract which gives hltn $1 noo a
HISHANE, Queensland, June U
iSpnliil Cm respond' In uf The
In ) (in i iihIhim! Ih the i HinliiK
.oiiinrv ( the New All. irallu
mi ..I hunts of Vletnri.i hav
I., nt' i lin lm i taken up. New South Wales
e r.ilrly wi II 'b m l"p d and Soillh Australia
lelU.H Aunt .ill i nt i-o largely de-uil tint
Mi. v urn neM r support n great pnpiilntlnn.
C i-, dlireienl wilh Queensland Tile State
l,i vast irii-lM of arid land, whh h It ox-ii.ii-,
n ijtie through urlrslnn well. It hn
li.ady redeeimd a ci.iinlry twice iih nr. at
,,s I he Htnte of New York, and I am told
Mi.it the miiHt of the vast urea l votid the
..lastal rntiK" l underlaid with suMerraueiui
h.K. and HirentiiH. whl.h will luml h wntcr
for Htoek. The eulllvilted hinds nro til -
-i.... vi.nr. Tim uoverumeni ih
ON l'INEPPLE PLANTATION
land lm ill" '"I' 1,1
reBt nf Au.-tralii
niiitliei'ii null- all
, I. i lm. i !ill the
, . mbiu-d mil In l,H
, 1 1 f trope al fruitH
flelll
U ,... I.IIIIL! 1. 1 HI" "Mil IIH
il 1 1. 1 . l ..- "
Hie South Sea iHl.ilidB
III I lie .Neil ex I I In K III ml.
Hilt let mo tell you something of thin
fionller colon) of Australia, whuh may he
railed "The Newest England" of theHU
English miuIIi lau.lB Quiciislund Ih a prlii-
i.. iin. If It cumin Ihcb the nnitll-
i . tin. 3 ... ..- .
, astern qiiuitcr or tho Australian continent,
having a coast iih Ioiik iih from New ork
City to the (Meal Sail Lake. Ill a dlieU
linn 1 1 om north to south It Is as Ioiik as
II ,nu Washington to Omaha anil from eaHl
to west llhollt llh I' UK "" Wllblllllgioii
to Chicago. It Ih hnlf aKal" as law as nil
our Atlantic tnteH fiom Maine to Florida.
It Ih four limes iih hlK aa Franco and
twelvo times the i-l.e of England and
Wales. The York peiiliiHiila at the ninth of
II Is linger "'an lielund. and the stale all
Wild would nuiko seventeen slates as largo
hh Ohio or more than thirteen tho size
of New Yuri. tiueeiiBland coulnlns I'.f.S.uoO
milium iiiIIih. or 127.000,000 acres, of which
Iosh than 12,mio,mio ate cultivated
Tim entlie upper half of It Ih tropical. It
is not far fiom the oqiiutor and the const
lands will raise all Herts of trnplcut fruits
and crops. Them are more than 100,000
acres In sugar and eighty siiKur iiiUIb. llu
sugar business Is In the hnndH of a trust,
which la Increasing tho product every year
ami which Is now mulling sumcw. ..h ..
100 000 tons of sugar annually. In the same
reKlon coffee plantations are helim started
,1,010 aio iMciiHlve ri.o tlelds and pine
apples and all Hortn of lioplcal milts a i
raised for Hhlpmei.t to the cities liirthci
smith. Last year the exports amounted to
I.-, UOO.OOO dozen hamulus, t,00.000 dozen pine
apples and 1.600.000 dozen or.uiK' h.
The lower half of Uu enslaiid Is iniich like
northvru I'Morlda. There are law trncts.
such ns tho D.nIhiK ""I;1' '"W
mill as rich iih the Ked ltlwr valley, lleie
ou llud nil sorts of crops ImludliiK wheat,
eon. and alfalfa. Bonn, of the hind. I "
told Is too rich to raise h at until It h.is
been fanned for a few yens Somo pro
duces 110 bushels of corn to the aero and
on some farms two crops are raised even
yenr A Bl eat deal of mom y Is made lu
alfnlfn. It very rank and In some
places us ninny as nine crops are cut In om
ear, ench ettttltiK producltiK from one to
two ions per acre. It Is not umouuiuni for
a man to KCt 100 per acre annually out of
alfnlfn. 'I'hU Is of course on the vry best
farms. As n Kcneral thins the fannlUK
enrcleHly dune. The koo.Ih are merely sown
ami the cinp iciipid There Is little art I
llelnl fertilization, but nevertheless the
farmers make money.
At present most of the land Ib held In
Inrne tracts. Thro are single farms whWh
eoillprlse ,0U square miles and there are
tlelds that are ten miles niiare The v.n
eruiil'ilt Btlll owns H7 per cent of all tie
lands in the state and It leases out a larpi
portion of them to the squatters nnd suml
fanners.
The government of ijuecnsland Is n tort oi
ii patriarchal Institution for nursing the
jcar, mid i he tob.uio ixpert. Mr. H- S
Novill or Kmtiukv, la also well paid. Mr.
Nevill i now survliiK Ins seiond term of
ihico yeais. 1 have met Mr Ncvlll duiliiK
my sta In llilsbane lie Is a thoroiiK.i
American, but n wmd of ihe Austr.ill ins
and Is full or piacll.ul Ii iiiriimtlon aboui
Ilium. He has traveled I lilollKheul the
Ki enter part or IJuci iislaud and ho Bays It
has Kical pusi-lbllltles aloiiK in.il different
Hues, and sicciull aloiiK that of tobacco
inlsliiK- II'' 13 Introducing American
methods of culture and dolUK much to
make the plantations hero successful, lie
Is a priiitlc.il tobacco raiser, having heen
engaged tor e.us lu handling tobacio in
Kentuck ami MIsmiiiiI.
U oi l. nl Minimi lllll'i-llll.
t'.lll
ttb
its
111
I speii, some time at tin- mining bur
hero not long ago. iMecnslond lias
..in ..iniiiiiii mlniiii: liisiieeiiirs and
i-, iitin... ill survey Is as good as any
Australia. Tho state is I u h in gold, mil
is especially noted for Mount Morgan,
which is said to be tlio i Idlest gold initio
in tlio woi Id This mountain Is near ltuck
haiiiptou. on the coast above ljin.eusland
It hahiilie.nl produced more than $30,000,
UOU worth of gold nnd has paid out about
'j;,.tMMi,nmi in dividends. The mountain be
longs to a low range of hills not far fiom
the .o.ist. It was a part of a faun owned
by n man named (ioidim, who had fenced
It lu and was using It for pabturuge. Une
nlglu tSurdon was vUlied by two brothers
mini, d Mergan. who was prospccliiii;
I'll.. Mmumiih M.ned over night nnd (Sor
don told them ho thought there was cop
per on his farm ami that he hud noticed
guen uud blue status In the roiks. The
next da Mr. (iordon took the prospectors
to Ih'j mountain and when tho left they
carl led away u few wimples A f vv duys
later they i aine back and olW te I him j
per ncie for the pioperty. He was glad
to hell and for this price tliej Loaghi one
of tho i Iclicst mining propemes iver
known. To get money to wurk itn- mine
they sold a hair Interest to thru
Itoekhainptoii for lu.'iuu. With tins thi
experimented and lluall dlnoveied 'h.it
tho tiro ( oilld be worked b tin- , lilir natn n
plocoHs. The lesult was thai tti. Morgan
anil their nssoiliites soon be, .inn- million
alios. They have adih d to tti wuilu
until now they have great mill, lu b
eleclrldty, which ale kepi gun.g nigh' ami
day. The top of tho mountain has 1 en tut
olf and there ale still v.o-t f.,nuins lo
sight. A hundred Ihouniinl dollaii is now
paid out in wages ever inonih and for a
long time dividends of :.uo,'imi a month
wero paid. A town has giown up
at the foot or the mountain and more than
1,000 men are now constanil) einploed m
netting out tho gold.
Another huge gold Held is that ..r Char
tern Towers, a few miles hai k ef the si a
port of TowiiBVille. From it millions or
dollars' worth of gold have been taken, its
output being only surpassed l llallnrat
and llcndlgo. The gold at the 'Towers'
was discovered In 1S72 by three prosp. . tots
who took out inillloiis of dollars w.,rib
of gold In a very short time. The ptim ipal
mining Is iiiart. mining, tome of the mini h
being very .hep. Hp to IMC. .;ii.oni. on.,
worth of gold hud been mined, ami at
l,rei.cnt about C',.n00 Ih paid out . ver
week In wages. A large town has growl)
up about the mines.
(Willi In rue Mrecl.
Another mining Held Is that of (Jymple.
where, it is snld. the boys pick up gold
In the streets after n rain, sometimes get
ting as much as half nn ounce a day. It
was lu that town that n mnn picked up
a nugget worth $1,100 not long ngo He
was walking in the outskirts when he saw
a little lump or yellow sticking out of the
day bank at the side of the road. Ho dug
it out. and. lo! it was gold. At that time
C.ympie was already thirty years old. So
lar Queensland hns produced about $200,
1.0(1,000 worth of gold, nnd mines nre being
worked throughout a largo nren. There
wen; 2,000 mines In operation icn e.ua
ago and there are more todny.
'I he tin mines exist near the siutheiu
border and also In the north There Is one
district In the latter section along the
Wild river which Is v.ry rich. There are
also copper mines and lead mines as well
as mines of iron, bismuth and silver Iron
deposits are round lu all sections, and In
little mountains of
in n oi Mount Leviathan Is a quarter of n
mile in diauiewr nt the base. It is S00 feet
high nml is said to lie composed of pure
magnetic Iron.
Some i I the best opals f Aiislinlia come
fiom western Queensland. The are
brought Into llrlsbane by the handful nnd
sold al low prices. More than $100,000
worth are annually mined and there are
hiindieds of men engaged in the business.
Many of the opal miners are sheep-shearers,
who hunt for opals In the off senson.
The opals are found In quartz and In sand
stone, some of the best lying within six
Inches of the surface The mining goes
down as far as ,hlrt feel and more, but
always slops when the day Is reached.
1 write this lotWr nt the capital of
Queensland, where 1 have spent some tlmo,
,.,.ine from here out to different parts of
the state llrlsbane has now more
'
mi:kican Tomrco kxpekt in qui:
VIM, WEAHS TUB HOT WEATHEIt
ENSI-ANI) AND HIS WIFE MHS. NE
II AT OF NORTH AUSTRALIA.
IO0.HOO peopb . It Is situated on the llrls
bane river, In the southeastern part of tho
state, and owes Its growth to a fairly good
hnrhor and to the Darling Downs near by,
which are, ns I have s.ild. one of tho rich
est agriiultural regions nf the world.
I came into llrlshaii. from the sea. trav
eling for several hours up tho wldo llrls
bane river. Tho wator is very clear, nnd
as our steamer made Its way through It we
could look over the railing nnd see thou
sands of jellyfish, little mushrooms of
opalescent hue, Moating about, tossed till"
way Mid i lint hv the steamer.
Tho land on both sides are low nnd
covered with bushes. There nre frozen
meat factories as you near the city, each
surrounded by little houses rooled with gal
vanized iron, tho homes or the worKimn
Fun her up ih: re are hills, and when you
come to Brisbane Itsell you llud that It
has as ninny gulleys us Knnsns City. Tho
nn si or ihe town lies on the right bank of
the river. Tlnro nre ninny pretty villus,
nnd rising high above them are the houses
of the colonial parliament, n grent yellow
stone building, with n mnnsard-llke roof or
galvanized iron.
After nn examination by the customs of
ficer, which was very Hnletit, I took n car
riage nnd drove lo the hotel. The streets
wero not unllko those of nn American town.
Tho stores looked the snmo and the big
buildings alone surprised me.
Every ono or the Australian states has
magnlllcciit public buildings, nnd in nil or
the lnrger cities there, nre big buslmss
lil tin ta Thn trensorv dnnartmcnt or
i oi ."..- -
thin Queensland would do credit to Washington
lull length ol the principal thoroughrates
nnd keep out of tho sun. Most or the
streets nre wldo nnd well puvid und nn
electric trolley line goes through them.
llolWlll!M In ll'Ciilllllll.
vltv. Its narllninent buildings cost hnir
million dollars, the Inw courts cost nboiit
yOO.000, and It has tnnny buildings large
for a town of this size.
Tho stores hav. awnings over them which
cover tho street, so that you can walk tin
11UISHNE THE f WMTAL OF QUEENSLAND.
I llud that theie uro more holidays here
than lu Niw Zealand. Every town has Its
half holiday every week, dllforent trades
choosing different days. They had races
the other day at Charters Towns, and th
municipal government declan d ihal no on
should woik while the races were going on,
nnd that the racing days should be public
holidays In Townsvllle the dry goods
stoies close at 12 o'cloi k Thursdays ami
on Saturdays tho factories and meat froiz
lug establishments shut down at noon. In
llrlsbane you cun buy nothing In a grocery
or butcher shop nUer 12 o'clock Wednes
d.i) and on Saturday you must buy your
dry goods before midday If you want them.
1 got up early the other morning exp' cl
ing to buy some things before Hiking a
train. 1 found none of tho grocery stoics
.... ..ii nlitimiL'h II was alreadv 8 o'clock.
and 1 learn that the dry goods stores do not
txpect to do any business In fore 'J. At my
...... , .1. . ..1 ....... ,, A.1..L1 ult.fl riitmltn'
IIUICI II1C L'tVtllli'l ,.,to i.vj. nun. .........r
until b, und If the guests with to go down
before that time they have to walk. The
telegraph olllces nr. cloned all day Sunday
Not long ago there was a murder near Hrls
biiue one Saturday night. The people could
not wire the polio and they did not get
word to the police station before Monday.
These easy hours and many holldnys have
made the Queenslauders n great sporting
people. Every town has Its crick' t grounds
and every little city Its rac truck. The
people go wild over cricket, so much so
that I am told u funeral prucesslon re
cently stopped on passing n bulletin board
to read the score of n big cricket match. I
doubt this.
Wlilnky nml SimIii,
I find drinking hero even more common'
than In southern Australia. Every block
has Its hotel or public hou-e, or, us we
would call It, snloon. and every saloon hat
Its barmaids. The barmaids are not as
pretty us thoso of Melbourne nml Sydney
but they do on the whole quite us much
business. Nearly every one drinks, both
in the public houses und ut home. In mnn
r -pe. table famllbs It Is common to serve
whisky nml sodu nt afternoon teas, the
mi n taking the whisky nnd the women the
ten.
The Queentlaiiders uro very sociable
Tie y will not drink alone, and the eiistoVi
of treating Is universal. The most common
drink Is whisky nml soda and the most
common way of drinking It is to sip It. In
our country a glass or whisky goes down
at ono gulp. Here the tame amount mixed
with water lasts ror an hour.
I nm surprisi d ut the nmoiiui or slniu
used nniong these English people south y
the equator The Australians have inon
thing phrases than tho Amerlcnns. Theli
most common ejaculation Is "My word''
You htnr this evorj where It takes tli
place of "Mon Dion!" in French. "Ad"
rioit'" In fjermaii and "Oh Lord!" In th'
United States, the Australian evident'
th'nklng his word a belter thing to sw. .i
by than the name of the Almighty
FRANK O, CARPENTER