Town Life in Australia | Page 4

'we've got several introductions; and I hear there are lots of
English in Tokio, so that we are sure to get plenty of tennis.'
There are not many people who are likely to be so frank, not to say dull,

as the Professor's friends; but how many people there are who travel
round the world and see nothing! There is a moral in the story which is
probably applicable to at least half of my readers, more or less.
Of the public buildings, which are scattered in considerable numbers
about the town, the largest are the New Law Courts, which have just
been erected at a cost of £300,000. They contain 130 rooms, and
provide accommodation for the Supreme Court, the County Court, the
Insolvent Court, the Equity Court, and for the various offices of the
Crown Law Department. The plan is that of a quadrangle, with a centre
surmounted by a dome 137 feet high. Still more elaborate and
magnificent are the Parliament Houses not yet completed, the front
alone of which is to cost £180,000. With regard to the architecture of
these buildings, there is ample room for difference of opinion, but
everyone will agree to admire the classic simplicity of the Public
Library, erected some twenty years ago, which is planned with a view
to the subsequent erection of a National Gallery and Museum, to
complete a really noble pile of buildings. And it is well worth while to
go inside. The Library is absolutely free to everybody, contains over
110,000 volumes, and has accommodation for 600 readers. An
interesting feature is the large newspaper-room, where scores of
working-men can be seen reading 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 is a museum. In the galleries there are a few good
modern paintings, and a large number of mediocre ones. The statuary
consists mainly of well-executed casts and four marble statues by the
late Mr. Summers. The museum is only likely to be of interest to
entomologists and mineralogists, the collection in both these
departments being considered very good. The foundation and the
success of the whole of this institution are almost entirely due to the
late Sir Redmond Barry, who did almost as much for the University,
which has also been exceedingly useful and successful from every
point of view. As a building it is not equal to the Sydney University,
although it possesses a splendid Gothic Hall, the gift of Sir Samuel
Wilson, who now lives at Hughenden. In connection with the
University is an excellent Zoological Museum, which is interesting to

more than specialists.
Other fine buildings are the Government Offices, the Town Hall with
its enormous organ, the Post Office, the International Exhibition--all
built on a truly metropolitan scale, which is even exceeded by the
palatial hugeness of the Government House, the ugliness of which is
proverbial throughout Australia. But, perhaps, the class of buildings,
which must in every Australian city most excite the surprise of the
visitor, are the hospitals and asylums. There are no less than ten
splendid structures in Melbourne devoted to charitable purposes. The
Roman Catholics have built a fine cathedral, but it is not yet finished.
The Church of England is collecting money for a similar purpose.
Meanwhile the prettiest church belongs to the Presbyterians. None of
the other churches are in any way remarkable. Anyone who has not
seen the London Mint will find the Melbourne Mint worth a visit. The
Observatory contains one of the largest telescopes in the world; and
even if there are no races going on, the Flemington Racecourse is a
'lion' of the largest dimensions. There are four theatres, only one of
which is well-fitted up. The visitor will notice that drinking bars are
invariable and very disagreeable accompaniments of every theatre. One
bar is generally just opposite the entrance to the dress circle, an
arrangement which is particularly annoying to ladies.
Altogether, the public buildings of Melbourne do the greatest credit to
the public spirit of the colonists, and offer substantial testimony to the
largeness of their views and the 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 size, as Melbourne. And this is the more remarkable,
remembering, that even in the existing hard times, masons are getting
10s. 6d. a day of eight hours, and often a very dawdling eight hours too.
The Botanic Gardens, just outside the town, are well worth a visit.
They have no great scientific pretensions, as their name would imply,
but are merely pleasure-grounds,