FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SYDNEY.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 453, 23 November 1880, Page 2

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SYDNEY.

» (C 0 X T I N U E D.)

Mindful of my promise, I pen some further remarks upon Sydney, in the hope that they may prove of some little interest to your readers.

One feature that especially struck me was the very numerous jewellers' shops, and this I take to be rather a healthy sign. The goods dismayed are very vai ied in style, and considerably cheaper than any I hove seen since I left the old country. Drapers and clothiers especially .abound, and when I state that one of the first firms of the city dispbiy at 7s Gd, 10s Gd, and 12s Gd per pair, well cut trowsers, of fashionable patterns an 1 fair quality ; suits that do not look conspicuously common, at 80s ; and good white shirt* at 21s" the half dozen—l fear that my remarks may cause the mouths of young men of limited incomes in New Zealand to water.

I am informed that there are a great number of clerks, shop assistants, and laboring men out of work ; doubtless this is true enough, but I still behove that the proportion is much less than in Victoria and New Zealand, and one thing I can say with confidence is that the general run of wages paid is equal to those current in the colonies named, while the cost of the necessaries of lifo is considerably less than in most parts of New Zealand. At any hotel one can obtain a full-sized tumbler of good English draught ale for 3d, and a very fair cigar can be enjoyed at the same figure. At many hotels, and at numerous wineshops, the charge for a glass (nearly half-a-pint) of decent colonial wine is also 3d. First-class shops exhibit gentlemen's sewn boots at 10s 6d per pair. The cost of a bedroom and three meals a day (paid for separately) for a Aveek, at a coffee palace, amounts to from 25s to 27s Gd, and the general style is equal to anything short of a really first-class hotel ; indeed, many persons would say that the general routine is equal to that of the best "pub." Although, as may be premised from my remarks anent beer and wine, I do not belong to the 1.0. G.T. fraternity, I fully appreciated the conspicuous absence of slang, noise, and horsey behaviour from the bars of the coffee taverns and palaces, of which there are several in good swing here ; and I reflected that if I stood in need of a strong refresher, I had only to go a few doors further on, in any direction, to be able to indulge my vitiated taste. A coffee tavern dinner consists of a variety of well cooked and well served courses, comprising soups, fish, joints, pastry, and any temperance drink—long or short, simple or mixed—or, if preferred, one, or even two, cups of tea or coffee. The charge is Is, or six tickets for ss. The usual charge for a good breakfast or tea is 9d. Much of this information, however, I gave last time. The town reminds the visitor more of London than does Melbourne; nor is this entirely owing to the fact that the streets are narrower than those of the Queen City of the South. Nature seems to have done her " level best " to give New South Wales one of the very finest sites in the whole world for a capital city, and although man has liot taken sufficient advantage of it, still I incline - to the opinion that the many natural advantages which Sydney possesses, combined with her attempt at something like underground drainage, may place her fully upon a par, in a general and all-round way, with her ridiculously situated and virtually undrained rival, notwithstanding the superior width of streets and rectangular arrangement of . the latter. !

I took advantage of a fine Saturday to pay a visit to Manly Beach. It is

distant about, seven miles from Sydney, beyond the entrance to Hie harbor, but not outside of it. It is a clean, neat, and very quiet seaside resort, calling for no especial comment, the glory lying chiefly in the magnificent scenery passed in transit, to jmd from the metropolis. The s.s. FfiirHiihr, by which' I travelled, is a fine and roomy vssol, with extra raised decks fore and aft; and although several hundreds were on board, there was plenty of room. The Saturday fare for the return journ*y, a distance of about 14 miles altogether of pleasant travel, was only Is, and I fancied that, during my existence, I had parted with sundry " bobs '' for much less value. I tried hard to square matters by a moderately liberal donation to the harp and violin men, who solaced us with very fair mi.sic, both going and coming ; and I returned to my coffee tavern, feeling that satisfaction inherent to a true-born Briton, who knows that, for once at all events, he has had his moneys worth. I have often shuddered at the thought of what would happen to the colony shou'd a Graham 'Berry arise to make it a " fine country fir the working man," and foist payment of members and Protection upon the people. Where

would be our 80s suits and large threeponnv nobhlers then ? Echo answers " Where ?"

I am not much taken up with politics, but I am unable to shut my eyes to the facts staring me in the face. These facts are as follow :—Whatever poverty may exist here, we have less than Victoria or New Zealand. This is virtually a free port, and while wages are not worse (probably rather better), living is certainly cheaper her 3 than in either of the colonies named. If my remarks are taken as being an inducement to persons to come here from other colonies, I beg to caution them that the labor market is fully supplied, and if immigration of persons without means were to take place, it is probable that nine-tenths would find themselves out of work, and with the additional drawback of having no friends or relatives at hand to advise or help them. Last Sunday I visited the Anglican Cathedral—a large handsome edifice adjoining the Town Hall. The organ is a very handsome (I should say pretty) one, and is planted in a small gallery, high over the heads of the congregation. The attendauce was small, as the minister severely noticed during the sermon, attributing to the heat the probable excuse of his missing flock. I thought the service too long, and attributed to this the disinclination of m -ny would-be worshippers to attend. Either the service should have been shorter, or more music introduced. lam not very High Church, but still I feel disinclined for aiother Sunday morning's service after my experience of the Cathedral. Owing to the insufficient width of the streets, the tramway operations are very limited. I however admired the pleasant open cars and business-like speed of one street train which ruslelpast us, and I came to the conclusion—after hearing a real railway train rush under the road, at about 30 miles an hour, and seeing the same pull up at a suburban station and std-t off again with a few seconds' delay—that the New Zealand railway officials might take a few lessons, with advantage, from old, slow-going Sydney.