THE VICTORIAN COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 263, 10 November 1906, Page 4

THE VICTORIAN COURT.

I I The Victorian Government's court :ha = a. Etnl-ing and well arranged exhib't linecrijjtdve of the State's products I and prugren in various directions. Fai> ing the entruno. , i 3 a splendid painting oi Victoria's preseut. Premier, the Hon. Thos. Bent, in wig and gown, as Spe&ket of the Legislative Council, and around the walls mc some magnificent specimecp of the works of the old masters Iby Giannetti, Baffaele, and othera of J the Italian schools. These have been I sent by Dr. L. L. Smith, chairman of I the Melbourne Exhibition Trustees, wbo j have given some valuable pieces of I statuary. Conspicuous in the court is an enormous g-iJt obelisk, representing a quarter of the solid gold mined in Victoria ! Jur'ng the past 55 years. It was in* j tondrd to have erected an obelisk representing the full bulk of the gold output of the State, but it was found to be too high for the Exhibition buildings, i and, accordingly, the State had to to content with the smaller representation. The average yieKl per annum is shown to have been close on £5,000,000. Just behind the ol>elisk is a. well-arranged collection of models showing-the size and 8 shape of the largest nuggets got iiv tblS State with the names of the finders. The Royal Agricultural Society ' nai forwarded samples of prize wheat, oats, and barley, which were awarded first J place at the Melbourne Agricultural Slrow in September last, and which rim from 681bs to C9lbs to the bushel. From the Murray river comes a remarkable slab of red gum lft by 4ft J 10in. The Ballarat School of Mines sends fossils of rare value, obtained at a great depth. From the Bendigo School of Mines there is a collection of minerals showing the primitive method, of obtaining gold in tha "roaring days," and alongside are models of the latest and most improved principles of winning the precious metal from the earth by machinery. There is a very fine assortment oi Australian wines of the Victorian vintage, aud dried fruits from the Mildura settlement. Along the southern side of the court ( are a collection of magnificent fleeces of wool from different stations. These have been forwarded by the Sheep Breeders' Association of Victoria, The commercial exhibits contain, in addition to a great variety of wines and brandies and specimens of furs, drapery, ■ cutlen-, spring rabbit traps, and rabbit ' destroyers, articles of agricultural tna> ehinery. a.nd a miscellaneous collection of other similar articles. The old bush life and characteristics of the aboriginals are brought to mind by a fine display of native weapons, the armour of the Kelly gang and the firearms with -which they so long defied the Victorian police. There are also exhibits of work done by the convicts, a gold escort case, and other trophies, «, handsome specimen of Japauese carrir.g, camel bobbles, snowshoes. and skates, a Klondike, digger's costume, a jewel casket said to ha\e been the proI perty of the ill-fated Marie Antionettc, j and p.n original letter -written by Lord 1 i Nelson in .acknowledgment of the'congratulations of the London Corporation after his successful blockade of Toulon jin the war with the French. 1 There is on exhibition a fine four- . I oared racing clinker, built to the order ii of the New Zealand Rowing Association. The display of miscellaneous articles ! and exhibits by private firms is on a ' romprehensivo scale, and shows the iD" . terest taken in the Exhibition, not only in the capital of the State, Melbourne, but in other centres of population, suca as Ballarat, He-.d:go, and Mildura. The Victorian court 13 in of Mr. B> ward Xicholls, commissioner for the Victorian Government, and Is in every respect an exceedingly creditable display. (Continued on Page 6.)