SYDNEY OF TO-DAY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2189, 30 June 1914, Page 8

SYDNEY OF TO-DAY

THROUGH A NEW ZEALANDER'S EYES REARING THE MILLION IBi SwurSJ

. Sydney, June 10. Coming across from the wind'Swopt coasts tit Nmv Zealand with file's idt f as coafoied to the. lestiiotJOits of the finest of England's island posseasians, wlwso •steady _ pfogress au4 ireedoni fro hi 1 jiifflpiness" is f.&c host gtiaraistea of n spleiul'id fiAtTirCj one can scarify fail to bo eiwniroash; imjw&sed wilii the stining life, amaKing growth., and potential greatness of Sydney. These in Wellington who seldom venture i'nrfi'ftin home, either through a disiiieiiHaticn! to roam or who are aiic'ltorod by the 'olains of itecossit;' to tbo one 'spot, se&tosly realise that tliey- reside withjii J'| ways' ste&in of a city that is destined te beeemo ofte of the largest and most ttnparteiit centres of th« JEflipire, 1.%day Sydney's pcnnliUion is said to be Wween 700,000 and EOO.OOO, and with the growing pains rackiiig . its wfjry. j®fn.t, it is still streteliing out in all <K-rectioasH-tla-owinj; osj.t ieiitacios of li('usc-liacid st/eets whefever there aro means of trauaii or a fair promise of them. Four, five, and six-rconsed houses within, say; tweaty oi- thirty jninutes of the- city, wor& never so scarce as they are".to-day, and the rents, would m-afeb even, a V/ellingtonian raise his eyebrows, Nowhere is the growth of suburban settk-ment more noticea'bie than on the' North Sydney line and at Mcsman. In tha writer's me.niOFy, 3'loßtnan (tho.n known as jfosman's Bay) consisted of some twenty or thirty houses, pietnres.qiiwly set among the scant and bungrydookiftg gums set there by Natore. 'iVday it has a population almost as great as Wellir.fdon City, Irt ten years -Mosman has doubled its impldatic-n, and it tlireateits to fcfeak that record during the ensuing decade.. North Sydney '.lias stretched out rnrraotiiousfy into the eoiintry t-0 the north, and thanks to a very good train service., the bulk of its residents are brought well within thirty minutes <if mid-e-ity. The growth -out towards .Randwiok, Coogee, and Bondi is also reniarlta-btej but not so striking as it is on the north side, while tlio harbour slopes Between Ease Bay and South Head (where the laftd is expensive) .is gradually being built im by an fiWiouslj' well-to-do class of people. City Land values Rising. City prices for land are. coilt-Siiiially mi the rise. Only a few days ogQ Fanner's, of J'itt'and George Street, paid illO/i'O fot 1 a Mock of land laving 106 ft. frontage to George Stroet- a 'fancy price, seriia'ps, as it adjoins the firm's Moek, bi'rt £1.I!)0 a feeit is no small price for land anywhere in' the world. So valuable.. is the eofffitiei oity land of Sydney becoming .that owners have adopted tlte lioiidon style of selling tko precious grouud by ill© sf/uare . foot. Double figures per sqiiaro foot have j already, been tea.lised in more thaii one j recent intereltaiige. All this means tfet Sydneyj once tto 'cbettpest place in Australasia., has lc-apt into the fo'refrout, as tile desrost. Tlis I.os, a day hotel Of three year? ago is Wow 12s. od., . the 12s. 6d. hotel is 1&., and (here sre hotels where, it a married couple £10 a week. .Flats are popular here, but the prices—£B and £6 per week--woidd Sfraro the ayeraKo .'VFelUngtonian. The shilling meai in Wollingfofl is purchasable for 2s. 6d. in Sydney, t.iie price fot table d'hote meat in the bet terclass oity hdtftl k any tips om might- feel dis-po;;e(l to disburse, pi cowso* one neyer feels disposed to t%, tut, the habit lias Struck its roots deep into the ecenomic system over, here, and he suffers w'ho'tips not, besides which lie feels pretty 1i1c3.11 about the whole business., Tke tipping system is (•jincerous. Ift eh'.iractcr--a pttblfc can <!ut it out) hut it grows again. the Spirt Mania, Coshifl-g to SyJiK-y. one's ideas to wltat is 'sane and normal respectiiis eport liaye. to be iiasily rcsdjn.bted if c!l» dees net wish to feel an outsider. Kverycne seoms to be violently infecied witli'a maftis for sport—'for racing, .fof fighting, for football, !fhis aspect of Sydney'life is positively bewildering— ' abnormal, iji.cwpreh.ensible, aln'iost.. to Jne s depre-ssiflg. -Xne fe«:' betieflti but who cares who suffers, who pays the price? No one. thinks of such: a thing;. The football ma.i>'h, the Siadimn. the bettin 3 ring have become as ordinary a luxury to tlie warfcing mail, tlje the wefhanif:, as tobacco. The slipv.tost evidence of any deprecation of such conditions astOtliids people—but. eswises itfd m.ado beenttsf you Are a New 5&,i~ !«n<!ei'—-a product of Wowserland! Oil Saturday last I saw 50.000 .people at Ihe Sydney ' MeirepoHtan-EpgliSh. Lsagae feotball. match—a violent "boil-owr" in favour «f the Sydney playcrs-aud that 'same afternoon, therr tec 20,000 people 'at the EAiidwirfv Taces, and in the even®c ISvOOO witnessed ' tlte Glabby-.feff Smitli felit #t tlte Stadiuni—a . frtr. nil sid'o- i'lidSCeleje. UXhe rimyside. who could see the subtleties' of ftlittch-fighting. The prices for the football match were 2s. fid, and Is. i ; or ili& j siul fey the fißht, £"4 £1. 10s., and 3s. In th" latter case the ss. seats were S'lled at 7.30 p.m. The verdict went to Smith. W. P. Corboti, of the "Sun," gave tl'm fight to dabby; which 11at.HrrJly causes a piethora of talk t'liOt will 1 nieaii another eaiormotts hetise wiicn the two meet And so..the game gees oil. A yomtg army of reporters ehrDivided tlio t;tm® ewjftt.Ws. eveu.v!i£ papsr we'll telephoivbd 'tiieir report:; after each round, Slid on reaching the hotel one Was able to. read a two and in bait column report 01 tlif: contest, which had only elided iuv hout before, The. same enterprise characterised the shroteiclifig of :t&e football matcli. rcachitl" town half an. bout after the whistle" called•.■» .full stop, the papers, with a detailed report of the game .were bctflg.-seld Oil the streets., tlic general opinion was that the, EnglishMen who'wera outclassed in all depart; lnents flf the game, wpre.iii#fc mtt ot conditioit. 'litSy. eertainly looked it, 'jflio efesh, vitality' and resource oi 11.0 Sydney , laays simply made hacks 0: tlio weightier Eivglishnien, Wauy _ (not kicked goals witn.iui®rring pieeision through.' fto couldn't miss S The AostraliSii'te w,ek to nick-naino anyone, The Jwrhs" full-back was christened "Snowy 5 tto'e| minutes after the game started, and one very hefty York&nireman ammig the forwards' was aptly satgted out as •'l3ec; Trust. 11 ... The Terrible Tango. Celsius;' along With all, <his »!«"•' wafo is the terrible tango, which hag caught the fancy 0! 11U classes fit society. Ino tattle' tlanee hall i ! S iioW all" nce-eptcd inKtitati.ni. liiid thmigh tho.se balls a>;e well, indeed, admirably conducted, a w unptßsible to conceive ;he 111 being Otherwiso tHa.'U -tn i : 3iidostrn.y.'iG iniliMticfi. ; Ttoo is 0110 sato wkefo i\m tango, the ' S'tO.j?) t'ilG' t'WO HtC h^SjtAiLion .walt« are danced (withoitt tion> from '8 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly, The hall is. a$ ln.r|e as tlte In-restro Stieet SkatintS I! ink, really verv bcauUiiiliv daeorated and lighted. All dancers .ire expected to wear evening dress—aiid some of the'ladies ijtferpi'et; this' itsiutiction in tbe teoa'dest. sense, Th& iiight 1 attended iKefe ifero leadets of Svdiiev society present, a sprin'iiiiiK of theatre folk, and souse reprosentatiVes o't, pvigdotii, imnudins Eddie M'tJooriv, the Valiant conrpieior of D.ire Smith. No in'trodactioits ate permit-, ted other than those made by mutual friends, and the iitan who speaks to a lady without Knowug bei is- iji&\a

the door. People go in parties, arid keel) in tango touch of: each other rii-rouglioii't the night. There is an orchestra of nit® performers awl a mrifoft'HOij staff of mstruotors, wlio gii'e tango lessons cliiriivij the daytime and help things toi of an evening. Tim supper is a feature—each pays for what tiicy have. Wine may be pro rtrranswd to v . Iji .another tango hall the msd-est 3d. is ekyrgirel for athnitlanni for each porsoa, tteieafter each mate pa-tarn has to pay 3d. pur dance. Startle not, dear Wilder—l]]o tango dance kali is coming to New Zealand. A well-known thefttri* cal manager is already in,iking arrange- : ments for tiieir esto.Mishrn.eitt in Auckland and Wellington. Green Wigs. Green haii'j purple hair# magenta hair ! What au a'Ssunlityl Yet, these hideous iY'raiif? cjAtavftganees have ftp- j peated over here. Oivc can baldly ■ struggle past Farmer's wiactotts for the crowd of women, who ate observing the : ■new coloured wigs that nfo being dis-. played on models in l ive wbnkm s. Who ; will wear them? Why lti a tteok or too ■ the bereft wo-iftoß of this crazy cojiv-imi-nvty will be'.breaking tiieir necks to. fjet iiite the latest colour in wigs. Tlioy ntgua that if a bmnotto may perositl-o hof hair a beautiful .colden I tint, w'iv should she not- wear a green I wig: ? Sou wore wont to wear white and gfey perukes a century and a half i ago.—why not # touch of gayer ecsfcu-r lin these ®a.y days ? A purple tlwteii was spotted by SMlle. Eva GiUitfo'e.r !the swcot singer with Misclia Eima.ii), A kindly critis mentioned that it lac! tio eiEFofifc 08 the lady's rocalism. Elman Boom. By the way, Sliselja Elmaiii the- greatest of ail violinists who have visited Australia, is a boom in MoHmnnie. Be is a brilliant master Artist with a great technic, a, glorious tone, and tempera* TO.ent.al qualities that fear at-erne's heart strings.' So far thy. management has not been able to accommodate at any owe ccneert all who wish to hear the youthful RnSsiaa* and each concert is a'sfiime of wild eiitluiijiasni. I met .both ffihnan and tt.s father—-the one a juvenile- counterpart of tlift other —s'nqrt, StuMiy, IniH-neekel. mast ei fill, both. Elman, senior, is short, fat, rubicund, with a bland, amiable expression—he has the general appearance of a prosperous suburban gtftser. Mis-clia. fair and fluffy-haired, "is goiftg fe be like Mm some day. I li-ava never heaJd. any. thing so superb as Kfcmn's performance of Bach's ''Ait" fur tfio <1 string. His tone h.ad at} tlio lit endi.lt and richness of ft 'cello, «M. it was fended with a wealth of that Mileij.twibl.fi oual'ty n hieh we are pleased.to es-H soul. 'Elsun-n is one of the few really -Brent fiddlers of the world, and New Zealand will recognise it as soon as lie drftws a bow in Wellington. He fe tvell si,ipl»s'ted by the eultlnrtd Soprano, Mdlle, isv-a Ga-istliier, and Mr, Percy Kal : m. Jlessfs; Gori. Mttsgfow and .TcWtie arft maswging tie tout' Iwving "bongbi" it from Mr. Fred. Shipisan), and Mr. N'-n in will he tho advance aeent.

Whilst on tlio swKfeefc of the theatre, Kor* fesfenders \vill to lewd that Mr. ,hkl Sis. Frocl Tv'iWo bav® 'h&en rn-priiincecl for a further twelve woijtlis, ami will coruMr.ec a tour of Kew Ze.'»?iiv! with "The ForMiie. Hunter." "JbxeiMe Me.' ami "Xover Say ixfe" next piM'ith. Becehtty jlr. Cohan nresentetl Ms sister (Mrs. KiWo) witis t'.ie -wljole of the Aust'raKm r»,viijtlos <rf "Get-RiKli-Osiit'k \Vri).lmg.Eor<L'' As these amounted to. 10 TflT ec-at. sif tiro gross receipts. tte ajwmnfc probfjin nfcro several of pntkds! -0«o. Oohn-U b. a who oiiCo a sofrg ai.ul ■dnii-cp: • 7-fa rawnot' write • failures. He Wailingfoni."