A VISIT TO SYDNEY.

Shannon News, 19 June 1928, Page 2

A VISIT TO SYDNEY.

LEVINITB'S INTERESTING IM-

PRESSIONS. Australia has been the Mecca during the past few months of quite a, number of town and country residents from Levin, amongst them Mr. K. Aitken, who, in answer to an enquiry by a Chronitle representative, kindly gave the following interesting and chatty notes upon his observations in the chief city of Australia. Mr Aitken was away five weells, two of which were spent in Melbourne. . "To say one will go to Sydney, he remarked, "is one thing, but securing a berth on one's favourite steamer at Easter time is. quite another. Fortunately, I had a friend on the spot in the city, who was successful in getting Berth 108, which proved to be excellent in every wav and was really one of the most coveted on the ship. May be it was because of the remarkable coincidence that it was the same number as my telephone in Levin. The s.s. Maunganui is an ideal ship for the journey across the Tasman and it is with regret that many will learn that she is shortly to be taken off the run, and will enter the Frisco mail service, skipper, excellent officers and crew, obliging and courteous stewards (many with long records of good service at sea), together with commodious decks, up-to-the-minute equipment, etc. combined to make the trip a delightful holidav. An overcast sky and stiff breeze" did not prevent a big crowd of well-wishers from gathering at the wharf to wish their friends bon voyage. Despite the elements all was gay and bright when the steamer,, left the wharf. Music supplied by the ship's special '' Panatrope,''' and the coloured streamers, together with the gay members of the famous "Rose Marie" Company, all added to the excitement and made a wonderful send-off. THE VOYAGE ACROSS THE TASMAN.

"The slight rain and choppy seas of Cook Strait lasted only a few hours and gave way next morning to brilliant sunshine and calm seas which continued for the rest of the voyage. All the deck games proved very popular under such ideal conditions, and a deck qoits tournament provided fun and excitement for everyone. The evening concerts and fancy dress ball in the beautiful moonlight kept things merry till a late hour and were brightened considerably by the popular chorus girls of the "Rose Marie" Company. : The arrival at Sydney's beautiful harbour, seen for the first time by many tourists from New Zealand, was the signal for many expressions of admiration. The work in connection with the building of the big bridge that is to span the harbour was the centre of attraction for most of the passengers. The members of the "Rose Marie" Company, many of whom belonged to Sydney, and had not been home for fourteen months, were very excited and keen to point out familiar landmarks for the benefit of strangers visiting the city for the first time. Seeing the ferry boats again brought to mind the fateful Greycliffe disaster. Getting clear of the Customs, an irksome business, only adopted recently in New South Wales as a counterblast to the New Zealand Customs laws, and securing a taxi were minor matters compared to the difficulty of finding suitable accommodation ,in a city alleady over-crowded with Easter visitors.

SYDNEY AFTER TWENTY YEARS,

"After an absence of twenty years. I found Sydney a vastly different city, the moat notable features being the widely extended shopping area, and the many new modern buildings erected, and those in the course of erection. Reconstruction and re-modelling is plainly in evidence everywhere. The partlyconstructed underground railway is responsible for a good deal of demolition, upheaval and blasting. A common sight in this connection is a huge area covering between eight and ten acres of ground, formerly the site of the Wynyard Square Park, and now cut down several hundred fee| wherein probably 500 men are at work and viewed from the ordinary ground level they appear like so many midgets, so vast is;the impression created. Here can be seeii five or six big tunnels commenced in the side of the earth, where blasting I operations are carried on all day long and have quite an earthquake effect upon most of the buildings nearby. The last charges of dynamite are put in each night at eleven o 'clock, thus pre--1 paring the work for the early morning gang of workmen next day. Strestwidening is being carried out in the most congested parts of the city and in this connection it is a common sight to see huge eight and ten story build- j ings being demolished by special 'wrecking contractors at what at first appears to be a slow rate. Twelve men standing about three yards apart on the top of the walls or parapets, knock the bricks into the inside of the structure one at a time. Standing watching for a few minutes, the onlooker amazed at the risky position of the men, wonders at the apparently slow method adopted, thinking it must take an enormous amount of time to complete the job. So convinced was I that it must be a slow business that I took particular notice of the time it required to finish one building that was being demolished quite close to where I was staying. To my astonishment I "found that it took only about ten days to wreck a six-story building. Of course they worked night and day shifts. ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SHOW. "Undoubtedly the greatest attraction for the great majority of people in Sydney at Easter time is the Royal Show, and while the organizing committee sfee to it that the enormous crowds are well catered for, the city tram and police authorities see that those same crowds are carefully handled and conveyed to the grounds. One hundred and twenty thousand people were present the day we visited the Show, amongst whom I noticed Mr. Lang, the ex-Premier, and his wife and

daughter. Despite the big crowds good humour prevailed everywhere and everything worked smoothly. The thousands of motor cars, carefully controlled and parked outside the grounds, was a sight in itself. The wonderful halls of produce and agricultural exhibit? from the various states were astounding and the arranging of the exhibits must have meant months of careful thought and hard work. Hundreds of Stalls, exhibiting all manner of laboursaving and economy devices attract ati. tention by the clever arrangement of the displays and the assistance of many bright young ladies who are selling samples at one shilling per bag of half- ; a-dozen different kinds just as fast as they can hand them out. There are many really important matters relating to the Show that could be dealt with at length, but space will not permit. The ring events, the jumping, the wonderful side shows, the prize animals, etc., but I must be content to sum up the Show* in the words of a Californian visitor, whom I met there, and who said, "Believe me, friend, we haven't got anything on you over our way; this Show's the biggest thing of its kind anywhere." RAND WICK RACES. "Thanks to the very generous treatment accorded us by the Secretary,'of the A.J.C., Ave had all the privileges of members, and Were therefore able to enjoy to the full the big Easter meeting at Randwick. Next to th« fact that Limerick was the main attraction, the enormous crowds (120,000 on one day) at once impressed one, also the large number of- motor cars. Here again, as at the Show, the control of traffic was admirable. Tram, taxi, and private car all arriving and being despatched in orderly fashion. Our greatest pleasure was the watching of Limerick winning, although his starring price was not attractive to bettors of small means. A special treat to visitors from New Zealand is found in listening to and watching the "bookies" at work. Hot weather and constant yelling certainly make it a hard, though nearly always a profitable day's work for the bookie. Roughly there are about*one hundred in each enclosure,, totalling about 500 in all. Most of the betting is done with the bookmaker in Australia. Randwick is one of the oldest courses in Australia and many 'racing stories have been written around it. - . SUNDAY IN SUNNY SYDNEY. "A bright warm Sunday morning in Sydney, strolling through the Gardens overlooking the beautiful Harbour—the green lawns, the many exquisite pieces of statuary, the lovely flowers and the calm waters, stillness broken only by the rustle of leaves and the ringing the church bells —it really seems hard to believe that one is still . iii that same city which all through the week is filled with roaring traffic and thousands of people rushing here, there and everywhere. LAND VALUES AND REAL ESTATE. "Sydney's rapidly increasing popu-' lation means much to the dealers in real estate and however much may have been cut up and sold in the past, it is very apparent that there is always mbre land ready to be sold though perhaps just a bit further away. To-day it is said that land within 20 miles of Sydney is a sound investment. Gradually the slum areas are being shifted further and still further away from the city and in their place many large buildings containing as many as 30 and 50 flats apiece are being erected at a 1 cost, of thousands of pounds. The rents of the flats run as high as £2O per week each. HARBOUR TRIPS. "The cheapest and most delightful form of pleasure for the visitor to Sydney is to trip round the beautiful Harbour on the excellent ferry service. Fares on the ferry run from 2d to 6d and many delightful trips can be made to very pretty parts of. the Harbour at very little cost. Many of the ferry steamers provide extra pleasures for the passengers in the way of music by a string orchestra. Light refreshments can also be obtained on board."