PUBLIC WORKS—RGADS AND BRIDGES. 293 



directly sliipped in return. Steamers of over 1,000 tons burthen ply 

 from Sydney to Morpetli, tlie head of navigation, 30 miles from New- 

 castle. Still further improvements are about to bo undertaken with 

 the object of permanently deepening the channel at the bar, and 

 thus permit of vessels of the largest tonnage to leave the j)(>rt fully 

 laden. 



At Trial Bay, a few miles to the north of Smoky Cajjo, a harbour of 

 refuge is in course of construction by means of convict labour. Apart 

 from the nature of the works itself, it is of considerable interest as an 

 object lesson in prison administration. When the Colonial Govern- 

 ment decided, in 1875, to construct this harbour of refuge, the 

 opportunity was taken by the then Comptroller-General of Prisons, 

 Mr. Harold Maclean, and the Engineer-in-Chief for Harbours and 

 Elvers, Mr. E. 0. Moriarty, men of most humanitarian ideas, to 

 recommend the establishment of a Public Works Prison for the 

 purpose, where long-sentence prisoners could be provided with 

 employment under healthy conditions, which would train them to eai*n 

 a living on their release, and also give them the opportunity of earning 

 the means to start advantageously in their future career. The pro- 

 posal was adopted by the Government, and buildings were erected 

 at a cost of nearly £80,000. The work has been for some years in 

 operation and has been perfectly successful, the breakwater having 

 been extended 520 feet, at a cost of £43,919 18s. 5d. The treatment 

 accorded to the prisoners is of the most liberal kind. They are paid 

 wages of 6d., Is., and Is. 6d. per diem according to behaviour and the 

 time they have been on the works, and are given an amount of liberty 

 probably unparalleled in any other establishment of the kind. The 

 prison buildings are situated in a large reserve where the prisoners 

 are allowed to spend their leisure time in healthy recreation such as 

 cricket, fishing, swimming, &c. They do not wear the regulation 

 convict uniform, and are permitted to grow their beards ; in fact, 

 beyond the presence of an occasional warder, there is very little about 

 the works to remind the observer of their penal character. The 

 prisoners are allowed to associate together for mess and other purposes, 

 and they can spend a certain portion of their earnings in tobacco and 

 other small luxuries. Every encouragement is given them to acquire 

 habits of self control and industry, and to fit them to become, when 

 their term has expired, decent law-abiding members of the community. 

 The wise and humane intentions of the Government in establishing 

 the prison on these lines are much to be commended, and it is therefore 

 satisfactory to know that it has been found successful. 



At Sydney Harbour, owing to its magnificent natural faciHties, very 

 little has been required to provide for shipping beyond the construction 

 of wharfs at which ships can lie to discharge and load cargoes. Although 

 much work of this kind has been left to private enterprise, some of 

 the most important wharfs have been constructed by the Government, 

 which now yield a very considerable revenue. Amongst them are the 

 wharfs at the Circular Quay, formerly known as Sydney Cove, on the 

 shores of which the first settlement was made and the foundation laid 

 of the City of Sydney. Here, within a stone's throw of the centre of 

 the town, lie the magnificent mail steamers of the Peninsular and 

 Oriental, the Orient, the Messageries Maritimes, and other lines. 



