238 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



MADAME CLARA BUTT. 



i^40,ooo to erect. Its exterior has 

 little to commend it, but inside it is 

 just the hall Melbourne has long been 

 requiring. Although it seats 200 

 people more than the Town Hall, which 



can accommodate 2200, it looks much 

 smaller. The extra seating is pro- 

 vided in the balconies. The arena and 

 the two balconies slope steeply, so that 

 even a matinee hat cannot entirely 

 eclipse the platform. The acoustic 

 properties of the hall are excellent, the 

 pm test having been carried out wit!) 

 much success. A handsome lounge 

 gives on to a balcony overhanging Col- 

 lins-street. Altogether the Auditorium 

 will prove a great acquisition to Mel- 

 bourne, and the artistes who are coming 

 to open it make the success of its first 

 season certain. 



Gigantic Ships Built anri Building. 



The huge Hamburg-Amenka liner 

 " Imperator," of 47,000 tons, is at the 

 moment the largest vessel afloat. Al- 

 ready difficulties are being experienced 

 in the control of such a bulky mass. 

 She ran aground in the Elbe and has 

 damaged other ships and herself some- 

 what. These vast vessels necessitaip 

 special docking accommodation, and 

 are exceedingly difficult to handle m 

 harbour. This does not prevent others 

 being built. The "Britannic," which 

 has been laid down in Belfast for the 

 White Star line, will be even bigger 

 than the " Imperator " and the " Aqui- 

 tania," the Cunard liner launched the 

 i ither day on the Cl\de, is of equal size. 

 The " Vaterland," another Hamburg- 

 Amerika liner of 47,000 tons, was 

 launched about the same time. The 

 " Aquitania " is equipped with anti- 

 rolling tanks. The " Britannic " is ar- 

 ranged to float with six compartments 

 flooded, and in her the White Star 

 Company consider that they have an 

 unsinkable ship. These leviathans re- 

 quire crews of over a thousand men 

 each, and carry over three thousand 

 passengers. They have a speed of 

 from 22 to 2"^) knots. 



Henry Slcail, Maiiiiing Ko.id, E.ist Mal»em. Vic. 



