l\\. 



I he Keview ot Keviews. 



October, igi: 



There is a natural evolution towards 

 More Tea, temperance for which Temperance 

 Less Whisky. reformers are not directly respon- 

 sible. Thirty years ago whisky was 

 the beverage of commerce in Australia. It was al- 

 most impossible to do business without washing it 

 down with whisky. The morning and afternoon 

 nips were epidemic. " Shouting" was the correct 

 thing. All that has been radically changed by the 

 arrival of the age of reason. It may not be that in 

 the aggregate less whisky is being consumed to-day 

 HI Australia than thirty years ago. Population has 

 substantiallv increa.sed. But it is undeniable that 

 whisky and business have fiecome largely divorced. 

 In the professions as well as in commerce men have 

 discovered that it does not pay to associate whisky 

 with business. The demand to-day is for clear brains 

 and a strenuous application to business during office 

 hours. Where the social custom demands it, tea is 

 now largely fhe beverage ho:ioured in place of 

 whi'sky, as witness the extraordinary development of 

 afternoon tea shops, with their thousands of regular 

 patrons. These have become one of the social sights 

 in all our large cities. The l.idies mav be credited 

 with starting this new fashion ; but where is the 

 business man who does not appreciate the change? 



The most important event of the 



A Great National month, an occasion of historic in- 



Enterprise. tercst and national moment, was 



that picturesque ceremony at Port 

 Augusta on Septeml)er 14, when the Governor- 

 General turned the first sod of the railway to Kal- 

 gfX)rlie. It marks the realisation of many dreams 

 and heralds the linking up of this continent by a 

 great transcontinental railway. The picture of the 

 ceremony presented by the reports in the daily press 

 was one to thrill the heart of every citizen in the 

 Commonwealth. The actual spectators numbered 

 about 2000, including the pioneers of this great 

 enterprise, Governors, Senator.s, and memlx^rs of 

 Parliament, with a company of aborigines looking 

 on in amazement, and the baby fleet King off in the 

 gulf. In spirit and aspiration, all Australia was 

 present, and, as the King's gracious message lx)re 

 testimony, the motherland and the whole Empire 

 were watching afar off, with admiration and 

 approval. In his message to Lord Denman, the 

 King cabled, " I desire, on the occasion of the 

 turning of the first .sod of the transcontinental rail- 

 way, to express my keen .sense of the importance 

 of this great national enterprise to my people in 

 the Commonwealth, and my best wi.shes for its 

 complete succe.ss. " The .Secretary of State for 

 the Colonies also cabled the congratulations of the 

 Imperial Government, and expressed the opinion 

 that this great undert.iking would " redound to 

 the strategic and commercial advantage of .Austra- 

 lia." The new line is to lie 1063 milps in length, 



with I in 80 as its steepest grade. The gauge will 

 be 4 ft. 8i in. The highest point on the line will 

 he at 103 miles from Kalgoorlie, at an elevation 

 of 1354 feet. It has been estimated that the work 

 of construction will be finished in from three to 

 four years, and that the cost will he slightly over 

 ;^4,ooo,ooo. 



There were three men, at least, in 



A Group of the company which witnessed that 



Pioeeers, historic ceremony, whose names are 



peculiarly associated with this un- 

 dertaking. They were Sir John Forrest, Senator 

 Simon Fraser, and Senator McGregor. Forty two 

 years ago, Sir John Forrest, as a young m;'.i:. was 

 one of the first to make the oxerland journc} I rom 

 Perth to South Australia. With .some comii.i:i::ms, 

 he arrived one evening at Port Augusta, weary 

 anjJ travel-stained, after the perilous and trying 

 journey. From that day, Sir John has never 

 ceased to advocate the importance of this trans- 

 continental line. One immediate result of that 

 overland journey was tlie establishment ot tele- 

 graphic communication. The sequel is to be seen 

 in this great railway line. Senator Fraser, though 

 in his eighty-first year, was another of the " makers 

 of history." Thirty-four years ago, he helped to 

 build the railway from Port Augusta northward. 

 That extension will be part of the line to the North- 

 ern Territory. Senator McGregor, it is equally in- 

 teresting to learn, was employed by Senator Fraser 

 in the construction of that line. These three are 

 proud men to-day, and everybody will echo Lord 

 Denman's wish that they may live to ride on the 

 fir.st train which travels across from Port Augusta. 

 Sir John Forrest is a statesman with a vision. Long 

 years ago he saw as clearly as he sees to-day that 

 this railway, making " ways in the wilderness ana 

 paths in the desert," would link up the continent, 

 and prove one of the liest assets in any system of 

 national defence. 



'i'hc iigures for iqii, in r<'gar(l tn 

 A Bulletin of iiopulation. published by the Corn- 

 Demography, monwealth Statistician, offer an in- 

 teresting and profitable study in 

 statistics. During last year the gain to the ])opula- 

 tion of the Commonwealth was the largest for any 

 year yet recorded, and amounted to 143,624. The 

 gain i.s represented liy an excess of births over 

 deaths totalling 74.32 r, and an excess of arrivals 

 over departures amounting to 69.300. The interest- 

 ing details compiled by Mr. Knibbs further sliow 

 that at Decemlier 31, 197 1, the population com- 

 prised 108 males for every 100 females. The total 

 number of births registered, 123.193, w.is the 

 highest on record, and the birth-rate of 27.21 per 

 looo of the mean population was the highest for the 

 past eleven years. 1'hese registrations reinvsent 

 115,119 nuptial, and 7074 ex-nuptial liirtlis. the 



