AUSTRALIA. 117 



fares are paved with hardwood hlocks. the spaces be- 

 tween them filled with cement. The electric limit- 

 ing and electric tram system, water supply and sewer- 

 age, the many public parks, library, museum, botanical 

 and zoological gardens are the best proofs of the wide- 

 spread public spirit of its citizens. The university, 

 public and private schools, hospitals and other chari- 

 table institutions and the many churches speak well 

 for the intellectuality of its people. The location of 

 the city on the hills inclosing the magnificent harbor 

 compares well with Naples. The country around Syd- 

 ney surpassed all my expectations. Dr. Hinder gave 

 me an automobile ride of sixty miles and we passed 

 through a country dotted with orange groves and fruit 

 orchards, and a part of the faultless macadamized road 

 led over mountains 900 feet high, through virgin for- 

 ests skirting dark, deep ravines, with inspiring glimpses 

 of country scenes in the far distance. The orange trees 

 are small and not over six feet in height, with dark 

 green, shining leaves in such strong and beautiful con- 

 trast with the heavy burden of golden fruit. The for- 

 est, or, as it is here called, the bush, was resplendent 

 with flowers of all hues and blooming shrubs. 



HOSPITALS. 



Sydney has made ample provision for its sick poor. 

 The public hospitals are supported by donations and 

 annual subscriptions; the latter are doubled by the gov- 

 ernment, besides the government pays for each charity 

 case $5 per week. None of these hospitals has private 

 rooms, but the patients who have means pay what they 

 can toward their support, the maximum charge being 

 $5 per week. Medical and surgical service is rendered 

 gratuitously by the members of the staff. The lack 

 of private rooms in all of these institutions makes it 

 necessary to establish private hospitals, a number of 

 which are conducted by nurses; others are owned and 

 managed by the surgeons themselves. 



