THE CITY OF MELBOURNE. 



475 



which, according to an official estimate, has been known to draw together as many as 

 one hundred and thirty thousand persons. 



In the immediate neighbourhood of Flemington, on the east side of a serpentine 

 creek separating it from Brunswick and Carlton, lies the Royal Park, which contains 

 between two and three hundred acre, Its elevated position and undulating surface 



combine to render it 

 one of the most pictur- 

 esque of the numerous 

 reserves, which have 

 been wisely set apart 

 for purposes of public 

 health and recreation 

 in the immediate vici- 

 nity of Melbourne. It 

 has, however, been en- 

 croached upon at dif- 

 ferent times by Govern- 

 mental institutions. 

 These include an old 

 powder-magazine, a 

 "calf-lymph vaccination 

 farm," a commodious 

 edifice devoted under 

 the supervision of the 

 Immigrants' Aid So 

 ciety to the shelter of 

 the destitute, and an 

 Industrial and Reform- 

 atory School. At least 

 this was the purpose 

 for which the great 

 barrack - like structure 

 was originally used, 

 until experience demon- 

 strated the superiority 

 of the home life and 

 domestic training, ob- 

 tainable under the 

 boarding-out system, as 



compared with the practice of herding together the little waifs and strays of society 

 under one roof, where they were found to suffer alike in health and in morals. At 

 present the school serves as a receiving house for boys and girls, who are thence 

 drafted off to various parts of the country. Under this improved method of dealing 

 with them there has been a remarkable falling off in the number of children thrown 



A REACH ON THE YARRA. 



