New South Wales
the oldest of the colonies of Great Britain in Australia, and since Jan. 1, 1901, a state in the Australiar commonwealth. At one time it comprised the E. half of Australia, but is now bounded on the N. by Queensland, on the S. by Victoria, on the E. by the Pacific Ocean, and on the W. by South Australia; area, 310,700 square miles. A mountain range (the Great Dividing Chain) extends from N. to S. nearly parallel to the coast, at the distance of from 30 to 50 miles inland. The highest summits are Mount Kosciusko, Mount Clarke, and Mount Townshend in the S. E. (7,353 feet), the last being the highest mountain in the colony and in Australia. The coast line, 700 miles in length, presents, in general, bold perpendicular cliffs of sandstone in horizontal strata. Among the indentations of the coast are Port Stephens, Port Hunter, Broken Bay, Port Jackson, Botany Bay, Jervis Bay, Sussex Haven, and Twofold Bay. The most important rivers are on the W. side of the great watershed, the chief being the Murray, the Murrumbrigee, the Lachlan, and the Darling, the Murray receiving the waters of the others and carrying them to the sea through South Australia. The Murray partly belongs also to Victoria, as it forms the boundary between New South Wales and that colony, and the Darling is thus the chief river of New South Wales. On the E. side of the watershed are no large rivers, the chief being the Hunter (300 miles) and the Hawkesbury (330 miles).
The volume of the rivers depends greatly NEW SOUTH WALES on the season, and their utility for in land navigation is much impaired by their shallowness. As a general rule the prevailing rock on the E. side of the mountains is sandstone, and on the W. granite. Much of the sandstone belongs to the Carboniferous system, and is accompanied with workable seams of excellent coal. The coal fields extend over an area of 10,000 acres, with more than 91 mines. The state exports considerable quantities of coal to the W. coast of North and South America.
Copper ore of the richest quality and tin exist in large quantities, and iron is very generally distributed in all parts of the state.
Several varieties of precious stones have been found, notably opals. As the area of the state extends over 11° of latitude, and as it contains a good deal of climate is to be found. In the N. the of elevated ground, nearly every variety climate is tropical, while on the tablelands severe frost is not uncommon. The interior plains are very dry, while the coast districts have abundant rains.
Though the hot winds of the warm season are annoying, they are not unhealthy, while storms and electrical disturbances are comparatively rare.
About one-fourth of the area of the state consists of forest lands, which in 1887 were taken under the care of the government by the creation of a Forest Conservation Department. The scarcity of water renders much of the surface far better adapted for pasturage than for agricultural purposes, though where the necessary moisture is present heavy crops are obtained. The total imports of New South Wales in 1917-1918 amounted to £27,975,582, and the exports to £36,216,779. Gold is found in all parts of the state, although production has fallen off in recent years. There was produced in 1917 85,954 fine ounces, valued at $349,038. The silver production for the same year amounted to 1,782,004 fine ounces, valued at £328,- 251, together with 324,881 tons of silver lead ore and metal valued at £4,164,324.
There were produced in 1917 6,576 tons of copper, valued at $814,154, and the coal production in 1917 was 8,292,867 tons, valued at £4,422,740. The manufacture of coke is also an important industry. There were in 1917 5,163,030 acres under agricultural cultivation.
The chief products are wheat, of which about 37,000,000 bushels were produced in 1917; corn, barley, and oats. The value of the manufactured output in 1917 was £85,944,320. There were in the state, in 1918, 38,000,000 sheep, 2,900,000 cattle, 750,000 horses, and NEWSPAPER 300,000 pigs. The production of wool in 1917 was 270,525,000 pounds.
NEWSPAPER army. The "Acta Diurna" seem, however, to have recorded other than Sydney is the capital; other towns are tary matters, e. g., trials, punishments, Newcastle, Bathurst, Goulburn, Para- deaths, sacrifices, prodigies. The Pekmatta, Maitland. There is no estab- ing "Gazette," the oldest daily in the lished religion. Among the religious world, was first issued about A. D. 1350. sects the Church of England, Roman This is still in existence, and is an offi- Catholics, Wesleyan Methodists, Luther- cial journal, forming a pamphlet of ans, and Presbyterians hold the chief 20 to 40 pages of coarse paper. The to 40 pages of coarse paper. place. Education is compulsory between "Notizie Scritte," published monthly in the ages of 7 and 14. The educational Venice, in 1562, is said to have been the system comprises lower and higher public schools, evening schools, etc., at the top being the University of Sydney.
With it are affiliated three theological colleges, for Church of England, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic students respectively.
New South Wales was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, and founded as a penal settlement (at Botany Bay) in 1788. One of its early governors was the notorious Captain Bligh, who was deposed by the colonists in 1808. The most important events in its history since convict immigration ceased in 1840 are the establishment of representative institutions in 1843; the erection of Victoria into a separate colony in 1850; the important discovery in May, 1851, of extensive gold tracts; the rush to the diggings, with consequent great increase in population and prosperity; and the incorporation of the colony in the Australian commonwealth in 1901. The first railway, from Sydney to Paramatta, was opened in 1855. Among more recent events are the Sydney Exhibition held in 1879, and the Intercolonial Conference held at Sydney in 1883. The colony celebrated its centenary in January, 1888. On Jan. 1, 1901, Sydney was the scene of the inauguration of the first governor-general of the new commonwealth, Lord Hopetoun. Pop. about 1,700,000.