In Sydney I was first met by my old and esteemed friend the Honourable George Alfred Lloyd, who, besides many other attentions, took me to Sir Henry Parkes, with whom I enjoyed some interesting political and financial conversation.  I afterwards met the Honourable Mr. Burns, the Treasurer, and discussed with him the prospects for consolidated Australasian three per cents—­a prospect which, as he said, he feared might be still far off; owing to the perverse fancy of the other colonies to enter upon special protective systems of their own, which, after being established, they, or the interests protected, might not be disposed to give up even for the sake of a federated Australasia; next we called for one of our fellow-passengers per “Coptic”, Mr. Sidman, at the grand offices of the “Evening News” and the “Town and Country Journal”, for one or other of which he had been editorially engaged.  This happily led to our introduction to the proprietor, Mr. Bennett, and to our being shown the wonders of the Press of our Southern Empire.  And, here, again, I had to notice that all the latest steps of progress are taken up so promptly and so thoroughly.  The time of our visit was between one and two o’clock, and the work of throwing off the “Evening News” of that day had begun.  The machines, we were told, embodied the very latest improvements, and when we alluded to that of “The Argus”, just then being fitted up, with every latest appliance, at the Melbourne Exhibition, Mr. Bennett assured us that the machinery before us comprised them all.  We saw first the stereotyping process, by which copies of the one type-setting of the paper can be multiplied indefinitely.  Then three machines were set in action, delivering 10,000 copies each per hour.  A fourth machine was added shortly after, which delivered somewhat more; and this latter appeared to us the exact counterpart of “The Argus” machine, as already seen by us in London.

I recall a joke of many years back when mechanical contrivance was attracting much general attention, and arousing great hopes, to the effect that a sheep would some day enter the machine of the future at one end, and be delivered at the other as ready cooked food and broad cloth.  What we saw was not a whit less wonderful.  The great roll of paper unrolled itself into one end of the machine, and, even more quickly than one could walk the half-dozen yards of distance, it emerged in separate papers, dropped, as I said, at ten to twelve thousand an hour, printed, folded, cut, and numbered to the dispersing hand which received them.  The circulation of the “Evening News” is 60,000 daily.  That of “The Age”, as I learnt on arrival at Melbourne, has now advanced in its inspiring career to 76,000.  These are the papers of greatest circulation in the Southern Hemisphere.  Such is already the Press of the infant Hercules of Australasia.