International exhibition Glasgow 1901
Official catalogue

light blue on glan. Western Australia. 189 WESTERN AUSTRALIA. INDUSTRIAL HALL—NORTH-WEST COURTS. Founded in the year 1829, comprising about one-third of the whole Continent, or, approximately, 624 million acres, it must be left to those who wish to follow the chequered existence of the Colony through her early career to do so from the works and writings of such men as Sir George Grey, Sir John Eyre, Sir John Forrest, and others. Suffice it to say that the incidents in the lives of the early settlers are a history of the pluck, endurance, and pertinacity of the race, comprised as Western Australia was, in her infancy, of colonists drawn from the best stock which could be found in Scotland, England, and Ireland; a fact which the names of the sons and grandsons of the early settlers testify to the present day. What chiefly concerns us for the moment, in a short retrospect such as the present, is the natural development which places Western Australia in the position in which we find her to-day. A comparison of the statistics for the years 1889 and 1899 shews that during the intervening 11 years the population had nearly quadrupled. The revenue increased from less than half a million sterling in the first mentioned year to over two and a-half millions in 1899. The imports and exports (combined) in 1889 stood at £1,579,519, whilst the total in 1899 was £11,459.174. Speaking generally, the upward course began with the finding of gold in the Kimberley district in the year 1884. Following history’s precedent in Australia generally, mineral discoveries have been the means of bringing Western Australia into prominence before the world. The discovery above referred to drew to her shores some thousands of men whose lives had been spent in searching and mining for the precious minerals. In the far-off region of Kimberley, surrounded by almost insuperable difficulties, and far removed from the base of operations, these early gold seekers, in a then unexplored region, scattered themselves throughout the southern districts of the colony in search of gold. In rapid succession fresh fields wer »found by them and others, following in their steps, until to-day there are no less than 19 distinct, goldfields, including those at Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, Menzies, Peak Hill, and Murchison; while the exhibits in the Mineral Court at this great Exhibition bea? eloquent witness to the richness of her ores and the divers© forms in which nature sees fit to deposit her riches. It may not be out of place to say here that 180 tons of gold, representing a money value of £22,487,000, have already been unearthed. At the same time it may be added that the present average monthly product amounts to about tons avoirdupois ; this, when minted, would make sovereigns which, if they could only be placed in a pile one on top of another, would reach two-thirds as high as Ben Nevis, or over 2,700 feet. Much might be said of the almost unlimited area over which gold is found, the excite- ment of the search for fresh deposits, and of the sensational nature of the discoveries made in the past—which are in every case the absolute property of the lucky finder, the only charge being a Government fee of 10s. for a permit, or Miner’s Right—but limited space admits only of a bare statement of facts. Another great inheritance the colonist possesses is the huge forests of timbers, which for certain purposes are perhaps the best that are known to the world. Jarrah and Karri (and again the enquirer is asked to satisfy himself by personal observation at the Timber Section of the Court) are suitable for a multiplicity of purposes. Wagons, wheels, and wood-carving represent but instances of the many purposes to which they can be put. For street paving blocks, it is claimed that these timbers have no rival, while for work where endurance and resistance against the attacks of destructive insects are matters of first importance, such as jetties, wharves, and dock-work, Jarrah stands out pre eminently. Agriculture should have a special interest for the thrifty Scotch farmer, and to him the advice is given to go to the Court and see for himself if better cereals can be grown than those which won a grand prize in Paris, and which, to be raised in huge quantities, only require willing hands and a moderate amount of capital.