hat date the anniversary of that auspicious day has been set
aside for a national holiday. The now exceedingly prosperous seaside
resort of Glenelg hums each December 28 with joyous holiday makers. A
banquet, presided over by the mayor, and attended by the Governor, the
Premier, members of the Government and Parliament, is held to commemorate
the birthday of the Colony and do honour to the few surviving veteran
colonists who took part in the ceremony of the proclamation under the
shade of the historic gum tree in 1836.

I have just looked up last year's Press account of this ceremony, and I
find the following names mentioned, there are only two dating from
1836--Miss Marianne Fisher and Mrs. M. A. Boneham, who were on that date
still alive.

The capital of South Australia is Adelaide. I have travelled over many
parts of the world, and venture to say I have seen every important city
and town in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I have no hesitation
in proclaiming Adelaide the best as regards situation, laying out, and
climate. The genuine hospitality of its citizens is well known. Its site
was most carefully selected and surveyed, and the city itself laid out
and planned by a very able Engineer officer, Colonel Light. There was no
hurry, no fuss, when this was done. Colonel Light was given an absolute
free hand, besides ample time in which to complete his work. No better
monument exists to his memory than the city of Adelaide itself. Colonel
Light gave full consideration to the chief requirements of a city. He
appears to have selected from different parts of the world the best
characteristics of their cities and to have embodied them in his
conception and plan of Adelaide. Nothing which could be of benefit in
days to come seems to have been overlooked. The most important item,
perhaps--namely, facility for a perfect system of drainage--had been
evidently kept in view when the site was chosen. In after years, when it
was deemed advisable to instal what is known as the deep drainage system,
the best known up to date, it was found that it could be carried out
without the slightest difficulty, not only throughout the city proper,
but also in the numerous suburbs, which are steadily growing in
population outside the beautiful park lands surrounding it. Practically
Adelaide proper covers one square mile of ground, East Terrace being the
only broken side. Around this square mile lies a belt of park lands
averaging about