Summary

Double-sided page from The Australasian Sketcher, Saturday 20 Dec 1879, published by Wilson & McKinnon, Melbourne. The first page (p.149) features a number of engravings illustrating Sydney scenes at the time of the Sydney International Exhibition (17 September 1879 to 20 April 1880), including the arrival of country excursionists and visitors from Queensland, the Garden Palace grounds and entrance gates, and the steam tramway, a highlight for many visitors to Sydney:
'The steam tramway is a great success ... [and] is the most popular thing in Sydney. Every person wants to ride in the tram carriages, and those who do ride in them declare that they prefer them to any other mode of transit that they have ever enjoyed. I have see the "motor" run the street with three carriages, containing two hundred people after, and the driver said he could take another carriage.' (Sydney Morning Herald, 6 November 1879, p.11)

Physical Description

Page 149 contains six sketches dealing with various aspects of the Sydney International Exhibition, 1879. The first five sketches shows visitors travelling to Sydney for the exhibition by rail, arriving at Redfern Station; Queensland visitors coming by ship and arriving at the Australasian Steam Navigation Company's wharf; passengers dining in the saloon of the steamer, the S.S. Cheviot; exhibition attendees queueing at the exhibition gates; and visitors being ferried by steam-powered tram cars. The final sketch shows the garden palace grounds, with the machinery hall visible in the background. Page 150 contains three columns of newspaper text. Column two has a small description of the illustrations in this edition of the paper.

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