Show vernal express Is appreciated byron S collott collett son of bishop and mrs sylvanus collett ot of maes or who is filling a mission for the L 0 S church in australia with mission headquarters at victorian conference 52 albert st E melbourne We victoria toria australia writes a most interesting letter to the editor odthe of the express which follows october 20 1923 1 I am taking this opportunity of thanking you tor for your paper the express I 1 have greatly appreciated it and feel that I 1 have been informed on all of importance that has happened in vernal since L left it has been the only regular paper we have received from the good old U S A and it has been of interest to others because of the state and national news it contained 1 I thought it may be of interest to you to a brief sketch of the country I 1 am in australia Is a wonderful country and belongs to that part of tho the world that is still calling tor for pioneers to further her development her two great drawbacks are her lack of water and her isolation from the tho central markets of the world australia looks small compared to the continents but contains approximately as many square miles as the united states proper her highest mountains are scarcely over a mile above sea level the snow fall on these is very light and I 1 think I 1 am safe in saying that half of the people of australia have never seen snow with no substantial basis for water supply the rivers are few and oft times dry there are several largo government schemes on now for the conservation of water and several irrigation projects are being launched the flow of the rivers aro are so slow though that very little water power is obtainable for manufacturing australia Is divided divide ct into five states and a territory these with ith tasmania an island off the south coast are organized into a commonwealth under thia british government the poul atlon Is tive mostly of british descendants descend ailts about halt half of this number live in the capital cities of the five states australia australla has a greater population living in the city as compared to the country than any other nation mation in the world this pou poul atlon lation is scattered along three thousand miles of sea coast from rock hampton on z 1 th the a cost east along the south to perth 0 on n the west between adelaide on the south and perth lies one of the largest deserts in the world it la Is three hundred and fifty miles wide with scarcely a hush bush and only now and then does SL a red boulder raise its head above the shifting sands no one seems to knowl how far back this desert runs in fact very tory little Is known of the interior of australia and thousands of square miles are estrange to human habitation like the rest of the new world australia us has an aboriginal race who are now living in the outskirts of civilization and are today congi considered dered the lowest form of humanity existing they resemble very much the south african negro but are a somewhat smaller race a australia imports a lot of ot her manufactured goods her chief exports are wheat wool moat meat and fruit most of these go to england but the united states takes a large quantity of her wool the australians are a sport loving people tennis football foot baU excursions cur horse racing and gambling form a large portion of their lives drunkenness Is to very prevalent and in most of the saloons you will find lady bar tenders on the whole though the australians are swe a goel ablo able open minded people and our mormon church la Is slowly gaining ground in this land of perpetual summer and wo we have recently had cause to rejoice in the fact that the victorian state government has recognized us as an established religion theus giving us the right to perform marriages |