Thanks to our friends at Wakefield Press, here is a sneak peek into: Arcadian Adelaide, written by Thistle Anderson.
Adelaide, known to all intelligent people as the City of Juvenile Depravity, and to the less enlightened as the City of Churches, is situated on the River Torrens, and is the capital of South Australia. A poor claim to distinction for South Australia, but we assure the reader that, although Adelaide is nominally the principal town, there are several equally, if not more, interesting places in the State – Port Pirie, for example, or Petersburg, where they have rifle ranges, public libraries, and other wild excitements, to say nothing of the periodical visits of a ‘first-class dramatic company’ and an occasional ‘sensational accident’.
The Village itself consists of a main street (Rundle Street) and several lesser streets, and is surrounded by Park Lands, which, unlike Adelaide itself, are quite useful in that they supply the homeless wanderer with sleeping accommodation free. In early morning, they are almost as thickly peopled as Sydney Domain, and afford a refuge to burglars, sundowners, unemployed and other unfortunates. We have camped out ourselves when fishing, and we think the park lands are green enough, at certain sections, to offer every inducement to quiet rest.
Outwardly, Adelaide is intensely respectable – that is to say, the inhabitants go to church regularly, and think it is extremely wrong to play cards for money. They are ostentatious in their charity, but it goes very little below the surface. Their ideas are, for the most part, about as broad as Blondin’s wire, and their cardinal virtues are religious belief and conventionality.
To continue reading, head into your local bookstore of visit Wakefield Press to secure your own copy!