It was built by private funds furnished by the villagers and the neighboring planters, and its running expenses were drawn from the same sources.

I suppose it would be hard to match this in any country.

This village was about to close a contract for lighting its streets with the electric light, when I was there.

That is ahead of London.

London is still obscured by gas--gas pretty widely scattered, too, in some of the districts; so widely indeed, that except on moonlight nights it is difficult to find the gas lamps.
The botanical garden of Sydney covers thirty-eight acres, beautifully laid out and rich with the spoil of all the lands and all the climes of the world.