A FEW decades ago Western Australia was the Cinderella State, and Perth was derisively spoken of as the capital of “a land of sand, sin, sorrow and sore eyes”. It was isolated, a week or more of travel by ship from the Eastern States with no other form of transport.
Now the whole scene has changed as if by the waving of some magic wand. Today, Perth is the chosen city for the Commonwealth Games and is fast becoming the Glamour City of Australia. No longer is it a week’s journey from Sydney to Canberra. Fast planes conduct a daily service to the other capitals, making the trip in a matter of hours, while luxury ships and modern overland trains cater for the leisurely traveller.
With unmeasured mineral wealth in its North, with new and thriving Secondary industries, vast wheatlands and rich pastures Western Australia presents a wonderful future for its inhabitants and the steady stream of people migrating there.
Perth challenges the rest of the Commonwealth for scenic beauty, and is modern and expansive in its commercial, industrial and social outlook. It is a City of fine homes and friendly people.
In this book the author- a newspaperman who has spent his life in Perth-tells all about the city, its many characters and its picturesque past. This is not a drab, formal history, but an entraining book about a real city, its many quaint figures of other days and its interesting people of the present.
It is written in in a racy style, with a rich vein of humour and will be a source of joyous reading for people far beyond the bounds of city and state.

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