AIR SERVICES TO N.Z.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 171, 21 July 1928, Page 10

AIR SERVICES TO N.Z.

"WITHIN TEN YEARS." DUTCH VISITOR'S PREDICTION WILL ATTRACT TOURISTS. "I will make a prediction for you," said Dr. Van Der Leeuw, a noted visitor from Holland, after his arrival in Auckland to-day. "It is," he added, "that within ten years aerial passenger services will be plying freely across the Pacific to New Zealand and Australia. In Germany they are building machines with ten engines each, and now that distance has been conquered, it is only a matter of time and expenditure when they will make flying practically foolproof." Dr. Van Der Leeuw was in the Dominion four years ago. "I have a tremendous belief in New Zealand," he said, "and wherever I have been I have said so much about your country as to justify the suggestion of being a propagandist. I like your Dominion because I consider that it has the greatest variety of scenery—from snowclad mountains to tropical features—of any country I know." As for the people, the visitor added, he found them friendly and exceedingly hospitable. In travelling through the Dominion he had seen the beginnings of an appreciation of art and culture. For instance, in Wanganui a few days ago he was delighted to see the splendid art gallery, which was a sign of an interest in other than material things. "Even while a young country is building materially," said Dr. Van Der Leeuw, "I regard it as important that the people should seek to develop art and music and other forms of culture. These provide inspiration for the big things which a nation may be expected to accomplish, so it is well that they should not be neglected." Reverting to his prediction, the visitor added that when people from Europe and America were being carried by air in large numbers to distant countries, he was convinced that New Zealand would be one of the most appreciated parts of the world.