BACK AGAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 48, 26 February 1937, Page 9

BACK AGAIN.

MONTEREY ARRIVES.

MATSON LINER RESUMES.

OVER 400 PASSENGERS,

For the flrst time in over three months the white-coated graceful lines of the Matson liner Monterey were seen in Auckland to-day when she came out of the haze of the Hauraki Gulf to berth according to schedule at 7 o'clock. She last visited Auckland on November 14 and since then has been held up at San Francisco by the Pacific Coast maritime strike. She was idle from Xo\ember 28 to February 9.

With the arrival of the Monterey came 469 passengers, manv of whom were fpr Auckland. She carried many Australian and New Zealand business men who had been held up in Los Angeles and San Francisco by the ■strike, and there was also a heavy list of American tourists, some of whom intend to spend some time in the Dominion, while the others will go on to Australia when the Monterev continues her voyage to Sydney *at 10 o clock this evening; "Ride 'Em, Cowboy." There were many colourful personali«^J ° n „V° ard - kike the artists from a VV lid West film were a troupe of American cowboy and rodeo riders, headed by Johnnie Schneider, of Livermore, California. They are on their way to Sydney under contract to the Royal Sydney Easter Show. Included in the party is a girl, Miss Alice Ban, who is famed for her trick riding. She hails from Hollywood. Others are Floyd Sellings. from Wyoming; Clay Carr, from Viesila, California; Oral Zumwalt, Alvin Gordon and Fox O'Callaghan, from Canada.

In their time all have been crack cowpunchers from famous ranches of the West, but they have left behind the long hours and poor pay of ranch life for the shorter hours, better pay and srreater thrills of the rodeo ring. The leader of the party, Johnnie Schneider, has been in the show business for 15 years and is now making hie third trip to Sydney. His team will take part in buck-jumping competitions, and will compete against Canadian and Australian riders. They will also take part in steer-wrestling competitions and will give exhibitions of roping. When Johnnie Schneider first went to Australia he and his team took their own horses, but they found that the horses in Australia are as good a® any in the world, and on this occasion they will use Australian horses. Bedecked in the. typical garb of the West, with tight-fitting pants, lumber jackets and sombreros, the team made a colourful spectacle on the decks of the Monterey. Tourist's Continent. A short stay is to be made in New Zealand by Mr. Roland Hill, member of a well-known English firm of law publishers, with branches throughout the world. Mr. Hill, who visited New Zealand two years ago, said this morning that he was very pleased to- return, and he hoped on this occasion to be able to see more of the country than previously. Mr. Hill has just returned after a tour of the Continent, and he states that the three-Power agreement regarding exchange had made a tremendous difference in Continental tourist traffic. All the tourist centres were now in a prosperous condition, and particularly in Switzerland and Italy there had been a big increase in the traffic as compared with January of 1936. Providing they were equipped with the special touristj lira (Italian money) tourists could getj first-class accommodation at the big Italian hotels for about £1 sterling a day, he said. War anxiety was great, he said, and remarked that on his passage through the Mediterranean from Genoa to New York he had been impressed with the rather frightening armaments display of battleships, seaplanes and other craft of various nationalities that were concentrated about the coast of Spain and Gibraltar. From Coney Island. "The Coney Island of the West" is operated in Sail Francisco by Mr. G. K. Whitney, who, accompanied bv Mrs. Whitney and their daughter Beatrice, is on a combined business and pleasure trip to New Zealand and .Australia. Mr. Whitney and his brother operate the only "amusement park" in San Francisco. They conduct also about eight eating establishments. Mr. Whitney will keep a watch for any new ideas and attractions during his travels, and he will attend the Pacific Rotary Conference at Wellington next week as a delegate from the Rotary Club of San Francisco, of which he is a director.

Mr. Roy Banks, of Honolulu, will also attend the Rotary Conference. He mentioned that there would have been a larger delegation from his club had it not been for the position of uncertainty brought about by the shipping strike. He is accompanied by his wife and their daughter Carol.

"It was the longest freeze we have ever had." said Mr. G. H. Hall, a citrus "rancher" of Pasadena, California, who is making a round-trip cruise with Mrs. Hall, referring to the frosts which recently destroyed a large proportion of the citrus crops in California. Mr. Hall said that the "freeze" bad gone on through nearly the whole of January. Most orchards, or ranches, as they were called, were equipped with crude oil heaters, and there were men employed to watch the weather, while radio warnings were given in the eveninjrs. Tn spite of these precautions, however, the loss was heavy. A Massachusetts Character. With reefer coat and sailor's peak cap, a picturesque figure strolled along the deck. "Yea, I'm Fred Lorraine, and they call me cap'n. I'm a Massachusetts business man—in coffee—and I'm on a trip round the world to try and find a bit of fun. You write fast and* illegibly lik<?> nil newspapermen. . . . I'm going to Australia and South Africa and then ♦ o London, where I'll meet the missus. We will jro back home on the Normandie. . . . I'm 75 years of age. I've j"«t spent three months held lip bv the strike in San Francisco. ... I went every nicrlit to the tax i dance. . . . Pretty tnrls. Ion;* frock* and bare backs. . . .

Three cents a dance, but it's not flfl cheap as it sounds. ... It cost me three dollars a niirht. ... I find this boat, excellent and T never missed a meal. ... Tf that's anv u>=e,to your naper. von can hnve it. Anv taxi dances m Sydney? I like the waltzes."