MR CYRUS WILLIAMS'S EXPERIENCES.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13909, 7 December 1910, Page 10

MR CYRUS WILLIAMS'S EXPERIENCES.

ENGINEERING. TRAVEL. AND GOLF. Mr Cyrus Williams, engineer to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, is returning to the Dominion. after an absence of about nine months, after having most successfully completed the mission entrusted to him by the Board, and incidentally having acquired a great deal of information, which should add materially to his value as a haTbour engineer. Mr Williams, at my request, kindly furnished the following notes of his travels and experiences:— ".With the principal object of investigating any improved systems of dredging, and "especially one perfected by He'rr Otto Fruhlinge, a well-known German engineer, I left Christchurch on March 3rd for Europe, via Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide, Frcmantle, and tho Suez Canal,' in the P. and 0. steamer Moldavia, leaving Sydney on the Bth inst. The visits to the above-mentioned places were pleasant and interesting, and while at Hobart we passengers had two days' good golf at the links there, which are prettily situated and well laid out from a players' point of view. After leaving Fremantle, which is turning out a remarkably successful harbour, and where a large "dock is now being constructed, we steamed to Colombo, with a fair wind, which made this part of the voyage very hot and unpleasant for one who lias been some years in the South Island of New Zealand, and has thriven almost too well on the good food there. Colombo is always interesting, and to an engineer particularly so, as tho breakwater there is one of the few block walls on a rubble fuondation which have been a perfect structura* success from the first. There I called on the engineer in charge of the harbour works, and spent the morning going round the workswith him. Since my previous visit. 25 years ago, the harbour has been completely enclosed, two entrances being left, and although the larger vessels do not berth at a wharf or quay, as in most other ports in the world, but lie off at buoy moorings, a series of coal wharves has been constructed for barges and small vessels. Through some error of judgment, these have been so placed that they cannot "be used during the monsoon season, and as a result the main entrance to the harbour is now being protected by an extension of the main breakwater, at an additional cost of £400,000. or at the rate of £200 per lineal foot/ A 700 ft dock has also just been completed, and all the works at the port are constructed in a most thorough and substantial manner. Aden looked bleak and forbidding, and Suez was reached at dusk. The trip through the canal next day was interesting to mc. I noted the gradual enlargement that is still going on, but I do not propose in these notes to give any figures, and my facts will be merely impressions. The dredging appliances in the canal are in great variety, as is the soil with which they have to deal. Port Said is very bright and picturesque, but still looks best from the outeide. Nothing one sees on landing comes up to the kaleidoscopic beauty of the boats and j the water front. At Port Said tame

the inevitable, parting with delightful companions, and a life which to one who has had to work his passage through this 'pleasing, anxious world is as near a perfect holiday as one can imagine. "From the Moldavia, with a hurricane dock cabin to myself, I joined the Macedonia, a still faster vessel, but so crowded that there was hardly room to walk between the deck chairs, and all meals were served in relays. D- rsnd'fi was reached in due time, and the delight of my first look at an Italian town and harbour has not been surpassed by anything since. I had always beard that Brindisi had no charms, but I cannot help thinking that those who decide thus must have had their mental vision distorted by the much-dreaded, but quite harmless and necessary, medieil and Customs examinations, and by the dread of missing the afternoon tram through Europe. To one who is contented to stay overnight and potter alone quietly in the local tram, the experience is very interesting. I worked ,ny wav across to .Naples via Fo"gia. I was mucu impressed with" the fine appearance and .physique of the Italians between these places. I visited Naples. Rome, Florence, ami Venice, but nil these have been so otter, described that I will pass tlieni with only this remark: that the people with whom one comes in .contact in these places have, in my opinion, been degraded by contact with the tourist. , Milan pleased mc more in its people, in whom I take much more interest than in inanimate objects. The journey through Como, Legnano. and the St. Gothard tunnel is a charming and most interesting pne, and not even the over-officious flunkeydom at the first-class hotels in Switzerland can take away the charm ot this delightful country. Berne is quaint and charming, with its pathways through all the streets. A"\ bile there, we struck what they call "Blumentag —a day in which tho proceeds ot the sale of small imitation flowers on pins are devoted to the rescue and maintenance of foundling children. Notices in the tramcars, and nicely-dressed girls at the street corners, directed our attention to these tokens, which were sold lat twopence each. Everyone bought at least one, while most people had the lapels of their coats covered with them. The proceeds must have been quite substantial.

"Paris was suffering, apparently, from the late floods, and certainly from wet weather, which we had, off and on, for a week while there. The pictures in the salons have lost none of their charms, .and the statuary was worth going across the world to see. - Even in these days of fast turbine steamers, the Channel crossing can still be a horror, but fortunately the agony does not now last more than sixty-five minutes. The arrangements for. transferring luggage to and from the trains and steamers leave something to be desired in wet weather.

"London was reached on the afternoon of May 6th, and we spent tho evening waiting among the crowd' at the gates of Buckingham Palace, awaiting the bulletins'which were periodically posted, until the last bulletin indicated the almost certainty of a fatal issue to King Edward's illness. We were fortunate in getting good places in Edgware road to view the funeral procession—a most impressive sight. London for mc meant business, and I immediately commenced the investigations for which I had come across the world. These involved journeys to various parts of England, and through Germany to Konigsberg, Pillard, Elting", Dantzig, Brumstuttel, Emden, and Hamburg. As this is neither the time nor the place to'discuss my business, I will content myself with saying that my mission was in every way successful, and I am pleased to be able to say that the contract for the Board's now dredge has been let to a British firm of builders. In the courso of my wanderings in Germany I visited Cologne and Berlin, in addition to the ? laces I have already mentioned, was particularly struck with the fine physique of the men,, and with the good looks and smart appearance of the women in the latter city, which is undoubtedly a model of cleanliness and order. Some people think vUat there is too much law and order here, but certainly that is preferable to the dirty beggars and general beastliness of Naples. In Konigsberg and Dantzig I had the opportunity of seeing the soldiery turn out at 7.30 a.m. for a day's narade. They looked very jaunty then, but more subdued as they returned at dusk, A German traveller, with whom I discussed the question, laughed at the idea of war with England as an inconceivable contingency, but said that Holland and Belgium would come to Germany, "naturally," which I suppose may be taken to mean by natural force. The Dutchmen do not appreciate the situation, but seem to be quietly waiting on England to protect therm Certainly,l can easily understand that a high-spirited nation like the Germans,will never rest contented while some of the to their main water way are in a foreign country. I have no doubt that the) immense warlike preparation which they are constantly making are intended to assist in bringing this about. I visited the Kiel canal, which connects the Baltic and North Sea. A new entrance is now being constructed frith deeper water and largoi l<cks to allow for the passage of still larger warships passing from the Baltic. I was also allowed to inspect the latest German "Dreadnought," now building at Dantzig. Holland was also visited. There I was much struck by the enormous river traffic, and by tho'completeness of the mechanical contrivances in use, notable among which may be mentioned the bunkering plants, which are capable of coaling a vessfel, even over an intermediate vessel or barge, at the rate of 500 tons per hour. The Brussels exhibition was not really finished when I passed through, but tho show was a very interesting one even then.

"Returning to England and Scotland, the subject next in interest to my business (which we have agreed to defer for the present) is golf. I was fortunate in finding myself in Glasgow with a little time to spare, when the Open Championship was due. I naturally ran across and was fortunate enough to see Harry Vardcn at the top of his game, playing James Braid, previous and present open champion, whom he beat comfortably. The game of these champions was a treat to watch, the most remarkable feature in it being the long approaches with the club. While there I also watched the play of Taylor and Massey. The latter with his irons is the prettiest player of them all. Golf at St. Andrews is played under the mast delightful conditions imaginable. The hotels face the course, and outlook the sea. There are three courses, on one of which it is always possible to get a game, and the turf and greens are a delight. I also played on seyeral courses near Lindin. but principally at Troon, in Ayrshire, where the course is excellent, as are practically all the seaside courses in Scotland. I was fortunate enough to be able to witness the great match between Harold Hilton and Miss Cecilia 'Leitch, a game of 72 holes, 36 at Wiltin Heath and 36 at Sunningdale. I was delightfully surprised at the play of Miss Leitch, especially with the wooden clubs. Her driving was within a fewyards of that of Mr Hilton, and as an instance of the distance she can get in her shots, it is enough to mention that the 17th hole at Wiltin Heath is 457 yards to the pin. and her second shot was in the ground past the flag. Certainly there was a light following wind but with all allowances it was a remarkable performance. As everybody know* Mr Hilton was conceding a strok* at every alternate hole, and was eventually handsomely beaten. It would not" however, in my opinion, be safe to drawany inferences from the match as re gards the odds which a first-class amateur man can give a first-class <nrl

player. Hilton's pi ay was J fiig^ *>«* seemed to be affected by the toad or odds, and fell far short »" f MI ° what I saw among the gentlemen plajers at St. Andrews. , "I returned through Canada and America, and am pleased to be able to say that while each which l have seen has its charms nnd ocuantages, and after seems: a great many of them, I gladly return to one wlucli, in natural advantages, equals or surpasses each or all of them.

MR AND MRS A. KAYE. OF CHRISTCHURCH.

Mr and Mrs Albert Kaye, of Christchurch, are also returning from an enjoyable trip to tho Old Land. Mrs Kaye left the Dominion early in March last, as tho New Zealand delegate to the World's Conference of the Young Women's Christian Association, held in May, at Berlin. Some 850 delegates met there, and tho meetings were most inspiring and helpful in every way, whilst the hospitalities dispensed and entertainments provided were on the most generous and lavish scale. Mrs Kaye was one of the representatives of the New Zealand Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union at tho World's Missionary Conference, held at Edinburgh, during June, and had there a deeply interesting and instructive experience never to be forgotten. Mr Kayo gave up a good deal of his holiday fo business matters, amongst others things assisting in the purchase of a new steamer for the Maoriland Steamship Company, Limited. He was also present at the opening of tho tenders for the new Fruhliug dredge, and assisted Mr Cyrus Williams, engineer to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, in despatching the cablegram giving detailed information and their agreed views for the consideration of the Board. He also devoted a good deal of attention to the present day methods of the frozen meat and grain trades,, making a special study of the West Coast ports generally, and Avonmouth in particular. At this port the arrangements are of the most perfect kind, and tho-volume of imports promised ; to make steady increase. London is j ever conservative, and does not take the new ideas with any celerity.. Mr Kaye thinks, and hence in his opinion it-should be our continual study to send the class of goods most acceptable, put up in the prescribed packages, and also of the best quality. He gathered that though our Canterbury lamb still heads the list as the best, yet other countries are .creeping up closely, and if we are to maintain tho pride of place, it is absolutely essential that our standards be thoroughly maintained at all points. Owing to the unfortunate rains in Canterbury during last harvest, the estimation of the quality of New Zealand wheat has suffered materially, and it will take at least one good season, to restore confidence. On the other hand, Australian wheat is in high favour, owing to its uniformly fine quality, due to the prosperous years and fine climatic conditions under which, i or years past, the grain has been garnered. Travereing Canada twice, Mr Kaye was much struck with its progress, its resources, and the firm, fixed belief of the merchants in the future of their, great country. Signs of development , are and undoubtedly a great future is before that Dominion. New Zealand exporters are seeking new outlets, and Mr Kaye thinks every encouragement should be given to bring about trade with Canaaa. The imports there of our meats is hampered by a duty of 3 cents per lb., and it would be well worth the consideration of our Government as to whether a reciprocal tariff could be arranged so that our meats (both frozen nnd tinned) might be admitted free into Canada, and the canned fish and lumber of that Dominion receive the same treatment at our end. The trade between the two countries is in its infancy, but it would soon grow in volume if encouraged in the way mentioned: Prompt action is desirable, before other nations seize the opportunity of closer trade relations.