N.Z. HOSPITALITY PRAISED

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27795, 21 October 1955, Page 16

N.Z. HOSPITALITY PRAISED

FORMER DUNEDIN MAN’S VIEW VISIT AFTER 40 YEARS IN U.S. (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 19. New Zealanders were more conservative than Americans—harder working but less enterprising—but they were the most hospitable people in the world, said Dr. Stanley H. Bailes, formerly of Dunedin, who has returned to New Zealand on a flying visit after 40 years in the United States. Dr. Bailes left Dunedin as a theological student in 1915. He has become a household name in thousands of American homes because of his “Inspirational Hour” programme broadcast twice a day over three large radio stations. He is president of the World Bible Society of California, an organisation formed to distribute bibles to destitute peoples in war-ravaged lands. It has sent out nearly 1,000,000 Bibles in the last six years, paid for by donations from persons who hear Dr. Bailes’s broadcasts. Coming back to New Zealand had been the most enjoyable journey he had ever made, said Dr. Bailes. The friendliness of its people and the beauty of its countryside were something he would like Americans to share. But, he said, few Americans would be attracted to the Dominion while the standard of its hotels remained so ooor. “I think the hotels are very far below grade, some of them lack ordinary comforts that are standard in many third-grade American hotels.”