U.S. held no terrors

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32701, 2 September 1971, Page 6

U.S. held no terrors

The streets Of New J York are not dangerous ' if one aets sensibly, r according to Mrs Mabel« Grocott, who has just re- < turned to Christchurch < after two years in the ‘ United States. < A year of this time was j spent in New York, where > her husband, the Rev. J. D. . Grocott, was working with , a central New York Metho- j dist diocese. , The Grocotts lived in an ( apartment block in an area ,

Mrs Grocott described as the i “edge of Harlem." Friends had warned her not to walk on the streets' at night unaccompanied and, even while walking out in the daytime, to. keep up a brisk pace and an eye out for anyone suspicious in the crowds on the pavements. "Several people I knew had their bags snatched in broad daylight or were threatened or mildly assaulted and commanded to hand over their money. I was warned to keep a firm hold on my handbag and always carried only a small amount Of money.” The GrOcott’s apartment had its own lobby police, and the doors into the lobby were locked nightly at eight. Residents were provided with a key to the lobby as well as to their own flat.

However, said Mrs Grocott, she did not see much of the stuff that makes the headlines. The latter part of their stay in the United States was spent in supply work around the Canadian border. It was in this area that Mrs Grocott noticed the effects of pollution. “POLLUTION SPOTTERS” “One of the lakes near us was completely dead, although the factories that were spilling wastes into it were spending a lot of money on purification of wastes so . that the water going into the lake was pure.” “Pollution spotters" were to be found in some centres. These were people who underwent a training course which qualified them to identify pollution in its various forms. They then did tours of their town or city and reported any polluters to the authorities. The two “Earth Days” had done a lot to increase the American consciousness of pollution, especially among children, said Mrs Grocott. After leaving the United

States, Mr and Mrs Grocott went to England for the British Methodist Conference in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and back to New Zealand via the Holy Land, New Delhi, Hong Kong, where they met their son Paul who is leading a student group to China, Fiji and Sydney.