NEW ZEALANDER IN AMERICA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 49, 21 November 1907, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDER IN AMERICA.

BUSINESS METHODS,

A CHAT WITH THE PRESIDENT. (by telegraph—special cokrespojtdent.) Christchurch, November 19. Mr. M. A. :C. Orr, of the Ideal firm of Craddock, Orr, and Co., has just comc back from a visit to England and America with some interesting notes of his experiences, especially ill the States. He his brought back a great admiration for the American business man. " You can walk right into his office," Mr. Orr told a "Times" reporter, "and get fixed up at once. He just decides and gives a definite answer. It is noticeable, too, that the young men in'the business houses aro not going round in fear and trembling. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Harriman, and' tho rest are their ideals. They aro all striving to be .successes themselves. The business men-dress for business. You can see a Bank presidont sitting in ' his' office without coat or waistcoat. He has.a.loose shirt, a.'neat collar and tie, and a bejt around his waist, and he gets right down to work. The whole of- his staff will be ' cleared 1 for action' in similar fashion. Another striking feature of American commercial life is that the business men drink water only during working hours. Two or three hundred business men may.be seen in a restaurant at lunch, and every one of them will have a glass of ice-water in front of him. They are not teetotallers, but they don't take alcohol when at work. They all smoke cigars, however, and a visitor is offered a cigar at once." Mr. Orr visited the Armour and Swift packing houses while in Chicago, and says ho never saw such cleanliness in his life. There is water everywhere. Tho packers oven employ lady manicurists to look after the em-, ployees' hands. All the girls are dressed in neat linen costumes and wide caps, so as to keep their hair from contact with anything. The meat factpries in New Zealand can show nothing cleaner or better than can tho Swift and Armour houses.

"I had the honour of an interview with President Roosevelt," added Mr. Orr. "I found him forking hay in a field on his placo at Oyster Bay, Long Island. Ho stuck hip fork into the ground, and took mo over to the verandah, and wo chatted for threequarters of an hour or so. He showed an immense interest in New Zealand, and said that as soon as he had finished his 'job' ho intended to pay us a visit. 'I like my job as President of the United States,' he said. He spoke admiringly of our Labour legislation, and of our old-age pensions, and said that., he' considered Now ' Zealand was leading the world'ih humanitarian legislation. He also - referred in terms of great admiration and respect to our late Premier.: "I had the further distinction of a talk with Mr. J. D. Rockefeller, tho richest man in the If he lives for another twelve years he will be the first billionaire the world has over seen. Thore was nothing in his appearance or conversation to indicate the fact.- He seemed a kindly, philanthropic old man." •