AN OFFICIAL ABROAD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 484, 17 April 1909, Page 6

AN OFFICIAL ABROAD.

LETTER PROM MR. D. ROBERTSON.

IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA AND ] GERMANY.

Writing to '& friend in Wolhngtou, Mr. a D. Robertson, Secretary of tho Post and B Telegraph Department, says that tho most a amazing feature of his trip across Canada p ' 'was tho upsetting of his friends' prognostications regarding the severity of tho win- ft ter, and he had come to tho conclusion that C( the Canadian 'winter would 'by no moans be p a disagreeable time to put in. There was an r , extraordinary exhilaration about the cold ] ; clear weather 'that was absent from the jj more equable climate of New Zealand. He t had the honour of meeting Sir Wilfrid Lau- fj rior (who is one of the great men of tho t 'Empire, and also a charming man person- t ally). At Ottawa ho made an inspection of £ the post office money order and accounts t branches, and picked up some valuable p points,' and at Toronto spent a whole morn- E ing going ovei- tho post office. again ho mado not© of several ideas which c might be applied with profit to tho row j post offices at Wellington and Auckland.')! , s He was inclined to agree with tho Anion- t • cans that Washington was one of the most j. •"beautiful cities in tho world. Tho streets ; wore wide and beautifully asphalted, the ;, surface being groomed to a nicety. The j Government buildings, which are all ever T the city, are as a rule very fine specimens 0 of architecture.' There were many breathing spots, most of which were adorned with v statues, of famous Americans. : ' Wβ had a full day at tho New York Post r , i Office, which, although the branches were scattered over the city—tho mail branch i was half a mile away from the central office i and the foreign branch was two miles away —was very interesting The arrangements ? generally were j;ood,', and they had many J labour-saving .appliances, . i " The'distanced in New York are tremendous. It took me 40 .minutes to got from * our hotel, at the corner, of 33rd Street and D Broadway, to tho post offioe. This wasiin ° a tram car. When we left we took a motor S car, which occupied an hour reaching the * aid© of tho Kroonland, owing to the density * of the traffic . . . The Kroonland is about P tie size of the Corinthio; but is called small. 1] »p the Atlantic. ■ . . Our crow consists prin- s iipally of Belgians,, and tho stewards jump ° in a way that is surprising." ' r Mr. Robertson ■ landed at Antwerp, and f= writine from Leipzig on, February 21 said £ that they were resting there for a week or J , wo with their son (Mr. P. W. Robertson, a * former Rhodes scholar), and expected to go D on to Dresden and Berlin about the end of s the month, reaching London via Paris about a ' the middle of Maich. i t -i , "Tho life in, Antwerp is of mnch interest. 1 Our hotel faced tho Placo Veste, a square j 1 sear the Cathedral. On the morning after i> our arrival, when I looked out of tho window, e the square was a blaze of colour. Many ° flower stalk had bestr set up, and the peasant D women were apparently doing a fair trado in i bnnohes of wattle blossoms and other 1' flowers. Tho stall is usually in the form of a p long, light cart on'two wheels, and is taken to and from tho square by the women, who t push, whilo a dog is harnessed underneath fi and does his share by pulling sturdily. The t general impression, one gets is that women o and dogs do a great deal of work .in the d country. Tho distinction, between the classes r is very marked, the poorer people never j: oping the dress of,their betters. I suppose s hying k cheaper than with us, but it is not a Tory apparent to a stranger, as tie average t article seems to bo about the same price s as in New Zealand. Such things as cab s drives are much cheaper. You can generally t get an hour'srido for two francs, or Is. Bdl, i but here, as in all things on tho Continent, ; you have to add.a tip to tho driver. I j don't know what I havo spent on tips since t I left New Zealand, but it must be nearly ' / £30. On tho Continent lrttlo'is expected, , and a franc goes an far as a dollar in t America. Tho length to which tipping is f carried is hardly crWible v to a New , Zea- | lander. If you tako'a rido in a tram arid 'pay 1 Id. for fare, you aro 'expected to givo the t conductor a small coin. The rulo is one-tenth ( of your bill.' . . In Leipzig a new railway station is just about to be built, at a cost of 133 million marks (£6,000,000). Tho post -' ?^ 1 VX B™?® 13 «'a 'plain building, with little to remark upon, i Stamp-selling machines are everywhere, and'.seem to 1 act well, but slowly if more, than one or two stamps are wanted." , Aftprt a rail journey from Brussels, Mr. , *■£ J^ , prison arrived at Leipzig, of ' whsch Sir. Robertson says:-'"Leipzig i» a eow place after an American city. Every- ■ flung m of the, solid .German stylo, and the ' business done is don« without "any rush or ' £™ n mg ea edacatwnal centre, thore ' ore 8000 students, who must do a great deal to keep tho place going. There is, in addition, a great annual for fair, to which we , brought furs from all' parte of 'Europo Jjerpsng is also the centre of- tho German book trade. The great attraction is the F"F°< ™ere being msjiy concerts of tho ngnest possible class, where music can bo heard for a trifling sum."