CAPTAIN T. E. Y. SEDDON IN AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 288, 24 August 1918, Page 9

CAPTAIN T. E. Y. SEDDON IN AMERICA

SOME INTERESTING EXPERIENCES. Captain T. E. Y. Seddon, M.P., who went to tho United States some months ago as a membor of the British Military Mission, certainly hns "jnado good among our American Allies. He has been visiting important people, appearing at public gatherings, and addressing meetings of all kinds—meetings of shipyard workers, Red Cross members, ;;cliool-_ girls, business men, and war loan subscribers, telling tho Americans about New Zealand's military effort, describing somo of tho deeds of New Zealand _s sons, and acquainting hugo audiences with the fact that the Dominion is "a real live country," with a will and a destiny of its own. ; One day at tho end of June, Captain Seddon paid a visit to Mr. Theodore Roosevelt. "His first question," writes Captain Seddon, "was, 'Aro you a relative of Seddon, of New Zealand?' After that wo were friends. Ho talked of our labour legislation. With clenched fist ho declaimed about America's slackness in following our legislative footsteps. He waxed eloquent and talked about arbitration and conciliation, punishment for breach of award; ho looked like a tornado wrapped in a personality. He is remarkably like his pictures. Ho inspires all around him. His personality is electric. His laugh is hearty and infectious. Ho asked who were tho governing persons in New Zealand, and I told him of Massey, Ward, and the political parties, ami ho threw his head back awl roared with laughter as ho 'So you have sufficient Irishmen in New Zealand to rule you!' " Mr. Roosevelt expressed his regrot that America had not entered tho war in 1915. Ho thought tlio United States should havo declared war on Germany without further parley when tho Lusitania was sunk. After the "big splash" on July 4, when over one hundred ships were launched in the United States, Captain Seddon visited a big. shipyard—the largest in tho world. Ho had previously made a speech at the launching of an 8000-ton freighter. The yards are turning out two standard ships each wcok. "Tho sheets of steel," says Captain Seddon, "are sent to the yards from all parts of the States. Millions of bolts and fittings of all kinds aro made elsewhere, and at tho works tho parts are assembled, and the cimplelo ships produced. It is like sending to a tailor ihe cloth for 6uits, already cut for the tailor to sow together. The yards aro a scene of bewildering activity. Steam engines whistle shrilly, and dash about with ear loads of steel, armies of workers swarm at their jobs, and all day long sounds tho rat-tat-tatting of* tho riveters. ■ The din is ceaseless. Hoys stand round forges Ihrowing in the rivets. When the rivets are red-hot the youngsters pull them out and throw them from leu to thirty yards to their mates, who hand them to the rivet drivers. Tho 'fielding' is wonderful. The flying pieco of red-hot stel _ is "aught every time. The boys are paid from .£5 to ,£G a week, and they earn it."