CHIEF SCOUT’S GUEST

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 267, 6 August 1932, Page 12

CHIEF SCOUT’S GUEST

Major J. R. Kirk, Gisborne RETURNED BY RANGITATA Guest of Lord Baden-Powell while in England, Major J. R- Kirk, M.8.E., an ex-mayor of Gisborne, and chairman of the Dominion Council of Boy Scouts, returned from a six months’ tour abroad by the Rangitata yesterday morning. Major Kirk said that the Chief Scout recalled with pleasure his trip to New Zealand, and also had extremely happy recollections of the Dominion troop that went to the Jamboree in 1930. The Chief had also expressed great satisfaction and pleas- ' ure that our popular GovernorGeneral, Lord Bledisloe, had accepted office as Chief Scout of New Zealand. • Major Kirk, in addition to some time spent in England, made a short tour of the South of France and Italy. The former place, Major Kirk said, had lost much of its lucrative tourist

traffic from England, owing to the adverse rates of exchange ruling. Th result was that hotel-keepers, despite the comparatively high cost of living, had been compelled to make extraordinary generous terms in order to attract travellers. Present conditions were responsible for English people spending much more time at their own holiday resorts that formerly, while a noticeable tendency was the increased number going to Norway and Sweden, where the English pound was not quoted at a heavy discount. _ Major Kirk, who is a fellow of the Royal Economic Society, .was rather reticent when questioned about conditions abroad generally. However, he said, he had noticed a marked air of cheerfulness in England, which was most reassuring.