VALUE OF TRAVEL

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 5

VALUE OF TRAVEL

EXPENSE NOT GREAT

BROADENING THE VIEW

' Speaking at the monthly luncheon > I of the Wellington Returned Soldiers'! ) Association yesterday, Mr. Marcus I jf Marks discussed the value of travel | ' abroad and exploded the theory that i w travel was excessively expensive. He / related a number of humorous inci- \ dents from his own travels abroad, and j kept his audience in laughter for a | ) large part of ths time he was speaking. | J There was an unusually large attendance at the luncheon, the table accom- •. modation being taxed to the utmost. i The president of the association (Lieut.- ---' Colonel A. Cowles, V.D.) presided, and } welcomed the visitors, Major-General ) J. E. Duigan, General Officer Commands' ing the New Zealand Forces, Major J. ( H. Luxford, S.M., Messrs. W. H. Guy, , of the British Legion, C. Woolley, ' superintendent of the Wellington Fire [ Brigade, H. Richards, of the A.I.F. Assoi ciation, and A. J. Hodges, chief! i mechanician of the Post and Telegraph ' Department, who recently transferred from Christchurch. Introducing Mr "viarks. Colonel Cowles said that he was well known to Wellington audiences and was par--1 ticularly welcome at a R.S.A. luncheon, because he had always done all in his power to help returned soldiers and ' was an honorary member of the Wellington Association. Mr. Marks said he did not intend to 1 touch on the academic side of travel, but rather to treat with the humorous side. Travel broadened the mind and improved the outlook, and it was a pity that many who could travel«did not do so because of the gross exaggeration of the cost of travel by some per- j sons. A man who lived in New Zealand on £500 a year could travel for : a year on that, plus 50 per cent. Travel could be made expensive, but he be- ■ lieved one-class travel was good enough for anyone and would continue in the ■ future. When he first travelled abroad thirty-five years ago, he said, there was no one-class travel, but the travellers were a very happy family. Some of them left the ship at Marseilles to travel across France, and he .could not : describe the joy that went through him when he first saw London. There could ' be no doubt that London was the . Mecca of all Britishers. After London . there was the beautiful English countryside, and at the present time travel was so cheap that a ten-day's i trip through the counties would cost '• only £2 a day. During such a trip : forty towns were visited and both the ! transport and the accommodation were the best that could be had. "Compare ■ that with travel out here," he said. : "What can you do with £20 in ten I days' travel here?" , i In Scotland or Ireland the position was the same and trips could be \ booked at approximately £2 a day. • Then travel on the Continent could be \ booked through the British transport , companies, and anyone from overseas ] could go from country to country with- s out any trouble. While travelling in f Germany he had descended from his < train for refreshments and had heard ' his train pull out. He had been very ' anxious about his position until he had j discovered that his train had moved to r another platform. After that he c learned the German for "How long 2 does the train stop here?" but the first time he tried it the answer was in German, and he decided to stay in the train. In conclusion Mr. Marks congratulat- I ed the returned soldiers on the twenty- j first birthday of their association, and f thanked them for the attentive hearing a they had given him. s A hearty vote of thanks was accord- 4 ed the speaker on the motion of Major R Luxford, who said the returned o soldiers had obviously enjoyed the address, and the speaker had shown J clearly that the heart of the Empire J had an appeal that would always hold t the Dominions overseas. Two songs were sung by Mr. J. Os- % borne. °