TRAVEL CLUB TALK

Evening Star, Issue 23116, 16 November 1938, Page 2

TRAVEL CLUB TALK

ADDRESS BY MRS HUGH SPEIGHT EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA Members of the Dunedin Travel Club were entertained to-day with an interesting discourse by Mrs Hugh Speight, the subject of her address being a description of her tour through the United States from east to west. Mrs Speight’s reminiscences, were listened to with the greatest interest, and at the conclusion of her address she was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Mrs J. ,A. Cook, who presented her with a charming posy of rosebuds. The hostesses for the day were Mrs Watson and Miss Bice, while guests at the morning tea were Mrs L. M. Hudson (Christchurch), Mrs Stronach (Timaru), Mrs Snow (Invercargill), Mrs R. N. Todd (Invercargill), end Miss Grace Adams East (San Francisco). Miss East, the well-known trumpeter, loft for the north this morning, but prior to her departure she spoke in glowing terms of her impressions of New Zealand, and thanked the people of Dunedin for the wonderful reception she had been given. Miss East said that when she returned home she proposed asking the University of California to accept a souvenir programme of Maori music.

Mrs Speight, during the relation of her shopping experiences in some of the American towns, raised quite a laugh, especially when detailing how in Atlantic City some of the women had men to push them round in wheel chairs while they did their shopping. There and in New York, she said, there were a large number of Jewesses, and besides being very beautiful women, they dressed perfectly. Washington was not a very gay town when judged by the standard of New York, but it was very impressive with its White House and its monuments. She iiad the pleasure of meeting the President and his wife, Mrs Speight said. Mrs Roosevelt was a very gracious woman, with lovely blue eyes, and photographic reproductions did not do her justice. Mrs Speight said she often foilnd herself in difficulties over the' simple matter of pronounciation. When two people spoke the same language, she said, one would imagine there would he no misunderstanding; but there , was. The trouble was complicated by the different expressions used by the Americans. Even over such a simple matter as one’s laundry there would be trouble. They called a blouse a waist, so it was easily seen how confusion could arise. They called a blind a shade. If one went into a store to purchase a reel of cotton the attendant would not understand you. They called it a reel of thread. An ordinary dome was a snap, and a pot was a kettle. : A trouble New Zealanders experienced was getting a real cup of tea as they knew it. In the States, if one got tea it was placed in a little hag and the water poured on to it. In Los Angeles she had quite an interesting time, and experienced the pleasure of a meal at one of that town’s famous drive-in cafes. People drove to the cafe in their car and a charming young girl would bring the meal on a tray, which was clipped to the side of the car. Mrs Speight spoke of the training school for dogs used by blind people—the “ seeing eyes,” she described them. These dogs were really wonderful, and every two years they were sent back to school for a refresher course! She also related an afternoon’s experience at the Federal school of instruction for G-men. It was a very fascinating one, she said. She inspected all manner of guns, but the one that interested her most of all was one that would kill at three miles. The G-men showed her the steel jackets they used when on a man hunt. These things were so heavy that only on rare occasion did they wear them, she stated. In the hunt for the criminal, all manner of devices were used, and the G-men could floodlight two whole city blocks by constantly firing bombs into the air. The speaker also touched upon the scenic' resorts of the country, mentioning in particular the Redwood highway. The trees, though, she said, were not as grand as those of New Zealand, and, while the States had some wonderful attractions, she did not think the country compared with New Zealand. During a period of two months, when the snow was on the ground, she never saw a blade of grass or a leaf of anything green, and when she arrived back in Auckland (Ackland, as the Americans called it) she realised how really beautiful this country was.