AMERICAN TOURISTS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 March 1911, Page 5

AMERICAN TOURISTS.

TO VISIT THE WEST COAST,

VISITING OUR SCENIC RESOURCES A party of American tourists, who are making a world-tour, and decided to spend nine weeks in New Zealand, will arrive in Greymouth from Christchurch per Otira express to-morrow. The members of the party are Captain A. Aikin-Higgins, Mrs M. A. Bigelow (Springfield, Massachusetts), Mrs. G. Coleman (Boston), Mr W. Fischer (New York), the Hon. and Mrs. J. E. Lynds, Mr. E. Lynds (Cloquet, Minnesota), Mrs. G. W, McGuire (Cleveland, Ohio) and Mr. Carl Warm (New York). The party left New York on November 26th. and * expects to return on September 11th of this year. All the members of the party express their delight with the scenery, the roads, the accommodation, and, above all, the hospitality of the south. They visited Dunedin, Invercargill, Otautau. Manaponri, Te Anau, Wanaka, Milford and other places of note, and then came on to Mount Cook. At Mana pouri they were charmed with the for ests coming down to the water’s edge, the towering hills, -and the remarkable effects produced by the red, yellow, green 'and maroon colours in the mosses on the faces of the cliffs. “1 have travelled some; I have been round a bit, but I have never seen anything that quite equalled it,” Mr Fischer says. “It is most beautiful. It standf out alone. It cannot be compared with anything I saw before. The Italian lakes are lovely, but they have not got the beautiful verdure, coming right down to the water.” As to Te Anau, Milford Sound and other sights in the south, they say that every visitor. and certainly every New’ Zealander, ought to regard it as a duty to see them. Their highest praises, however, are reserved for Mount Cook and scenes near Lakes Tekapo .and Pukaki. “The sight burst upon us and took us completely by surprise,”. Captain Aikin-Higgins said when describing his experiences. It was the suddenness of the thing, if I may use the term, which charmed us. It was a wonderful sight, and we all feel that we are utterly unable to find words to express the effect it had upon us.”

The visitors are somewhat averse to criticise anything in New Zealand. They say that it is hardly the proper thing to do in a country where they have been treated with marked kindness and consideration. Mr. Fischer, indeed, frankly admits that he has seen nothing in the way of accommodation or travelling facilities that deserve to be criticised, and Captain Aikin-Hig-gins endorses his opinion. Even the railway service he describes as “pretty good” in view of the dominion’s youthfulness. Mr. E. Lynds takes some exception to the claim that the Sutherland Fall is the longest in the world. He points out that it is really three falls, and he knows of one. at least, in South America, which is longer than the longest of the three'. He suggests that the telephone wire between the Clinton huts and .Sutherland’s on the Milford track should be repaired. The wire has been down for some time, and it is suggested that a traveller who was benighted at a hut that affords nothing except shelter from the rain might have to pass through an uncomfortable time. It seemed to some members of the party that the bush might be cleared around some of the huts on the Milfod track and vegetables grown there, ■so that the diet of tinned meats might be varied, and that, perhaps, arrangements could be made for keeping cows. They think that Lake Wanaka ought to receive a greater share of patronage from tourists, and that the lake should receive more attention in the direction of steam traffic. They include the motor service 7rom Fairlie in the list of admirable things in New Zealand, and they say that when the new Hermitage is erected New Zealanders should go to Mount Cook from all parts of the dominion.

From Greymouth, the party will go overland to Nelson, from Nelson to Wellington, and so through the North Island. They agree that New Zealand is a country which should be toured leisurely, and several of them have already made up their minds to pay another visit in the spring.

Protect yourself against the invasion of disease —fortify the system—give yourself a new vitality—take Stearns’ Wine of Cod Liver Extract and strengthen every muscle and nerve.—Advt.

There is a secluded band of scientists at the Monastic observatory at Mount Wilson, in Southern California. Of the instruments in the observatory the most advanced and the most marvellous are vertical coelostat telescopes. These are obtained in skeleton steel towers, one 65 feet and the other 150 feet high. The telescopic image of the sun is reflected on to a largo lens placed near the top of the tower, which in its turn, throws the image on a horizontal piano a few feet from the ground. 'Hie dwellers on Mount Wilson are bothered by very little cloud and wind, and the air at an altitude of 6000 ft is exceedingly dry. The conditions for those who can stand the rarefied atmosphere are pleasant, and romantic in their lovely splendour.