INTERESTING TOUR

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 November 1923, Page 7

INTERESTING TOUR

Pit. KENNEDY’S TRAVELS.

At the St. Columba Club Rooms, a (fair laiudiencei listened, last (evening to an interesting account of Dr. Kennedy’s .recent travels |in Amenica, Canada, Europe, England, Ireland, and Scotland. Rev. Father McMonogle presided. Dr. Kennedy on rising to speak was greeted with applause. He said that his lecture was going to' be more in the nature of a chat. Of the eight months he had been away 64 days had been spent at sea. Outward bound from Auckland to Vancouver the ship had called at Suva, Fiji, and Honolulu. Honolulu was a very beautiful place, thoroughly modernised in every way. Pineapple growing was one pi the chief industries and the miles and miles of plantations were sights worth seeing. On arrival at Vancouver, which has a population of 200,000, he was an .interested Unlooker at »a game of hockey, played on the ice between Vancouver and Ottawa before 10,000 spectators. From there he went by the Great Canadian Pacific Railway across thousands of miles of vast prairie lands to Winnipeg, where he spent Easter Sunday visiting all places of note. Ontario, Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo and Niagara Falls were seen. Toronto is a town of many narrow streets, and is a big manufacturing centre. On reaching Ottawa, the city was frozen over. He thought the House of Commons there was even more magnificent than the Capitol of Washington. Montreal was a very picturesque old place. New York, the world’s great metropolis was next visited. A marvellous city, with its millions of people and skyscrapers. There were miles and miles of slum streets however, which presented a very squalid and ’(miserable appearance. Maze of tubes and overhead railways were great sights. The American people wore highly emotional being apparently more of the latin type than the Anglo-Saxon. He was not impressed with the Labour organisation there, and conditions generally were not as good as New Zealand. The newspapers went in for great scare headlines. There was a paucity of foreign news. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Gettysburg Cemetery, and Washington were also visited by him. The Capitol at Washington is situated in the centre of the town and can be seen anywhere, as no buildings are allowed to be erected which would affect the Capitol’s position. Los Angeles, the hub of the movie world was another very fine place with a splendid climate. The Grand Canyon of California was an awe-inspiring sight. Never would he forget the journey across the Atlantic to the Bay of Naples, as it was a most delightful journey. It would need a poet to describe the sea on approaching the Island of Sicily. He arrived in Rome, where he had studied his boyhood, at night and he found it hard to realise that the dome of St Peters was not a dirigible balooh, so closely did it resemble one. He was present at the Vatican in Rome when the King of England paid his visit lb tffie Pbpe. . .There were 50,000 people in St Peters on this historic occasion. Dr Kennedy then touched briefly on his tour of England, Scotland and Ireland.

His trip to Ireland was perhaps the most pleasurable of all. Strange to relate he found the people very apathetic in their attitude to political affairs. Perhaps the people were so weary of the conflict, which has raged so long. He heard Miss Mary McSweeney, ( a noted Republican leader) giving an open air speech in a park, in Dublin. It would be bard to gauge the state of. the minds of the people as to the vairious dillicult. problems which confront them. However all was peace, when he was there, not an arrest of any kind taking place. He concluded by stating that New Zealand was the best place after all, and he never in all his travels saw anything to rival its scenery. Dlr L. R. Higgings on behalf of

the St. Columba Club thanked Dr. Kennedy for having consented to give the lecture, which he felf, all present had appreciated to the utmost. He hoped Dr Kennedy would find it convenient to give another lecture in the near future.