SOME COUNTRY.

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 May 1925, Page 2

SOME COUNTRY.

'WEST.COASTER- pF 'AMERICA? . v ---'ir.ir, ■ 'erU.' i VSoine. country-!” tp ; M'r.i' Frit. Americlv—ahead, pf New' Zealand ,mqnyl reppectSipbut ’behintffiie'r in.otkerSi Afteffan l -absence of seven months in the Lilild of the Almighty "Dahlcr," Mr. Mattson 'has ijeturnerl to Kotuku, and today gave 8/‘Star’' reporter some of the impressing .he gained while abroad. His visit to. - America was made for the jit'irpo&e of placing upon the market h.Ls invention of, an. impKoyedt format,, tfon- of -saw blade, adaptable to all classes .of saws., it devised avitli itre. object of• providing a formation • ■ip,nd cpp-struction.) of..the; cutting, edge th’pt win Allow, of the. saw being used With effeetiyeness- .forc either/ ! crdss-cutror rip work, and to cut.‘as the blade'jis moved in both directions. ',Mri states that he was suceehhful in-his quest, and has a bundle f ; of) correspondence concerning the ,/ni.atter;’ including nuiherous testimonials from firms all over the . States, praising the work 0/ his invention, yhe saws have been protected 'fasten countries, and jyill .be made Atkins tha 7 “saw kings” It! ■ isA'claimed, that . *tlitf . saw will’-i .ciit'i'./fastqr,. exit both' ways, and cuts .a 'plainer /surface, saving work, forj; the planing . machine; and Will-be a\ great economy in*'veneer ■ work, j,Mr) Mattson,, is .now .• making, arrangements for placing the saws on A .tjie markj?tT .;;e- to- >'<><. .»><•/-..$ /■His experiences in the United States ar'fe interesting/ He/cpfißidef Avthat' >lew Zealand is?far ahead im the mat- • ter of food, not'.exactly/the- quality; but ; ’in the system/, of consuming it. '•The Americans,. he says, have only one/real meal per'day/in .the even-, ing.- During the-day they subsist! one. /"rush’*,'meals, "including ■ such articles" as pies. The system. Of selecting their own orders did not appeal to him, and he,states that a real meal would cost twice as much askin' New! Zealand. ' ,< Generally, he found- .•that it would . .cpst over <twice. as much to live in America, /‘ahdj ; -asked about wages; said that skilled workers. are? letter paid' than in New Zealand, the : American/rates'! beiiiguup' to - !£2/ per' day. .The unskilled, labourer, however, lias to. be content -with .only 12/- per day, and this may., account for some .pf i -thfe" popularity.-of “rush” meals. Good meals areii ? impossible'*onthe wages of .the. upskilled labourer. /"Sp.'Tar as cfething is concerned, M?/' Mattson--: declares that . although. the materials- ai% otoinferior.auality,. the-’American tailobs can easily beat those, in New Zealand for-etyle. The cost of ond of *the - best-quality suits is,'about 56 dollars. Some cloth is imriortecl from iSurope, -.’but is; more expensive than/, American-made'; niateriai. However poor . the cloth, iiiay/' be, the American' 1 tailor, can pfake it appear very smart." 'Askbd' whether he noticed the exis-. tcnce Of much trade with • Germany,-• Myi Mattson replied that so'.far* as Ills, line of business was such trade did-mbf ejcist. Thet.Ger-.-; riians did, not buy from the States,, as they wished to- do their own manufacturing and-then; export to other coun- ■. tries?/ . x L . •

Particularly impressive -were the hotels in the'/cities.: The’ Hotel Pennsylvania, New York; claiipetl ‘-to /be 1 tse* in. the World, is a tqwtishlp in itself. It comprises four / storeyk • underground, and no fewer ; tnari. fifty-eight above, and .accommodnte's thousands of guests? /A 1 room cqfet’from 10 dollars to'l2 ! dollars' day,7 arid .> more for special rooms, whlld: meals ranged from 75 cents for > “coiinter liinch"7.to?four-dollar&. The. ayerage ;irieai hi f air 7 Ainerican-MioteF was” found do .costsabout li .dollars. ' Steetra heating systems were used; as it’ would be impossible*-to .'attend' to the. ntimttervof * nedessary in f mfch immense establishments. ./Tips are expected everywhere in the. States, and the'traveller who-does nbt '.tip is soon-made -to realise 1 - his omission. "Every# small service is followed by a tlp,'»and onecannot take out. a' cigarette Without somebody expecting to, receive 'ai tip hforl lighting , itj"' said Mr. Mattson.’ The charge for ; cleaning shoes wasr'TO."Cents, and. a 5-cent tip was. expected/; If one hasmopey, it is not necessary to do any- . tiling .f or .oneself—an army of porter s_ and r Servants', is .waiting td.-serye. Th*e" thing' is greatly overdone, and does not’ appealdo.’New Zealanders. American- trains ’ are the last- word in 'efficiency, says Mr. Mattson,, and a 'Splendid .system of-reservation of septs ensures a minimum of inconvenience to the traveller. The, Pullman' trains are luxuriously 1 equipped With'".dining and observation cars, • smoke-rooms, etc., :tnd splendidnscenery is'a feature.'of the trans-continen-tal .'trip. The arm seats are of the revolving ,typtff)n'n'd<the carriages;, would f-the’rCeiitrq l aisle., Americans c“sktte" about their railways,f but '.have*reason -to do., so. tlivburning’ehgines 'are Used, and attain -sbeeds up to 75 miles pdr-hour, travulimg foi’A litfurn,/ without any■ tedious stops. 'Thb-gnage is 4ft. lOin, compared with 3ftr"6iri.- in-New Zea-, •land.' Wlieni at 'Gra'nd Rapids,' near* Nihgdra,"4lr f . j ‘ MhttAtfn tsatvii ide-'skating-in.-progress V only Xow.'days, later-the-traihireachefT Arizonaewhere the tern-, p^t'ure-was in the shade, abdEno; f*ain ‘had - fallen for three yearm--- ■„ '' e • /Vpipinonly.. regarde'd' as ’ a desert; its described by Mr; Mattson as? A /wpnderfdl ■'Stritri', •« only awaiting iri’igqtion to-vgo: ahead enormously. tfip4sqll.dB-4plendid i for..fruit-growing, - and.'’-pineapple's) bananas; grapes " and npt£;may' A< .great I 'canyon,'flye '.rijijjes.. wideband -ten- miles' dong, is npiy /heing filled'in, for an irrigation sclipme,.’'ahdi;When i Nthis 16. completed,twp= Or-' s crpps per--year- are ’’re-, gritted, i ahi . possible, f ' . Mr. J 1 Mattson fjtltejk.ihat, the! heatdri'i-Arizona is-.'dry, unUkeifhait.of.New.Zealand, and the high',,temperature; troubledr him ;very liitlewXrizona was a. popular health for/’Americans -from all parts ot^hei'States. -., • WinteTw was very seye’Fp. the.temperature, being .as low a§*#7'Jd<£grees' beloW-'-zero.-Very heaVy and felt coats; arc worn; by i'niand the women -are muffled up f.tirs’. "Yoti'jicari’t;' sew much. of tMsmsrican .woman in winter-time," ( Slat’tson> “About all that is visibiq’is'he'r nose!" He liked the pco.Viielri; ? S!inf7sdoiaily; but- they tp;,deal with in business. Competition isavery., keeh, and “graft"

is (joinman. The/keenness of business ' accounted •• in, a large meps.ur.e £of' the efficiency attained in many /directions; «•<;' ‘ * New ■ York; <-is ,a - wondprfub city, night ami day witll its neyej-c.easing> 'traffic? The’ groat undefground. . and' Overhead railways/',ate an /.education in en-giaedtirig.^Sunday„and.week-day, each 24'hours/’’the .busy life of the city goe&'bn,;The shops-close for business *■ 7> ■.v ‘ ■

at, regular hours, but their stocks are' renewed at night, and preparations» made,. for- the next day’s.- busihesa. Even at?',3 a.m. the «traffic appears little--different tjiaii that at. S-p.rn.-, while'restaurants and slipi- ‘ kir jilaces are ojxeh. throughout the -24 Size-'of ■ the tcity, it is A easy to find one’s way ‘-rfbout NeW-Yorlc. owing to the efficient system df/riumbering the streets. '

Of course, Mr. Mattson was.’asked; - for histviews on the prohibition (lues--tion, and said that liquor WhS' ! pifehii‘ii' ful. in the States-. Gp'dd whisky cost up to- £2/8/- p’er bottle. It ' was; smuggled into the country, and even if pnly one, cargo in three was landed, it paid the runners. Bad liquor was td : be-had everywhere, however, and deaths occurred daily as the result of, its consumption, other people going blipd and , insane. Mr. Mattson was asked- to . sample something labelled as : gin, butt confessed that he did hot recognise it. It might have beeh anything,; but there Was no doubt regarding its - deadly effects. Americans did not seem to care, so long as they got’■ something with a “kick” in it. Returning by the s.s. Tahiti, Mr.. Mattson.,was enabled-to see?the South Sea"islands,’ and . he; .describes! them as most beautiful. Fruit there is very cheap, and of much better quality than that available in’-New Zealand;