A VISIT TO ENGLAND.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 July 1925, Page 3

A VISIT TO ENGLAND.

A BUSINESS MAIN’S OBSERVATION: Mr G. W., Wilton, of Auckland, has With Mrs Wilton, just recently ru turned by the lonie from a compre hensive trip of 'the Old Country, am hag been spending a few days La Le y in. in the coarse of un iuterviev with u “Chronicle” representative In gave some .very interesting impres Sions of England, and the changer conditions since he vsas last there some twenty years ago. TRAFFIC PROBLEMS. As in Now Zealand, Mr Wiltoi found that the revolution that'' has taken place in the last* 20 years in traction—horse-drawn traffic having given place to motor propelled vein cles—bulked large in the life ol every country he visited, and there was keen discussion of the new problems raised by the complete change in methods of street and road transit. “Tramways,” said Mr Wilton, “art obsolete,” and he continued by saying that in some places the trams were being taken hit the road. In Leeds, when the bus traffic began to make its presence felt, the buses were allowed only tq go* to the outskirts of the city proper, but the publh were §q insistent upon a complete bus service that the corporation’s attempt to keep the bus«e out was ineffectual and the buses are now as iserting themselves. The London County Council, which is now trying to smash the bus competition, showed a deficit last year of something like *580,000. Bitumen is now used extensively lii the construction of English roads, which, in London and Hie provincial cities, are washed and swept everj morning by cleaning machines, which leave the roads in a penfeci Condition. For all the advance ol motor traction, and despite the slippery state of the roads, there are still five * thousand farriers attending tt London's horses. During the yeai 1!.'09, in. Berlin, when bitumen roads were laid down, all the horse-drawn traffic was ordered off the streets and the owners received an equivalent of £3O as-compensation. “Dimming”—that very contentious matter holding the attention of mo terists the world over has been verj fully discussed through the leading “dailies” of- England, and the Dailj Mail, with its one-and-three-quartei millions circulation daily, was instrumental in swaying the contention of the various public’bodies and mo tor unions in that they decided thai “dimming was all extremely dangerous practice.” Employment troubles are still verj bad, but a good many men did nol want to work so long as the dole lasted, and frequently the factories «!) Tyneside and the Clyde discharged a thousand men. The railway companies in England lay themselves out to attract peopk to travel by cheap day excursions (ai about one-third of the ordinary fare; to different resorts on the coast and elsewhere, thereby encouraging peo pie to visit outlying places, and, in cidentally, helping to solve the char e.banc competition problem. AT WEMBLEY. The New Zealand Pavilion at Wemb ley is much brighter' than that of lasi vear, the entries, on the whole, be Sag very attractive. Whakarewarewc and the boiling mud pools were quilt effective, but the exhibition of glass cases filled with apples, butter, and mutton gave the place a “cold mutton show” air. The engineering court, which had in the beginning, been the finest sec tion of the Exhibition was now ai absolute fiasco. VALLE OF ADVERTISING. One of Mr Wilton’s most interest iug experiences was his participa tion in the International Advertising Conference held in London, at whicl Mr Clinkard represented the Auck land Advertising* CWb. The delegates were entertained at Oxford by Mi Morris (manufacturer of the Morris Lowley car) and were afterward; conveyed by special trains to Strat lord-on-Avon. On the return jouruej to London the Great Western Railway supplied a full complement of dining cars, and gave a wonderful dinner which lasted all the while (practical Ivl then were in the train, ' The President of the Advertising Conference (Mr Leo. Holland) was t keen American business-man, anc greatly appreciated by the delegates ;is a charming personality. At tin last meeting held in Wembley he was presented with a signed portrait if the. Prince of Wales. In responding Mr Holland was so overcomt with emotion, all be could say was "My wife might- have known what t| .say—l don’t.” If this be an nidi cation of the esteem with which In regarded the gift it might be san i remarked Mr Wilton) that the aver age educated American has a great regard for the Royal Family. As a significant instance of tin value placed on scientific methods o advertising, Mr Wilton mentionec lhat Messrs Whiteley’s, whose hug* departmental store covers many acres iu London, paid £ISOO for the from page of a single issue of the “Daily Mail ” and wrote I'oir a reservation io be made of the space when available. The psychological effect of advertising Was an unknown quantity and nobody could gauge it. As an example it was said that a 'certain artiele was advertised ■ under several different names tmd in each case produced vastly different results. 1 PLACES OF INTEREST. Among the places of interest the New Zealanders visited was Hever Castle (once a retreat of the famous \nne Bolevn) but now the country of Lord Astor. It is said of Hever Castle that it occupied the labours of 1400 men for five years to restore the ruins to its-present picturesque condition and to do this the present owner had purchased a lot, of old country houses in order that the ancient woods and carvings might he incorporated in the castle. While in Paris, Mr and Mrs Wilton visited the famous American Protestant Church, built by Americans for their countrymen the French city. This edifice, they con sidered was a beautiful piece of work, and mentioned that all around the church were cloisters containing the names of the. American soldiers who fell on the battlefields of Flan(l6TS. “Levin,” concluded Mr Wilton, ‘ife showing fine improvements after an absence of 15 months, and appears to have made very rapid progress.