OUR YOUNG FOLKS'COLUMN

Mataura Ensign, 2 November 1911, Page 3

OUR YOUNG FOLKS'COLUMN

OUR MOTTO: 'Whatever thy hand findeth to do. do it with all thy might." RULES: 1. All letters for the week's publication should reach the office not later than Monday afternoon. 2. Correspondents should write on only one side of the paper. 1. All correspondents must send their real names, hot necessarily for publication. I All letters should be addressed thus: — "ross MSS. UNCLE PHIL, 'Ensign' Office, Gore. Dear Boys and Girls, —We stay-at-homes are pleased to see through voyagers' eyes how far-off lands look and how their peoples act; and, this week 1 am giving you from the pen of a well-known district young man (Mr James McDonald) an account of some of his adventures. Writing from Rochester, United States of America, he says: "Since leaving my Western Canadian home on the last day of June, after spending a few days with my friends, Mr and Mrs Davidson (the former wellknown in Waiinumu), Mr Davidson and I made for his ranch in Alberta'. It lies close to the foothills, sheltered by the giant Rockies. On our way we stopped for a few days at Calgary, and luckily it was fair time- Now fair time is a kind of twin to our Gore Show, but with a difference. The exhibits of horses were equal to those shown in New Zealand, but in cattle and sheep ours are first, the Canadians not*in sight. In addition to exhibits of horses, cattle, etc., a Canadian fair includes horse-racing, performing Indian troupes, foot-races, fireworks, bronco busting, and aeroplane performances. In fact, everything that will influence and attract a crowd is -covered by the word fair. To see those cowboys riding the broncos was one of the swellest things I have yet seen. One aviator's machine rose at his bidding but, when only about 20ft up, jibbed and 1 came down on the top of a fence, smashing the aeroplane but doing the driver practically no harm. We had a swell time at Mr Davidson's ranch. I left him there as, his health being somewhat unsatisfactory, he intends to spend some time in a town called Banff, right in the heart of the , Rockies, where there are hot springs etc. —in fact, a kind of Canadian Rotorua. Returning to Mr Davidson's , farm to bid Mrs Davidson and the many neighbors around good-bye—will it be for ever? —I again turned my face towards Maoriland. "My first stopping-place was Winnipeg, a town with some 180,000 of a , population. It is the cleanest city I . have ever been in. If a person is , caught spitting on a footpath, he is in for a court appearance and fine, quick and lively too. I guess they have to be very careful and cleanly for typhoid stands, an ugly spectre, ever ready to strike one down. Here I called on MiGraham (brother of Mr Graham, of J. E. Watson and Co., Gore) and found him one of the finest fellows I had ever met. He put himself to no end of trouble and gave me a grand time. He was deeply interested in all the things I could tell him about Gore. Many a most enjoyable chat we had regarding the city that sits on the banks of the Mataura. Here I had the good! fortune to strike fair time again. The stock and implements shown here would be hard to beat even by New Zealand. The aeroplane work was tip-top. To see the aviator wheel his machine round in a spiral form makes one hold his breath. Crossing into the States after my 10 days in Winnipeg, and making eastward I stopped first at Minneapolis and St. Paul, two towns not more than 10 miles apart. The former has a population of about 350,000, the latter .230,000. They are connected by an i electric railway and indeed it is difficult to determine when you cross one city's boundary and get into the next. Falling in with a party of Yankee tourists, I joined them in making a trip to the old Parliament buildings. Here we saw some wonderful things. Our guide showed us pictures, by far j the best paintings I had ever seen. One picture alone is valued at 700,000 dollars; yet, wonderful as it is, I should prefer the dollars to the picture. Lack of the artist's eye, you say. It may be, butt after all it is what takes the eye. The dollars would claim mine. One picture much admired on account of the historical scene it depicts is the Battle, of Gettysburg. A fine statue of the general of the Northern forces who won this battle also stands here. Where is the statue of the beaten general? One of the marble domes is.the largest in America and second in size in the whole world, one in Rome being more colossal. From the building floated the Stars andl Stripes. I would ] have liked to see the old Union Jack ! instead. I liked Minneapolis better - [than I did St. Paul. Some of the! i parks—we call them domains —are | i wonderful. In one of these there is! a waterfall which, tumbles over a ledge I foOft in height, and disappears away], j in a long vista of shrubbery, where elk, J moose, buffalo and almost every kind ; |of animal, wikil and tame, are kept— j a park and zoo combined in fact. I ! next visited La Crosse, a town of! 25,000 people, situated on the banks of j the mighty Mississippi—mother of wa-, ters. Here my host drove me through', the fashionable residential part of the: ' town, where in one street only retired >' millionaires live. Such magnificent ■ I homes I had never seen before, osten-! tatious wealth wherever the eye turned | • :to look. I secured as a souvenir a, ! bottle of tvater from the far-famed! ' river. •! '_ "Next I made for Chicago—Pork-i' opolis. On the way I passed through some fine country, and, being harvest • time, I hadl a good chance of seeing what it yielded. We hear so much " about the advances made in America, * that in the farming line I expected to j meet with some surprises and learn a good deal. The truth is that they have lots to learn. All along the Hue could . be seen the old-fashioned post-and-rail fences, some of them in the last stages of decay, too. The bush scenery was fine and much of the land! seemed of the best. On arriving at Chicago my '' first impulse was to jump into a car to take me into the heart of the city. After being whirled arong for about ',' half an hour, I seemed to be no nearer

| the centre of the town and no further from it; streets, streets, and more streets, interminable to all appearance. The conductor told me I was going in the wrong direction, so getting off I tried my luck in another, this time with better results. Arrived there, I was amazed at the crowds and bustle and traffic. I could! do nothing but gaze with open mouth and eyes at the hustling masses on both sides of the sky-scraping buildings. I had no idea till tTTen how high American edifices ran up. Jack Johnson, of boxing fame, has a magnificent residence in this city. I had a look at it but did not see Jack himself. He was across the herring pond, favoring English admirers with his smile. I visited', all the "lions" here —parks, railway; stations, zoos, museums, libraries etc. In one building I was 23 storeys up from the street. One has to be careful in going about so great a city as it is easy to lose oneself. However, after the first day or two I felt quite at home and strolled round as if I had lived there yor years. In the 10 days spent there, I was able to see something new and of a different kind each day. A visit paid to the stockyards or packinghouses is worth recording. It is marvellous to see how quickly the workmen kill and dress hogs —pigs here are hogs—sheep and cattle. From the time a pig is hooked till it is lying at the far end of the building, cut up into six pieces and dressed, is slightly under three minutes. Pretty quick work, isn't it? [Did you see the lever that reverses the machine and turns out the hams and rolls as live pig again if "thiiri hams bes bad?"—lT.P.] In one day, at ordinary working speexf, 500 pigs, 300 cattle and 1000 sheep are put through, and when extra pressure is exerted half as many again. The overhead railways amused me at first but later I saw their great utility. There is nothing to get in the way of the trains up there. They lessen the congestion of the traffic, and it is fine to whirl along and round street corners with thousands of people walking along down below. They are used chiefly out of the great thoroughfares. "Buffalo was the next place I visited and here I spent some most interesting clays. I. saw the spot where President McKinley was shot. Buffalo contains one of the largest hospitals in the States. At the time of my visit upwards of 5000 patients were within its walls. Here, too, is the largest cemetery in the world —no reflection on the administration or medical skill of the aforesaid hospital intended —with an area of about 5000 acres. From here I went on to Niagara Falls. The most wonderful sight I ever clapped eyes on. I cannot describe it. No picture can give you any adequate idea of its grandeur. Long before we got near it, 1 eoulci bear the dull roar, which, as we came nearer became louder and louder until it was almost deafening. The Falls are hidden from the town by bush. The first sight of them strikes one dumb. Words are out of place. You look but do not attempt to speak even if above the roar you could, make your voice heard. The waters approach the ledge through a space known as the upper rapids, then,' hesitating as it were to make the colossal plunge, they seem to slow down bfore rushing over into the abyss below. The mist that rises from the depths > wraps the little town in a dense fog. Even on the sunniest day there is a choice between getting wet to the skin by this mist or using an umbrella. The colors cast by the falling water at dlawn or sunset are gorgeous beyond description. No artist could catch and put them on canvas. No one who has not seen these colors would believe the artist if he could paint them. I stood on the railway round the edge and looked down into that seething mass and wondered what New Zealanders would think if only they too could see it. I hact a trip under the Falls. About half a dozen fellows near my own age determined to include this in our programme. We were, after paying a dollar each, told to strip and, being furnished with a bathing suit, we left the dressing-room headed by our guide through a long lane of spectators who hailed us with "Good hick, boys!" We had to go down the 180 feet inside a funnel-shaped staircase and, when we got to the bottom, stood on a ledge of rock to view the mighty stream of water that came tearing over the rocks close to us, giving us a queer sensation, one ever to be remembered. In a few minutes the spray had made us look as wet as drowned rats. Joining hand to prevent the force of the wind, caused' by the falling torrent, from carrying lis off our feet, as we walked 1 under the Falls, we made the peri L.-us journey, never daring to look into the 300 ft hole that the water dropped into. I never before got such a wetting. A shower-bath is a mere toy compared with the rush of spray experienced her?. It was, however, comfortably warm and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Soon dried and dressed again, j we now joined a party taking the MaM '> of the Mist crip. This is a sail up the > i ;»•<•!■ to \ iow the Falls from below, and ; it is from hero only that one gets a j front view of the great Niagara Falls. j Kven in i hi-, journey each excursionist |u serves a waterproof outfit, otherwise he 'u- she would be drenched with Uprav ,vet through and through, as 1 ilu' Sv'vjhiuan says. | "!'Vo;n Chicago I travelled to Toronto, I.ut. as u am .going back there .-j.v'iiii. I at once left for Rochester, U.S., when: i am at present located with an Auckland young fellow for a i'..-w week'?. Here, when in a skyscraper. I hul a fall and, as my nose came in contact with an object of a harci'-r nature than itself, I have had to *ic up for repairs. The delay had) its compensations, and, as the injured tnei'.ilier is now back into old form and' size, j don't regret the happening of -die incident. But I must be making I my ,i;.'\' back ;.'» Gore again. I may wj.-; <■.(• again, if I get an opportunity,' if nut when I get home 1 shall give you sli'Vi\Ti of information about my] sig! it-seeing.'' | P'jar Unci" Phil, —1 was very fortu-j iiaic uiih tiio eggs I set as 1 got 12 \ cMiik.'i,. an' i think I would have got| to ''if the hoi. had not tramped on one! ■':( •;,!;• i uv.;s the second week she wasj £•'.{,; They air all white Leghorns, but | i. hopo they will not be all cockerels' as [would rather have a few hens j thavi the time at Christmas. Ij «iioi!i»lit thai/ "Polly's Mate's" idea] abovi'b a U.P.N, picnic was an excel- j Iciiti one, and ; f we could make some! arrJ]igement,s to cany it through it]

j would be very nice. The nieces and nephews would thus become acquainted 'with one another. I have very little news this week so T will conclude my letter now, witli love to all the U.P.X.'s and yourself.—Yours sincerelv, MARTIN RATTLER. Gore. [What do you feed your chicks on? I presume you shut them up carefully so that no cat has a chance to dine on them. But I have heard that chicks that run loose with the hen grow more quickly and are less subject to illness than are those confined in a small area. We shall see what can be done about i a picnic when the holiday season begins. Meantime home-lessons engage; most of our spare time. I shall expect! to hear from you soon.—lT.P.]