A GLIMPSE OF SYDNEY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 293, 5 April 1921, Page 5

A GLIMPSE OF SYDNEY.

MR ROE’S IMPRESSIONS. During his recent visit to Australia, Mr Arthur Roc, of Palmerston North, gathered many details of life there, particularly m Sydney, which he contrasted with the quieter routine of this town for the benefit of members of the Luncheon Club this afternoon. Touching on labour conditions, Mr Ro o said that matters were not nearly as bad us one would be led to believe. The great mass of the business people and employees were making the best of things in the undoubtedly severe times the_ country was experiencing, but this reaction was actually leas noticeable on the > surface than it was in Now Zealand. Ho instanced the drapery trade, in which he was niore particularly interested, as a fair criterion that Sydney was pursuing the even tenor of its business way. undisturbed by the threatened collapse of credit. There was, however, a smaller section (which did not reflect the true spirit of Australia), which was uncontented to a degree. Repatriation m Australia had not_ been taken up with the same success as it had met with in this country whether from climatic effects or not ho* did not know, but in the busiest parts of Sydney the passer-by would come upon ono of tho numerous soldier bands which were to be . met with. There would bo perhaps 40 able-bodied musicians, while about half a dozen limbless men would solicit the crowd, and it was impossible to get past them. Apparently the game was a. lucrative one. The public services \vero also described. The tramways were a feature of Sydney, and the employees were a very fine body of men, and in'.aria.bly courteous under the most trying working conditions. Tho efficiency of the' service was proved by the fact that on race days 100,000 people could bo moved from the course in less than half an hour. Iho new American system of traffic control by alternate stop signs at intersections was an experiment to which Sydney had not, up to the present, taken very kindly. Ino telegraphic and telephonic services, on the other hand, were atrocious, and it appeared to b 0 impossible to find a remedy for the existing systems. Tho milk .strike, wheat control and other subjects of interest were also mentioned by Mr, Roe, who later passed round several snapshots of Sydney and its environs which he had secured. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Roe for his address. Mr Northey occupied tho chair.