THE MAGIC CARPET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19738, 10 September 1927, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE MAGIC CARPET.

Tho visit of tho Magic Carpet voyagers to the Land of tho Golden West ia drawing to a close, and soon we shall be setting forth once more on our long journey across the ocean to the land of tho Southern Cross. For a long, sunny summer wo have been voyaging over forests and mountains, exploring tho wonders of a great city and visiting points of interest that tho ordinary traveller rarely sees. Just one or two more short trips we will make before wo say goodbye to beautiful California. On a morning of sunshino and summertime beauty, we fly once moro over the mountains to a little town on the seacoast, Santa Cruz, founded by tho priests of tho Spanish Mission in 1796. To this day, tho influence of tho Spaniards is to be seen in the architecture of tha public buildings, and many private residences of Santa Cruz. Like so many Californian towns, Santa Cruz is a city of gardens. You may walk down a dozen streets, and never see the sign of a fence; beautiful flower-beds and lawns extend to the edge of the sidewalk, and nobody ever dreams of stealing the blooms. The streets are planted with palms and stately pepper trees, which bear lovely sprays of scarlet berries, making the street an' avenue of beauty and delight to tho nature-lover. Santa Cruz is a city of roses; in ono garden which wo visit, there is a famous climbing rose called tho Beauty of Glazenwood, which has completely covered a tall cabbage-palm, and. on which, when in full bloom, over a thousand blossoms have been counted. Built at the edge of Santa Cruz beach is a great building called the Casino,

" MAGIC CARPET " COMPETITION. Many readers of " Boys and Girls " have journeyed every week to gunnv California on the Magic Carpet. I want you now to tell nie where you have been, and what has interested you most, in our voyaging. Was it the wonderful rainbow fish of Honolulu, the coining of Father Neptune, the Great Fire of San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, the Crookedest Railway, the Forest-Garden, or the wonders of Yosemite? Describe the most interesting trips you have made,

BY ELSIE K. MORTON.

A VISIT TO SANTA CRUZ.

containing shops and restaurant, a handsome ballroom, reception rooms, and a magnificent swimming bath where the boys and girls of Santa Cruz go swimming when the surf is too rough for them to bathe from the beach. Every summer evening, the band plays on " the Boardwalk " which runs rignt along the beach, the side-shows are crowded, and cries of excitement, from thoso who are hurtling up and down on the steep scenic railway, sound above the surge of the waves on the shore. The crowds are merry and light-hearted; they have confetti-battles and battles of roses on festival occasions, and ent«r into the spirit of carnival in a way New Zealand has never known. Leaving Santa Cruz, wo fly back toward the City of the Golden Gates, but before we cross San Francisco Bay for the last time wo descond in a grove of trees, beyond which lies a stately white building. This is Berkeley University, and it contains a world-famous Greek theatre in which the students present plays and give entertainments. The theatre, which is built in a grove of trees, is fashioned on tho lines of tho old Grecian open-air theatre, and consists of semi-circular rows of stone seats mounting tier upon tier, seating ten thousand people. In front is the stage, built of beautiful white marble, and looking like some ancient temple whero tho people of heathen lands worshipped the gods of sun and air. A band concert is being given as we enter the grove, and the sound of sweet music mounting to tiie quiet skies, the sighing of the trees, and the stately beauty of the theatre, make our visit one of enduring memory. Then we say good-bye to Berkeley, to beautiful Snn Francisco, and tho Golden Gates, wave our good-bye to the seals as we pass over Cliff House and Seal Rocks, and in a moment we are high among the clouds and tho stars, our faces turned once more to our homeland of the Southern Seas.

and toll mo what you have seen, in an essay, not more than 500 words. Two prizes, for hoys and girls, five shillings each, also consolation prizes. Open to all readers. Closing date September 24. Mark envelopes " Magic Carpet Essay." The voyages ol the Magic Carpet end with this article. Next Saturday, a new series will start, entitled " Our Homeland." We shall still continue our voyages o! discovery, this time to places of wonder and enchantment in our own beautiful New Zealand.