AMERICAN CARTOONIST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21113, 22 February 1932, Page 10

AMERICAN CARTOONIST.

STRANGE FACTS COLLECTED. BRIEF VISIT TO AUCKLAND. An American cartoonist, Mr. R. L. Ripley, whose work has become widely known through '.'Believe It or Not" films, h a passenger on the Mariposa, combining business with pleasure. When the vessel arrived in Auckland on Saturday morning it was the first occasion on which Mr. Ripley, a much-travelled man, had seen New Zealand. In addition to his film connections. Mr. Ripley sketches for the Hearst syndicate of newspapers and conducts radio broadcasts. He is also a writer, as each year he publishes an illustrated volumo of strange facts under (he title, "Believe It or Not." "I travel about and collect strange things/' he said, in explaining his work. "For the past 113 years I have been travelling, and I have visited 125 different countries. Both New Zealand and Australia are new to mo and some of my experiences in these countries I will relate to American audiences by a special broadcast from Sydney." During the stay of the Mariposa, Mr. Ripley visited Rotorua and the Waitomo Caves, taking a camera man with him. " I thought the glow-worm cave at Waitomo was one of the most remarkable things I have seen," he said last evening. " Unfortunately, it could not be photographed. but I shall use it in my sketches and cartoons." Mr. Ripley was also very much impressed by the Fairy Springs trout pool at Rotorua. and hj« took » considerable length of moving picture film of the pool.