AS OTHERS SEE US.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21102, 12 August 1930, Page 7

AS OTHERS SEE US.

OUR DEFECTS AND OUR VIRTUES CANDID AND HUMOROUS CRITIC. (Speom. to Dailt Times.) AUCKLAND, August 11. In the opinion of Mr E, Norman Torry, a visiting English writer and lecturer, the people of New Zealand, possesrman; striking qualities and tame time many defects which ore surprising to the stranger. These were discussed in humor- ■ oas manner by Hr. Torry in a lecture last evening. “New Zealanders are the freest people on the globe,* 1 Mr Torry said. “Your climate Is most equable, and your scenery is exquisite. While the smaller towns are 25 years ahead of towns of the same size in England, yet you seen to tackle your problems in a very half-hearted way. You'are the most pleasure-loving and - pleasure-obsessed people in the .world, and the most nomadic. Oh any excuse at all you travel by road, rail, or sea, and if yon have no excuse; yoq still travel.” ' The New Zealander, however, according to Mr Torry, speaks the best English that is to be heard anywhere, and with him class distinctions are almost invisible. He is patriotic to a degree which is almost aggressive, and in Auckland, where V one 'hears the greatest amount of talk - about patriotism, one finds people buying American things "whenever they can. , “Here, : too,"’ Torry added, “the "youths of the city are busily cultivating the slang of the New York Bowery, as witness the terms “ Jane ” and “ Sheilah,” which are commonly nsed to describe girls and women. While your speech in general is excellent, your vernacular is most curious. One of the queerest .expressions to English ears is that of “ Too right” to indicate thatt"things are as hoped or as agreed. Whefe we would say a person had “ gone to the dogs ” yon' say he has “ gone to the pack.” Then ' there is your wonderfully expressive •word “Jake,” while anything which in curs your ''disfavour, be it a man, a woman, or a thing, is dhsfted as a “ cow." “ You have the four fetishes of‘the, Briton —the Bible, . Shakespeare, the medicine bottle, and respectability—but you have added three others—hjbfse racing, Rugby football, and spotting:’ Your drink bill, as . shown in statistics, Is appalling I notice that you also drink u great amount of tea, but I can understand that, for I have tasted your coffee.”