OUR COUNTRY

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 78, 28 June 1928, Page 3

OUR COUNTRY

COLLEGE MAGAZINE A*rtfTIGLE., PUBLISHED IN AMERICA In a recent issue of the "Packer Collegiate Journal/' an America $ school magazine, there appeared an excellent article en "r?ew Zealand from, the pen' of Miss Doreen W. >tfarwick, aI.A., new of New York, a (laugher of Mrs H. Barwick, of To Wr i. 'b is headed by two thumb- .:: .1 pictures, one representing a kiwi and tho other showing Mitre Peak, Slilfoi'd Sound. In the course of four pages the writer gives a concise digest of tho history of the country and deals in an interesting! manner with present conditions. This following extracts fVom tho article! may be of interest: Where is New Zealand/? If this, question were asked of a dozen people selected at random, some would reluctantly confess thciir ignorance, others would return vague answers, and probably not more than one or two would have any definite idea of the location.

DISTINCT OUTLOOK. The traveller must not imagine that Australia is close at hand, for twelve hundred miles of stormy ocean separated the two countries. The people are separated net only physically but also in temper and outlook In fact, tiie New Zenlandor s and Australians are as pleased l 0 1"' taken for each other as/ the Bostoi'Tui, and the Now Yorker, or the American and the Canadian. The shin sails down a curved coastline into Hie largest and deepest and i and prv.aps tho fcv •>'; ,*t ha> bour |ef the ?>"<'■• -:-,. !l -; splice. Wtlitoatata, "Shining Wafers.'' On its shores, and resting; comfortably among softly rounded screen hills lies the red-roofeJ friendly-looking city of Auckland, a decidedly Englisliloojcing sight, eminent'y reassuving to those who do not knew exactly wTiat to c'cpoct in New Zealand. Besides Auckland, the county possesses four other cities, of varying size and character. Had yen left from San Francisco th" ship would have slipped into Wellington, a gusty port rising abruptly on sharp hills, somewhat reminiscent of San Ij'ran. cisco Bay. New Zealand is a green land of ie'-'n, and frond. The bush contains one hundred and fifty vaiilTrs, from delicate maidenhair fern to tree ferns as high as fifty feet. It would be hard to find ;i picture of New Zealand country scenery wlrcli doss noti contain a lcrn. It i;; the national emblem.

LOVERS OF THE TUBE. • I In such islands of sun antr pea- the inhabitants arc extrenely fond of outdoor life. They excel at boating and fo--tbaP, but bors^-ra r ing is their great passion. Young, are old alike, attend as many race-msetings during the year as they cm afford, while all arq despsrata bettors. No general conversation ever ends without I same discission of the subject. Owners, jockeys, weights, chanc3s, every j point is tliraish?d out many times> in fact gambling o*i hcrso-races is almost a national vTe. A record is, achieved ••« fts, V the low death-rate, which is partly due to two carefully developed systems of baby welfare, the Plunkot and the Karitane. which have lowered infant niu.l'aiity to a tremendous ilegrei*. So far Prohibition is not acceptable to New 2'calanders. anu they put the question to the vc-t« every three years, they cfo not you find drunkenness and beery hotel corners insupportable. All in all, this land of the pioneers of a hundred ' years ago has developed info an energetic and progressive state with an outstanding government, even if an outstanding ; literature remains to bo written- j