AMERICA AND CANADA

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1929, Page 12

AMERICA AND CANADA

NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS. DR. GORDON DELIVERS LECTURE. Although his visit to dhe United States and Canada was not a lengthy one Dr W. P. P. Gordon, who ha f s recently returned to Stratford from those countries, evidently was a keen observer, judging by his impressions as .riven to his audience at the Stratford town hall on Friday night. Dr. Gordon outlined his experiences in an interesting manner that held the attention of the audience. . The main object of his trip was to visit the chiet medical centres of northern America. He explained the methods in operation at the medical institutions. In company with Dr. D. S. Jenkins, Dunedin, he travelled via Raratonga and Honolulu to San Francisco. From there the travellers proceeded to Los Angeles by train. The latter city, said Dr. Gordon, was, of course, the centre of the Ameiican film industry. During hits tour he saw only one silent picture, the remainder being “talkies,” which had taken control Of the American film business. The advent of the talking film would be Britain’s opportunity to regain her lost place in the film markets of°the Dominions, said Dr. Gordon, for New Zealanders would prefer, the language to the American twang. c On the way from Los Angeles to Kansas City the states of Arizona and New Mexico were crossed. Mainly composed of vast arid areas productive ot nothing but cactus, these states appeared ° singularly uninviting, but by irrigation vast tracts of the two sfatw were being broken in for cultivation. Once watered the land would grow anythimr. A visit was paid to the Grand Can von, which has been carved out through countless age.; by the Colorado River Thirteen to 14 miles wide and a mile deep the canyon was perhaps one of the finest and most massive pieces ot scenery one could see .anywheie. Leaving Kansas City the travellers proceeded into the state of Minnesota. A bi" maize belt ran through this state Dr. Gordon said, and every farm had its silo for making ensilage. One up-to-date farm he visited was valued at £25 per acre, from which butter-fat valued at 2s 2d per lb was produced. He noted that the predominant breed ot cattle was the Friesian. Then the Mayo clinic was reached. Tn the early days of the state of MmSsotn s aM Dr. Gordon a man named William Mayo came out fiom Ma .' 1 Chester, England, and settled on the sit of the present great medical centre. A doctor by profession, Mayo practising there when the white settUis were still living in danger of raids by the Indians. Mayo had two sons and the three Mayos founded tthe medica institution that now consist fou J J ' fIVC hospitals accommodating IoVU

patients. To give some idea of th** magnitude of the clinic Dr. Gordon stated that last year . 7500 patient* were treated there, while in one day 800 patients had been registered. MAYO CLINIC OPEN TO ALL. The clinic was open to call, rich or poor, and those who could afford to pay were heavily charged to counteract the loss on the 25 per cent of patients who were unable to pay for their, treatment. Some of the specialists at the _ Mayo clinic and elsewhere in the States were as good as any in the world, but the general practitioner in New Zealander was .far ahead of his prototype in America. Chicago, the home of the quick shooting gunman, gang warfare and. legal chaos, was a city of huge possibilities, being the centre of a great commercial area and the richest land tracts in America. The only city in the U.S.A, with any pretensions to beauty was Washington. Except for Washington, when one had seen one American city one had seen the lot, but Washington was different and was' not completely constructed as planned even yet. “Boston is the most English city in. America and they are proud of it' in spite of the ‘tea party,’ ” ’ said the speaker. New York was visited and then Dr. Gordon and his companion travelled to Montreal, Toronto and Detroit, finally re-crossing the continent to San Francisco, whence the two New Zealandera left, calling at the Pan-Pacific conference at Honolulu on their return to New Zealand. Dealing with the States generally Dr. Gordon said the police and the law systems were wretched and full, of corruption and bribery, especially .in Chicago, where the judges were at the disposal of the highest bidder. “The Americans have many faults, but they are a fine people and they have reduced hospitality to the tourist down to a fine art,” Dr. Gordon said. They were full of boost and business but the better class American still had a “sneaking admiration” for the British race. However, the Briton would have, to get rid. of hie superiority complex before the two great English speaking nations would work together for their mutual interest instead of fighting against edcit other. The time was past when the British race could dictate to the other nations of the world,- and the British, race would have to cease “looking < owi upon the “Chink,” the “Jap “the Yanks” as it had been and was still doing.