VISITORS FROM ENGLAND

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1933, Page 9

VISITORS FROM ENGLAND

WEEK-END IN NEW PLYMOUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS ON TOUR. “AMONG OUR KITH AND KIN.” GROWTH OF COUNTRY IMPRESSES. “That we are so obviously among' kith and kin when we are over 13,000 miles from home is a fact that has impressed us all,” said Colonel N. Charteris, C.M.G., D. 5.0., the director of the party of 28 boys representing some of the principal public schools of England who arrived at New Plymouth on Saturday in the course of a tour of the Dominion. The trip has been arranged by the Public School Empire Tour Committee and Colonel •'Charteris is assisted ’by Mr. J. Blackie, a master at Bradfield, and Captain, A. J. Wilson, who is at present at Auckland. While at New Plymouth the boys were billeted in private homes.and arrangements in connection with their Visit were made by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce. The party arrived at Auckland last Monday by the Rotorua. The boys reached New Plymouth by car from s the Waitomo Caves about 2.40 p.m. and after a few minutes at the Boys’ High School proceeded to the racecourse as the guests of the Taranaki Jockey Club. After the last race the boys reassembled at the High School for introduction to their hosts. The evening Was free but a number of boys accepted an invitation to attend the’amateur ' athletic championships at Pukekura' Park, while others dealt with their correspondence at the homes of their hosts. ' VISIT TO MOUNTAIN. After assembling at Mr. T. C. List’s property yesterday morning the boys "Were shown, through Maranui and Brooklands and were served with morning tea at the kiosk in “Pukekura ‘Park. The fernery and other points of interest were then inspected and 'the party left by car for North Egmont. Lunch was taken at the.hostel and; in spit, of the unfavourable .weather conditions, the visitors followed the walks in the vicinity of the houses. Some set off up the track arid, although the majority turned back when rain was encountered beyond the bush, at least two reached Humphries Castle and several others were caught in the rain on the open ridge below. Afternoon tea was ready , upon their return to the house and a little later cars began to move off down the track. Instead of returning to town by the main road, the party followed the' Egmont Road route via Mangorei with the idea of giving the, boys a further glimpse of Taranaki's countryside. Last night was free. The party will leave .for Welling-: ton by this morning’s mail train. AT HOME IN DOMINION. “Personally I feel as much at home in New Zealand as I do in England and that makes me more- of an Imperialist than ever,” continued Colonel Charteris in the course of an interview with the Daily News last night. “At whatever port we called on the trip out We saw the Union Jack and soon either naval or military authorities had discovered us on board. On shore we were welcomed by our own kith and kin.” The enormous amount of work that must have been necessary in New Zealand to bring the country to its present position in 80 years was another fact that had impressed members of the party, said Colonel Charteris. The - fine buildings that had been seen in the cities and towns already visited, the harbours and the splendid roads were all evidence of that work. The war memorial at Auckland was a fine building and Colonel Charteris bracketed it with those at Edinburgh and Winchester College as the finest he had seen. . - “The countryside we have passed through is very beautiful and I find it similar .to that of the border counties of England and Scotland,’’ continued Colonel Charteris. “The great difference is in the trees. In the parts where hedges divide the fields it is very like England and, altogether, New Zealand is just as I expected to find it—England over again.” He had not noticed any outstanding difference in the accent of the people from tha'J of Englishmen. During the war he had served with an Anzac corps, in France and had come to kpow and like the New Zealand and Australian men. ! ORIGIN OF THE TOURS. Colonel Charteris explained that the British Government approved of the tours but, beyond such generous assistance as the New Zealand Government |iad given by providing free railway transport, no financial help had been received and the financing of the trip was by private arrangement. The British Government had assisted to a marked degree by placing the party in touch with officials in the Dominion and at the ports of call. The committee had first been formed in 1927 by Mr. L. C. M. S. Amery and the present head was Dr. M. J. Rendall, C.M.G., late headmaster of Winchester College, while the secretary was the Hon. • Margaret Best, 0.8. E. The object of the tours was educational and it was also believed that the unity of Empire was furthered by the movement. The present tour was the tenth of the series, the others Ming South Africa, Canada, New Zealand (1929), India, East Africa, West Indies, Australia, South Africa and Canada. One boy, W. R. D. Verdin, had been a member of the party that toured Canada during July-October, 1931. BOYS AND THEIR PLANS. The boys themselves were English public school boys who had been selected as to character. “If you were to put your hand into any public school and pick out a number of boys you would find them similar to the lads on this tour,” said Colonel Charteris. Most of them had left school and a proportion of them expected to proceed to university upon their return. Others were going into business, a few back to school and the rest were uncertain as to what they would do. He was afraid that positions would be hard to find in England at present; Several of the boys liked the idea of an open-air life and he felt they were closely observing conditions in New Zealand. “A feature of the tour that we like and which we feel is doing much to fulfill the object of the trip is the billeting of the boys with private families,” said Colonel Charteris. “It leads to an understanding that it would be impossible to achieve were we to stay at hotels in every centre.” WARM WELCOMES. They had been welcomed by Government officials, public bodies and individual citizens in the warmest manner and he hoped that some day a party of New Zealand boys would visit England and give the people there a chance to repay some of the kindness. They were grateful to the citizens of New Plymouth for their generosity, to the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce fdr the complete arrangements, to the -Mayor for meeting

them at the Pukekura Park kiosk, to the Taranaki Jockey Club and the Amateur Athletic Association for their kind invitations, to members of the Pukekura Park Board for their interest and kindness, and to the Newton King estate and Mr. T. C. List for opening their properties for the boys. The party will leave New Zealand on March 23 by the Monowai for Sydney, where the Orsova will be joined. Most of the Australian ports will be visited and calls will be made at Ceylon, Suez, Cairo (by car), Poll Said, Naples, Toulon and London.

The names o'f the boys, their schools and their New Plymouth hosts and hostesses are:—L. Balfour-Paul, Sedbergh (Mrs. A. F. Sandford); Bayley, Whitgift (Mrs. E. Griffiths); D. E. Brewis, Harrow, and R. K. Briscoe, Charterhouse (Dr. G. Home); M. P. Brooks, Tonbridge (Mrs. E. V. Tingey); J. T. Foreman and J. R. C. Geddes, Stowe (Mrs. H. M. Bacon); F. A. Hall-Hall, Oundle, and G. E. Hankin, Charterhouse (Mrs. L. R. Curtis); R. F. Harding, Tonbridge (Mr. C. Carter); W. M. Harrop, Harrow, and H. A. Hope, Eton (Mrs. T. C. List); A. N. Hunter, Uppingham (Mrs. A. Strang); J. Innes and A. H. H. Lebus, Eton (Mrs. J. C. Nicholson); C. H. Lees, Clifton (Mrs. W. H. Moyes); G. F. C. Lindsay, Marlborough, and H. Mason, Felsted (Mrs. D. Blackley); A. J. Morpheyz, St. Edward’s, and J. P. S. Packer, Gresham (Mrs. R. Brewster); R. S. Pearce, All Hallows (Mrs. L. C. Sladden); D. C. Riley, Stowe (Mrs. W. H. Jones); J. N. Savory, Harrow (Mrs. J. Power); J. K. Rogers, Sedbergh (Mrs. J. W. Darby); V. Tuke Taylor, Eton (Mrs. L. L. White); W. R. D. Verdin, Lancing (Mrs. J. A. Henry); B. N. Waley Cohen, Clifton and F. G. Wills, Mill Hill (Mrs. E. C. Hay ton), • ■ ' "■