ENGLAND AND AMERICA

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1933, Page 8

ENGLAND AND AMERICA

STRATFORD LADY’S IMPRESSIONS.

INTERVIEW WITH MRS. MASTERS.

Her experiences and the impressions she gained during her trip to England and America were recounted to a reporter by Mrs. R. Masters, who has returned to Stratford after accompanying the Hon. R. Masters, one of the Dominion’s representatives at the World Economic Conference at London. _ It was Mrs. Masters’ first visit to London, and the Empire capital, she said, stood out from all other places in her ■recollections. “I will always have vivid memories of the wonderful city, she said. We sailed right to Tilbury, and the trip up the Thames impressed us very much indeed. We did not arrive until three days after the opening of the conference, and as was only to .be expected had a very busy time during the period we were there. We were treated most hospitably and generally had a most interesting time.” Mrs. Masters spoke of the garden party held at Windsor Castle by the King and Queen in honour of the delegates to the conference and their wives. It was the first garden party that had been held at Windsor for 20 years. Many of the delegates present wore national dress, and the brilliant display of colour, coupled with the beauty of the grounds and gardens, made a scene of striking beauty. They were shown through the castle and were introduced to the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family, several of whom were in attendance. “On the same.night,” continued Mrs. Masters, “we attended the final of the Aidershot tattoo. The actual tattoo could not be commenced until it was dark, and because of the long twilight in England and the fact that summer time was being observed this was about 10 o clock. There were about 60,000 people present, and 5000 soldiers taking part.” . The tattoo itself Mrs. Masters described as wonderful. It consisted of many remarkable displays of skill on the part of the troops, and was amazing. The air display at Hendon was also attended, but unfortunately the success of the event was somewhat marred by rain. “We had to do many of these things at weekends,” said Mrs. Masters, “because during the week the conference was sitting and Mr. Forbes and Mr. Masters were very busy the whole of the time. NOTABLE PEOPLE MET. Mrs. Masters attended the tennis finals at Wimbledon on two occasions'and saw Mrs. Wills-Moody beat Miss Dorothy Round. The King and Queen and King Feisal of Iraq were present at the tournament, in which they took a great intercst* “We met a great number of New Zealand people in London,” said Mrs. Masters. “The New Zealand Association gave a reception, as did also Lady Wilford. There were a great many enjoyable luncheon parties given for us, and at these one had splendid opportunities of meeting and getting to know the various people from other countries. These parties were much more intimate than the more formal official receptions.” While in London Mrs. Masters met Lord and Lady Jellicoe and their daughters several times. They were as keenly interested in New Zealand as ever. She also met Miss Stella Murray, the wellknown contralto, and Miss Esther Fisher, the pianiste, both New Zealanders residing in London. A luncheon was given by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace for the British Empire delegates and their wives. There were several members of the Royal Family in attendance and the function was most enjoyable. During the luncheon the famous gold service was used. There was a wonderful collection of paintings and other valuable objects of art in the palace, and the guests had the privilege of inspecting them. Mrs. Masters said the King and Queen had a most intimate knowledge of the affairs of the various parts of their Empire, and both were most keenly interested in the Dominions. A very large garden party was also given at the palace, which possessed 40 acres of beautiful grounds. “While on the subject of the King and Queen,” said Mrs. Masters, “no one need have a moment’s doubt of the loyalty and affection of the people of Britain for their King and Queen. Large crowds assemble to see them whenever they are attending any function, and demonstrations of loyalty always take place.” CROMWELL HOUSE. Cromwell House, London, built by Oliver Cromwell, was the headquarters of the Plunket movement in England and was established by Sir Truby King and Miss Patrick, of New Zealand. While there Mrs. Masters met Miss Hooper, who was recently Plunket nurse at Stratford, and who had just come to London after attending the nurses’ congress at Paris. She was relieving at Cromwell House for a month and would be returning to New Zealand in the near future. Mrs. Masters met Miss Jshbel MacDonald, daughter of the British Prime Minister, on several occasions, and admired her very much. Miss MacDonald showed the New Zealand ladies over the famous No. 10 Downing Street, including the Cabinet room. A visit to the House of Commons was paid, and Messrs. Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill were among the speakers. Practically all the historic spots were visited in London and the beauty of the many huge parks was specially mentioned. After leaving London the party for three days visited several provincial towns and cities, including Stratford on Avon.

The last night of their stay in England was spent at Balmer Lawn Hotel, Brockenhurst, which was converted during the war into a hospital for the New Zealand soldiers.

“We had 19 days in America,” said Mrs. Masters, “and although perhaps 1 did not find that the U.S.A, appealed to me in the same way as England, our time there was most interesting. After visiting New York, where we were hospitably entertained, we proceeded to Washington, where we had the honour and pleasure of dining with President and Mrs. Roosevelt. The earnestness of the President impressed the New Zealanders and Mrs; Roosevelt is a most

delightful woman, who is of great help to her husband. She was formerly a school teacher, and therefore is keenly interested in education. She goes about the country a great deal and uses air travel considerably. She frequently drops in on people in the country, and often they do not know that they have been entertaining ‘the first lady of the land.’ While in Washington Mr. Forbes laid a wreath on the grave of the Unknown Warrior, where an impressive ceremony was held. > “After a stay in Boston we went up to Canada, spending a day each at Ottawa and Toronto. Ottawa is a particularly charming city, so beautifully laid out with its river and parks. “Canada was a contrast to the United States. One realised very forcibly that one was in British territory again. We visited Niagara Falls and Chicago, where we attended the World’s Fair.”

“Did you see any sign of the wave of lawlessness in Chicago?” Mrs. Masters was asked.

“No; we heard some slight mention of such things, but there was nothing to show that Chicago was any different in that way from any other place,” she replied. They stopped at the Grand Canyon on the journey to California. A mile in depth, over 100 miles long and 11 miles across, the great gorge presented a remarkable spectacle. “We reached Los Angeles on a- Sunday, and had to wait a few hours before we could proceed on to San Francisco,” Mrs. Masters went on. “This seemed to be the hottest part of America, although all through we found the weather excessively warm. We were taken over some of the ‘sets’ at Hollywood, where, despite the fact that it was Sunday, pictures were being made. We met several of the stars, including Walter Huston, Maureen O’Sullivan and Alice Brady, together with some of the directors, and also Miss Bathie Stewart, the New Zealander who is engaged in publicity work there.” Miss O’Sullivan was described by Mrs. Masters as delightful and quite unspoiled by her success. They had two days in San Francisco, where they found the climate to be very like Wellington, and where a great many New Zealand plants which had been imported were growing. On the trip across the Pacific they called at Tahiti and Rarotonga, and at the latter place, which is a dependency of New Zealand, they were hospitably entertained. It was only after leaving Rarotonga that they encountered bad weather. The rest of the trip to England and back had been perfect.