IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20851, 6 October 1937, Page 6

IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA

TEMUKA RESIDENT RETURNS

GREAT TRIP BUT GLAD TO BE HOME “Sure, its a, wonderful country, but isn’t New Zealand a . wonderful country, too? Gee, its good to be home.” Thus Mr F. M. Martin, of Temuka, who, with his wife and family, has been on a 14 weeks’ visit to San Francisco and south-western America, summed up the story of his holiday on his arrival home yeste-day. He was enthusiastic regarding the giant cities, the great distances, the vigour and initiative of American life, and the “swell” time he spent with the many friends he met, but he was glad to be home and ready to take up business, which he did yesterday afternoon within three hours of his return.

For the first weeks of his holiday Mr Martin was fully occupied in investigating the mightiness of San Francisco and its sister-city, Oakland, across the harbour. Then his party set out on a motor tour of 5000 miles through the south-western States, during which they travelled so extensively that Mr Martin’s recollections of the trip are confined only to the most outstanding events and experiences, the many towns, districts and sights visited merging in a distinctly pleasant but rather blurred impression of American life in general. Among the most interesting places visited was the Yosemite National Park, one of the great national reserves where the animals of the country run free in thousands of acres of natural surroundings, yet also free from possible harm from people. So tame were the black bears that they would congregate near the roadway and approach right up to the car when it stopped. One huge bear even put a hairy forepaw on the window of the car, which happened to be down, and defeated all the efforts of the occupants to close the window until it was lured away by the throwing of a sandwich, which it pursued. Deer came right up to the visitors and fed out of the hand, while cheeky little squirrels came boldly seeking nuts.

The Sacramento Fair was an event which Mr Martin will long remember. In the variety of exhibits and the nature of the attractions it approached more closely an exhibition than an annual district fair. Besides the livestock exhibited, horse races were held, and there was a giant machinery exhibition which alone covered several acres. The entertainment was most varied and it would have taken several days to visit every section thoroughly. In the field of agriculture Mr Martin was not much interested, but he saw hundreds of miles of orchards in his travels with fruit trees so large and laden that the boughs were propped up all around the trees with timber. Practically all the orchard acreage was irrigated, and when one saw adjacent ground baked hard without a vestige of growth on it, the value of irrigation was strikingly brought home. The water was carried for hundreds of miles from the great Colorado dam, and in a land where no rain fell for seven months of the year it was almost worth its weight in gold. The heat was so intense in places that it struck on the face like the waves from a furnace, and in one particular place it interfered with the fuel pump on the car. When a garage attendant heard a description of how the car stopped he unhesitatingly selected a new fuel pump to take out to the stranded party, explaining that eight out of 10 of the hold-pps in that part of the country were due to heat. So numerous were the cars in all the larger towns visited that Mr Martin was at first bewildered and amazed at how the traffic was controlled without accidents. Practically every citizen owned his own car, for wages were high and car factories, such as the one he saw, were turning out a complete vehicle ready for the final driving test every 70 minutes. “You dare not try jay-walking there,” he remarked. If you did you would hear an inspector’s whistle and the demand, “Here buddy, where are you going?” which would be the preliminary to receiving your “ticket.” Petrol was sold at 7d a gallon and the larger cars sold for £125, which made practically every man a motor owner.

Among his other impressions, Mr Martin was struck by the high wages to workers, a truck driver at one factory he visited earning the equivalent of £3 a week. Living costs were correspondingly high, and the general acceleration of life in the United States left him impressed but quite happy to return to New Zealand, where there was less bustle and a greater feeling of security.