BACK FROM AMERICA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10682, 31 January 1913, Page 2

BACK FROM AMERICA.

PROGRESS IN UNITED STATES

CHEAP TELEPHONES AND PROGRESSIVE NEWSBOYS. ' "

Mr W. H. Babcock, who is in charge of the Boys' Gordon Hall in Ghristchurch, arrived back yesterday after a visit to the United States to see his parents. He revisited the States after an absence of four years, and speaking to a reporter yesterday, he said that even after such a comparatively brief absence it was possible to notice everywhere in. America signs "of progress and increased* prosperity. "Cities that were big when. I left," he said, "were appreciably bigger, with new buildings completed and in course of erection everywhere. . iTlie great change that has.como over the central dnd Western States is among the farmers. New methods are replacing the old, and the people five going in for intense cultivation; A place of five or ten acres is called a fruit ranch now, and the cultivation of large areas with machinery is now giving way to the smaller settle-, ments and the kore intense forms of. agriculture. Colleges are spreading the knowledge of scientific methods in agriculture among the farmers, and all connected with the farms. The ,work is being taken up seriously everywhere; and great strides are being made. On all sides great interest is being shown in the conservation of fertility in the, soil. A few years back if land got worked out i>eoplo shifted into new areas, but now they have to stay right on and adopt up-to-date methods to hold their own. The small farmer with the up-to-date ideas is gaining ground. ■" Although .the big political contest' was on when I was in the States, the people there don't seem to take politics as seriously as tlie New Zealander. Tho result of the presidential contest, however, is reviving interest. A Democratic Congress, a Democratic Senate; and a: Democratic President are pledged to take uj> tariff reform, and New Zealanders will be interested to hear that wool is the first schedule to be taken up. Before I left the States all the talk was that as soon after the inauguration ceremony_ on March 1 as possible a special session would be held-j to go right into the business. Big re- j ductions in the wool tariff are freely ; prophesied. Tho big- manufacturers state that they cannot get the, pure wool; in the States and they want the foreign wool allowed in on a fair basis.'' Dealing with industrial affairs, Mr Babcock repeated that everywhere the States were booming. In all trades there were busy times, and there was any amount of work for everybody. " A great movement for the improvement of, sanitary conditions has (spread over the States/' he said, " and evorywhero the public health authorities are | active, educating the people, arid improving the sanitation. This is illustrated by the absence of public common drinking' cups.' 'Almost every traveller you meet has his own collapsible drinking cup, and if he hasn't got_ one with Kim he can purchase a little oiled paper, cup for a cent from conductors,on the, trains, oi'vfrom slot machines. There are.public drinking fountains, but no. public cups. I travelled all through the central and Northern ■ States, east to Pittsburg, and north, of Seattle, and. that great fact was > apparent, everywhere. People are realising that the public health is important. " The conservation of the forests is another mark of progress. "When Roosevelt went out of office there were 150 million acres of national forests, and it was feared that .the movement for the reservation and protection of the great wooded lands at the head-waters of the streams would be relaxed. But now* there are 192 million acres and a big staff of forest rangers. That is a point that New Zealanders should consider. The forests are big things. I travelled for three days with one of these forest rangers, and he told me of his duties. In the winter lie lia,d to supervise any cutting-out, the piling of the brush and the clearing, so that the danger of fire was diminished. In the summer lie was engaged chiefly in fighting fires. Where he was stationed there was a supervisor with nine rangers overlooking a million acres, and that is about the usual proportion throughout the I national forest.

" Of course, during my tour I visited as many of the boys' clubs as I could. I saw them in Dulutly Minnesota, Minneapolis, St Paul, Milwaukee, Des Moines. Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. The lpung Men's Christian Association work and the work among the boys is proceeding famously, and there were many new buildings. _ "At Toledo I found a remarkable organisation. It was the Newsboys' Association, boasting 3000 members, with a fine club-house and a theatre, the auditorium capable of seating IGOO people. It is the best playhouse in Toledo, and the profits from it aro sufficient to pay air the expenses of the Association. The Association brings high-class companies to Toledo and takes care to offer only plays of merit. Leading actors visit Toledo because of the refutation of the Association. . A number of seats in the front stalls are reserved for the poorer newsboys who cannot afford to pay, but otherwise the theatre is open. These Toledo newsboys have also taken up the duties of guides. Each boy wears a badge, ' Ask me about Toledo,' and it is a; matter of pride with them to know everything connected with the city. Many times T questioned those boys, and I never found one of them wanting., Toledo has the most- courteous newsbovs in the world, and their reputation for progress is famous in the States. "I am glad to get back to New Zealand. During my absence Mr P. M. Velvin and Mr W. Atkinson, mv volunteer substitutes, have carried on the club in line style. Mrs Babcock remained behind in a cabin of our own on our own laud in Wisconsin, and before I left the house was connected up on the telephone. Farmers in New Zealand would be astonished at that country telephone service. The telephone costs from 18s to 19s per annum, and it boasts 3000 subscribers in the district, taking in several villages. " When I left New Zealand I took with Dip sixty lantern slides given me by the New Zealand Tourist Department, and I was able to show them seven times to large audiences. Ihe people over there admired the scenery of this country immensely. In no city in the Stales can one see more motorcars than in Chrisichurch, and as for motor-bicycles nnd bicycles—why, I was lonesome until I got back here again."