TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 189, 11 August 1931, Page 9

TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS.

Mr F. Thompson Writes to Board Members. An interesting letter from Mr Frank Thompson, general manager of the Christchurch Tramways, dealing with travel in many lands, was received at a meeting of the board yesterday. Dealing with Australia, Mr Thompson said that owing to his illness he saw practically nothing of traffic conditions, but learnt that all of the tramway concerns were feeling the pinch of things considerably. Adelaide railways ran excursion trains to their sea beaches, about nine miles out, for 9d return, which one of their station masters quoted as being particularly cheap. At Fremantle and Perth, girls acted as bus conductors at £3 a week. The bus competition was hitting the Perth tramways very severely. “ We have been in London for only a week, so any traffic impressions reported must be read with that qualification. I propose seeing traffic conditions first from the outside, which I think will enable me to discuss matters more usefully with the authorities later. No Tram Shelters in London. “In a radius of fifteen miles from Charing Cross over 22,000 policemen are employed in all ranks. There is agitation for more because of so many unprotected dangerous crossings. I have seen no ‘ tram shelters.’ Neither are verandahs allowed. Shopkeepers are allowed to have awnings on spring rollers projecting about half-way across the footpath. “ Safety zones abound. They are not long and the majority are not more than three or four feet wide, protected by cast metal pillars about four feet six inches high, with a lamp post in the centre. Sometimes there are four protecting pillars, one on each corner. Although we are living near the Bayswater Road, running alongside Kensington Gardens, and about four miles from Charing Cross, there are safety islands at nearly every comer. I would much like to see them in Christchurch. Speed in Crowded Streets. “ My nephew, driving a baby car at Christines time, was held up in a traffic jam with sky-scraping buses on all sides. The driver of one of them called out to him: ‘ I say, sonny, what else did yer get in yer stocking? * “ Speed in crowded streets for all classes of vehicles, including buses, amazes me. I have received courtesies from everyone, including men in the street—top hatters as well as the others. One man whom I asked for direction was particularly informative and became even more attentive when I mentioned my own country. He remarked; ‘I am just on my way to get the New Zealand Loan Prospectus.’ “ A New Zealand friend of mine in a London suburb saw a funeral which seemed to be attracting a good deal of notice. He asked a shopkeeper on the kerb whose funeral it was. The reply was: ‘I don’t know, mister, but so far as I know it is that bloke wots under the flowers.’ “ We are leaving for York, Durham, Newcastle and Edinburgh to-morrow, returning in time for the New Zealand cricket test.”