Writers On Copy-Hunt In Pacific And Near East

Wanganui Chronicle, 18 February 1949, Page 8

Writers On Copy-Hunt In Pacific And Near East

There are two aspects in the average New Zealander's concept of the average American that two visitors from the United States would like to correct. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Schram, of St. Louis, Missouri, are puzzled at the New Zealander’s apologetic attitude for what his country has to offer Americans, an attitude of which Mr. and Mrs. Schram have become increasingly aware since they arrived here. They would also like to dispel the idea that the average American has both a gold-lined pocket and a skyscraper outlook. On the first point Mr. Schram said that in his opinion New Zealand had everything to offer and that there was no justification for such an inferiority complex. The average New Zealander, he said, had opportunities for leading a fuller and richer existence than the average American. Hotel service was one of the items instanced by Mr. Schram who said that he and his wife had had as comfortable and a s pleasing a room in their Wellington hotel as they had had at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York one year ago—and at one-quar-ter the tariff. Regarding the viewpoint of universal wealth, Mr. Schram said that the average American was as modestlysalaried and as unsophisticated as the average New Zealander and just as impressed by New York if and when he managed to get there. TRAVELLING LIGHT. Mr. and Mrs. Schram who are both writers, left their home town, St. Louis, about six months ago to make a tour of the South Pacific and the Near East to gather material for magazine and. newspaper articles They travel by air and as a large part of their luggage comprises 451 b of camera equipment and a portable type-writer, the remainder of their luggage allotment must suffice for the two. Mrs. Schram's wardrobe when she left the States consisted mainly of five washing rayon frocks. She had found that clothing here cost a great deal more than for comparable quality at home. Dresses in the eight-guinea range in New Zealand would be procurable for four guineas in America, she said. On the other hand, Mrs. Schram who kept house for a few days during their stay, in Rotorua, said she was fascinated by the low cost of food. It'was almost incredible that one could buy two T bone steaks at 3/6 when at home steak was priced at 7/6 a pound. Commenting on the wonderful facilities for sport open to all in New Zealand compared with America, Mrs. Schram remarked with a smile:, “I guess you have to play a lot of sport here to keep warm.” INTEREST IN PLUNKET While her husband’s chief interests at the moment are in housing and medical services, subjects of vital interest in his home country as well as in New Zealand, Mrs. Schram has been studying the working of the Plunket Society, which interests her deeply. She has spent some time at the Karitane Hospitals. Although there were various clinic schemes for child welfare and mothercraft in the United States, she said, there was nothing so comprehensive as the Plunket Society.

Women were filling responsible and highly-paid positions in both journalistic and advertising work in America, said Mrs. Schram. One firm with which she had worked as a commercial artist and copy writer had had a woman director whose salary had been £lO,OOO a year. Speaking of women journalists, Mrs. Schram remarked that despite the exaggerated Hollywood version of American newspaper women they were “still letting the police solve most of the crimes.” ISLANDS NOT ROMANTIC. Mr. and Mrs. Schram have spent several months in Tonga and Fiji, where they have found “copy” in the picturesque native customs and gatherings though the romantic angle of Island life was absent these days, said Mr. Schram. Except in very remote spots there were few natives who didn’t give one “Okay Jo” or “What do y'know, Jo?” They had been privileged to attend interesting native gatherings and had been entertained by Queen Salote in Tonga. After visiting 14 countries, Mr Schram finds New Zealanders arcbetter off than people anywhere else. He was also impressed by the people of Palestine and what they were doing. They had. he said, all the qualities of diligence, enthusiasm, and a sense of responsibility towards neighbouring countries that made for progress. NO ESCAPISM. Of hi s own country Mr. Schram said that the rest of the world need not be terrified lest the United States hide its head in he sand as after the First World War. Escapism wa s absent today, “except in the movies,” he added, and America was definitely interested in world affairs for reasons more idealistic than selfish. From New Zealand after -several weeks Mr. and Mrs. Schram will go to Australia asd later to Indonesia.