THE WONDERLAND BY THE GOLDEN GATE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1262, 25 June 1914, Page 40

THE WONDERLAND BY THE GOLDEN GATE.

SCENIC BEAUTIES EN ROUTE. The United States in 1915 will welcome millions of visitors, who will come from all quarters of the globe to see the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco. Thirty-five nations will participate officially in the exposition, and every civilised country in the world will be represented. The exposition itsed promises to surpass every expectation. Already its palaces, symbolical courts and esplanades are taring completion, and on February 20, 1915, it will be ready to receive the thousands of visitors from all parts of the globeThe site of the exposition besides the far-famed Golden Gate commands the broad sweep of San Francisco harhour, where the navies of the world mav ride at anchor. Many New Zealanders are already planning a trip to the wonderland on the Pacific slope and say a trip to the exposition will be one of alluring enchantment. Tourists will be able to see the scenic wonderlands of the Amer'can continent en route to and from the exposition. The American transcontinental railways will reduce their rates to one-half the usual fare and hotel proprietors have agreed to maintain normal prices. Many steamship lines from Europe will run direct through the Panama canal to San Francisco. Consequently the visitors to the Panama Exposition will enioy the additional advantage of seeing America for the smallest expenditure possible. „ .. Early comers may prefer the southern routes. Many will come from the older lands and meander by way ot the West Indies to the Panama canal. Others will visit the historic battle fields of “Dixie Land,” or linger among the orange groves of Southern California. Those who detour by wav of New Orleans may witness its Mardi Gras high carnival in

March. Westward, along the frontier of Mexico, they will journey through the fasc'nating old mission towns with their imposing missions founded by the Spanish padres. All who sojourn in the South-west may stop over at the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and view with awe that indescribable chaos of chasms, which Joaquin Miller termed a “two-hundred-and-eighteen mile paint pot.” Several central routes cross the Rockies at elevations of two miles and more and descend to the Great Salt Lakes, continuing across the weird solitudes of the Great .American Desert to the Sierra Nevada, 6240 feet up among its eastern sky peaks nestles the lovely Lake Tahoe, a turquo'se oval 23 miles in length and

larger than Maggiore and Como combined. On the western slopes of the Sierras are. the Yosemite, General Grant and Sequoia National Parks, where are grouped in grand array the most stupendous steeps, the loftiest waterfalls and the most gigantic trees in the world. Fascinating side trips from the exposition are these mountain Meccas, while the nearer redwoods and coast-guarding peaks are almost equally picturesque. The Northern and Canadian railway systems traverse regions of regal grandeur. From Halifax, Boston and New York all roads pass near Niagara Falls, first of the world’s natural wonders. From Buffalo splendid steamships speed over the greatest lakes on this planet. Onward across the prairies high on the backbone of the continent lies the Yel-' lowstone National Park, renowned for its geysers and the waterfalls thundering in the depths of its naturetinted canyon. The Canadian Rockies are bound to be the bourne of legions of nature lovers, who will take time to “bide a wee” and let their spell sink into their souls. The Great

Glacier of the Selkirks, nearly forty miles •in area, o’ertopped by ten thousand-foot Mount Sir Donald, can be seen, while Lake Louise and the Yosemite-like Yoho valley are some of the fascinating side trips of incomparable beauty. » From the valley of the Columbia to the valley of the Fraser, the unique North-west is full of charm and interest. Thriving cities look up to perpetual snowfields looming miles above vast forests full of game and bright with laughing water. For a thousand miles to the north-west scenic tours are taken on steamers, which thread the labyrinthine islands and fiords of the coast, of British Columbia and' Alaska. The tourist who contemplates making the trip to.

San Francisco's Exposition will realise the wealth of scenic marvels he may view en rente. Nearly every one has dreamed of seeing these realms of wonderland at some future time. Never will there be better inducements to make the American tour than in 1915.