THE TOURIST and TRAVELLER

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1354, 6 April 1916, Page 40

THE TOURIST and TRAVELLER

HERE AND THERE. Mrs. Melville Johnson left Christchurch last week en route for Samoa, where she will rejoin her husband. Mr. and Mrs. E. Russell, of Victoria, returned to Australia last week after a visit to Mendip Hills, Canterbury.

Mrs. J. A. Watt, of Featherston, is leaving shortly on a trip to England.

Mrs. Bayley, Mrs. and Miss Peat, of Melbourne, have just concluded a visit to Christchurch.

Professor Owen, of the Auckland University College, has enlisted.

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Williams, of Wairoa, have been on a visit to Canterbury.

Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Hogan, of Wanganui, returned to New Zealand by the Manuka after having spent some months in Australia, Ceylon and India.

Mesdames Campbell and England, of Ballarat, Victoria, who are on a three months’ tour of the Dominion, are at present in Wellington. They have visited the Mount Cook and cold lakes district, and are going through to Auckland, spending some time at Rotorua before embarking for home on May 5.

Dean Lightheart, of the Roman Catholic Church, who has ben in Auckland for some time, is proceeding to Virginia and other States of America on a health recruiting tour. He expects to return to the Dominion in about six months’ time.

Mrs. A. E. Kernot and Mis Kernot, of Wellington, leave on a visit to Sydney shortly.

Modern War Version: “He who fights and runs away lives to announce a strategic retreat.” “Brooklyn Eagle.”

Lieutenant N. Crump, who has been on sick leave in Napier for the past several weeks, has left for London to join the Royal Flying Corps.

Mr. and Mrs. Alister Clark, of Melbourne, are on a visit to New Zealand, and are the guests of the former’s sister, Mrs. Heaton Rhodes, Otahuna.

Mrs. Sloman, (Sydney) and Miss Brooks (England), who have been visiting Mount Cook and other New Zealand tourist resorts, have returned to Australia.

The death is announced at Sydney of Mr. John Shearston, superintendent of the Royal Naval House. * * * *

An important alteration is to be made in the homeward voyage from New Zealand of the steamers of the Shaw Savill and Albion line. The vessels have in the past gone from New Zealand to London, via South America. They will in future go across to Sydney, and proceed from there to Capetown, en route to London. This alteration in route will be appreciated by shippers and passengers for South Africa, as the services between Sydney and Capetown have been seriously effected since the outbreak of war. The first steamer to adopt the new Homeward route will be the Arawa. leaving about the end of April. As these vessels return to New Zealand via Adelaide. Melbourne, and Sydney (remarks the “Sydney Morning Herald”) the position will be watched by Sydney people with interest.

Dr. Earp-Thomas, who has been on a six months’ visit to Australia and New Zealand, returned by the Maitai en route to New York.

Mr. W. J. Lankshear, of Wellington, has returned from a visit to England and Egypt.

Mr. H. M. Gore, of Wellington, secretary of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association, left for Sydney on Monday.

Mr. Bernard Tripp, of Timaru, has been appointed the honorary representative of the New Zealand Red Cross in Egypt, and will sail for Cairo about the middle of April.

MR. W. DENNETTS, chief officer of the Elder Dempster liner, Appam, around which one of the most remarkable sea dramas of the war centres. After being missing for a fortnight on her voyage home to England from West Africa, the Appam, which was feared to have been sunk with all on board, recently arrived with her passengers (including Sir E. Merewether, the former Governor of Sierra Leone) in the American port of Norfolk, Virginia, in charge of a German prize crew under the command of Lieut. Berg. She had been captured by a German armed raider, said to be the Moewe, north of Madeira, on January 16.

Twenty thousand posters, inculcating thrift among the people, have been plastered over London. They specially urge women to eschew expensive dressing, particularly in hats, boots, shoes, stockings, and gloves.

Madame Melba arrived in Auckland by the Niagara on Sunday night, and stayed at the Star Hotel till Monday, when the steamer sailed for Sydney. Madame was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Armstrong.

Mr. and Mrs. Ross G'ore, of Sydney, returned to Australia by the Niagara on Monday, after a six weeks’ holiday in the Dominion. Mr. Ross Gore is the secretary of the Royal Sydney Golf Club, Rose Bay. During their stay in New Zealand they have visited Mount Cook and Rotorua.

“New York is crowded with people, the hotels are filled to overflowing, and the city is, together with all the large manufacturing centres of the east, enjoying one of the most prosperous periods during its history,” said Mr. E. Clifton to an Auckland pressman.

Mr. E. Clifton, who was commissioner in charge of the New Zealand exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and who also acted as New Zealand Trade Commissioner on the west coast of America, returned to Auckland by the Niagara on Sunday after an absence of over two years. Mr. Clifton was accompanied by Mrs. Clifton and his son, Mr. T. Clifton.

Dr. S. A. Bull, who has received an appointment in the Royal Army Medical Corps, left Wellington by the Rimutaka on Tuesday last (April 4).

Mrs. George Wilton, Auckland, is visiting her daughter, Mrs. Steele, Fendalton.

Mr. J. Huxham (Assistant Home Secretary for Queensland) announced on March 21 that plans are now in course of preparation in respect of three State hotels proposed respectively for Mount Cuthbert, Mount Johnston and Babinda. The Minister said that the three hotels would cost something in the vicinity of £50,000. In justification for the apparently large expenditure, Mr. Huxham pointed out that the sale of liquor would be a very secondary matter, and that the main provision would be for accom-

modation. This will be provided on as suitable lines as possible, both as regards board and lodging. “At Babinda, for instance,” said the Minister, “we will provide accommodation for 100 men.”

Sister Bersten occupies the unique position of being the second lady delegate to attend the district meeting of the Taranaki Oddfellows, which was held at Manaia the other day, and is in addition the Noble Grand of the Waitara Lodge. To mark the occasion she was the recipient at the hands of the retiring Grand Master, Bro. E. H. Bellringer, of a handsome gold brooch on behalf of the delegates assembled.

Three school teachers who left New Zealand about two years ago under the system of interchange of teachers arranged between the New Zealand education authorities and those of Canada and the United Kingdom —Miss C. Lindsay and Miss Caskey, both of Timaru, and Miss. J. Swap, of Temuka —returned by the Rimutaka on Friday. They spent twelve months in schools at Brandon, Manitoba, after which they went on to England, and taught in schools in different parts of London for another year. As the corollary to their trip abroad, three teachers from Canada came to New Zealand at the time of their departure and taught for 12 months in South Canterbury schools.

The following guests were staying at the Central Hotel last week: — Major Ariell, Panaroa: S. Williamson. Waitemata West; N. B. K. Didsbury, Wellington: H. G. Maully, Wellington: Mr. and Miss Ballantvne. Christchurch; Mr.. Mrs. and Miss Pike. Svdnev: Mr. H. H. Snrigg. Svdney; Mr. Holyoak, Sydney; Mr. Pyke, Sydney: Mr. W. Haynes. Dunedin; Mr. H. Platt. Sydney; Mr. P. H. Braggins, Wellington: Mr. E. Pyrke. Dunedin: Mr. D. Mac Kay. Thames: Mr. B. H. Tosswill. Rotorua: Mr. J. W. Eilbeck. Sydney: Mr. P. Gilchrist. Te Aroha: Mr. A. Rilton Thomas, Wellington: Mr. and Mrs. Jenson. Rotorua: Miss Ulnh. Waihi; Mr James ; Povnter. Gisborne; Mr. B. Moffatt. Palmerston North: Mr. Chas. Judd. Thames: Mr. Will Price. ThamesMr. F. R. Linnell, Kaiwaka: Mr. C. A. Knowles. Makura: Mr. J. D. Coleman. Hangaro; Mr. H. W. Ammer. Nanier: Dr. B. Walsh. Thames: Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson, Svdnev: Mr. M. Wells. Cambridge: Mr. F. Potts. Cambridge; Mr. J. McNichol, Waikato; Mr. McDran. Rotorua: Miss Dive, Rotorua: Mr. A. Bell. Morrinsville: Mr. S. W. Parker, Wellington: Mr. D. D. Bedford, Ngaruawahia: Mr. Laing. Northern Wairoa; Mr. G. Fifield, Helensville: Mr. Going. Hamilton: Lieutenant Keily, Egypt; Mr. W. D. Collins. San Francisco; Mr. and Mrs. Luxford, Hamilton.

The following guests were staying at the Star Hotel last week: —Mr. J. Underwood. Newcastle (N.S.W.); Mr. and Mrs. Toplis, Sydney; Mr. Latimer, Palmerston North: Mr. C. E. Horton, Auckland: Dr. Flatan. Svdney; M. G. Hyde, Newcastle (N.S.W.): Mr. H. Arnold, Hawera; Captain J. B. Clough, Sydney; Mr. Alex. Johnston, Rawene; Mr. Johnston. Junr., Rawene; Mr. T. Walker, Cambridge; Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Hall, Sydney; Mr. T. Coverdale, Kaiwaka; Mr. O’Brien, Waiheke; Mr. G. Anderson, Sydnev; Mr. G. Gore, Wellington; Mr. E. W. Ashman, Sydney; Mr. Ayson. Wellington: Mr. A. Adams. Melbourne; Mrs. Pierce, Kaiwaka: Mr. McSweeney, Sydney: Mr. D. Cooper. Te Kuiti; Mr. Livingstone. Cambridge: Miss Saunders, Wellington; Mr. and Mrs. Norman, Hamilton; Miss V. Pierce. Sydney: Mr. R. Fletcher, Sydney: Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Smith, Cambridge; Mr. H. Fieldhouse, Wellington; Mr. H. Oakley Browne, Wellington; Mrs. Fichell. Sydney; Sir Joseph Ward, Wellington.

The death is announced from London of Baron Scarsdale, who was born in 1831, and was the father of Viscount Curzon.

Mr. H. Kissell, chief postmaster of Timaru, who resided in Wellington for some years, is seriously ill.

Mr. Frederic Villiers, the war correspondent, who has returned to England to lecture after fifteen months at the front, followed the retreating Germans from the Marne to the Aisne disguised as a tramp. He has twenty campaigns to his credit.

Dr. Ethel Sands, well-known in Christchurch, has been appointed resident medical superintendent for the Mercury Bay Hospital, Auckland.

Dr. J. E. L. Simcox, M.A., F.R.C.S., Edin., has resigned his position as medical officer to the East Coast Medical Association, and has applied for a position in the R.A.M.C. for service at the front.

Mr. L. W. D. Andrews, formerly in Wellington, who is now stationed in Auckland as New Zealand secretary of the United Insurance Company, is convalescent after an illness of three months’ duration.

Mr. H. P. Norton, formerly a resident in Auckland, has returned from England by the Arawa. He is accompanied by Miss Norton.

Viscount Hardinge, who is retiring from the post of Viceroy of India, has been made a Knight of the Garter.

The Hon. G. Hedstrom, a member of the Fiji Legislature, who has been on a holiday visit to Sydney, is at present in New Zealand. He is aecompanied by Mrs. Hedstrom.

Mr. J. C. Nicholson, solicitor, of New Plymouth, champion of the New Plymouth Tennis Club since 1904, has enlisted.

The Hon. Drysdale Brown, of Victoria, has gone to Rotorua to inspect the State plantations.

Mr. and Mrs. Miles and Miss Miles, of Wellington, have gone for a trip to Sydney.

Dr. and Mrs. Noble-Adams, of Blenheim, are on a motoring tour of the South Island.

Mr. J. H. Board, the coach of the Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association, left Wellington on Tuesday on his return to the Old Country.

Mr. R. E. Hornblow, who is leaving Mangaweka, having disposed of his interests in the “Settler” and acquired the Dargaville newspaper, was farewelled by his fellow citizens.

Mr. R. W. Dalton, British Trade Commissioner, accompanied by Mrs. Dalton, left Wellington last week by the Riverina for Sydney. Mr. Dalton will be absent for about a month.

Dr. Earle, of Wanganui, has been spending a holiday at Rotorua.

Mr. William Thompson, news editor of the Montreal “Star,” was in Auckland last week. Mr. Thompson left Montreal in November, on a holiday tour of the world, and has visited England and Australia.

Mr. H. J. Manson, Trade Commissioner for the New Zealand Government in Australia, is spending his annual holiday in the Dominion.

Four red deer calves arrived at Auckland by the s.s. Victoria from Sydney last week. They are a gift from Mr. Chirmside, of Waribee Park, Melbourne, to the New Zealand Tourist Department. They are to be taken to Rotorua and there liberated.

At Sealey Creek, near the old Moonlight Diggings on the West

Coast, there is at present a plague of opossums. Introduced from Australia, the marsupial has thriven, and is now in such numbers that it has become a pest, raiding the farmers’ gardens and orchards. The colder climate of the Dominion has improved the value of its fur, and the New Zealand opossum skin is said to be much more valuable in the market than the Australian. But it is protected, and the farmers in the district invaded by them recently sent a petition to the Minister for Internal Affairs, asking for the removal of the protection. The department concerned sent an inspector to the Coast to report, and his account of the matter is under consideration.

Some interesting information in reference to steamship values was given by Colonel James Burns, head of the firm of Burns, Philp and Company, Ltd., to a Sydney “Herald” reporter. “There is so much enterprise in England at the present time in connection with the supply of munitions that the price asked for new steamers is almost prohibitory,” he said. “No one can order vessels at the present time. I have been making inquiries, and I find that it would have cost us just double the money to build a ship now that it would have cost three years ago. It is therefore impossible at the present time for us to improve our fleet in any way for the Islands and Singapore services. The Admiralty is still taking up vessels for trooping and other purposes. There are no vessels building, or. at least, very few, and there are constant losses. Most of the shipbuilding yards are busy on naval work. Some contracts for merchant vessels were fixed before the war, and these have to be finished, but practically no new contracts are being arranged. One or two yards have taken a few orders, but not to any extent. The result of all this is that the Norwegians and several other neutral nations have done remarkably well in the shipping

industry. The Norwegian shippingcompanies are paying as much as 50 per cent. Some are paying a little more than this, but the bulk are paying 50 per cent. Their vessels cannot be commandeered by the Imperial Government, and they are able to work without uncertainty in this respect.”

Amara, 31 miles up-stream from Qalat Salih, is the most considerable town between Basira and Bagdad. It is now teeming with tribesmen and all the flotsam and jetsam which follows in the wake of war. The British flag flies over the Turkish barracks, and the wounded British Tommy seated on his bench in his blue hospital suit surveys the Tigris with the same complacency as he has watched the waters of the Nile, Seine, or Thames. The bazaar is spacious and stoneroofed, some 35ft. in height, as in Bagdad, and the crafts are localised as in all the cities of the East. At every turn from the main thoroughfare the street names are inscribed in English beside the Arabic characters. There is an opportunity here for an imaginative touch, but one finds a nomenclature which is truly British. The Sook al Gazareen of the Arabs has become plain Butcher’s Street; the Sook al Kabazeen, Baker’s Street. Sapper Street, Pontoon Street, Soap Street, proclaim the needs of the hour as if the scribe of Haroun al Raschid had never existed. Every fifty yards or so there is an Arab cafe where the denizens of the bazaar, hooded in their kefleh, squat on high-backed wooden benches like pews in a village church, pass round kalium (Persian huqua), and exchange guttural comments on the business of the hour. Some play dominoes, others sit and gaze into vacancy. These dark taverns are as crowded as tea-shops in PiccadiLy after a matinee. But there is more diversity of type. For Amara is a thoroughfare. It is here that the caravan route from Dizful in Persia meets the Tigris, and the town is the headquarters of the Sabaeans.

The death is announced of Mr. J. A. Mason, a well-known official in the office of the High Commissioner of New Zealand.

Mr. John Borton, an old identity of North Otago, died recently in his ninetieth year. He was well known as a breeder of merino sheep.

Lieutenant Jai k. Boyd, M.D., R.A.M.C. (formerly of Mataura), has been on duty at Eastbourne for a little while. Now he is in London attached to the Springfield War Hospital at Wandsworth Common, but his stay there will most likely be brief, as he is under orders to proceed to the Mediterranean. Mrs. Boyd will stay in Edinburgh during her husband’s absence.

At Mossman, Sydney (N.S.W.), a number of houses occupied by Germans have been raided, and arms and ammunition found. The discovery of these was brought about quite by an accident. A child was playing soldiers -with some other children, and remarked that the children’s guns were not half as good as the guns that his daddy had in the cellar. This led to a search being made, and 600 rifles were found, together with a quantity of ammunition.

A lady visiting Ashburton lately was much impressed with the convenience of an arrangement made in the Public Gardens. A little gas stove is set, with a kettle chained to it, and there is a penny-slot, so that people who may be picnicking can fill the kettle, put in their penny, light the gas, and have their tea most comfortably.

Cetinje, the capital of Montenegro, which is now in the hands of the Austrians, has the most remarkable prison in the world. No walls enclose it, and the inmates, who furnish their own cells just as they please, seem to stay there only because they find their quarters comfortable. The diet is liberal, with wine on occasions, and cigarettes to taste. There is no work to do, no distinctive garb is worn, and comparatively free intercourse is allowed with the outside world. Indeed, on certain feast days the prisoners are permitted to entertain their friends.

Mr. John Ritchie Caldwell Laidlaw, the New Zealander reported in a cable message a few days ago as having been killed while flying at Hendon, was a son of Mr. Robert Laidlaw, ironmonger, of Dunedin. He was educated in Dunedin, and went Home last August by the Arawa and entered the Aviation School at his own expense. He received a pilot’s certificate. A recent cablegram stated that he had passed his examination and had been accepted by the Admiralty with the rank of sub-lieutenant.

Mr. Ernest Whiteman has been appointed motor expert and inspector to the Wellington City Council, vice Mr. L. S. Drake, who has gone into camp. Mr. Whiteman has been for over a year connected with the department which he now controls. He has been a resident of Wellington for 16 years. The offer of his services for military purposes was declined, on the ground that he was a native of the United States.

The Wellington City Council has authorised the preparation of a bylaw making it compulsory for licensed drivers of taxi-cabs, cabs, and expresses to wear a distinguishing numbered badge. To defray the expense of the badge, the drivers will be required to pay a small sum in addition to their annual license fee.

Mr. G. E. Aiderton, of Auckland, who has just completed a tour of the Dominion, was asked on his return: “Have you any idea why there is such a difference in recruiting in the two islands?” He replied: “It has struck me that it has largely to do with environment. The South Island man lives in a more settled country, where the somewhat monotonous routine underlying cropping and shepherding produces a stamp of man more nearly approximating to the British agricultural labourer, and he is not called upon to act on his own initiative, but merely does as he is directed. He is devoid of that bit of daredevil — the Mexican cowboy streak —you find in the North Island man, whose occupation is more full of adventure in breaking in new country and mastering the difficulties inseparable from

the earlier pioneering. The northerner has more devil in him, and is more fond of adventure. He loves excitement, while the southerner likes quietness in his more solid surroundings. They are quite two different types of men, to my mind, and it is broadly written on their faces, their mannerisms and gait.”

Shortly after the Mount Cook disaster on February 22, 1914, which cost the lives of three men —Messrs. Sydney King, of London, Darby Thomson, and Jock Richmond — a committee of friends and relatives of the deceased and other mountainlovers was formed, and by this means, with the aid of the Government, which supplied about half the funds, sufficient money was soon collected to erect a memorial to the above. The committee decided (says a correspondent of the Christchurch “Press”) to erect an alpine hut as the memorial, and chose the Haast Ridge as the most suitable place. The hut will not only facilitate the climbing of Mount Cook, but also Silverhorne, Tasman, Lindenfelt, Haast, Haidinger, and the Glacier Dome. The hut was built in Dunedin, of the lightest wood obtainable, taken to pieces, numbered, and transferred to the Hermitage. The material was then carted to Blue Lake, and from there packed on horses to the Ball Hut. From this point the whole work has to be done entirely by human effort. There was some difficulty in finding a man with sufficient skill, knowledge, and pluck to take charge of this arduous work, but fortunately Mr. J. K. Smith was persuaded to undertake it. Mr. Smith has had much previous experience in such work, having built the Malte Brun and the Ball Huts. He was able to secure a gang of men of his own type, who, it is hoped, will be enabled to finish the hut during this season. It is the highest hut in Australasia, being situated at an altitude of 7000 feet.