A NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YARK

New Zealand Tablet, 14 October 1915, Page 45

A NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YARK

I have just had placed at my disposal for > the benefit of Tablet readers (writes our Christchurch correspondent) the appended interesting notes giving the observations and impressions of Mrs. Arthur - Mead,' the well-known and popular artiste of this city, who has., spent the last two years abroad, primarily perfecting herself in her profession, but finding time also to exercise her talents, and these of no mean order, in a literary direction . September 5. A few days after landing in London from Paris, I, with the rest of mankind, received the shocking news of the Lusitania crime. One's first thought on reading the account of the sinking was, America will hardly wait for more insults, surely, this will mean, war for her. However, that is more than four months ago, and America has suffered many more such insults, and her people and ships have been much abused, but still this is a neutral country. On May 26 I embarked on the American boat Philadelphia for New York, and began the third stage of my two years' work. Being so soon after the Lusitania disaster I chose to sail under the American flag, so as to secure a safe voyage if possible. The first forty-eight hours were somewhat worrying, but once the war zone was passed, faces relaxed and people settled down to enjoy the remainder of the journey. The Statue of Liberty came into view at 10 o'clock on June 3, and I landed in the States for the first time. It is peculiar how differently one can feel on landing in large cities. London, although covering many miles, and containing such millions of population, makes one always feel at home, and no anxiety as to one's safety. Paris appears to open its gates and say,'Come and enjoy our beautiful city.' But New York seemed so huge and regardless of your presence, and one felt frightened at its immensity and its strange ways and customs. Nowhere have I felt so lost and so nervous about finding my way about as I did here when I arrived. Explain this I cannot, as it is an exceedingly easy place to get about in and almost impossible to lose one's self. One's first impressions often alter, but as regards this city mine have remained unchanged. As far as beauty or art is concerned New York lias little to boast of. The Riverside Drive (the Hyde Park of New York), on. the banks of the Hudson, with its view of New Jersey, is a very delightful sight, the river being as blue as the waters of the Mediterranean, and the luxurious foliage of every shade of green right to the water's edge. At night it is a veritable fairyland with its myriads of electric globes amongst the foliage. The parks of the city are also equal to any park one can find in Europe. - But the skyscrapers make no pretence of being works of art; they may be from the mechanic's or engineer's point of view, but certainly not from the artist's. It is essentially a cosmopolitan city, its population consisting of every nationality in the world. The people here of British descent have developed into a totally different racethey have so many national characteristics which strike the Britisher as peculiar. They are entirely without that natural reserve so strikingly noticeable in the English, and the Irish here lack that modesty, shyness, and respectfulness so loved by people visiting the Emerald Isle. Familiarity is the keynote here. From all appearances New York is a very Catholic city, that is, if one can judge by the number of

churches, and the ; ; enormous congregations ,to be = seen ' at all the Masses —on Sundays l and even weefc-days. As many of the churches are built on main streets, where land must be a fabulous price, it goes to show the Catholics, here .must- be .wealthy.,; The churches are riot all buildings of architectural beauty like the. Paris churches, but they are mostly well furnished and well kept. - "- . _ ' I spent last Sunday at a place called Whitestone on Long Island and, to : my astonishment : (it being a small place), found it possessed a very fine church and presbytery, much the handsomest building in the town. At the nine o'clock Mass several 'hundred people assisted. There was a special collection for the church debt, and the plate (or basket as they call it) contained plenty of dollars, in fact most people seemed to give a dollar, which is 4s 2d in our money. In a city like this, where the Catholics are so strong, what an enormous amount of good could be done, but alas Catholics who are very successful in this world so often neglect to remain practical Catholics. I have had the misfortune to be here during June, July, and August, and any New Zealander thinking of visiting here will be well advised to give New York a wide berth during these months. I have never experienced, even in the tropics, anything to equal the heat here. For several weeks on end it has been between 78 and 91 degrees in the shade, and the humidity 91— fact the latter has been as high as 98 degrees. The mosquitoes are an absolute plague most of the large houses have mosquito netting on doors and windows, but even then these vicious little insects nearly eat you. When the cooler weather comes next month I am hoping they will depart for other climes. Before landing in New York I felt very disgusted with America not joining the Allies in the war against the common enemy, Militarism; but after : being here two and a half months I fully realise the awkward position this country is placed in. In the streets and restaurants one hears constantly the German tongue, in fact if one can reckon on the names on warehouses and shops it would appear almost to be a German city. There are so many banks and daily papers run by Germans that they are a real power, and use every possible influence to gain the American people on their side. In fact, I have seen things printed in support of Germany in English-speaking papers that pass my comprehension how they can be permitted to be published in an English-speaking community as this one is. This gives you a vague idea of what this country lias to face if it declared war on Germany. It would

appear to almost mean civil war. As I am to be here for several months yet, I shall delay giving you an idea of the peculiar mannerisms and customs of the people, who object to being called English, and call themselves A-mer-i-kans.