A LONG HOLIDAY.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14833, 26 November 1913, Page 5

A LONG HOLIDAY.

RETURN OF CHRISTCHURCH BUSINESS MAN.

After a long holiday of fifteen years, spent in traversing the length *and breadth of England and Scotland, with n» occasional visit to the Continent. Mr John Aiken, well .known here as a partner in the. firm of Edwards, lienuett and Co., general merchants, hafi returned to Ohristchurch. Measured in years, for he has seen nearly eighty stumpers, Mr Aiken is m> old man, but his friends in Christchurch lind him little changed. He retains his upright carriage, and his appearance suggests that somewhere in his journeys through rural England he discovered the elixir of life. To a reporter yesterday, Mr Aiken was enthusiastic over tho delights to be attained by a holid.'tv in England. "I think I niuet have ridden over 20,000 miles on my bicyclo." lie saiil. "My wife and I have travelled over the country as our inclinations led, stopping at any place just as long as we liked it. We kept away from London and the bigger centres, favouring mostly tho watering - olaces, and wintering usually at Southampton, a very homely place. The great shipping of the port was particularly attractive to mc. But the winters in England are usually very dreary. and wo felt the lack of sunshine. The spring and early summer, however, are wonderful. It is tV*i that there is no place like England." It. was a remark' on fhe present unsettled state of industrial affairs that lod Mr Aiken to talk of Now Zealand, as he first saw it. Nelson was then bidding fair to become the 'hub of our little universe, and had been eight years in existence, when he saw it in tSS6. froni the deck of the little sailing vessel Cresswell, under Captain Barnett. The voyage out occupied nearly four months. Mr Aiken commenced his business career with the firm of Edwards and Co.. successors to Alfred Fell, a business which is still in existence, thouph now controlled by Cock and Co. It was not until some years later that Mr Aikon scicied in Canterbury. While the chances in Christchurolj nnvo not found him unprepared. Mr Aiken was very much impressed with the manner in which the city had grown. "Chrtstohnrch is a beautiful place, ho added, but evidently other places J>ave attractions., for Mr Aiken stated that his stay here would only be a brief one!