SEEING AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19156, 12 November 1927, Page 11

SEEING AUSTRALIA

GOVERNORS ON TOUR. I LORD STONEHAVEN AND SIR 1 DUDLEY DE CHAIR. 1 (rsou ora owx' eoaais?oKD2ST.) H SYDNEY, October SO. g A feature of the characters and ac- I tivities of recent vice-regal representa- g tives in Australia has been their desire | to see the most they possibly can of | the country in which their service for 1 the Empire has led them to be 'station- 1 ed. It was not so long ago that A | State Governor or Federal Governor- | General considered that his duties were | amply fulfilled if he deposited his bag- | gage and retinue in a spacious man- | sion in a capital, attended a few so- 5 cietv and public functions, and longed j for tho time of his return to London. j But things aro different now. Com- j ment is widespread that the various vice-regal representatives flit from cor- j ner to corner of the domain in which they represent the King, and, what is more, thoroughly enjoy it. Governor-General's Wanderings. The Governor-General (Lord Stonehaven) is an inveterate wanderer. Li his three rears or so of office, he has ] covered practically every corner of the continent, and has shown his appreciation of the value of the aeroplane for travel in this wide country by flying thousands of miles. Recently Lord Stonehaven ventured by car and 'plane into the far north, spending happy weeks in the untrammelled regions up near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Here he shot ducks and other game birds, kangaroos and alligators, and fished m the rivers and waters of the Gulf. Ho discarded vice-regal trappings and affected moleskin trousers, soft-collared shirts open at the neck, and old slouch hats. Photographs of him in this garb could easily "have been mistaken for those of some old bushwhacker, but, judging by the Governor-General's smiles, he gloried in tho free open air life Flying down from Camooweal to Bourko, and then eastward to Dubbo, Lord Stonehaven spent several days among the great sheep stations in the central-west and far-west of this State. Next he sped down to the southern Rivenna, whence he left for Adelaide to don his best clothes once more and officiate at functions at tho Adelaide show that is typical of this busy little Scotsman s days. He does not wait for the country people to come to town, but goes out himself to see the real Australia and tho real Australians. Travels in New South Wales. Another vice-regal representative fond of travel is the Governor of New South Wales (Sir Dudley de Chair). Hte has visited practically every district in the State, and has been even to the far north-western corner, the Back o' Beyond" we Sydney folks call itrywhere no other Governor has been. His latest exploit, a visit to lonely Lord Howe Island, has only onco been done previously, md that more than 40 years ago. On this trip, from .which he returned last week-end Sir Dudley-de Chair travelled by H.M.A.S. Me - bourne An admiral of the. British Naw, 'it was no now experience for Sir Dudley to use this means of transport, and he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed his trip. Lord Howe Island lies but a few hundred miles from Sydney, but without cable or radio communication, and visited but once a month by steamers, it is a speck. Consequently, Sir Dudley do Chair's visit was a red-letter event m its annals. In his account to the newspapers of his visit, Sir Dudley waxed poetical concerning the sp endour and romance of the island, and the hospitality of the islanders. Ho recounted with delight how a party ot sailors taken ashore to entertain the island people found that their latest dances were the quadrilles and lancers, but soon the islanders, especially the girls, were being introduced to the nvystenes of jazz. He exploited the islanders SU mean, of* travel, *««**"£ sledges, and gloried in the> Wy of the island's lagoon. . Donbttes, of all Sir Dudley's impressions of New South Wales, none will remain more vividlj in his mind than his voyage to this : sea dependency of the State.

Lord Somers. "" In tho youthful Lord Somers, Victoria has also a Governor who has s& en much of the State He has been in that State but little more than twelve months, yet has travelled far and wide. He delights most of all in getting out among the farmers, especially British migrants who have established themselves on holdings or are attempting to do so. His hobby is agriculture, and he has learnt much concerning Australian methods during «i» term of office. His latest way ofseei ins Victoria is to accompany a body of Boy Scouts on a 10-days' bike.

Into the "Dead Heart." Nor is General Sir Tom Bridges, in South Australia, "much behind his fellow Governors." He has journeyed more than once into the "dead heart of the continent, and once travelled bv car right through the country to Darwin. On the experiences of that trip, his daughter wrote and published a book, "A W r alkabout m. Australia, that attracted wide attention, not only in Australia, but also in Britain ana

America. - , These travelling Governors are just the people Australia wants. The v come to understand more of the trials and problems of Australians, get to know and love the country better, and when they return to England, become efficient publicity agents because their knowledge of the Commonwealth is so extensive that they discuss any subject concerning the country where they once represented the King.