LEVIN IMPRESSES AMERICANS

Chronicle (Levin), 11 March 1947, Page 4

LEVIN IMPRESSES AMERICANS

BRIEF VISIT BY MEMI^ERS OF BVRD EJtPEDlTlON With ,a view, to seeing as much of this country as they can in a very short timo, a party of 13 members of the Byrd expedition, whose ships are berthed in Wellington, passed through Levin yesteraay en route to Rotorua. This and other trips have' been arfUnged by>the New Zealand Government,- which has chartered buses and placed them at the disposai of the Ameribans. The trip has had to' be curtailed to four daysj however, as the men are due back in Wellington on Thursday. The party which stopped at Levin yesterday comprised naval officers and representatives of the Associated Press attached to the expedition. Thoiigh they stopped in Levin for only a few minutes, "their arfival created considerable interest. When interviewed they showed considerable enthusiasm for Levin, which they described as the cleanest and prettiest town they had passed through. They alSo evinced a great deal Of interest in the town's Giigin as described by one of the earliest.inhabitants, Mr. Hector McDonald. ^The members of the party were introduced by Mr. McDohald to MessrS. Huia Mihaka, paramount. chief of Ngatihuia; J. Gill, great grandson of the chieftainess Turikatuku, whose* only daughter, Mr. Giil's grandmother, was born in Sydney in 1839; ~and Horomona Heremai, of Muaupoko, who claims close relationship to Princess Te Puea ahd King Koroki. Mr. Heremai gave one of the officers a letter of introduction to the Princess and other notables in the Rotorua district. "Few of us have been in New Zealand before and we are seeing as much of the country as possible," said one member of the party. "The scenery here - is remarkable, and we are looking forward to seeing your thermal regions. We've heard a lot about them since we arrived."