FROM THE WEST.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1424, 26 April 1912, Page 6

FROM THE WEST.

'A COUNTRY WITH A "BIG : FUTURE. Mr. F. W. Haybittle, of the firm,of Messrs. George Thomas and Co., who returned from Australia by the Maunganui on Wednesday, has been visiting-Western Australia on private business. It was his first visit to the western Stiite, and lie returns to Wellington with a'very healthy respect for the future of that great country. ■ ■.'■,'•'■"• '■Jf I.were a young man-1' would not hesitate a . moment—l believe there.are great chances for the man- who is not Afraid to work. I do not care for Perth bo much, the immediate country is so arid —saiid everywhere right up to the bnnks of the-river.- Indeed, the only patch of green I saw was thnt surrounding Government House. But. I am told that tnerc are great belts of line soil under a few inches of snnd in different parts of the Shite, and these are being transformed into'vast cultivated areas, giving forth the'b?st result. I was in the big wheat bolt.'at Nortliam, and saw for myself the great possibilities of the district for Rrain-srowing. The finest and cleanest fruit I Have ever seen was in Perth—all prawn, in the State. This includes a splendid, orange—better than any grown in the Eastern States. I also visited Coolgardio and Knlgoorlie. The former place has

pone. In nieces, but ICalworlt'e keeps going.'.., .Tliey.are both, wonderful..cities whe-n you consider their-location, , the o'iftlnul. ties under which they were cre.ated. They were never sure nf.wnlpr until'they pumped it all the way from Perth across a youiig Sahara. Yet in Kalgoorlie they niiv.e the.prettiest.and best lncecourse in Australasia, excepting Flemington. With its huge masses of flnmin?-bloom it is alwiiv-! a picture to 'delight the eye. "While at Perth the Malwa arrived, and wo learnt that there ■was smallpox on board. A Major I'orett. of Victoria, who had como down from India, was the sufforor. I went oft' in' n rowing boot'to see if Mr. Harold Beauchamp was on board. The liner was coaling in the stream, and T had to climb on to tho coal hulk and mount into the rigging before I could hail, anyone on deck. I ' asked if Mr. Beauciamp was on board, and by way of rejily the passenger who answered me hailed him. and we had 'half an hoirr's chat over the side. I wns to have sailed for Melbourne in tho Malwa, but bein» quarantined sho was not allowed to take any passengers. "No fewer than 107 jiaseengers for the East wero disappointed. I caught a small boat, tho Knpunda, tho next. day. and we had a pretty rough time coming across the Bight. She only had accommodation for 53 passengers altogether, so you can guess her size.- On board I met old Captain Hill, who used to live in Wellington, formerly captain of tho steamer Koranui, wrecked at the J'rPiicli Pass. While- in Perth I struck a bowling tournament, and was most hospitably treated as a fellow-bowler from Now flea--land. The leading spirit was a Mr. Berry; a hospitable and HbeTal gentleman, who entertained 120 boarders from Northani. Bunbury, Calgoorlie, Coolgardie, and "Fremantle at luncheon every day of the trturnament. While there I also had the pleasure of meeting thePHminer-Den-niston Company, which was doiag fine business. It was my fortuno .to'see in "A Village Priest," with 3lr. George Titheradge as artistically faultless as ever ns the old abbe.' It ivns .'Mie .-best performance of the play I have seen. Mr. Titheradee is, I understand, coming to New' Zealand with, the- company in u few wests' time." ■