IMPRESSIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 8

IMPRESSIONS.

NEW ZEALAND AS.AVE siw IT. ' SOUTHERN CENTRES. 'JOTTINGS ON A SPLENDID TRIP. fßv G; H. , S,. Teott.] (Specially written Cor Tiie Dominion.) -Prom . Wellington we left by the s.s. Maori for Christchurch.''.; I always had ;a. warm corner'''in my heart for . Christof Plains. . It lias gene ahead- somowhat,- bjit not nearly to the same 'extent. as Wellington or Auckland. I could . easily, recpgnise it again. Owing to several gentlemen putting their-motors at oiir disposal, „we had some delightful country trips, and saw to what an extent the lajid is under cultivation.. Why, I always renjeniber .this city, ,By the picturesque; little .Avon that , runs through the tuivii!'"". it','reminds mo -very; .liiteh of . Cambridge, the, University tpwn in . JOngland. -I- think the - Chrislchurch people are very,'proud, of, their little river; but I fancy.-, they, would have been., mortally, offended if they liad-heard the remark an American was supposed,., to pass ' :.n it: "YasSj'ifs'a fine river,. I guess. .1 have . two minds to get a sponge', mop it 1 up, and ' take,, it right .back to,.the .States with, inc."

4000 Bicycles at a Match. Brighton and Sumner was . visited'by us, and great improvements liavo been- made .'in these sea-side towns.since my last visit.: . They have a lino electric tram service quite up-to-date in Christchurch. Taxicabs, and. bicycles! .AVell, I think the -.largest collection ever I-saw at any cricket . hnatcb-of.j.tlie,latter machines was seen, at our match. Of course, I can quite that- the flat 'nature of the country.-/accounts /for' the Hgreat' number of cycles. ' But to see then heaped up in . the Stables at' the ' erickgt. ground was; a revelation' to us. I supposo there was an attendance of..rive ior.. six thousand* yeople, and there must' have' beqp fully 4000' bicycles. - :. V" Dunedin we went on to. by rail—rather a long, dreary journey, but-the country showed us that New;.; Zealand is a land of milk and honey—crops,- crops, nearly all along the roittei'. This is, another.city ' that lias-made great.'stridps in. the last few years'.:-'I .suppose,its:.railway station isone 'of ;t;he finest iu 4ve.w Zealand,, and ' the buildings of this great manufacturing town do credit to its Whatparticularly,, struck mo,'in Dunedin .was the cable trams over the high hills. What a, glorious view you get,, and what a sensation is,.it; .to go .oyer, and down a gauge; of> about.l.in 15 in to the valleys , lielow. . .' Here was • another city where the ■ rcsi- ' dents - turned . outJwith their . motor-oars anifc gave 'lis, a ! glorious., outing' over'the. hills of the, city,; where a .beautiful panoramic view of .this lovely city and harbour could'be viewed.;,/'Although,our stiy, here was marred, somewhat ty-rain, we enjoyed it- thoroughly."

,The Dogs :ofitapanul. ' ' From- We'we journeyed on to.Tapaniii, in Central Otago. By the majority of New ; Zealanders/'tliis-place is not very, ■ well that, at one time,'it was! celebrated for ;its piue forests, but • now agriculture is ;its' leading, industry.. It. amused.' to note the number, of dogs of the,,sheep, dog variety which it possessed, pne'of our team declared there were more dogs than people. ~ "Well, it is 110 exaggeration to, say they' were there >111 hundreds, lolling about the main street. Yes, iTapanui 'is , lcnowi ,to. .Us' ab . '.'The. .Oity' of. Dogs." , The inhabitants are just as kind-hearted there asintlie rest of New Zealand. They • could not do enough for : iis. AYe motored out to. Edevalo on the afternoon of our arrival, and we were entertained by a Vdear old-Scotch lady, whose-threo stalwart sons played against us oiv the.'following AVe were taken, a trip by motor to Roxborough, the fruit-growing and mining town of Central Otago. • . • Tapanui- is another prohibition town, but our experience was just the same as at Masterton. AVe fared well. It was a fine sight when we .had climbed the famous Blue-Mountains, via the AY hi sky Gully . rails,, then wo saw for the first time in our lives a primeval forest, nearly 7000 feet above sea-lovel. One guide told •us that 'deer abound ito, great. profusion, ' but we did not, have the good fortune to catch' a glimpse of 'them. AV'e "quite believed him, all the same,; as the numerous trophies of the chase in tlie shape of deer heads which abound ill almist; every ghop,and house in the neigbourliood proved''the .truth bf his statements; My Prophescy at Christchurch. Back once more to Christchurch where wo got our reverse of the trip, Canterbury beating us easily by an innings. On their ■form in ithat match ~ greatly depended whether'they would tackle Auckland for the Plunket Shield. I felt certain at the time that if they could only put up as good a-game-against the; champions as .' ihey did against us, the shield would rest •with. them. -Since leaving your fine country I have had a cable message from the igenial "Dan" Recce stating; tl)at my prognostication was true and! tlnit Can'terbury.' had beaten .Auckland by. eight wickets. Soj if our trip did nothing in the way oflcricket.education to the. other, provinces, 'it has donesome little good to Canterbury cricket. .; I may mention that, on our;.way back from Tapanui wo played at Asliburton V and I must pay a tribute to tlie fine spirit displayed by the ladies in - this town,:.. They.'entertained, .us..at. luncheon and afternoon tea each day of the match at their own expense, and I 'can say that no team, of cricketefs were fever served better at either function, not even by professional caterers. a Our Stunt at Ashburton. The people of Ashburton .we found just as large hearted as in.'any,; other New Zealand towns and they were ju'st as forward with their motor-ears as elsewhere. Ono /lovely drive which we made,- from hore in tho cool of tlie evening was to' the ' fishing huts at the, mouth; of the' Rakaia; River. I had the good fortune to strike 1 the best motor-car in New''Zealand, 'or at least the best I had ever travelled in —and we, had some of the very best on our various jaunts. This ono was easily , up to date. The driver had no trouble at all. He simply sat in the car, . and ho could start, light all his lamps; and V manipulate the car from his seat.- I. feel sorry to say that it 'was of American 1 make; still, it was'a splendid7car<'-and the only regret I had was that it was not a "Britisher." -

nut, u. uriusuer. ■ , We went down to' the fishej-njga's/liuts. in daylight, but coming baek;"-wc l ; iia'd' inoonlight from * Nuturo and i electric lights from the car. ,f No 'sooner had wo struck the /main road'-'ihaii' we started several hores. Tho electric/light from the car seemed to attract (hem; find'' for .miles along- the road thev woiild ,'fl.v, at full speed in front of the car. : R'w'o had carried a gun in the ear we could have had several easy shots at "Mr Bunny." And Finally. At Wellington we played our last match •gainst a Wednesday team, and, althoiHt (hey led on the first innings and showed first-class form, we beat them' rather easily at the finish. _ Wo had been in your beautiful country just 011 six weeks, and I can honestly say that every man in our team thoroughly enjoyed . himself, and., wo could not have been treated.any bot{er if we had been tho strongest team of cricketers Australia could have produced. ' That our visit, to the Dominion has done some Rood to local cricket is :my sincerest wish. I think it has for, .with an ordinary team like ours, I fancy"tliat the best that is in your players was brought out.- They had nothing to fear, and felt that they v.-ero our equals, whereas if names that have earned famo in tho cricket fields are against young fellows: for the first time it is only natural that they are slightly on the nervous side, and do not do themselves justice. f This/ feeling is soon got over with most players', although with some players I, havo known they rarely, if ever, get over their nervousness until they havo made a few runs and get set. I can say frim my experience of this tour that most of ths' .voting players we met showed tho proper spirit. I did; not notice one case of real "funk.". This, in mv opinion, goes to show "that there is a great future for New Zealand cricket.

You have the right men behindthe helm in the different provinces, who tako an active interest in the game, and also in the players. What is more, Wednesday cricket is going ahead, and before, very long yon will find' Wednesday players representing their province in all the big .matches throughout Now Zealand. A\ il'll such men as JlesSrs. George Ctisickv Trickett, Crouch, . and several others taking such an active interest* iu the game it must go ahead. - We, the South Melbourne team, have to thank those gentlemen for our glorious trip, and I only hope that, when another tour conies along, I shall have the pleasure of .accompanying it. If the team onlv has half as go-jd a time as we had they wi11,.! feel sure, have the time of their lives. (Concluded.)