A TOUR ABROAD

Hokitika Guardian, 10 January 1930, Page 3

A TOUR ABROAD

INSPTCTION OF HARBOURS

MR P. J. M’LEAN'S OBSERVATIONS.

Mr P. J. AfcLean, of Greymouth, chairman of the Grey Harbour Board, and president of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce, who, with Mrs McLean and family arrived in Christchurch on Wednesday, spent an enjoyable and profitable time in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe. Mr McLean has many business and other interests, and while in 'Great Britain he collected much information, which he believes will be of interest and value to the people of the West Coast.

■ln an interview with a representative of the “Press” yesterday, Mr McLean said he visited the chief of. all the McLeans in the world—Sir Pitzroy McLean, of Duart Castle, Isle of Mull, and was most hospitably received and entertained by ,him. Sir Fitzro.v, in spite of his 94 years, lias all his faculties unimpaired. He is one of the veterans of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Air McLean and family had a delightful time touring the isles and the highlands.

HARBOUR MATTERS

The problems of the Grey Harbour are well known, and Mr McLean, as a business man and as chairman of the Harbour Board, is keenly interested in trying to find the solution of 'those problems. In Glasgow ho was afforded all possible of inspecting the port by Mr John MaeFarlane, general manager of Clyde Navigation Trust; and in London similar facilities were given him by the Port of London Authority. In Glasgow he attended the dinner liven to the Master Pilots by the Provost of Glasgow. In accordance with the suggestion of a former signal piaster at Grey mouth, Mr McLean visited Aberdeen where he saw the nearest approach to A bar harbour that he could find in Great Britain. A.t Aberdeen he met Mr Gordon Nic*oll, consulting engineer on harbour matters and the greatest authority on harbours in Great Britain. Mr Nicoll gave him a considerable amount of ’information, which Mr McLean intends placing before the Grey Harbour Board and the Marine Department. From the nature of the information gleaned, Mr McLean thinks that it will prove of national importance.

ECONOMIC UTILISATION OF COAL SLACK. Mr McLean is interested in that question of the economic utilisation of coal slack, and has brought with him information on the subject. He said that the low carbonisation process in connexion with coal is creating a great deal of interest in Britain at present, and a number of cornpan ies have been formed to exploit the process. In Scotland Mr and Mrs McLean and family were the guests of Mrs McLean’s mother, Mrs William Gilmour, “Ailsa,” Motherwell, and they visited Ayr and Dumfries. In England they visited, amongst other places, Stratford-on-Avon, and saw the interesting local custom of roasting a.n ox. The Royal Show at HarroRate also was visited. They made an extended tour of Europe, visiting some of, the battlefields of France and Belgium, and they toured Switzerland, Germany, and Bavaria. They were present when the British troops evaluated their posts on the Rhine. Mr McLean was struck by the tonnage 1 ' on the Rhine, which he estimated 1 at from half a million to threequarters of a million daily. Amongst the notable men .that Mr McLean met was Six. Oliver Lodge, and lie also heard Ifaim lecture. , Mr a'tnd Mrs McLean and family were nhe.cnt from the Dominion since ApJjil-