TOUR ABROAD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 17 January 1931, Page 10

TOUR ABROAD

SOLICITOR’S IMPRESSIONS MOTORING IN THE UNITED. STATES • - " 'Q/..'.

“Although many old-established firms' are feeling the strain, and there , have' been many amalgamations, the Old Country is not done by any means,” said Mr E. A. Duncan, a Dunedin soligitor to a “Press” reporter, bn his .yr&y’ home after an extensive tour of Great Britain, Europe, and the United States of America. Mr Duncan heard the first speeches of the Prime Ministers of’ Ca-. nadu, Australia, and New Zealand,."at the Guildhall, London, before the opening of the Imperial Conference. Mr R. B. Bennett, he said, was a wonderful speaker, and Mr Forbes, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, also made an extremely good impression. At Home, he noticed particularly the number of men who were receiving the dole, . Some: of these had never worked in their lives, and seemed quite content with food, ail Occasional “spot,” and a little tobacco. On the Continent, Mr Duncan travelled through Germany t 0.,. Vienna, - returning by Switzerland. Cologne,' and Paris. In Berlin, he said, conditions were bad. The crops in the north of Germany, and in Holland as well, had been blighted after a poor season, and the bgnks were preparing for a had time. Vienna ha<J lost much of , its old glory. Neither there nor in Berlin were there any sprightly-dressed women to. be seen in the streets.

PASSION PLAY COMMERCIALISED

While in Germany, Mr Duncan attended the Passion. Play at- Ober-Ammer. gau, but found it a very commercialised affair indeed. The people were - simply making what they could put of the festival, which was widely exploited as a : toui’ist “stunt.” This time the profit was said to be about £IOO,OOO. Although the performances Were supposed, to be given only every 10 years,.; it, .was now proposed to repeat thie festival in three years’ time. Some .people enjoyed the Passion Play very, much, but. others found the performance rather tedious since it lasted for seven'and a half hours, and was given entirely ip Geri man. Mr Duncan said ho, thought that there plight be a cut of about two hours in the choral parts-. ■ The tableaux, however, were' alone worth the visit. ' ,

He went to Cologne, intending to revisit some of the battlefields. . There had been, however, a six weeks' rain, and so he had to go on to Paris and England. . . MOTORING IN AMERICA Mr Duncan is a very keen motorist, and in the United States he bought a new car and motored over 4000 miles before bringing it to New Zealand. In the whole 4000 miles hie had to use the , windscreen-wipers . fpr two hours only. Yet had he set out. one week later than he did, he would have been blocked in several parts by heavy falls of snow. The number-plate of his car was 1-426-047. The plates are only issued in the capitals of each of the States, and Mr Duncan had to travel nearly 250 miles to Springfield (Illinois) with only a paper, “New Car in Transit,” fastened to the rear plate. The American roads were world-re-nowned, he said, and the State of Illinois had a particularly fine system. In every State, the number scheme was used for the guidance of motorists. He considered it very much superior to the colour scheme used in New 'Zealand. Very concise maps weye available, showing not merely the road numbers, but giving a mileage progress according to villages and land-marks. -There were' great stretches of concrete roads through the desert. Mr Duncan drove on one stretch 140 miles long, with only a single bend in it. There was a general fear of hold-ups, and motorists were advised never to sto-> to pick up passers-by who asked for a lift. Derelict used cars were often to be found abandoned by the roadside, and ’ the “junk-shops” were full. As far as his observation went, the United States was undergoing a bad time financially. Up to Ist November, he understood, no fewer than 794 banks had failed.

“I am very glad to be home again,” ended Mr Duncan.