A TRIP TO FRISCO FAIR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 93, 8 October 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

A TRIP TO FRISCO FAIR.

AM) ELSEWHERE.

Bj "TE YYHARE"

The terribly nasal accent oi the Yanke® men and women (especially the hitter), we are trying to get used to. as a'so the American dishes, some which we are actually getting to like. Although the mannerisms ot the fii'ople we could never get used to, Jti we now and again meet some toiy decent people. But we shall be very 2'au to get with our own folk upon British .toil, and 1 have yet to hnd any Australasians or Britishers who think othei - wise after a tour in this direction. In nil fairness, however, I must ta; t.uit the Honolulu newspapers seemed to be trving to be fair to the Allies m then heading articles, but we know that Gciittan influence was much noted in both Uapors, and Uncle Sam eeeined to be altogether too lax with the crsws oi the German ships interned at the i oit. \\'e met the officers and men ot The 'Guntrar in all directions through the Island, many of whom were armed with camera", but, per contra, many a iaj of sunshine we had in not ng the loyalty to Britain displayed in many a heart to heart talk we had with Japanese, and citizens of the United States. Quite a few residents of Honolulu assured us that they felt quite •certain that within a coup'e of years tlia Islands, as'well as the Philippines, would be.in the hands of the Japanese, and that America would be powerless to prevent it. On our trip in the i_onoinar to San Fransciisco, a typo vntten newspaper was issued from the office ot the wireless every morning, at the price of ten cents (a dime). Wages of r.rtiBans in Honolulu averaged at about £1 -per day. and for hands in shop? at £3 to £1 per week, but

LIVING IS HIGH

Decent board costs about £- per week, and a suit of clothes will run to as much as £7 or £8; a panama hat £_, and a pair of boots 365. . Jack Lundon (author) and his wife liad been spending some six months on the Islands and were fellow passenger? to the coast with us in the Sonoma. YY e tarried the lovely cool N.Z. Trademds with us from shortly after we left N. /.- till arrival at Frisco, and a couple ot days before arrival we were glad to take our rug on deck and to don warmer clothes. It seems to he generally Conceded that it is quite impossble for America to go to YYar, for apart from their unpreparediiess, an# their complete lack of what we British consider true national feeling, they are quite convinced that if Congress were foolish •enough to declare war, the cosmopolitan character of the inhabitants, with •German inhabitants largely predominated too bv German influence, CIVIL YYAR

would happen immediately, if not sooner ! After a fine smooth passage of oj •days, we arrived at 'Frisco wharf, '"akin" the coast in misty weather. Tln> part is noted for fogs at this time ot the year. We now are pleased to get off the Sonoma, for although the Oceanic Steamers are much improved in &peed and cleanliness since limning under oil steam, yet the line compares vfery badly with our own U.S.S. Co. li>e thieves of 'Frisco were soon in evidence, for our first newspaper, published at one cent, cost us five, and on forming in a queue at a theatre in tlie evening and waiting an hour to get to the box office, we saw the list up, GalJery 10 cents, Balcony 20, Dress c:rcle 40. and elected to take two at 20 cents 4>ut on showing them at the donr were told we could not be admitted at thosu livices till nine o'clock, and on (.'oing lack to pay the extra charge 1 was to il we should have to go back to the end -o? the queue again. As that would taken us until nine o'clock to aceoiuSlish in any case, we declined the oreal, presented the to the man in charge of the door and came away. With meals too, you may go into a restaurant and get a decent meal for _■> •cents, and yet a door or two lartner on you will pay double the amount for the same thing, and yet both place? ju-.n, equally patronized by cvo.vds ot people. The tipping principle sens to fee slowing off a lot, and the CAFETERIAS

which have been adopted to coiie with that nuisance are highly patroni/.ed. In this case you form one of a queue <>t people slowly going inside a railed-off passage on the inside of the large Dining room. On coming to the pile of trays you take one. and in passing along the .counter you then help yourself or ting out for the various items you de.-ire a? jou pass liiong. On emerging at the end, you are presented with a ticket of •charges, and you then carry yo;;r tra.\ to a table in "the centre and fall to. In this way you dodge the tips and get your meals at about half price. Thousands get their mea-ls that way. lae streets are VERY NOISY,

and no matter how high one get*, (say 8 to 10 stories), the row the night through, is bound to keep one awake till one gets useil to it. The very music halls keep going till 2 a.m., and many places of business ns well as Cafes and Saloons, never close all night. Sundays also. The blaze of light and the beautiful electric advertising designs and illuminations of Market Street, San Franscisco, is a thing worth coming a long way to see, The Hotel tariffs vary very considerably, and as in some other places, the price stretches almof' to the breaking point when they catch sight of the tourist. One cannot gel a docent room under I \ or 2 dollars per night, the bath i> an extra ch.irge oi 25 cents, and you must clean your own boots or pay extra, and usually buy your own newspaper. Your room, how - ever, wid be very decent and you will find a chest of drawers and wardrobe. There is always hot and cold wnL-i laid on to the basin, and the toon is in evidence everywhere. We v.s.t •<! the

GREAT FERRIES BUII.DIN

Nt whieh tin- Y.M.C.A. has sn oflice and reading room, a? a ! M> lias I' <• I'nblic Safety Association with a lady otficor on duty at the door to gco the lest possible advice to strnngeis, male and female. An informntio'.i bureau as to hotels is ;\l>o in the ve'.v cv'i're of the floor of the building Here, too, on the top story is located the exhibit- or fruit and product- of every disirct tn tlie State of California. Lectunt. are Riven every afternoon, illustrated by lantern slides. The Ladies' Waiting loom .at this beautiful Ferries budding is very finely furnished with carpets and lounges. Reading and writing tables are scattered about —ill fart every (ilijcct to make one cou.fei tahh} whether resting or waiting for <te:impis or cars, liy the wav, n ooing to the Bank tins morning to cash a L"2ii circular note, we found that what with exchanges at the X Z. oad. then » charge at this end for Insurance to par note hack, and tli-n Rett in« b.,* i.>' for the 11, t"2u was worth 110 n.ore than nineteen wh -n al' chare s we:v paid! We did severa' Courts

AT THE FAIR

to-day, and heard t> quaint and beaut

fit', orchestra by natives cf the Honduras on the I'anunii i > »->t; these peopte played Strauss' Blue Danube walta on wooden Zylopltoues, the * ,n«» 1 lefat being ii') larger than ;i niaiuloiue and the largest as big as an horizontal Grand Piano. The only instrument outside these being a Double Bass, and the music was delightful. In the evening we had the privilege of hearing Sousa's band in tlie : r farewell performance before an outdoor audience of 10,000 people. Whilst at the Australian Court I had the honour ot hearing Mr. Teddy Kooseveklt address us in very flattering terms and holding its up to the American populace as a pattern of loyalty and good works generally. I heard' a citizen afterwards rentalk that he considered the speech rotte.i! The Commonwealth Court is very .Ine and eclipses our- altogether. They have an Australian Brass Band with then and a fine one it is too, and also other organisations travelling the country and giving performances. Visitors are high ;n praise of the Australian Court. The

SIGHT SEEING MOTOR CARS

here ale a marvel. Some of them seating no less than 100 people, tiers upon tiers, and all provided with a conductor who, armed with a megaphone, sits in n special seat in the front of the car facing the passenger?. 'Jhese trips average from a dollar upwards and are very interesting and instructive. For people, however, that are short of cash, these will find the trolly cars at o cents per trip will take you to the eume places, but the charm of Ihe others are that you get everything explained as you go along. The Trolley Cars here are all on the " Pay as you Enter" principle. The f air proper is ;il>out 0 miles long, so one really wants a conveyance to go from end to end. Tli" illuminations at night are a drearft, and in the Courts proper are concealed, and the effect is charming. Search lights play ir. all directions, and some oil centres of the best of the fine statuary. On the "Zone" the lighte are all ablaze and the effect is dazzling. One can hire roller chairs with attendant at about I dollar per hour, f-nd a favourite design s a wicker motor chair to scat two persons, which anyone without previous knowledge can drive about the place. They are very slow, however, and although comfortable, have a very quaint appearance, the wheels being only about a foot in diameter. Germans are much in evidence in 'Frisco, the majority of proprietors ot stores, hotels, merchants and restaurants, beTng of that nation. Yesterday was Sunday and the number of shops open, including ''Beer Saloons' thai never close night or day, was appalling. The Exposition was going on as usual and several events were being contested. The Theatres also in town were all going at top, and at two Vaudeville shows in rivalry on either side ot the street, we saw many hundreds formed into a queue, struggling for admrssion at 7.30 in the evening.

THE GREAT P.RYAN*

was to speak upon his favourite topic ■ r Peace" at the big Congregational Church at o'clockin the evening. YYe were there at 7.30 and were amongst the many hundreds turned away, to our bitter disappointment. In the afternoon we took one of the sightseeing tours through the town Golden Gate Park and 'to the Ciiff house. YYe were told that there are now no seals at the Rock, they being away for their breeding season at tins time of the year. On this trip we hid to put on warm clothes and wear an overcoat, the day being so bitterly cold —and this midsummer! Y\c shall no! be inclined to growl so much at our N. Z. climate after this! I should advise people on this trip and others, to buy their tickets on getting seated in the car. 1 wa.- going to say, pay when the trip h over, only that they take particular care to collect tickets before you start. YYe bought tickets at one of the offices and were to'd that the coach would go at 2 p.m. We were there fit 1-45, to find car had just gone so we had to be bundled into another crowd nt 3.15, and thus had to .put up with half a trio for same cost!

New Zealand lias a very good exhibit in tiie Agricultural hall of the Exhibition. We lias a look through all the ethers, but taking it altogether, the exhibits are not nearly ae fine nor as i mprehensive as that of St. Louis, being a series of shops rather than a big display. Tiie war. of course, his militated ' much against this department. Several of the shows on the Zone are worth visiting, and others, per usual, aiv a '-'have". The habit of hawking and spitting that Americans have is noticeable everywhere, and its very disusing. ;The attendance at the Fair is good, being up to the 26th July nlnr> millions of people, which i-> expected to in> doubled on the close. Last Saturday's gate up to eleven at night, totalled 10C.442. It is

AWFUL TO US

t<, ~eo Sundays carried on here much the same as week days. At the Exposition and in town, half the shop* nnd Beer Saloons are open and all the Vaudeville and picture showe. are going mi at top afternoon and evening, and hundreds ot' sight-seeing cars crondpc? u itli all day. The City, too. is always full of big gatherings of Secret Society Members fro.n a 1 part's. Tliit s a marvellous country of burlesques on masonry, and to see large parade of "Elks" Mooses" "Shliners'; in all kinds of peculiar head gear of various colours is a thing to make a well conducted Freemason shudder tritn horror! Although wo eou'd gather very little from the guide in charge of our -iiiht-seeing car, we managed to gather that the population of Sin Frane : seo (KiO.OiiO, that it has fr'O miles of -ireets. and has,HO,ooo acres of a City, and 2'.H> miles uf Street Railways ; that ii,e tiles nfter th." Earthquake did the Vieatest damages, aH the water mains being broken :h well th" 1 gas mains. It was lucky I'.a.i t'.:e v.-ha'e city was iiburnt. It v.a> r. topped at Ust by a very wide street called Van N>s Avenue. then cc'up' ■' by (lie I -' I re- den-ti.-ii villas of the district; but since the disinter t';V's-» w -il-to-fl i people have chitted i.' ■: : " ti. I i.vn and this

once fash.ana';: ■ luo. is now peopled chiefly hv Autoaiobile agents v.ho. by the war. have vary palatial warchout-es. Mo<*t of the

TREKS Or THE ( : TV

1 avc been pointed, and :• fsvonrite one w tli the io-id- nls is tie s Fucalypti. imported from Austia'ia in 1862 by a Mr. William Taylor, and now to be found in all directions in large masses. There are over 30>»0 ho* s :n the city, most o;' them being very pretentious buildings. Shirr Harbour, they contend, is ,1.7. largest land-locked harbour in the world, having a thousand miles of shore line. I measured the Telephonic directory tin- morning, and found it to be Ism. bv 12. and ltin. thick. The Ferry Boat- to Oakland. Alameda, etc.. will c.ieh carry 3000 passengers. Fogs are very nreva'ent and steam is kept up on all the powerful fog horns in and around the Bay. One of the most interesting trips we took is what s called the Key Trolly trip, across the Bay by boat and the balance by Trolley. We started from Oakland, doing Berkley and Alameda, and the cosl is 1 dol. for

the day. En route we stepped off at the big UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, where no less than 8000 students passed through last year. We were very sorry that we had no time to .see the various bu'ldings. many of which were given at an enormous wist by wealthy citizens of California. Their football ground alone has a grand stand to seat no lew than 14,000 patrons! The beautiful "Hearst" Greek Theatre, built in the Coliseum style, with .stone amphitheatre, and no roof, will seat 7,500 people. Many of the finest actoi* of the world esteem it the greatest honour to be invited to put on a play in this theatre, the only one of its class outside Athen-, and was presented to the I'niversity by a Mr. YY. R. Hearst. There are 610 trains run everyday front T'riseo acrosc, t r > OAKLAND.

and the trains in thy locality are all electric. Instead of the trolley pota they use a new invention shaped like a diamond that can never jump off the wire an:! is considered the one thing for speedy travelling. We have been dissipointed witih the floral surroundings of this district. Honolulu having spoiled us for this. These people evidently haven't the water to spare, or do not Know how to use it, lor most of the country has a very brown and dried up appearance. Forty-eight per tent, of the students at the University are girls and most of them are billeted in the town at 2S dollars per month. The Earthquake did not affect the Oakland side of the Bay, and the city vies with 'Frisco for acreages and general business propensities. The Capanile in the University grounds i;'. a copy of the one at Venice and is 36 feet square at the base and is 300 feet high and surmounted by a four-sided clock with a chime of belsi. There is a lovely Oak on this property estimated to be 3000 years old. I might say in passing that our guide, having about 50 tourists in his charge, only about hi'.i a dozen nearest him could hear a word he said. Post cards here are pretty cheap, and can be got coloured at 1 cent each. The roads are u»phnltcd and as smooth a:-, glass, the pathways beautifully paved, and the car tracks paved with bricks each side of the rails has a clean and fine appearance. One suffers greatly from eye stra'n here, being kept, gazing at everything al lday long. Many of the side streets of Oakland have half the pavement paved with stone and the other half planted with single red geraniums, which give a good appearance, for as i~. well known, these stand a long dry spell of weather without caving in. YVe v'sited here a fine privately owned Art gallery, 400 feet long and having 400 very line paintings by the world's best artists. We were also shown three line bungalows, one of which is given awav bv an enterprising furniture deal, er of Oak lands to the lucky individual who holds the winning ticket, a ticket I eing given to every one who buys Furniture at his shops throughout the year. One Bungalow is presented every year. The Auditorium of the City Hall now approaching completion at Oaklands. i- to seat no less than 13,000 people, going 3000 hotter than 'Frisco's! The Australian wattle as well as blue gum are in evidence everywhere here. There is a smoking compartment on new Cars —(no smoking is allowed on the Trifoo Cars). Here you pay the conductor as you enter, and you must leave the car at the opposite end. This seems to m? a much better way than ours, for it not only saves the conductor a lot of running about, out lie cannot possibly rni-s a fare under this arrangement. The Chairs all face the way the car is going, which enables one to see the country better. The Japanese Rattan upholstering is an improvement. for it is springy, sanitary, and easily hosed down. In the City one notices the absence of all verandahs, the shops being shaded front strong sunshine by calico screen-, which close up against the building when not wanted. This gives greater display for the wonderful electric lighting and advertising designs, which make the whole city a. Fairyland at night. Most of these devices fold back ou the buildings during the day to save the skeleton-like effect they would have if left exposed when not lighted. A great affa : r yesterday in San Francisco was the

INSTALLING OK THE ARCH BISHOP

of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, by n special delegate from Rome. Five hundred priests were present and the organ. choir, and services generally were most impressive. There are no "drunks" in evidence in Frisco, a fact that I put down to the habit of drinking nothing but a light lager beer. I went to a competition held by the Welsh Eisteddfodd, at which no less a sum than 10,000 dollars was given for the first prize for* choral ringing by choirs of 250 voices, and I wondered why only two choirs (one from Oakland and one from Chicago) competed for so large a sum. As it was. if I had been Judge, I should have advised the committee to give if to neither, for. the singing was much below what we should expect either in New Zealand or Australia! We heard tiie fine organ in the Festival Hall and saw a wonderful aeroplane flight by .Art Smith a very clever young flyer, who is engaged by the commitee to give six flights per week—some at night., some by day, at 2-">0 dollars each performance. A very fine thing we saw. too, was an open air performance in the Court of the Universe and :ti the presence of no less than .">O,OOO people ot the "Cornish Mission Pageant." depicting the arrival and experience- of the Spanish pritstt I.a Pag in Mexico in January 1763. (To be Continued).