A NEW ZEALANDER ABROAD

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 154, 10 March 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

A NEW ZEALANDER ABROAD

TRAVEL IN AMERICA. By TE WHARE. THE QUEEN CITY OV CANADA. Wo left on an excursion by car to Port Dalhousie ;md steamer from there to Toronto, the Queen City of Canada. and well it deserves it* name. We immediately found ourselves amongst friends and surrounded on all sides with emblems and expressions of splendid loyalty to our dear old Empire. Scoun. drels are awaiting the innocent tourist everywhere to take him for a couple of dollar trips that one tinds could have been done by trolley oar for 25 cents. One is lambed down for 2 or 3 dollars for a room for a night, and afterwards you find you could have better and quieter accommodation a block away tor 50 cents. If van dare to look into a window an assistant promptly yets on each side of you and almost pushes you inside the shop to inspect and buy their curios, warranted Indian, but which you hnd out afterwards are r.!l imported from Birmingham or elsewhere bv the shp-load. Ornaments are shown to you that are supposed to he made from stone or spear excavated at threat hazards from the very interior of the Fails, and afterwards one finds that there is no such stone in the district. Whilst gazing peacefully of an evening at the North Star, you look down to see a em ill I urchin rubbing away at your boots with a bit of cloth, and this act of kindness he guilelessly informs you is worth a dime "tyo," and so on. Anyway, this trip of ours to Toronto was a delightful one and a cheap one, for the excursion of 20 miles by car and •">') miles by steamer each way cost but Idol. 70. On our way we passed miles of orchards—peach trees overladed with fruit and vineyards galore, past the monument to commemorate the Batuie of Beaverdam and the working of a b:g canal. the building which is to accommodate the passengers of the steamers from the one lake to the other, the distance being 2S miles from Erie to Ontario. En route we passed the factory of the renowned Vale locks. Half way along wo went through the city of St. Catherines, which has a population ft 25.000, and here again it was a treat to see the good old Union Jack a-flying from hou-o after house. One homestead we passed had 2"0 acres of grapes alone, their stocks being Hi year- old. The owner runs a winery in ci'tiivcction the;eu'.t!i. Kruit of all kinds does exceedingly well here, although the winters are severe, the short summer of about 4 months is almost tropical and the so I being rich and the rainfall sufficient —the growth is abnormal and fruit soon reaches maturity. We also paused the Hanley regatta course, ;i straight stretch of water II miles long and protected from

all kind.; of wind. Rowing men conic here fi'om all parts of the Static and further to compete. Fruit land is obtainalilo hero from 500 to 1000 dollars per acre. The fruit licit extends from .'5 io 7 in Ics hack from Lake Ontario. Port Daliiousie is a quaint little village or about 2000 inhabitants. We hoarded the steamer '' [)a!hou-ue City*' and in 3 hours readied Toronto and had the pleasure on Hearing the wharf to see tlic flight and landing of a line hydroplane, which, during it- flight dropjied bombs, on the sea that exploded with a great noi.se, throwing the water to a {.treat liciiiht, This gave Us a good idea of aeroplane warfare. I omitted to i ay earlier thnt tlie peaches are grafted on ~S\ xi-.-an stocks that arc declared to be blight-proof. The annual fair and Kxhilt Hon of Canada was on at Toronto and we tonk a car ride out to sea it, and pleased we were that we did. (in the way we pas-ed many wellknown factories notably that of Mji.v m,v Hairs, which with the various threat buildings and timber yards extends on each bido of tha street for quite a lon« distance. All the great buildings of thin gieat Exhibition are permanent, and many of the individual exh bits surpassed in magni licence those of the .same kind at the World's Fair, a line squad of volunteers were here showing us trench warfare and other tactics, and a large liuinber of armoured car... workshops, travelling cookshops and other appliances were here on parade preparatory to their chipment to the front. The.se were all made to order in Toronto. The estimated attendances at this Fair on the Saturday we were there was 140.000, and all bars and her saloons in this city are closed i nt rely each evening at 7 o'clock, Saturdays included, and none

whatever are open on the Sunday. We put in the next mornmg with ear trip* round the city, getting 0 tickets tor 2o cents. Firstly we went round the Belt lino that encircles the city and parsed numbers of ereeper-clad stone churches —very fine and of a beautiful architecture, much resembling tlio.se of the Old Country. Lovely avenues lined with splendid trees, line lawns and flower beds coming right down to the footway without any disfiguring fences. Many line mansions and beautiful parks were just (-canned as we passed by. The distance round this Belt is 4 miles, which used to ho the city radius, but now the real extent is many more miles in each direction. The University buildings and parks were as splendid as anything one could pee this side of Oxford" or Cambridge, and here there is a fir...' monument to the campaign of i-66 and bears the inscription: "Honor the Brave who died tor their Country." We also risked Queen';, Park and the Parliamentary Buildings and by the courtesy of an attendant were shown through the Chamber and Lobbies and had a close view of the beautiful oil paintings of celebrities, cases of ores, etc., etc., and the vast marble tablets giving the names of the members composing each Parliament since 1*67. The population of Toronto is 500.0)3(1 and the city extends 9 miles east to west and 4 miles north to south. Many fine statues of past Presidents are in the Park, these including Mount Coo. Brown, John Sandford Macdonald. and a splendid one of Queen Victoria. Still another to Simcoe and other officers who fell on the battlefields of the north-west in I**s. We went through the very fine Zoo which is a natural amphitheatre and is now in the fixingup and beautifying stage. In the afternoon had a run down to Scarboro beach, pacing the works of the Sunlight Soap Company on the way. Here we heard a fine programme of classical muse by Canada's greatest concert band. We were here told of a great salt .supply obtained from a subterranean passage between the Lakea Michigan and Erie, and both these being fresh-water the phenomenon is a curious one. The lighting of the streets of Toronto is quaint. Each electric light being enclosed in apoque glass and the des : gn resembling a stable lan. tern affixed to every car pole on both sides of the streets. We here, too, found a nice quiet boarding-home where we had a fine room for a dollar a night and first-class meals at 2o cents each. A special chicken dinner is put on on Sundays costing 3o cents. We attended a fine service in the Metro politan Methodist Church where most of the service was vocal and instrumental, and when after the service was over a patriotic service? was held in an angle of the building outside in the grounds, when a continuous lime-light d-play of patriotic subjects was shown whilst the various speakers held forth. We re-crossed the Lake in dirty weather and a bit of a swell getting up many of the passengers didn't half like it! They have a "Massey" Hall in Toronto which sounds home-like and left with, the heartfelt expression that "we just loved Toronto.'' 'Twas Labour Day when we left and all bars were closed, but we cannot say the same for Colorado Springs, for all bars were open there and at Buffalo when Labour Day was being celebrated also. We took a sight-seeing car round Buffalo during an evening thunderstorm, br,t, j were delighted with the tr:p. The population here U 470.000. There are fine stone churches and five leer saloons to each ! They claim to have more asphalted streets and planted avenues than any other city in the Province, no passed Gothic Hal! — one of the oldest buildings in the city and built in 1R13: also the largest office buildings in Buffalo, containing 400,000 square feet of floor space (over !l acres). Tt has 1000 offices and 40 stores. The .Albright Air Gallery, built entirelv of white marble and costing SOO.OOf) dollars, the creamatory (the second oldest in the United State,), the great McKinley monument (it was in Buffalo that this justly popular President was murdered), the Milburn residence, where lie breathed his last and which is now owned by the State. The Temple of Music, where he was shot. was one of the Exhibition buildings and has since been pulled down, but the mound where it stood still remains. We also saw Wilcox House, where Roosevelt took' the oath after McKinlcy's death. The electric building is an octagon shaped tower of great beauty, standing alone in its grandeur and is of 13 storeys with 3 tiers of towers above this of almost the height of the rest of the building. After a short half-day here we took train for Albany, and passed hundreds of miles of fine orchards and agricultural country, all looking fresh and splendid after the recent rams; also big manufacturing cities such as Rochester. Syracuse, etc.. and bowled off our 50 miles in an hour (including stops) on the "Empire State Express," striking a few heavy thunderstorms on the way.