ROUND THE WORLD WITH THE N.Z. BOWLERS.

Shannon News, 11 December 1928, Page 3

ROUND THE WORLD WITH THE N.Z. BOWLERS.

MR M. J. SUHAN’S IMPRESSIONS.

I A very full and interesting accouni ' of the travels of the New Zealand j team of bowlers which toured Austia--1 lia, the Continent, Great Britain and j North America, has been given to a 1 Chronicle representative by Mr M. J. I Suhan, of Levin, who was a member j of the team and who was accompanied jon the tour by Mrs Suhan. A first instalment of the narrative is given below, and others will be published from time to time.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITALS VISITED

The party arrived at Sydney on Tuesday, February 14th. Their first game was against the WaverJey Club, and it resulted in their favour. The second game was on the New South Wales Bowling Association’s green, and the New Zealanders iron by the minimum margin of one point. •In the evening they were entertained by the Association at 1 a dinner in Sargent’s Restaurant, the president (Mr Scott) being in the chair. The third game was at Marrickville, but it was not completed, owing to vain. Before they left‘Sydney, the team presented Mr Scott with a coffee service, in recognition of the hospitable treatment accorded the. team during their stay On the day before sailing, the ladies were entertained at afternoon tea in the Wentworth Cafe by Mrs Scott. At Melbourne the party were, driven around the city in observation buses and were taken to-the Middle Park Bowling Club’s green, being welcomed by Sir William Brunton, president of the Victorian. jßowling Asjsocia-tion, The visitors suffered their first defe.fr., the points against them being 17. Sailing for Port Adelaide at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 21st, the party arrived at 7.30 a.m. and were met by bowlers who presented them with three eases of grapes. Private cars were provided to take the New Zealanders to the city, where they were given .an excellent outing in the short period available. As the boat left at 3 p.m., there was not time to play a match. Fremantle- was reached on February 27th, and ; the bowlers visited Perth, 'where they were conveyed in ears about the city and along- the beautiful Swan river. At Fremantle they were -given a reception in the Town Hall and afterwards a dinner presided over by the president of the W.dst- Australiag Bowling Association. Subsequently they played a match on the Fremantle green, and tiro result was a wilt for New Zealand. The captain of the Or ■ vieto very generously put back the sailing of the ship by two hours, to enable the match to be played. That night the team left, for Colombo, and after a wonderfully smooth passage across the Indian Ocean they arrived on (March 7th, at 7 a.m. Their passports were now stamped for the first time.

“WHERE EVERY PROSPECT

PLEASES

A number of the touring bowlers engaged taxis and went up to Kandy The distance to that resort and back to Colombo is 15b miles, over an excellent [bitumen road.. Tlhey pas'sed through lice, rubber and tea plantations and between rows of cocoanut palms. The day was extremely hot on the coast, but at Kandy the atmosphere was delightfully cool. In the evening the sights of Colombo were seen from rickshaws. A race with these mandrawn vehicles took place, in which the honours fell to that in which Mr Suban travelled, the use • / of a little “backsheesh” proving' a powerful stimulant to the runner. Before resuming her passage, t-hc Orvieto took aboard 100 extra passengers, making her a full ship. ; LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. From Suez a little more than halt the bowlers took the train for Cairo, where they stayed at Shepheard’s, which is considered to be the finest hotel in the Orient. They were driven in charabancs to the Citadel and tlm Khedive’s Palace and along the Nile to the Pyramids of Gizeh, of which they made a circuit on camels. At the Sphinx considerable excavating has been done since the War. It was found that the sand had been cleared away from the body and a special track provided for tourists to walk round and view it.

Conditions in, Egypt had been somewhat unsettled, and on the morning of the bowlers’ jarrival the ultimatum was received by the Egyptian Government from Great. Britain forbidding the carrying of arms by the inhabitants. When the visitors reached Port Said, battleships had arrived with troops, ready to back up the ultimatum. TO THE RIVIERA. The next stage of the journey was from Port Said to Naples, where the party arrived on March 21st. On the way'thcy passed through the Straits of Messina and then had a magnificent view of the volcanic mountain Stromboli, on the island of that name. They visited the ruined city of Pompeii, now largely re-eonstiueted, also Mt. Vesuvius, which was not very active, but above which there is always a cloud of smoke. At midnight the steamer left to take them on to Toulon, which was reached on March 23rd. They were met by two representatives of Cook’s tourist agency—one to take charge of the luggage and the other to accompany them and .supervise train and hotel a'rrangemen+B, duties which he performed throughout a tour of the Continent lasting five weeks. THE AGE-OLD LURE.OF ITALY. The party spent a few days on the Riviera, visiting Nice, Mentone and Monte Carlo, after which they left for Genoa. During the railway journey from Toulon to Genoa they passed

through ‘no fewer than 160 tunnels. In the famous old seaport city of Genoa they found much to marvel at, notably the' Cainpo Santo —a cemetery containing wonderful statuary—and the Cathedral, where the'bones of John the Baptist are said to rest. It was found that women were not permitted to see the caslc'ct which holds the remains of the saint, the reason given being that he was killed,at a woman’s behest. In a museum the. visitors were much interested in the violin ot; the celebrated Paganini. After a call at Pisa, where the Leaning Tower, now undergoing an engineering survey, was seen, .the/ party travelled by electric train to Rome,* where they spent four days in sight-seeing, among the places visited being the Pantheon, the vault, of Raphael, St. Peter’s, and the Vatican. They were greatly impressed by the statuary executed by Michael Angelo which adorns the interior of the great church. At the Vatican they were shown a water-clock which has been in operation for centuries. The buildings contain 11.000 rooms, and the gardens surrounding the Papal palace are immense —the visitojs walked five miles around them. On their last day in Rome the party visited the Pincio, the city’s Hyde Park, where the nobility take -equestrian exercise.- It is in this park that Mussolini often rides, but the bowlers’ expectations of seeing him were not realised, owing to his absence from the capital. Proceeding to Florence, they visited the beautiful cathedral and Dante’s house, also the picture gallery, which is one of the best in Europe and which contains among many other treasures, Raphael’s “Madonna and Child.”

VENICE AND MILAN

Venice was reached on April 3rd, at 5 p.m., and the visitors proceeded by gondolas to their hotel. The city will be remembered by them' for its quietness, due to its water-borne traffic which renders motor-cars and horses superfluous. The great square of St. Mark’s, with its thousands of tame pigeons, was a fascinating place in which to linger. One of the features of the Square is the apostles’ clock, with its procession of moving figures every hour. Befcfre taking their departure from. Venice, the party went to the Lido, a fashionable seaside resort, which, is itself an island, about half-an-hour’s journey away -by ferry steamer. On April sth.they left on a train trip which took them* through Verona (immortalised by Shakespeare) and some of the most fertile lands of Italy, to Milan. This is the industrial capital, with a population of .about, a million. The cathedral, perhaps the most beautiful in the world, is built of hiarble and is adorned on the exterior with ,3000 statues, while inside it has 90 pillars, each. Bft in diameter. Four of the tourists, walked up the marble stairs to the top of the edifice and had a marvellous view of the city.

THROUGH THE ALPS TO SWIT

ZERLAND

The party made a trip to Como and the lake of that name and ascended Brunete by rack-railway to view the lake and the town. The latter is a pleasant centre- of population, with about 50,000 inhabitants, and it is an ideal watering-place. After a call at Lugano and another mountain ascent by rack-railway, the party left by electric express for Lucerne, in Switzerland. En route they passed through the St. Gothard tunnel (9$ miles long), and over six spirals taking them to a height of 0000 ft. A trip was mu le round the Lake of Lucerne, some mountaineering was indulged in, and the travellers also saw the Lions 'of Lucerne, cut out of the rock to com memorate an old battle. A lighthouse and a Roman bridge were other points of ' interest. The Swiss journey was continued to Interlaken betwecu th: lakes of Brienz and Thun. A curiosity was observed there in the form of a clock, the dial of which is composed of flowers. These have been planted ou a slight slope which iwalces the face of the clock; the hands pass over them, and the hours are sounded. A side tiip took the party to Grindehvahl, which is famous for the facilities thait affords for skiing, for, which purpose many tourists'visit it in the win ter. Montveux, on the Lake of Geneva, was the next destination and from theie the party had a trip on a ligh.. railway to a height of 8000 ft. The snow at that altitude was 10ft. deep, and snow bailing was indulged in. in the distance were observed Mont- Blanc and the Jungfrau, the two higher.t points of the Alps. The city of Geneva, 00 miles away, was reached after a trip across the lake by motor-boat. A visit was made to the Palace of the League of Nations, and the bowlers’ presence in the city coincided with the sitting of the Labour Congress. The party returned by Lain to Monrreux, and on Sunday, April 15th, they left for Paris.