A VISIT TO THE OLD COUNTRY

Shannon News, 1 October 1929, Page 3

A VISIT TO THE OLD COUNTRY

MR T. F. GIBSON'S IMPRESSIONS,

At Friday's meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Lunch Club, held at Williams' tearooms, the speaker was Mr T. F. Gibson, who gave some further recollections of his recent tour abroad, which were listened to with ovident interest, The President of the Chamber, Mr E. S. Crisp presided and in introducing Mr Gibson mentioned that he was "the father of the club, and they were very pleased to again have him with them. Mr Gibson referred to the fascination of London in all its varying moods. When he arrived there the King was lying very ill at ham"ralace,<and it was a revelation o.t the affection and loyalty of the English people for His Majesty to see the en-cat crowds waiting from early morning till late at night at the Palace o-atcs for news of the Royal sufferer s progress. In Whitehall was the Cenotaph in memory of the Empire's dead, and the passers-by all paid a silent tribute by raising their hats. Having letters of introduction to ?ome of the Tc-oloy Street merchants, Mr' Gibson said he was naturally interested to find o'ut something about New Zealand butter, meat and apples. Our butter stood very high in the estimation of the merchants, and with the exception oi Danish always brought top prices. Tooley Street, however, objected to any attempt on the part U the Dominion to dictate ~ the price the product should be sold at, and there was resentment at the effort hi that direction which had been made, and which met the fale that was expected for it. Despite the quantities of apple* exported fiom New Zealand, none were to be seen in England. Mr Gibson said they scoured the south of England and went right up to Edinburgh between'July and September and could not procure a single New Zealand apple. That seemed strange when they found that in the Dominion there was no .market . for A fruiterer told him that the shipments were sold before they reached England. The consignments might seem large to New Zealanders, but in 24 hours they, were consumed. Surely that pointed to there being <a market available in England for gieaier quantities than were being shipped. The display made at New Zealand House was a' very fine one and easily eclipsed that at Australia House. The building was well-equipped with rest rooms, libraiy, etc., and the visiting New Zeaiander was I s made welcome, and asked if he \vould like to see the High Commissioner. Enquiries were made, as to whether the visitor was go.ing to travel and any literature that would be helpful was sent out. Every courtesy was shown to visitors. Practically the whole staff were New Zea landers and were closely in touch with everything relating to this country. MiGibson said they were very interested to received a newspaper, printed in London, the New Zealand News, giving the full results of elections immediately they were known, and like the people of" the Dominion, he was surprised to find that politically the country had been turned topsy-turvy.

The shopping regulations in ' England were very elastic, and people seemed to please themselves when they closed. Iu Torquay on Christmas Eve, the two biggest drapers closed down about 6 o'clock, and by 7 o'clock the main street was practically isolated. People made great preparations for Christmas and the way they did their homes up was a sight worth seeing. Mr Gibson was impressed with thi high quality ox foodstuffs stocked by the shops and the demand for it, while another feature was the service given to customers.

The dignified old university town of Cambridge was visited. A surprising thing was the objection of such cities to modernisation. Many of the streets were little more than alleyways and yet the people would-not consent to alterations, preferring to retain the old memories and inconvenience. An interesting- hour was spent at the Cambridge stcek sales, where the travellers saw fat ato2k put over the scales. The cattle came through a race and stood on a- weighbridge, while above a pointer ran round a dial and indicated to the buyers the exact weight before the sale. " The whea / t-growing country round Cambridge was some of the richest and heaviest land in England,. In one field nineteen stacks of grain wore counted and the builder must have put a rule over them, so little variation was there in height and so beautifully stacked was the' straw. Contrary to the views of some critics, Mr Gibson was prepared to s ay English farmers cou:d give us mar.y points in harvesting crops, so thorough and excellent were their methods.

Another city visited was Sunderland in Durham, a place of 150,000 people, and apropos of the opening of the Levin abattoirs r.s a progressive move, Mr Gibson contrasted the fact that ill Sunderland the cattle, sheep and pigs were slaughtered on the butcher J premises in the city. In fact the retailer and his family in some cases lived in the upper story of the same lmildjin;! The isame procedure was followed in some other cities, and it did not appeal to one as being over sanitarv. The poverty of the people \va s very apparent iu Sunderland and other Northern cities.. Mr Gibson told of a visit to the Royal Show in Edinburgh, one of the sights of which was apple and pear trees in full bearing, but growing in tubs. Scotland wa-5 notable also for the cheapness of the tram service, a ride of 14 miles for 2d being mentioned. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Gibson on Mr P. W. Goldsmith's motion.