A TRIP TO ENGLAND.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 276, 19 November 1914, Page 3

A TRIP TO ENGLAND.

MR FOOKES ON TOUR.

(Continued),.' Mr Fookes also run across Bennett, ex-Matron of the Stratfon Hospital. She joined the party one da; at afternoon tea and had an interestin. chat about Stratford folk. Sine-, leaving Stratford Miss Bennett hat done a good deal of travelling. Firs of all, she went to Honolulu and the: to the United States, where she too. a position as companion to a title German lady. With this lady slu travelled as far as Italy, and leaving her, she was nursing at Havre, i France, when the war broke out. Sh at once volunteered for service in th field as a nurse, but the number offei ing was', already too great and sin could not tie,.placed; and, acting 01 advice, she repaired to London, as th place where it was best to be for tin purpose of securing a position in th field. When Mr Fookes met her sh was still waiting her turn. The las thing Mr Fookes did before leavinj Engfand was to write aaestimonial t< the War Office, setting out Miss Ben j nett's service in Stratford. She sav the party ,off when they left and sen' messages to till old friends in Strat ford, She expressed tke hope that sin would be attached to the New Zefe landers or to some other colonial con tingenfc* Dr. Gafbery, was most en thllsiastic about going to the frontlie was so determined to get to Belgiur, that it seemed the one object of hi life. On the outbreak of 'war he ai once cancelled his return steamer tic ket, It was some time before he wa. selected to go to the front, and whih waiting for the word from the an thoritips, so impatient was,he, that Ik spoke of enlisting in the rd-iiks in ordc to get to the firing line, Dr. Carbon Was the most enthusiastic person ii reference to the war that Mr Fooke met on his travels. The last fcinv Mr Fookes heard of Mr Spence lie wa, in Ireland, visiting relatives. He di' not see "him after the High Commis sioner's meeting. Mr Fookes met M W. L. Kennedy in London. Mr Ken nedy had then just finished a visit t( Mr Monkhouse, formerly chairman o the Stratford County Council, whon Mr Fookes had also visited a few week' previously. He visited Mr Monkhoua< on the way down from the north o< England, and found him and Mr,' Monkhouse looking very well.. Mr Monkhouse was established on a srnal' fruit farm at Broadway, Worcester which was one of. the prettiest village Mr Fookes saw during his tour. It i situated at the foot of the Cotswok 1 Hills, with a view up the Eveshan valley. They had a great talk about Stratford, and Mr Monkhouse wa; sorry that Mr Fookes could not sta? longer. Mr Monkhouse was doing : great deal of good among the people of the village. As a result of his ac tivities a number of fine workmen'; houses had been built with moiie? borrowed from the Government. . Tin houses were fine ones, with all con venieneesVand were let to workmen a; 3s 6d to 4s per week. The. cottage* were a great boon to the men. M? Monkhouse was secretary of the loca" Workingmen's Club. The bulk of his conversation was on matters' political His views had a strong Socialistic trend, and Mr Fookes found that h( was doing all he could to improve tin lot of the industrial population. Fron what Mr FOokes could gather he was doing good work 'and his efforts were much appreciated. He had stood for : seat on the County Council, but hao been unsuccessful. He seemed to talc a very live interest'in the politics ana public matters generally at Home. To gether they went for a ten-nlile trudgeover the Cotswold Hills, and Mr Monk house pointed out "the cockpit of Eng land"— the district where the battle, of Tewksb'ury, Edge Hill and other.-, were fouglit. On some of the hills wert seen remains,of very old forts, re minders of the lights between tin Saxons and the Danes. Mr Fooket stayed for two months in London. H>. was .fortunate enough to be present ii the House of Commons when the iin ancial part of the Home llule Bill wa, being debated. .He arrived at fclK House at 3 p.m. and was so taken IVI with the debate that he remained till 10.30 p.m. The subject Avas highl\ interesting to Mr Fookes, and all tin leading speakers on the question were taking part. The speakers included Sir Edward Carson, Messrs Chamberlain, Asquith, Lloyd-George, Burns, McKenua, Samuel, Tim Healy, and t great many others well known in connection with Home-Rule., The debate was very strenuous, much feeling being in evidence on both sides. Mi Fookes was fortunate in having a good seat provided for him through a member of the Press Galley for half an hour after the House opened not a single seat was available. Mr Fookes visited the Bouse on the following da\ for the purpose of getting a pair of gloves which he had left on the previous evening, and when he was in the lost property office he was given permission to go over the corridors, and he had a splendid view of everything in connection with the House. He went up one corridor and was told that it led to the House of Lords. A policeman asked Mr Fookes if he would care to go into the House of Lords and, veiyjjUturally, he said he would. The Lords of Appeal, the highest Court in the Empire, were sitting on an Arimiralty.'case—a collision. Among the Lords of Appeal was Lord Mersey', who presided over the inquiries regarding the Titanic and Empress of Ireland disasters. Mr Fookes stayed for some time and heard many eminent lawyers arguing the case. Mr Fookes here remarked on the nianner in which a visitor easily ran up against peoplo from the other side of the world. It was easy to run up against them, though probably organised search for them might prove unsuccessful. He ran across a Stratford boy, Wilfrid

Tennant, in London one day. He had been connected with the wireless service between Liverpool and New York and had then taken a position on the telegraph staff of the "Daily Mail." l'hey met by the Mansion House, where the traffic is probably the very heaviest in London. Mr Fookes was-hurrying to the Bank of Australasia, when he leard a voice calling his name, and, turning round, he saw Mr Tennaut. In somewhat similar circumstances he met a great many New Zealanders, who were not, however, known to Stratford people. They were met in plat)P-—streets, tramcars, trams, >tc—and on one occasion Mr Fookes net Mr Griffiths, of Blenheim, in an underground train. Almost together ;hey exclaimed: "Fancy meeting underground, of all places!" Captain dampen was connected with the military department of the New Zealand High Commissioner's office. He had lot gone to the front when Mr Fookes left, but was anxious to go. Mrs dampen and her son, born since arrivng in England, were living at Henlon. Owing to arrangements falling nit wrongly Mr Fookes was not able to Mrs Lampen. Captain Lampen vas anxious to be remembered to all 'riends in Stratford. (To be continued).