THAT 100% FEELING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 498, 30 October 1928, Page 14

THAT 100% FEELING

FRESH AIR DISPELS DULL CARE BUSINESS MEN TOUR COUNTRY (SUN'S Special Reporter.) COMMERCE TRAIN', TANEATUA, Sunday Night. “That 100 per cent, feeling” has taken possession of the Chamber of Commerce train. Office cares have been discarded like old shoes. Every jaunt and side tour is being attacked with the relish that comes of life in the open air and a freedom from business worries. To-day is the end of the second perfect day, for the train seems to have adroitly dodged every shower of rain •which has fallen. From Rotorua to Taneatua, where to-night is being spent, has been a wonderful run, with crowds thronging the train at every port of call. The morning began with a swim in the hot baths at Rotorua, a fitting start for an arduous day. Last night the tourists disported themselves there with the enthusiasm of healthy schoolboys and some of them proved that they have not lost their prowess in the water. Mr. F. Winstone, for instance, can still sprint in record time. ROTORUA COMPLAINT By the way, the Rotorua business men were not tor pleased with the thermal holiday nat a town Of such iave received more S . clock t: morning the train r way to Putaruru, bu: a mrt vas made before ' ' -i:.- • lip so that a visit could be made to one of the older

plantations of the New Zealand Perpetual Forests. Standing in the blazing sun we listened while Mr. Owen Jones, an official of the company, explained that the soft woods planted there grew quicker than in any part of the world; that in the particular block on which we were standing there were 3.500 acres of trees; and that the company had planted 121,000 acres altogether. Over 1,000 men were employed at the height of the season, he said, and the weekly wage bill amounted to £3,500. Over 200 miles of good roads had been made. All this had taken place on land which had previously been despised as unproductive and which fed only wild horses and pigs.

Back into the train and on to Putaruru, where motor-buses were waiting to whirl the party to Arapuni over the excellent roads which have been constructed through the district. BRONZED FACES

Mr. T. Rabone, engineer in charge at Arapuni, conducted the party round the dam, the falls and powerhouse site. A scramble up the hill and another down to the falls and back added more bronze to the already bronzed faces of the men who were rather pale when they left the city on Friday evening. “Free life and fresh air” seems to have been the motto for to-day. Before joining the train again the travellers were the guests of the Perpetual Forests Company at a delicious luncheon in the Putaruru Town Hall. Here Mr. W. Fraser, another official of the company, referred to forestry as the Cinderella of farming. He said that three things were essential if an acreage of softwoods had been established with a view to future pulping and the making of paper. These were: An abundance of such woods, a good water supply and cheap power. That was why Arapuni had been chosen as the centre of the forests. Mr. H. T. Merritt, chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, in returning thanks, 6aid that the luncheon which had been provided was typical of the spontaneous courtesy which was being showered on the party wherever it went. NOT BREAKING THE SABBATH

Mr. J. W. Collins, secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce, ' said that in the visit to Arapuni he did not think the Sabbath was being broken. If anything it had left them all in a more reverential mood. Speaking of foreetry he predicted that it would be 50 years before a mill for the pulping of paper would be established, but others present thought that this would be done in 25 years.

Soon after 2 o’clock ’the train was again on her journey, steaming through the sun-drenched countryside to Morrinsville, then on through Te Aroha to Paeroa. A stretching of legs here, a chat with the residents, and on to Tauranga, which was reached in time for the evening meal. Sunday evening seemed an appropriate time to call at Tauranga. A full tide flooded the arms of the glorious harbour and a full moon hung her disc high over the Bay of Plenty as the train glided through the pictureqsue environs of this charming town.

The inhabitants turned out in full force. The arrival of the muchheralded train was an event and they lost no time in putting it through a thorough examination. “Who runs the railways?” demanded a plump matron. “Coatee,” briefly replied her companion.

“Well I think we’ll vote for him, said the matron.

“This is a bit of all right,” was the plain comment of another woman as she stalked through one of the day carriages. “I think we’d better ask them to run an old woman’s train next time.”

And then on into the night again. Round bends and curves of the last part of the day’s journey the train ran cloee to the beach, with the moon making tracks of silver far out into the bay. Despite the long day the men from the city did not forget that it was the Sabbath. Above the rumble of the train rose the sound of men’s voices singing hymns. Song books had been provided and several hymns were sung, with one of the membere of the party acting as conductor.

Taneatua soon after 10 o’clock and a welcoming crowd to greet the train. Mr. A. G. Lunn delivered a short address in reply to the greeting and visitors were entertained on the train. To-night the tourists are sleeping at the entrance to Rua’s country where the only sound seems to be the distant rumble of a river in the nearby hills.