ON THE UP GRADE

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 227, 25 October 1929, Page 8

ON THE UP GRADE

IMPRESSIONS OF INDUSTRIAD ENGLAND. MR A. E. HOUSTON RETURNS TQ NAPIER. AFTER INTERESTIN G TRIP. "It is only by travelling that onS comes to realise the 'wouderful might and status of the British EmpirS amongst the nations of the world. In tbe course of a trip such as that from. which I have just returned it is broughtv home to one very strongly that Great Britain is the best respected and mightiest country of the present era and New Zealanders, as ntentl>ers of tlie great, far-flung Brittsh Empire, are treated with the ^reatest courtesy and respect every wh^'e^ tn, tlieir travels abroad. Tliis was the opinion expressed to a Dailv Telegraph representative to-day by Mr A. K. Houston, of Napier, who, with Mrs Houston. has inst returned from a visit to the Motherland and tlie Continent. during the course of whicli be contrived to combine business and pleasure. iMr Houston went ou to remark tnat» he* was very strongly impressed bv tlie feeliugs eiitertained bv the average British businessman towards New Zealand and New Zealanders. Commercial men had the greatest respect for the Dominion as a countrv and a trade centre. "Mr Houston himself has returned convinced that New Zealand as a countrv would he verv hard to heafl for its standard of living, its conveniences, its fveedout and tlie general all -round good qualities of tlie averagO residcnt.

j PLENTY OF MONEY. Visiting England for the first time dnce 3913 Mr Houston was struck by the excellent standard of hying which ipparentlv existed in tlie Motherland. He liad read much ahout the distress eaused through unemployment, but although he naturallv did not search ioc it he found no ohvious signs of want in the surface dnrmg his travels. There were no lll-chul children ahout •■he streets. nor children who looked sa if they weve in want of cnre and attention. "During his stay in London he was quite amazed at the amount of nionev that was ehangtng hands and by the fact that people of the workrng classes had apparently plenty of money * t0MreiHouston is convinced that England is now well over the natural nftermath of the war, and with a little more application on the part of the workers and co-operatioii between eniplover and employee will once _ agairt very soon he heading the industrial nations of tlie world. Progress is of necessity slow and there were a lot or ndiustmeuts to he made, but _ the Alotherland is uiidouhtedly_ niovmg tri the right direction indiistnally. Un all sides are sigus of vitality, with certainlv no sign of decadence, and y'"er® are evidenees of the great growtli ox industry everywhcre," he continued. AMAZED AT THE C'HANGES. Wliile in London, Mr Houston wa 3 naturally extrcmely interested m the shopping areas and was amazed at the manifold clianges of the skyline or the meti'opolis. Oxford street was uow. London's, not to sav the world s, tashionahle shopping centre, and the remodelled Regent street was carrying a great volume of business. Ihe actuat city area was no longer the virtual soie seat of business that it was in the old davs. Numhers of firnts were now moving their preraises further west,closer to the actual shopping ateas. The window displays of the liuge London emporiums impressed Mr Houston as the finest lie saw in Ins travels, with those of Paris second and Berlm a verv good third. Some of the window displavs in the Gevmaii capital rtvalled those ' of London for lavishness and magnificence. . . During his visit to the Motherland Mr Houston attended tlie annual aerial pageant given bv tlie R.A.l4. at TTendon and stated that for P"re thrills this entertainment would take a lot of beating. Some of the so-calhd "crazy flvinc," performed by experfc aerohatic pilots in single seater maehines just above the lieigbt of the hangars, left one almost paralysed with aiixiety for tlie eafety of those taking part. Mr lTouston also- rttended the Aero SIiow at Olympia and! stated that the numher and the ivide ranve of the exhibits was a revelatmn. Oue" of the planes displayed on the Henry Ford Aviation Companv's stand was a passenger machine, eonstrueted througliout in duralumin, to seat 40 passengers, at a cost of somewhere m "the vicinity of £50.000. IN UNEXPECTED PLACES. Oue phase ot his travels wliich impressed Mr Houston most forcibly va3 the nurnber of New Zealanders oue met iu tbe most unexpected places. Jlr Houston rau up against anotlier Napicrite on tli6 stands Loiu s cricket grotind, an old friend from Christchurch, amidst nll tbe hurrv and bustle of IMoorgate street, . anotlier residcnt of "God's Own Country" nn a London underground railway station and to crown all, when he went to Paris boolced seats for the Fohes Bergere and found liimself sitting next to a resident of Feilding. . During a tour through poi'tions ot France and the Riviera Mr Houston noticed signs of general jirosperitv on every side. As far as France was concerned, almost every availahle inch or Ihe oountryside was under enltivation and ihe jjeople apneared both thriftv and industrioiis. Tbe manner in wliicli Ihe scars of war wero being effared froin tlie battlelield areas was notliing sbort of wonderful. MTLES AHEAI). The courtcsv and attention which the traveller 'from abroad received througliout Great Britain from all with v,l lom hc came in contart, wliether of low or high staitding, pnrticulakly impressed ATr ll oiiston, who stated' tliat in tliis respect Britain was mil'Sp-ahead of any country visited. In conclusion Mr Houston switched on to the suhjeet oi luirbour i'acilities aiul staled tliat he liad returned # to Napier more impressed than ever with tlie citv's need for a safe and adequate hnrbour of some description. He iiot.k;c c-ci tliat on liis trip back to tlie Dommion, via Ruoz, uearly all the ports .,1 wliicli tbe vossq! called were breakwater ports, or yirotocted ports of some description, instancing in tliis respect Xnplos. Toulon, Suez, Port Said and Colonibo. Tt was wlien one travelled tliat oue realised to ihe full ihe wealth oi advantages wliicli aecrued to any centre served by an up-to-date seaport.