Beviewof Reciewi, 1/12113. 



EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS. 



1021 



operation than just these walking" trips. 

 He determined to broaden the scope of 

 his club by organising^ a party of his 

 boys to cross over from San Francisco 

 and tour Australia. This was a daring 

 notion, especially combated by well- 

 meaning- folk, who declared that the 

 boy tourists would lose valuable school 

 hours. Nevertheless, although the pro 

 ject met with incredulity and distrust 

 both at home and in the Commonwealth, 

 it was carried through on its merit, and 

 was a distinct triumph. 



Since that time the Major, less ham- 

 pered by prejudices, has taken boys all 

 through the United States, and now is 

 achievi*-:'^- his supreme effort— piloting 

 Colui: ?ark Club boys around the 



g-lobe. The worth of the idea has in- 

 deed become so widely recognised by 

 this time, that a number of the Eastern 

 cities of the United States wished to 

 se: tives on the present tour, 



an:' ;-: :ser\'ing' lads by competi- 



tion Hi .X. ~..i-^ols. So it happens that 

 the part}' now touring" is most represen- 

 tative of its countr\-. 



Thus far this round world trip has 

 been enormously successful, all through 

 the eight months for which it has run. 

 The lads crossed their fatherland from 

 Pacific Coast to Atlantic ; visited Eng- 

 land, France and Italy ; came down to 

 West Australia, via the Suez Canal ; 

 and have made most exhaustive tours 

 so far of West Australia, South Aus- 

 tralia, Tasmania, and Victoria. The} 

 will finish up the Commonwealth early 

 next year, and then move on to the 

 Philippine Islands, China and Japan. 

 Travelling expenses have been entirely 

 paid by a sort of "' improved edition " 

 of the walking-trip shows, by band con- 

 certs, and b}- exhibition matches of base- 

 ball. Here in Australia the bo}'S have 

 given about sixt}' performances, and 

 have laid aside a reserve fund, in addi- 

 tion to paying all local bills. Of course, 

 the " ex-tra " money will be used to de- 

 fray the tour's cost up in the Orient, 

 where the trip will necessarily have to 

 be more of a purely sight-seeing nature. 

 Thap-ks to the liberalit}- of Australian 

 State Governments, the bo\'5 have beer. 



permitted to travel free on nearly all 

 the railroads of this country, which con- 

 cession has materially swollen their ex- 

 chequer. 



Naturally, a tour of this nature 

 abounds in varied experiences. In April 

 last the boys were touring their own 

 country, and visited such cities as 

 Chicago. Washington, the national capi- 

 tal. New York, Philadelphia and Boston, 

 In all the manufacturing centres they 

 visited e\'ery factory of importance, in 

 all the historic cities they made pilgrim- 

 ages to old landmarks, and in their 

 country's capital city they were received 

 by their President, Dr. \\'oodrow Wil- 

 son. In May they were in London 

 studying Westminster's tomb inscrip- 

 tions, and the more alive side of the 

 English people. They were guests of 

 honour, for instance, at the " trooping 

 of the colours " on King George's last 

 birthda}'. In June they were in the 

 Louvre, or climbing Eiffel Tower, or 

 visiting Napoleon's tomb, or hearing 

 opera song in French. In July they 

 were steaming down throtigh the Red 

 Sea ; and in August they were kangaroo - 

 hunting in West Australia. 



But these lads have found out that 

 kangaroo-hunting and boomerang-twirl- 

 ing are not the chief activities of Aus- 

 tralians. The lads from the Eastern 

 United States \s'ere especially surprised 

 and delighted to find the progressive 

 young country which they did. Thej-'re 

 already missionaries to tell their folks 

 at home that Australia is far from being 

 the big, semi-deserted island too man}- 

 people imagine. They have, all of them. 

 gained a huge amount of practical 

 education on this continent. 



Many of the boys thought, when leav- 

 ing home, that Australia was simply to 

 be the mone}--making field of the tour. 

 They didn't realise tnat, in addition to 

 recouping their finances here for their 

 advance into more picturesque lands. 

 the\' would spend more than a little 

 truly worth while days here By this 

 time the}- have become acqtiainted with 

 all the resources of each State visited. 

 No longer will the}' need to memorise 5 

 careful alphabetically arranged list c: 



