I have never before known an equally capable man of his calling. How the Grand affords it all at three dollars a day, I cannot understand. The price is 12 and 6, which appears to be $3.12 in our money, but it is really $3, since a shilling is worth only twenty-four cents. The Grand is the best hotel in Wellington, and probably in the Dominion. Wellington is full of hotels, and probably the competition is so strong that the Grand is compelled to keep its prices down. . . . New Zealand pays a good deal of attention to tourists, and the government extensively advertises the hot lakes and the glaciers; it also has a bureau for selling travelers tickets, and owns resorts, boat lines, etc. But it pays little attention to immigration, as Australia does. Australia does much more for immigrants than the United States, giving them cheap fares to the country, reduced freight rates, etc., and when they arrive, special attention is paid them by a government department created for that purpose. The United States gets more immigrants than any other country, without inducements of any kind on the part of the government: news of the country paying the best wages, and offering the best inducements, will find its way everywhere. . . . Wirth's Greatest Show on Earth is billed here. One of its stars is Hillary Long, "the talk of America," although I do not remember to have heard of him there. Another of Wirth's stars is Young Buffalo Bill, who competes with Australian cowboys in mastering wild horses and cattle. . . . The offices of the New Zealand government are housed in what is said to be the largest wooden building in the world. Wellington has many fine structures of stone,
