Praise for the Railways

Writing to the Editor of the “New Zealand Railways Magazine,” Father C. C. Martindale, the distinguished Roman Catholic scholar who visited the Dominion recently, pays the following tribute to the refreshment staff and services of the New Zealand Railways:—

I see from your Railways Magazine that visitors send you letters of thanks.

May I choose, for my theme of congratulation, your refreshment rooms. I went by the night train from Wellington to Auckland, and required a ham sandwich and coffee at Palmerston North, and at Frankton. Now, early or late, the bread, and the ham, and the butter were as fresh as cream, or dew, at dawn. And early or late the young ladies who produced them not only kept their tempers, though mobbed, but seemed absolutely to enjoy getting you what you wanted. And your refreshment rooms are so cool and airy that they'd have deserved their name even if they had no food in them… . So, if I remained wakeful, this was because I wanted to watch your country's scenery even if there was no light but the moon's to see it by; and if I could eat no breakfast in Auckland, that was because your ham had been so good.