Railway Children.

The composite photographs of railwaymen's children now appearing in the Magazine are attracting much attention throughout the service, and also amongst the public who receive the Magazine.

The children are all fine representative young New Zealanders, sons and daughters of men whose calling requires that they shall be bright and alert in the performance of duties of national moment, and of women whose adventurous spirit has led to their taking the chances of railway life, including liability to transfer at any minute to almost any part of the Dominion.

It is no wonder then that the children look strong and well and fit to hold their own in any emergency, that they take their fun where they find it, and that they hold their own in any contest, whether at school or at play, in which they engage.

We shall be glad to receive for inclusion in the series any further photographs of railway children. These may be sent free, through the nearest Stationmaster, addressed to the Editor New Zealand Railways Magazine, Wellington. Such photographs will be carefully preserved, and returned if desired.

“The Finest Ski Run in the World.”

“In my opinion, the downhill ski-route in the vicinity of the Ball Hut, at Mount Cook, is the finest I have seen in the world,” said Mr. Thomas Mitchell, of Victoria, the well-known international ski expert, in an interview with a Timaru Herald reporter recently. During the course of his travels Mr. Mitchell has visited the principal snow playgrounds in the world, and studied the art at Muerren, Switzerland, for three months, under Bracken, the English champion.

The visitor likened the ski-ing grounds of Mount Cook to Switzerland, and considered there were vast possibilities of making this region a very good magnet for improving tourist traffic in New Zealand. In Australia, he said, the sport had gone ahead in a remarkable manner. It would be fine, he considered, if a team from Australia could come over and race against New Zealand, and this could be accomplished by an organised club movement throughout this country, where the scope for the extension of the sport was so great.

Mr. Mitchell was of the opinion that New Zealand had an advantage over Switzerland as far as the snowfields were concerned, in that in this country it was the people's snow. In Switzerland there were the different clubs, and the snow areas were controlled by local government bodies, with the result that it sometimes took as many as three seasons to secure improvements to different courses. Here the areas were of a very fine standard, and he was sure that the snow country could be administered by a New Zealand Council, if such were formed.

The centrally heated Hermitage, with its comfort and hospitality is the headquarters for this “finest ski run in the world.” What could be finer than returning tired from a day's Winter Sport to a good hot bath, log fires, warmth and excellent cuisine of the Hermitage?

(A special article, by Mr. James Cowan, descriptive of the unrivalled attractions which the Mount Cook region offers to the tourist and the mountaineer, is featured in this issue.—Ed.)

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