Arizona republican., 1912-09-09
SUMMER TRIP
 ID HOMELAND
A. J. Keen Back From Visit to England; Had Fine Time and Did His Duty to Arizona as Publicity Commissioner

A. J. Keen, the superintendent of the capitol grounds has returned from his summer vacation of two months. It was designed as a pleasure trip for it was a visit back to bonny Albion where he was born and raised and whence he came to this country eleven years ago, returning this summer for the first time. InF the meantime his relatives had moved from the old home in the north of England to Warwick shire so his abiding place was in a. part of the country he had never seen before
 The weather he says was decidedly bad during his entire stay in England which was one month, the other month being spent in going and coming There were only five clear days during the month and the rest of the time it rained almost necessarily One could not safely leave his home without an umbrella or raincoat or both. The farmers had good crops this year but lost heavily by rain after the crops Were made. He said that on some oc- casions he saw the hay in the field al most drifting around in the water. It was not only wet but cold. Half the time he shiVered and often suffered of cold feet in bed, and that in midsum- mer. It was an unusual year for that country which is always more or less wet and chilly Mir Keen said that while he had a splendid time nothwith- standing the weather he never before had so high an appreciation of the climate of Arizona
 MT Keen said he made an effort to find the widow of the late George H Smith who was his predecessor at the capitol and who being also an Eng lishman, died after returning to the old country for an indefinite stay. He could not find Mrs Smith who seems to have moved after her husbands death
 Concerning Keens voyage he said he went both ways on the F'sal.csnia an3 had pleasant weather most of the time He was never sick a minute nor lost d meal. He left New York on July 9 and returning from Liverpool arrived in New York on August 20 The yes seI was crowded with tourists on both trips but on the returning trip 1t was the more heavily laden. A world of Americans spent this summer in Flu rope and one can hardly secure pass age back unless he is booked far ahead.
 Notwithstanding the weather which kept him from making far journeys he did not even visit London. MT. Keen said his trip was an educational one as well as a pleasant one. There was lot to see in Warwickshire and vicin-
 ity and he spent great deal of time
 in going through the old castles at Warwick and Wentworth. visited in terestng places in bennington and familiaried himself with everything he could at Stratford on Avon. That place he says is about the size of Phoenix, though it is of course a quiet old city, devoted chiefly in a business way to catering to tourists. He visited the house and the room in which Shake speare was born and saw some of the old furniture.
 He was much interested in the parks and gardens of which there are many in those parts, for their care is in line with his own work here, and he seized the opportunity to secure seeds of quite a number of plants and flowers that he hopes he may be able to pro duce here. that are not now available
 in this country. or at any rate in this part of it.
 And he was a constant boomer for Arizona. He heard some talk of Ari- zona on the other side but mostly it was confined to expressions of curi- ous interest. He says there is at this time much talk about Australia, among the young men who are planning to sael, their fortunes elsewhere than in the home land and that there is bound
 to be a big emigration to that country. | However MT. Keen thinks he put Ari- zona ideas into more than one mead and his talks may result in swelling inc population of Arizona little bit. l Anyhow he went well provided with literature of the Phoenix board of trade and put every piece of it where he thought it would do the most good. Nearly everybody who perused 1t in dicated his surprise at the climate, crons and other Vaunted resources of 1 the country and had no hesitancy in eX- pressing interest
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