The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-16
HENRY B. GRAY
 DESCRIBES TRIP 7 AROUND WORLD Former Lieutenant Govern or and Mrs. Gray Re
 turned Yesterday
REFUTES INTERVIEW
 Ss PRINTED IN FRISCO
Says Most Interesting Place Visited Was India, and That After All There Is No Place Like
 America and Birmingham

After completely circing the globe fcr- mer Lieutenant Governor and Mrs. Henry Bramlette Gray returned to Birmingham last night on a belated queen anu ores- cent train from New Orleans. ihey nave been away from Birmingham exactly four months to the day, having begun their globe trotting october 10, 1911. Goverhor Gray when at his home last night recev- ing friends never appeared to be In pct ter health or more optimistic. lie said LII answer to inquiries that he had not been ill one day during the entire trip. Tak- ing into consideration that the entire samut of weather changes was run, that fact testifies to his hardy constitution.
 Governor Gray in speaking or an inter- view accredited to him in San Franclsco to the effect that he remarked that oscar w. Underwood would have little chance to be elected President because he was from the south, or words to that effect, said that the reporter misquoted him. What MT. Gray did say was that MT. Underwood in his efforts to become the democratic standard bearer would have only one obstacle to overcome and that would be essentially the fact that he was from the south and Alabama. Governor Gray is heart and soul for MT. Under wood and believes that he has as good if not a better chance than perhaps. any other man now before the people
 q am very glad, indeed, to get back to Birmingham" said Governor Gray. ''This is the best country and Birming- ham is the best city i'll the whole country to me. America is head and shoulders ahead of any other country that I have visited irs almost every way you take 1t. 8bTThe party of which Mrs. Gray ana myself were members numbered SIS per sons to be exact. We sailed from New York about four months ago and cofn- pletely circled the globe. We went first to the Madeira Islands, thence to Gibrdl- ter, Villa France, Monte Carlo, Port Said, Egypt, and from Port Said through the wonderful Suez canal to Suez. We then journeyed to Cairo by special train char tered Ny our party. We went through the Biblically sacred Red Sea to the h. dian, ocean. In that remarkable country we visited Londa, Bombay. Calcutta, Ogra, Delhi, the future capital Lucknow, and elsewhere in India.
 e"I-here are few advancements in that country of 300,000,0G0 people. l was told that, the wage average for those people was something like 1.25 per month in our money. One could secure an Indian servant who, clothes himself. boards him self. sleeps outside your door for any calls and waits on you A hours per day for the insignificant sum of $2.50 pei month. The people there have no mod ern agricultural means of development. For instance I looked upon hundreds ot persons scooping the earth with tnelr hands preparing the irrigation canals. in .t.- ,t,ir af Is not one steel blow of any shape That is a condition that has existed for many hundreds of years. The Indian people are very interesting. On the banks oi the sacred Ganges river witnessed o0,oVO persons in bathing. It is custom Tor many years for the natives of India to burn their dead I saw nine bodies being cremated at once on the banks or the sacred river, while bathers paid no at tention to the charred remains being thrown into the river where they were drinking the sacred waters. Certainly tue most interesting country on the trip Was India.
 We arrived in Delhi about 10 days be- fore George, King of England, and Mary, his Queen, were crowned Emperor ana Empress of that great people. The tented city at Delhi created for the durbar was the most magnificent spectacle one may imagine The tents of the Rajahs were hung with priceless draperies and rugs. of untold value were placed upon the hoor We were entertained by some Of the Rajahs and were accorded every possible attention One carved fence around the tent wherein the King and Queen were crowned was erected at cost Of apout s350o0 am told. The visit of the Eng fish monarch was the first ever made to India by an English sovereign. They accordingly made 1t A great occasion The tented city created for the durbar was five miles square.
 After leaving Indaswe went to Bur ma, Singapore. where we crossed the curator to Java and then on to Manila From the American possession we sailed Cor Hong Kong. China, then to Canton md to Japan The mayor of Canton gave our party a reception at his house and 'seryed us with tea The republican form of government was in control of that city when we were there. The rcpub- lie will stand, all right, in the minds of ali those Informed of conditions in China. There are i.00O,00O persons in Canton Over 2S0 years ago. when the Manchus came into reign, they admired the horse so much that they started wearing the queue we often see on Chinamen. The first thing the chnks' did was to sever the queues and in all that city there Ia moi A uueue to be found. China is 0Wdkenl1R d1iQ VIII bt q iiiooSin cOuhti some day.
 rJapan is the finest sort of place. At Narasaki we were received in the har- bor by the mayor. In a torchlight pro- cession arranged in honor of fHour party over 5000 persons paraded. They gave the Americans dance and did every thing they could to make Our stay in teresting and enjoyable. There is abso- luteIy no war talk in Japan. They are friendly and kind to Americans. I am of the opinion that no nation on earth is more friendly to America than Ja- a nan. The country is the most hilly of any I have ever seen. There are fnore vol canoes in Japan than in any other coun- try. The soil is not very fertile and they do not depend upon rain at all for moisture. The irrigation of land is larve- Iv practiced We visited Yokohoma. To- kio. Isake Kobe, where the American steel rails were recently sold from Ems lev and other points of interest. Alto- gether we remained two weeks in Japan.
 we left there and sailed to Honolulu and thence to Frisco. ITnquestionably Honolulu ia the garden spot of the world and the handsomest city on earth. The climate there is delightful. the people are fine and life is one continual round of pleasure and good comradeship. I