FRENCH MISSION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9496, 9 January 1919, Page 3

FRENCH MISSION.

VISIV.TO.. LONGB£ACH,

The.' delay in the arrival of the members of the French Mission at Asmnirfcon yesterday was.due to a slight nnsiitip, to Uenerai i }au on Tuesday attornoon at Ciiriabchurch. The party was timed to leave'; Ch-ristchin'cJa. at y a.m., bub was delayed owing to the General having to consult a doctor regurdhiK his hand, which was considerably iniiamed. A member oi: the party explained to a "Guardian" representative that in any case it was a most difficult matter to adhere strictly to the scheduled time-table, and he .sincerely hoped the people of Ashburton who had assembled to do honour- to the mission would accept his apology for the unavoidable delay.

After the function at the Band Rotunda the mission, accompanied by Sir James Allen (Acting-Prime Minister and Dr. Iteakes (Chief of the Agricultural Department^ and 4 Mr Humphreys (French Consul at Christchurch), motored to Mr J. C. N. Grigg's Longbeach Estate, where they were welcomed by Mr Grigg and his brother, Mr E. J. Grigg. The-■■'distin-guished visitors word then hospitably entertained at lunch. The gathering was of an informal nature, speeches being eliminated.

After the luncheon adjournment the visitors, with the exception of General "Pan. who elected to rest for a few hours, were then escorted ,over a portion of the. estate by Messrs J. C. N. Grigg and E. J. Grigg. Mr Grigg's pedigree stock, for which the estate is noted, were mustered in enclosures ■'handy to the homestead, so that the inspection did not involve any strenuous walking.' A visit; was first made to the stables, where the guests expressed great admiration at seeing the thor■oughbred horses. Passing on ,to another field, ..they were then shown some of the truest type of Clydesdale brood mares that it is* possible to . see anywhere in the Dominion. It is interesting; to note that in this direction Mr Grigg specialises in the old type of heavy working horse with plenty of build and stamina. For some years past there has been a tendency on the nart of many farmers-to go in for the lighter breed. In the same field the visitors wci'e also shown a herd of "very excellent Shorthorn cows. M. Henri Corbiere, a member of the mission, .who' is a wealthy horse and cattle breeder in Normandy, appeared to carefully inspect all the stock, and at intervals' took photographs of some special animal. Passing from' the Shorthorns, an inspection was, then made of the splendid herd of Friesians., A casual, glance ;by one not well versed in cattle-breeding was sufficient to satisfy anyone of the very careful judgment exercised by Mr Grigg in building up his herds. The party next adiourncd to another stable- to inspect some more of the horses. . A visit to the sheep pens concluded the inspection of the live stock. ■

M. Gorbiere, when -asked his opinion of the stock, said they wore indeed a manhincent collection, of which Mr Grigg might justly be proud. Bo then went on to state that in New Zealand the fanners enjoyed; many privileges, and particularly in regard to the excellent climate? He was .deeply impressed with the breeding of the stock lie had inspected. "What surprised him most was that the type of breed .had been so well maintained; seeing that'tliis land was so far removed from'"the" native lands of the;'breeds under review. In some other countries,he had noticed /bh^at they -were -obliged ,i) ogo ; back aml'lmport To "maintain the' true- ! Hess of the.typo of animal.;- Be was sorry that the visit of the. mission did not take pliitfe' to the Dominion when i the large shows were being held. Mr Grigg then invited his guests to inspect the -well-kept gardens,- which are a credit to the estate. The_ visitors were agreeably impressed Avitih the well-laid-Out' grounds, and occasionally stopped to .admire the growth of some imparted tree with which they were familiar in. their own land or had seen Lin England. During the inspection.of j the grounds they .were sliown' a buildI injr. of: historic value, namely, the first thatched school building erected on the estate by the, J ate Mr John Grigg. As /the hour, was getting late, the inspection of ■' the gardensnaturally had to be- somewhat curtailed. The lake in front of Mr Grigg's residence, on-which reposed hundreds, of wild ducks, caught the eve of several of. ,the visitors. It maybe said' of the ■mission that they are: a jolly lot, and during"/ the walk round the estate they frequently I indulged in good-natured • banter. j Occasionally one "of the party would attempt 'a. Maori haka partially, learnt during the, trip, down the Wanganui Ijtiver., •' ■ • During the walk through the garden Dr. Andre Siegfried, Professor of the School of Political: Science, briefly conversed upon the future industrial-pro-spects of Alsace.. He stated that the most of "the capital invested in main j industries in Al,<aco ' was still held, by French firms and notf by German, which augured well for the future, and the industries, such- as woollen mills, would not suffer 1 in consequence. Touch •*' ijig on the social aspect, she stated that j in 1870 fulls half a million French left Alsace, preferring not to remain under German rule. Their places,, to a lar.^e. extent, were- filled by immigrant Germans. Many of these would.now go back to Germany,, and. some,, for the purpose of, industrial, gain, would no doubt claim that they were natives of Alsace'; but it \v,as very easy to detect them by their German accent. During the whole, of rthe period Alsace had been under German, government., no German ' had ever been the invited; guest to. any family function by French residents in Alsace. That, be ; said,' showed how well, liked the Germans -were by Ips countrymen.', Altogether he .considered' the outlook for Alsace was very hopeful, and it would riftt take: long to; live down the period, of , German occupatipu of that country... ";'.■ '", .......:-' „...,,-, Tbe insiVictioh-; of. the/gardens having been completed,'the visitors once more udiourned to :Mr iGrigg^s! residence, wliere afternoon tea was served.

A group photograph was then taken, :inrl Hie party set out on Lho horn" inurnov for Chrktchureh shortly after 4 p.m. A ston was made en route H make an iiT-ppcLion of Mr On^n:'^ «ra^-s»ed fiolds. At several residence; bet wren Lonabeaeh and Ashbiirton th» r,o]\ovi! was riveted by cliildron wy-ji-o- f]-nx Tho General rcrncehillv ftfViin-i-lodt.'l tV prWliiiKß by

«.alntJiiK. Tl'.f mi^inii will proceed to AKJirosi 1.-d.lv, nv.il will pa«s throujxh Ashhnrlon I>v rl\" express on Saturday en routo to Dunedin.