PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 145, 19 June 1906, Page 3

PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, May 11. «T never felt better in my life." is "d to hare been one of the remarks Mwit fell from King Edward's lips as he food chatting on the platform at \ icnria Station last Monday, when he arrived home again after his prolonged -it to the Continent. Certainly the £L looked very much better than vhen he left London, and it is to be hnned that the Queen's health mis bencZd to ft like extent by her lengthy nnlidaT a broad " Her Ma -i aud Prin ' «- Victoria did not return to London Si, the King- Thc 7 are nt P resent tourifl" in Italy, ond arc not expected L reach England again for some weeks. jhc King's homo-coming was a very uiet affair so far as Loudon was conrerned Tlie onlr people of note to meet h[m at Victoria were the Premier, Admiral Fisher, Mr. Herbert Gladstone, and ] the Greek Minister, and the conveyance 1 which took His Majesty to Buckingham I Palace was an ordinary brougham. ; Vastly different was the home-coming j 0 f the Prince and Princess of Wales on the morrow, after their aeven months' absence. Their arrival at Portsmouth W as marke<' by the thunder of a multitude of guns from the Channel Fleet and the forts on shore:, and a tumultuous welcome from the townsfolk of our leading naval depot. There they were also welcomed by their children and by many minor royalties, and '""big wigs" connected with the dockyard and the town. What was perhaps the most picturesque and striking incident in this part of the Prince's welcome home occurred when the Renown was warped alongside the jetty at Portsmouth. Tte cruiser Terrible, which had escorted her back from India, steamed slowly by, with her crew massed in the fighting tops anJ on the boat decks. As they came opposite the Renown the. men of the Terrible sang "God Bless the Prince of Wales," finishing up with hearty cheers. The effect—there were nearly athousand voices—was very impressive, for the outbreak seemed quite spontaneous. When the special train conveying the Prince and Princess steamed into Victoria at 5 o'clock in the evening a brilliant company was assembled on the platform, including the King, Prince.-s Ena of Battenberg, and nearly every memb?r of the Royal Family now in Encland, Lord and Lady Roberts, Lord C'urzon, who had received their Royal Highnesses on ihe arrival in India as Viceroy. Mr. John Morley. the present Secretory of State for India, and a host of notabilities. The family greetings over, the Prince and Princess drove away in an open landau, escorted by a detachment of Horse Guards, to Marlborough House.

The returning wanderers met with a very cordial reception from the people, many of whom hnd waited for hours on the pavements in order to catch a sight of the Roynl couple. King Edward tried to take a secondary placo in the spectacle, unostentatiously following his Km at a considerable interval along the same route as far as Buckingham Palace, and without escort. His attempt at SGlf-effarement was. however, altogether vain, for the crowds cheered hiui to the echo. s

•; Tfe>-record of th c - Prfnce- of—Wales aa a traveller is by this time a formidable one. His three- years' cruise on the Bac'chanle took him practically everywhere by sen. while convenient pauses in port enabled him to make journeys inland in lome of the most interesting parts of the world. Tho sea-miieage for the term Was su'Tieient to twice circumnavigate the ploho and leave a. surplus for a royagij to America and home ncrain. That, however, was little in excess of 'the distance covered during the Ophir tour. That good ship carried the party over 5.5.000 mile*; there were trips in other vessels aggregating more than 300 rcilr-s. and travel by train mounting up to 12.000 miles. Altogether that "trip put 50.718 miles to the travel record of tho Prince-and Princess. It involved the delivery of four-scoro and six speeches hy the Prince, the laying of upwards of a score of foundation stone*, the inspection of more than 60.000 trocps. the distribution of 4320 war medals, and of seven score titular honours; And. not the least item, the exchange of handshakes with no fewer than 35.000 people Poor Prince!

Shortly after Mr. George J. Snr.dvs came over from New Zealand be contested the Lsiinceston division at the funeral election in tho Tnionist interest.. Although he failed to win the seat, both he and Mrs. Sandy? (who is a daughter °f Mr. Duncan Cameron, one of' the largest sheep farmers in the. colony) made a host of friends throughout tho constituency, and n few days ago the kuineeston Unionists showed their appreciation of Mr. Sandys' plucky fight hy making a very handsome present jointly to Mrs. Pandvs and himself at .« social gathering n't the Town Hall, Launceston. The presentation took the f orm of a massive silver rose howl, richly Phased and engraved, with Mr. Sandra' armorial bearings and the Cornish arms beautifully inlaid. It was accompanied P.v an address, and an album bearing the names of over one thousand subscribers, and artistically embellished with the Mats of arms 0 f the chief places in the "iviEion.

It was stated in last week's personal notes that the High -"-onimissioner had "elected Mr. Henry Lawrence Christie, "i-tructor in art at the Westminster ™i cal Institute, to till the vacant position of art master at the Technical at AVelliogton. In the interim, however, Mr. Christie has asked to be J? d „ h withdraw from the appoint■m* . • Stnted that his fathGr was in Z? £*' health thnt he fca ™d to leave • «i, the doctors having advised him that TaL V f h " upon the mvv 3° ht bo ot the eravest character. «• bristle was asked to take another nours m which to reconsider the h t \ Ut at the ond °I that period sp re e re, ting that he could not ccs 1 T. ay cloar ' " nder the circumstannamH ° nec1 ' to lr,ave his fath ". His tTtfc ? a !, accord ingl.v been withdrawn, <mc fZ he Welli "gton appointment is ace more vacant.

ZesU n ? e T ° ry Fkld - * pe retarv of the New iSL^ IO^1 " 8 ' Federation from its Mi 1003 until his departure they. %' ,° ny aad fim secretary of 1897 £ Zealand Alliance from 18S6 till ied L M amvpd in Lon(l °°> accompanSft Field - He returnß to this the X, I" v an absence of 2 5 years, mC! ° wh *<* period has been spent •»Wt? aland ' Mr - Field has now re - era- S, he secretaryship of the EmploywMch i, , ?? and other kindred offices «m c Hl hel - d in the colon y. and has l *2» to m l m , of a life-long 6 t0 6P.«nd some years in. the- Old

Country. "I am here now to see and enjoy," he says, "and I may settle down here permanently."

Dr. J. S. Purdy, of the Hutt, who is now in the Egyptian quarantine service at Port Said, has just returned there from the pilgrimage camp at El Tor. on the Red Sea. where he had charge of four large hospitals. Thirty thousand Mohammedan pilgrims returning from Mecca passed through El Tor, so that the New Zealander had a unique experience. El Tor might be truthfully described as Europe's first line of defence against plague, cholera, and other Oriental diseases which follow in the train of the pilgrims.

Dr. Purdy expects to visit New Zealand next July, when he gets three or four months' leave of absence.

Another New Zealander at El Tor was Dr. Grace Russell, formerly of Auckland, and at one time in practice in Sydney.

The Primate of New Zealand (Bishop Nevill) and the Rev. Harold Anson, of Auckland, were present yesterday afternoon at the annual meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and Mr. Anson was amongst the speakers at the evening meeting, held to celebrate the 205 th anniversary of the Society.

The New Ze«dand High Commissioner and Mr Harold Beauehamp, of Wellington, were among the guests at the Australasian Merchants' annual banquet held this week, with the Right Hon Joseph Chamberlain in the chair.

Quite a number of Auckland people arrived by the Orontes last Friday, including Mrs Cotter and the Misses Cotter (2), Miss Marian Frater, Mrs Richmond ond the Misses Richmond (3), and Mr Percy M. Thomson. Mr and Mrs J. Casselburg, of Mastertonf were passenEers by the seme steamer.

Mr G. Phipps Spooner has been elect ed chairman of the committee, and Messrs R. PI. Hooper and J. P. Whitelaw joint hon. secretaries, of the New Zealand Association. Mr K. Bockraaster, who had acted as hon. secretary during the reorganisation of the society, was voted five guineas and thanked for his services by the committee. The new club-rooms secured by the association in the Westminster Palace Hotel Buildings, Victoria-street, S.W.. are now being furnished, and should be ready for use in the course of another two or three weeks. They are intended to provide a much-needed rendezvous in London for New Zealanders residing in or visiting this country, and the number of prominent colonials who have already become members is a promising augury that the association has a useful and successful career ahead of it.

The Council of the Royal Colonial Institute have unanimously adopted the following resolution: '"'ln the opinion of this Council it is expedient in the interests of the Empire that colonial questions be kept out of the arena of party politics."

Sir Joseph Ward's party at the Rome Postal Congress visited Naples for the week end. and journeyed out to Pompeii and Torra Annunziato to see the lava streams and other effects of the recent eruption of Vesuvius. Sir Joseph is expected in London in about a fortnight's time.

Mr Justice Williams and Mrs Williams- arrived-in™ liondorr a-fewdays-agor after spending some time in Italy en route from New Zealand. Judge Williams is on leave of absence.

Miss Alice Hollander has been offered an American contract of 42 weks at £80 per wpok by the representative of Mr B. F. Keith, who controls the most important vaudeville circuit in the United States. The directors of the Syndicate Halls have, however, declined to release her from her English engagements, which extend over a period of IS consecutive months, and Miss Hollander has therefore been regretfully obliged to refuse one of the biggest offers ever made to an Australian artist.

Miss Ivy Ansley, the New Zealand contralto. will make her debut early in July at a London concert kindly given by Madame Melba so as to secure a fair start for the young vocalist, who will in future be known as Miss Irene Ainsler.

Miss Nora Long, the Wellington soprano, will make hex first appearance in opera at the Crystal Palace with the Moody-Manners Company on the 21st, playing Michaela in ''Carmen.''

Miss Marion Gifford Cooper, of Auckland, is visiting her uncle at Stoke Rectors". Guildford! and attending the May meetings. Afterwards she will visit the Midlands before returning to Castle Can. Miss Gifford is on a pleasure trip to this country.

Mr Charles Gray, of Gisbome, who arrived via New York on the 29th ult., proposes to remain in England about five months, after which he returns to New Zealand by the Suez route, travelling overland to Naples.

Recent callers at the High Commissioner's: The Primate of New Zealand (Bishop of Dunedin). M rs Joseph and daughters (Wellington), Mr and Mrs George Angove (Wellington), Mr J. M. H. Tripp (Oran Gorge), Mr and Mrs F. G. Dalziell (Wellington), Mr Alfred Woods (Woods-Williamson Company), Mr B. B. Walton and Mr W. J. Priest (Timaru), Mr E. Wildraan (Wellington), Mr E. Tingey, Mr J. S. Tingey (Wanganui), Mr Owen Merton (Christchurch), Mr John Barr (Wellington), Mr George Luke (Wellington), Mr John P. and Mrs Luke (Wellington). Mr Frank N. Tanner (Wellington), Miss Bamicoat (Wellington), Mr Edward Verner Barrett (Christehui-ch), Mr J. R. Hart (Ashburton), Mr Chas. P. Reed (Dunedin), Dr. Hall (Dunedin)i, Mr H. L. Chandler (Dunedin), Mr and Mrs Henry Field'and daughter (Wellington), Mr T. H. Mathews (Auckland), Mr E. H. Rawson (Wellington), Mr A. E. Barker (Christ-church),-Mr M. G. Baker (Otago), Mr Henri Scott and Mr W. B. Scott (Christchurch), Miss Alice Scott (Christcliurch); Mr J. E. and Miss Vera Fulton (Wellington), Mr Chas. Onyon (Wellington), Mr and Mrs P. A. Hearn (Wellington), Mr W. J. Birch (Marton).