AUCKLAND'S WELCOME.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 101, 29 April 1913, Page 5

AUCKLAND'S WELCOME.

THE FIRST EMPIRE BATTLESHIP

A MANIFEST OF IMPERIAL UNTY.

FROM BRITON TO BRITON.

CITY EH FETE-ENTHUSIASTIC GREETING

■No more beautiful day in. mid-autumn] could have ushered the great fighting] ship to her anchorage in the Waitemata than this -which greeted H-M.B. New Zealand on her stately entry to the nortirern port this afternoon. The emblem and sign manual of Imperial unity between the Britone of Old England and the Britons overseas, it was fitting that the breeze which fluttered her a thousand' flags of welcome to the Waitemata should be a kindly one, and that the sun himself should gleam with favour on the heart and handsel token of blood brotherhood from this furthest outpost in the wide Pacific. Auckland, in her stormy infant days, was closely associated with the .annals of Britain's military record in the South, and in her young and vigorous manhood ehe "is about to become a base for the Imperial Xavy. The spirit of her sons descends from forbears who fought for hearth and home against savage odds, and patriotism throbs in their breasts by the instinct of hardy heritage. Many a etirring tale can l>e told of the day when erery ship living the white ensign was a harbinger of security to the handf.nl of. transplanted Britons* by the Waitemata, and those Jiard-bittcn days may well be recalled with grim recollection to-day as pioneers view "this floating manifestation of New Zealand's gratitude for past succour in her hour of need, and of her readiness to share the burden of future stress to the Motherland. Man and Nature unite to-day in proclaiming the occasion ac one of joyful greeting, and, as the city "casts itself upon her" in hoarse-throated welcome, blood speaks to blood, for thus great warship entering our water-gate expresses in her mighty bulk the devotion of a people to the national spirit and the thrilling sentiment of race cleavage through fair -weather and foul, in prosperity and adversity, come whatever. (Never did our wellvaranted hartxmr present a braver face as the New Zealand's haughty prow thrust its way past the crowd of festive small craft which hummed hither and thither in liliputian glee about this great Gulliver. Cheers rent the air from the water, while every headland, hill, and jetty was thronged with humanity. The wharves and mercantile shipping swairmed with their thousands, and, as the great ship rippled to her allotted place m the waterway, and her anchor splashed to the grip of the harbour floor, enthusiasm broke loose among the waiting citizens, shout upon shout floating across to the 13,000-ton mammoth, proclaiming the patriotic fervour of welcome in genuine Brithfo expression to the gallant 900 hearts of oak on board. A CITY MERRY AND BRIGHT. A visitor approaching the gates of the city at the present time would soon have all dorfbts dispelled, if he had eny, tcgarding the welcome that was awaiting all who entered. The town has clothed itself 5n the glad raiment that is the outward and visible sign of hospitable intention of the desire to suggest to our visitors that their coming is a source of pleasure. From the foot of Queen Street, which may be said to'be wrfchini the !?ates of the", city, the prospect is filled with fluttering flags and other gay draping*. Every building has a touch of colour of some sort or another, and there is not an idle flagstaff in the city. The chief post office is particularly gay wit* its front smothered in flags that each, no doubt, has its own-proper ceremonial occasion, but which, for the purposes of the general welcome, are massed more, with a view of creating an effective impression rthat all is merry and bright. The Government buildings in Customs Street aT« similarly clothed in glad attire, and the •whole of the shipping along the water-front is fluttering brightly with all .the available hunting that their lockers could produce. Even in daylight the decorations on the Queen Street wharf have, to some extent, transformed that busy locality which is at ordinary times more remarkable for its utilitarian than for its artistic possibilities. At the extreme end of the wharf an arrangement of Venetian masts forms an arch which is designed to say, a3 well a-s to suggest. " Welcome,' , to the city visitors. At the city end of the wharf another arch is supported by Venetian masts, each one coloured to harmonise with the shields at the base representing the rene, the shamrock, and the thistle—the floral emblems of. the British Isles. Effective as the decorative scheme is in daylight, the effect is multiplied a thousand-fold at night when the whole lof the water-front is a blaze of electric stars. The work has been most successfully carried out by the Harbour Board's electrician (Mr. S. Edwards) and 4,000 lights have been used in the scheme. The Ferry Buildings, rmtlinedin electric points, presents a' magnificent spectacle, and wrtfli the illuminated arch at the head of Queen Street wharf, and the.festoons of lislit iit the Queen Street landing and the man-of-war ?teps. makes a memorable illumination; At t.hp other end of Queen Street the illumination, of the Town 11*11 >« particularly artistic. | Coloured elevtrir %hts show up the i whitenpss. awd the imposing architecture| of the building in a manner that is very charming, and that is entirely worthy of the city 1 * denii-a tn do honour to her disraitow. ;