ROYAL VISITOR'S PET.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 53, 4 March 1931, Page 8

ROYAL VISITOR'S PET.

ELEPHANT WITH A THIRST.

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

INCIDENTS OF LIFE IN AUCKLAND.

Reference was made recently to trees which were planted in Auckland by Hie Royal Highness Prince Alfred, then Duke of Edinburgh. There are still residents, people who were children when the Duke arrived, who can recall the incidents of the distinguished visitor's tour. The Duke planted several some in the Domain and two at the entrance to the grounds now occupied by the Auckland Girls' Grammar School in Howe Street. On each occasion school children were present at the ceremony.

The fact that the Duke brought with him to Auckland an elephant, made his visit very popular with the young people of the embryo city, and, possibly, served to stamp memories of his sojourn indelibly on their minds. The elephant used to be sent ashore for exercise, and many a small boy played truant in order to follow it and get a free ride. The latter pleasure.frequently came their way when a vacant paddock was reached. At the annual gathering of Sunday schools held in the Domain, the lumbering beast put in a busy day carrying wildly excited young people round the grounds. When he decided he had had enough for one day he sat down and his cargo gently slipped to the ground. The elephant had acquired a taste for beer, and, like the sacred cattle of India, it used to go round the hotels looking for a free drink. About half a bucketful was its allowance. On one occasion the proprietor of an hotel decided not to provide beer for the sailor Duke's pet, so lie half-closed the door to his establishment. Jumbo simply put his shoulder to the obstruction and forced the door off its hinges. He was promptly supplied with a drink, as it Avas feared that if he walked inside .he would, perhaps, fall through the floor of the hotel. T t was reported afterwards that the elephant got out of hand when "under the influence of liquor" and killed its attendant. Of course, that may not have been true, but at band of hope meetings it was held up as an awful example of the evils of intemperance.

There i 3 still living an old lady who remembers when the Duke of Edinburgh used to play a violin in the orchestra «at the rehearsals of the Auckland Choral Society. While he was here the Duke was induced to "have a flutter" in shares in a Thames mining company. Either he had Royal luck, or he was deliberately put on to a good thing, for he made a very successful investment.

Another interesting incident in connection with His Royal Highness' visit was caused as the result of his arrival at night. The late Sir Henry Brett, then a shipping reporter, went off in a whale boat to meet the vessel which brought the visitor. He was asked if lie would take two officers ashore, and, of course, was only too pleased to oblise. It was not until the official reception next day that he learned he had been the first Auckland resident to meet the Duke, whose companion was afterwards well known as Admiral Lord Charles Beresford.