LORD KITCHENER.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 62, 15 March 1910, Page 5

LORD KITCHENER.

HIS RECEPTION OF THE MAYOR By previous appointment liis Worship the Mayor (Pastor Ries) met Lord Kitchener at 8.45 this morning at Andrews' Hotel, and welcomed 'Him on behalf of the burgesses of the town. Pastor Ries regretted that his absence in Napier yesterday had prevented him calling before. The movement in the direction of militarism was not much in his (the Pastor's) wiay, but he knew it could not always be avoided, and as Lord Kitchener was the one to* whom the Empire must look in the"* event of trouble he was glad to meet him in Damnevirke and to welcome him oro behalf of the townspeople. • The Field-Marshal was most. gracious in his acknowledgement ■of the courtesy shown him, He , expressed his pleasure at- finding . Dannevirke such a- neat and compact town, and inviting the Mayor to accept ia .seat, asked him many questions condefii'inig the early history of the place, its population, resources, and potentialities. He was especially irt : the fate of 'the Scandinavian; people, who liad originally populated the district, as to whether they had preserved their national identity and customs or whether they had, .merged! with, the British race, and was pleased to hear that the process; of assimilation was going on. Mrs Parker (Lord Kitchener's sister), who is a resident of the South' , Island, to whom th'e Mayor was also introduced, expressed the greatest \ gratification at her tour through the North Island, which had been a great revelation to her. Lord Kitchener endorsed l this, but added thait the . Dominion as a whole was a wonderful country, and lie would not have missed visiting it for a great deal. After shaking hands very cordially with the Mayor and again, thanking ' him for his courtesy, and'through him the townspeople for their welcome, the Field-Marshal's party their car, and drove off to Wellington in the presence of a large gathering of people.