"BANJO" PATEBSO-s".

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10822, 24 November 1900, Page 9

"BANJO" PATEBSO-s".

Although Mr A. B. Paterson is a barrister and solicitor, and is coming to New Zealand as a war correspondent, it ia as a p.-ei- that he was knoArn throughout the colonies until tlie outbreak of the Boer rebellion. Everybody has either read or heard "The Man from Snowy River" and other stories in verse.

In tbe cour.*»e of an interview Avith the representative of a Melbourne contemporary he said:—"Yes, I've done a lot of hr.rdie and steeplecha-rte riding. I always cany a cigarette case, Avhich I won for riding a hcrsa at Randwick. I would sooner go live miles to see a steeplecha_-*e than 500 yards to see a flat race." In fact, "Banjo" "is a typical Australian, and probably the proprietors of tlie two newspapers he represented in South Africa could not have chosen a man better suited for th** rough work of an up-to-date war correspondent. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that Mr Pater-son was sent to the seat of war because Mr Macdonald wa< shut up in Lr.dysmhh. He started at the beginning of tlie war, because of the extent of territory Avhich it Avas known the Avar would cover, and it Avas felt that it Avould be impost-ible for one man to keep up connection with tlie different columns. And Paterson avis one of the lucky pressmen. 'Beyond being struck once by a spent bullet, and detiilncd for a tzw hours on another occasion in De Wet's laager, he was never hit or taken prisoner, although, according to Colonel Hour, who was on General Hut ton:* staff, lie was constantly in the thickest of the fighting.

"Banjo's" reception in Australia hits been most gratifying. Mr Paterson has been attracting* very large audiences to the Garrison Hail, Dunedin. during the week, and he will make his first appearance in Christchurch at the v. iioral Hall next Tuesday evening, when he will lecture on "The Tartan, the Shamrock, and Tommy Atkins: or. Our Imperial Brothers-in-arms." Cinematograph picture-, from snapshots taken by "Banjo." and which ar- fully d_a>cribed by him, will firm a feature of his entertainments.