GERMAN WIDOW’S SUITOR

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26560, 24 October 1951, Page 6

GERMAN WIDOW’S SUITOR

Mr Hargreaves Makes Front Page News

(From tM LondoH Corrupondmu o/ * “The LONDON. October 15. Exhausted after a Sunday of neverending reporters and photographers, slight, mild-mannered Mr Francis Hargreaves, the 64-year-old gold miner from Murchison, who travelled 12.000 miles to find that the German widow he hopes to marry was not waiting for him, awoke in his London hotel this morning to find himself the celebrity of the hour. “Came 12,000 miles to wed—Bride Didn’t Turn Up," blazed the “Daily Mirror” over six columns. “There he was waiting at the Quay. Jilted? No, Not Francis,” splashed the “Daily Herald” in three columns. “Woo-a-Widow man beats his rival.” said the “Dally Express” very modestly (for the "Daily Express”) over two columns, while the “Daily Mail” reduced it all to a restrained top-of-the-page column: “Man With Photo Looks For Her Face.” To obtain publicity of those dimensions, political candidates would cheerfully give away three months’ worth of ration coupons for all their meat, tea, sugar, end swe«ts. The lonely gold miner, from his bush* surrounded where deep in the wilds behind Murchison where he pans the gravel of his creek for a steady £2O of gold a week, has beaten them allincluding Mr Attlee, Mr Churchill, and Dr. Mussadiq. He is even competing with Royalty. Wearily he spoke to me for a few moments this morning. “Gee, am I tired of reporters.” he said in his slow, unmistakable New Zealand drawl. “They haven’t left me alone for a minute since we arrived at Southampton. I’ve told them all I can tell. 1 don’t know a . thing more and I’ll just have to wait on here until I get word from Germany. “So far all I know is that she (Mrs Basilia Bauminghaus) is 111 at her home near Munich. She’ll probably come over here. But maybe I’ll go over there. Engelbrecht, my rival? He’s wasting his time coming over here.”

What did he think of London roaring outside* “Gee. it’s big,” he said with Just a trace of more excitement in his voice. “It’s so big I’m scared to go out. Td get lost in a few minutes. I’m just going to stay put here tahere I’m safe. I’m going to take all this very slowly."