UNITED SOUTH AFRICA

Evening Star, Issue 14511, 1 November 1910, Page 6

UNITED SOUTH AFRICA

THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT’S LANDING. , A GREAT RECEPTION. -Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. CAPE TOWN, October 31. The steamer Balmoral Castlei, with the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and/ithg Princess Patricia aboard, arrived at’ the entrance to the, bay this morning during a heavy fog. As the Balmoral Castle entered the bay H.M.S. Hermes and Forte and the German cruiser Sperber, all dressed with bunting, fired a royal salute. The yards of the British warships were manned, the band on the flagship playing the National Anthem. Tho members of the staffs of the Governor General and Lord Methuen boarded the Balmoral Castle immediately on her arrival, and subsequently Lord Methuen, the naval and military heads of the Administration, and the mayor visited the Duke of Connaught. Lord Gladstone, Lady Gladstone, Mr and Mrs Botha and other Ministers went aboard later. The Duke and Duchess landed and drove to the City Hall. They were escorted by Hussars through dense, cheering crowds. The streets were magnificently decorated. Lord Gladstone headed the procession, escorted by a company of tho Cape Mounted Rifles.

At tho City Hall, which was densely packed, the mayor welcomed the royalties, those present including Mr Botha, Lord Methuen, Dr Jameson, General De la Roy, Lord Villiers (tho Chief Justice of Cape Colony), and other Ministers, Mr Fisher, tho Hon. G. Fowlds, the Hon. Mr Lemieux (Canadian Postmaster-General), and a brilliant gathering of notabilities. The Duke and Duchess had previously received Mr Fisher, Mr Fowlds, and Mr Lemieux with a few other distinguished persons aboard the steamer. Tho newspapers emphasise tho significance of the presence of a member of the Royal Family presiding at the ' opening ceremonial, and mention tho occasion as indicating Kiijg George’s personal sympathy with the hopes attending the birth of tho new nation.

Tho Governor-General will open Parliament at noon for preliminary business, and tho royal opening by tho Duke has been fixed for Friday. THE MAYOR’S WELCOME. A NEW ERA. CAPE TOWN, October 51. (Received November 1, at 10.10 a.m.) Tho Mayor, in welcoming H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, said: Tho advent of your Royal Highness proclaims the birth of the new era foretold by our greatest statesmen, striven for by our truest patriots, and made possible by splendid sacrifices. Tire Union would enable South Africa to take her place among tho first of tho world’s centres of industry. Numerous addresses were then presented. THE DUKE’S REPLY. HIS MAGNIFICENT WELCOME. AN AUGURY FOR THE COMING CENTURIES. The Duke of Connaught, on rising to respond, was greeted with an immense ovation. Having thanked them on behalf of Kinu Georgo for their sentiments of loyalty and devotion, ho said : I assure the many thousands of the King’s subjects—European, Asiatic, and African —of His Majesty’s interest in their welfare. Tho sad event which prevented tho opening of tho Union Parliament being honored by the presence of tho Heir-Apparent was fresh in their minds. It would have been a fitting culmination to the efforts of tho statesmen and people of South Africa in the cans© of unity and conciliation that the last stone of that edifice should have been laid by tho son of a monarch whose name would bo associated for all time with a lovo of peace and hate of discard. —(Loud chers.) Ho was deeply sensible of tho honor that had been conferred on him in having been chosen to take tho place which King Edward had intended his own son should fill. Two and a-half centuries, with more than their chare of war and strife, looked down upon the labors of their Convention, but the spirit wherein those labors were undertaken and carried through and consummated was full of hopeful augury for tho centuries to come.

Tho Duke of Connaught went on to refer to the sacrifices that had been made by Capo Town and Capo Colony for the sake of the Union, adding : There is no truer indication of the soundness of the people’s heart or of their fitness and ability to take and maintain their place among the nations than the willingness of all sections of the community to sacrifice their own material interests to that common ideal which could only exert its full influence upon a basis of material prosperity. He contemplated Capo Town joining m tho general advance of South Africa in commerce and industry, and bolding even a higher place than she occupied to-day. And not Capo Town only, but all the many ancient and honorable communities represented there, of different races and religions, but united by a common purpose and owing allegiance to a single Throne. On the Duke resuming his seat tho ovation which greeted his rising was repeated. After leaving the City Hall the Duke of Connaught drove through cheering streets to Government avenue, where, amid tho luxuriant oaks, thousands of children were drawn up and sang the National Anthem, ‘God of Bethel,’ and other appropriate verses. Thence the party drove to Government House. Tho whole reception was extraordinarily enthusiastic. The fog cleared as tho Duke and Duchess Landed, and the weather is now radiantly beautiful. PARLIAMENT FORMALLY OPENED. THE PAGEANTS RESUMED. SPLENDID AND STIRRING TABLEAUS. AIASSED THOUSANDS SING THE ‘TE DEUM.’ The Governor-General then proceeded to the Senate House, where, in the presence of the members of both Houses, the Royal Commission appointing the Duke of Connaught to open the first Parliament was read in English and Dutch. Lord Gladstone afterwards announced that on Friday the Duke of Connaught would deliver the Message of the King to Parliament. Members were then sworn in, and the House adjourned till to-morrow. Tho pageant in the afternoon again had glorious weather and a crowded attendance. Saturday’s magnificent success was repeated. To-day's episodes depicted various noteworthy and stirring incidents from 1815 to 1854, including a realistic defence of a laager against a Kaffir attack. Finally there was a most effective allegorical presentation indicative of the evolution of South Africa, all the performers I participating. The culminating jgoint was

(bat of groups representing the four provinces, and the Union meeting and . the entire body of 'performers singing the National Anthem and the ‘To Deum.* AN UNPARALLELED SIGHT. THE CITY AND BAY ILLUMINATED. CAPE TOWN, October 31. • (Received November.,l, at 12.10 p.m.) Reuter states that the entire centre of Gape Town is magnificently illuminated. All tho principal buildings are outlined in strings of vari-oolored lights, entwined garlands spanning the main thoroughfares, while Oak avenue has a fairy-like effect against majestic rock and its background of Table Mountain. Dense crowds are parading to and fro gazing at the magnificent sight, which is unparalleled in all Africa. The following description of the South African pageant appears in the ‘Standard ’ : It lias been decided to make the pageant a four days’ performance. The first day will bo devoted to tho Portuguese period, showing the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and the departure of Da Gama’s fleet. The second day will be given over to the century and a-half of Dutch settlement and rule, beginning with Van Riebeeck’s landing in 1652. The third day will be taken up with the British period covering the nineteenth century, but for obvious reasons not coming down to events of too recent occurrence. The fourth day .will present a grand historical procession-, embracing all periods : Portuguese characters, Dutch characters, British characters, the German Legion, Rhodesian pioneers. In the procession will bo introduced all the chief characters in Cape history, the whole concluding with a great tableau representing the consummation of Union.

The pageant will depict not only outstanding historical personages like Bartholomew Dias and Vasco <la Gama, Van Riebeeck, tbe Van der Stels, and General Baird, and actual historical events like the building of the Castle and the Great Trek, but in addition an attempt will be made each day in one or more episodes to reproduce the social life of these picturesque bygone days. AH races—colled as well ns white—inhabiting South Africa will have their share in the pageant: the descendants of the French Huguenots will see the arrival of thedr forefathers; the Portuguese will see the grand old voyagers of their native country ; the Germans will see the landing of the German settlers ; Natalia ns will see Dick King’s heroic ride; Free Staters will see the Orange River Sovereignty proclaimed free, and Rhodesians will see their own pioneers. The natives will also figure in many episodes, and the Malay community will represent the arrival of Sheik Joseph and his followers.

Every effort is being made to secure historical accuracy. Dr Peringuey, of the South African Museum, is in communication with the Portuguese scientific societies with a- view to obtaining the loan of armor, clothing, charts, and other relics of tho fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for exhibition and for guidance in the pageant. There will be an exhibition of antiquities and paintings representing the arts at the time of the establishment of Cape Colony by Van Riebeeck, and a number of Dutch country dances will be revived.

Another feature of tho celebrations, apart from tho pageant, will be a representation of the evolution of locomotion and of tho mining industry in South Africa.