Commandant and Pressman

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 136, 19 June 1901, Page 1

Commandant and Pressman

Commandant ' Booth is one of those men whom a newspaper scribe need not fear to interview. Just give him an idea of what is wanted, and he will rattle off the right amount of readable copy. Give him a free hand, or tongue, and he will fill your paper if you are short of matter. His previous visit was marked by an incident in which an ex-Wellington journalist, now of the Cathedral City, figured prominently. The Commandant arrived by steamer, rather late in tho afternoon, and, if the inevitable interview was to appear in that day’s paper, it meant bustle for all hands. So the scribe tackled the General’s son before he left the ship’s side, and the visitor,’ appreciating the situation, took the pressman's arm, and saying, “ Keep close to me, my friend," marched, off the steamer amidst the cheers of a great crowd, and made for his carriage. The man of letters stuck close, and, on reaching the side of the conveyance, accepted the . invitation of the Commandant to take an inside passage. So they drove off, the officer doffing his hat as he drove along through the applauding people, and reeling off good copy all' the time to the perspiring pressman. At length the Commandant’s quarters were reached, and, as he dined, he continued his story', which saw the light all right that evening. Some hours later the Army’s chief was addressing a large audience of Wellington folk, and once against the same journalist was “ doing ” the proceedings, and happened to be near the speaker. At the conclusion of the meeting an elderly Army soldier approached the newspaper man, and, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder as he spoke, said : “ You won’t be angry for the liberty I take, brother, but I trust it is not because yon are ashamed of our glorious uniform that you don’t wear it 1” The scribe was much taken aback, but it suddenly dawned upon him —and his surmise was proved afterwards to have been correct—that the old fellow had mistaken him for a member of the Commandant’s staff, and had expressed, his indignation that not, as all the others were, in uniform.—Lance.