THE CHILDREN’S DEMONSTRATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12536, 25 June 1901, Page 7

THE CHILDREN’S DEMONSTRATION.

A day of wayward, sunshine, flawless of cloud or shadow, nothing save the reeling; ecstatic blue of farthest sky was surety a fitting shrine for the embodiment of our city’s big effort in connection -with the Royal visit. Still and windless, the air bit keenly enough with a touch of frost, which brought the last of the “ flying gold of the mined woodland” eddying lazily, to the ground. It was an ideal New Zealand ' winter day, and beneath the benignant blessing of its touch .Christchurch smiled her fairest on her honoured guests.

The town was early astir, for the big review, which has been carefully nursed and fostered into' absolutely big-gooseberry or sea-serpenty dimensions, was at last to be sprung, in all its glory of gigantic grandeur, upon an appreciative colony. But there were preliminaries, and though the most effective arrangements had been made many little- details still remained) for final adjustment. Royalty, too, had other fish to fry before attempting the joint. So far as the Duke and Duchess were concerned, the first function to claim their attention was the children’s demonstration at Victoria Square*. As usual, the Royal pair were late in starting; indeed, Royalty bids fair to be accepted as a legitimate synonynt in. New Zealand for unpunctuality. It is an unfortunate fashion to set in a world where Royal precedents count for as much as .the decalogue. However, that is Kipling’s “other story.” An eager, merry throng of animated, youngsters swarmed upon the big stands in the Square, waving. their toi-tois with a wild irregularity, and conveying a ridiculous suggestion of the animated tails of a gargantuan pack of otter hounds. The feathery,seeds of the plumes showered in a rain of yellow dust over everything and everyone, clinging with the tenacity of a widow’ or a lawyer wherever they touched. The children were soon, as speckled as a lot of trout, but the delay of the Duke and Duchess did not damp their enthusiasm. Strong in the knowledge that the Royal pair were to grace their demonstration they‘possessed thein little souls in childish patience, and buzzed their anticipatory pleasure eagerly enough. Presently the Royal carriage rolled up, and a shrill treble cheer pierced the air, before the crisp young voices broke into a' lusty verse of the National Anthem. There was little recognition of the occasion by either the Duke or Duchess, who seemed rather to have a profound disregard, approaching almost to boredom, of the whole function. The carriage was courteously, halted) during the singing of the National Anthem, and then at once, drove off. So far as the youngsters were concerned, the visit was supremely unsatisfactory, and with the sensitiveness of childhood, many of them were not slow to appreciate the poverty of the reception accorded them by both the Duke and Duchess.

- An adjournment to the parade ground, while the Duke was in pursuit of his .charger, at once conveyed an impression of- the massiveness of -the much-taikedl of review. The big square, considerably over a mile round, was framed by. vast‘crowds of people, who pressed in many deep, eager to catoh a glimpse .of the proceedings. Massed in review order in the hollow square thus formed were the troops, 11,000 in number, in all the inspiriting garb of war. The brightly-uniformed staff officers, galloping hither and thither, lent an additional note of enlivening colour, and as the eye ran down the far-stretching. front, passing from serried rank to serried rank, it was apparent that here, at last, was a function of a wholly inspiriting and momentous nature. . The Stands were also heavily laden with onlookers, all at their brightest and best. The Duchess arrived in good time, and more 'amiable mood, in company with Lord Rapfurly, and was immediately followed by • Lady Ranfurly and a representative body of the Royal suite. Very soon the Duke, accompanied by a brilliant suite, rode up to the saluting base, to an accompaniment of cheers, by far the most energetic yet accorded him. His Highness was riding the same magnificent charger as he used at the Auckland review, and the Christchurch public, who lave a horse to a man, and almost to a woman, promptly divided their attentions about equally between horse and rider. The Duke, who is a. past-roaster in the art of reviews, and apparently no mean military expert, at once got to work and rode round the assembled ranks, to the accompaniment of an irregular rattle of cheering. Then the march past began, and as the waiting ranks resolved themselves into battalions, into, companies, and into units, some idea of the meaning of the phrase “eleven thousand men” began to impress itself upon tho minds of those to whom figures do not speak. Company after company, battery after battery, troop after troop, in ,a seemingly never-ending ' stream, tho, soldiers marched past, ' their district bands' vicing briskly with each other with their martial music. The march past finished, the troops formed up in review order by battalions and marched en. masse towards the saluting base. It was a final ''illustration of majestic strength—a. slow-moving, unconquerable, un.staya.blo line it spoke itself, and the people, deeply touched, cheered again and again. The companies halted, and, the members of the returned contingents vjjere marched to the front, where their medals were presented by tbs Duke in person. It was rather anti-cliraaxy, and suggestive somewhat of a Sunday school prize-giving, and the succeeding review of the old veterans, in which tho Duchess amiably participated,' also conveyed an .impression of “setness,” although: the Duke was kindness itself in tho personal interest he displayed in the records of the “old battlers.” • Naturally, the Premier, as official father of the Defence Force, was pleased to. regard the review as tho most successful and impressive function, so far, of the Roval tour. Probably his colleague, the Hon. J, Carroll, who was with difficulty restrained, from participating .in—well, in something approaching the altogether in the hakas of his compatriots at Rotorua, would claim pride, of'place for the remarkable spectacles viewed at that-place. Sir Joseph Ward, if Wo innate modesty" would permit, might express a predilection for the interesting ceremony of investiture, which was the principal attraction of the , Wellington programme E-vary man’*

own geese are proverbially swans, but disinterested visitors, who- have followed 1 the tour to its present stage, including even those perverse and -stiff-necked scribes whose duty it has been- to faithfully record the Royal progress, and who, pachydermatous in their generation, are hard to thrill, -admit, with unwonted enthusiasm, tih-afc the review has been the feature of the visit. Brilliantly spectacular, it lacked something of the uniqueness of the Rotorua festivities'; magnificently impressive, it shared not the grace of Wellington’s ceremony of investiture, but it had a solid backing of Imperial splendour, which made for -enthusinsnr. It was the largest function of its sort yet participated- in by the- ( Duke in the colonies, and- this lent an additional glamour to its magnificence. The Duke subsequently expressed himself in terms of wanrs approbation of the bearing of the. men, and had a particularly warm word of eulogy for the Cadets. The proceedings were all over shortly after one o’clock, and as a comparatively unimportant and formal at which the Royal motto was “Late -again, comprised the remainder of the bill for the day, our guests were let down, with p. lightness that must have been decidedly refreshing, after the linked sweetness long-drawn-out of the northern programmes.

THE DPvIVE TO VICTORIA SQUARE. Punctuality was not aj Royal virtue yesterday morning, for their Royal Highnesses were fully'ten. minutes late in leaving Te Koraha, which may have accounted for the brevity of the visit to Victoria Square to see the school children, but probably the frosty morning might have had something to do with it. At 10.25 the Governor and Lady Ranfurly, accompanied by Lady Mary Lygon; -drove out from “Te Koraha,” guarded by an escort of mounted rifles, and a few minutes later the Royal carriage, in which were the Duke of Cornwall and York, the Duke arrayed in the imposing uniform of a Colonel of -the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the Duchess and Lord Wenlook, guarded by an escort of the, Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. As the Royal carriage drove along Park Terrace, their Royal Highnesses appeared to enjoy the fine morning, and they were greeted by cheers from a number of people lining the route. The way from nie North Belt led down Victoria Street, and thence into Victoria Square, the arrival there being greeted with loud and prolonged cheering by the thousands assembled.