THE HON W. HALL-JONES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14498, 9 October 1907, Page 7

THE HON W. HALL-JONES.

ARRIVAL IN LONDON. , [From Opr Correspondent.] > LONDON, August 30. Tho\ Hon W. Hall-Jones arrived in London by tho s.s. Kaipara on Monday, accompanied by Mrs and Miss HallJones and Air George Schmidt (private secretary). They have taken up their quarters at tho West Central Hotel, where the Minister stayed on his visit to London some three years ago, and it was there that I found him this morning. Tho long voyage has done him a great deal of good, and his appearance this morning was an agreeable surprise.. I had expected to find the bent frame and drawn features of an invalid, but it was a sunburnt, smiling and robust-looking Mr Hall-Jones that bade me welcome. To look at him, it is hard to realise that he had such a “close call” before leaving New Zealand ; but, though much improved in health, and very hopeful of continued progress, he is still by no means strong, and will have to take life very quietly and calmly for some, t ini oto come. He is waiting till he has settled down after the stir and excitement of arrival before consulting a London specialist, and his subsequent plans will depend upon the medical advice he receives. He intends to revisit his native Folkestone, but most of hie time will probably be spent in some quiet country spot, where ho can recuperate under a “simple life” regime. The Kaipara had. a fair-weather voyage from New Zealand, and the time passed uneventfully, but very pleasantly. In addition to Air Hall-Jones’s party, there was only one other passenger on board—five all told. It was more like a private cruise than a trip on a passenger steamer, and the captain and officers did everything in their power to make the voyage agreeable. “I spent my time in eating, sleeping, and generally taking things easy,” said Air Hall-Jones, “and it did”me a lot of good. Everyone has been extremely considerate and kind, both in New Zealand and on the voyage. Before leaving I had any number of kindly messages from all parts of the colony, and my colleagues in 'the Cabinet would not hear of my resigning, but cheerfully took up the extra burden of my work in addition to their own. The capt&in and officers on the Kaipara have also been most kind and thoughtful, and w© have all enjoyed our voyage very much indeed.’’ One or the most pleasant incidents of the voyage was the trip up the English Channel last Sunday morning. It was glorious weather, and anyone who has seen the Channel on a fine summer morning will appreciate the beauty of the seen© which met the voyagers’ gaze. To Mr Hall-Jones’s great delight the Kaipara ran in close to the shore when passing Folkestone—hso close that the Minister could see the people walking on the beach and along the footpaths in his native town. “li was the best view of Folkestone I ever had,” he remarked. The day of arrival in London was wet * and foggy, but ever sdnpo the travellers have enjoyed brilliant weather, and Air Hall-Jones has taken full advantage of the sunshine to renew acquaintance with tire London streets, and has journeyed up the Thames to Hampton Court. He is in excellent spirits, and, as I said, his appearance justifies the hope that the progress he has made towards recovery will be maintained. Already his hair, which was nearly white when he left the colony, is regaining its am growing younger,” he said, with a cheery laugh, as he bade me good-bye.

A member of the Hon W. HailJones’s party, writing from London to a friend in Christchurch on August 29, says:—“We arrived here on Sunday, three days ago, after a very pleasant run from Teneriffe. The weather improved directly we put in an appearance, and people are able to pay us all sorts of pretty compliments on the strength of the sunshine we brought with us from New Zealand. We tell them that wo have left plenty behind us in ‘ God’s Own Country',’ and in this way help to spread the fame of our climate, which seems to have obtained a splendid advertisement from the beautiful weather that prevailed during the Exhibition. Our patient is steadily improving, and is now a very different person from the poor wreck you helped on to the steamer at Lyttelton. He has not, of course, recovered all his old strength and energy yet, and he doesn’t join vie in any of our long walking excursions about _ this great city; but beyond the fact that he tires very easily, he is making better progress than any of us expected. Ho haa nob go far made any plans for the future, and says that ho means to take things easy and travel as the spirit moves him. This is the best thing for him to do, and we are -all rejoicing over his restored health; hut it is a little tiresome not to know whether we are going to move on to-morrow or the day after or at the end of the year. However, we are enjoying ourselves immensely, and we are very, very grateful to liave the worst of the anxiety taken off onr minds. London is a glorious place, /but wo get very homesick at times, and then wo wonder why all these millions of people stop m England when thev might be stretching their limbs and their ideas in New Zealand, and enjoying the air and the freedom of the beautiful country from which they import their mutton and their sunshine.”