THE PREMIER'S LAST HOURS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13202, 13 June 1906, Page 6

THE PREMIER'S LAST HOURS.

i ' -STRAIN PROM OVERWORK. 1i» ■ ' TOO TIRED TO SLEEP. [Bt TELEOBATH. I'KK.SS ASSOCIATION'.] ' ■', ' ' Wellington, Tuesday. The special 1 correspondent of the New V;', - Zealand Times, who was on board the OsV ' ' westrv-Grange, cables as follows from Svdney: — Mr. Seddon died 011 board the-Oswestry. Gramge at twenty-five minutes past six p.m. j.L'v on Sunday, when 140 miles from Sydney. V- His- death was due to heart-failure. The ' end was tragically sudden. During the morning the Premier had complained of X feeling unwell and had received attention ' ' from the doctor and Mrs. Seddon, and from this ho had appeared to derive benefit. He Tenia inert in the stateroom all the afternoon, reclining on the settee, partly £l *° dree- ' cheerfully with Mrs.

' «resscil ; <tmi J', and Miss Seddon . and his secretaries, and i later in the day slept for a couple of hours. ( On wakisg .lie seemed much better than ( before, aud again conversed with those , abeut him in cheerful strain. There was ; not the slightest suspicion that his illness ■ . <v. was more than a. temporary indisposition. . ; J At. about six o'clock he again complained < '•''• of pa,ins in the arms and chest. Mrs. Seddon and.Mr. Andrews (his,private secretary) j were with him. "1 wish I was back in 1 , . Wellington," he said, "and could go for a , '• > ride; then, . looking at his wife gave a - short gasp and collapsed in her arms. It' L' was thought' that .lie had. fainted, and the >' ship's surgeon was hurriedly summoned and , |ff§f , hastened to the stateroom." ■ ? * The practised eye of the surgeon however, saw what* had occurred, and .hat the great I; New Zea,lander was dead. * His passing had V been entirely without. pain, end he lay there - '! apparently sleeping as calmly and peace- : - fully as a little child. A veil may with : £ j propriety be drawn over the painful scene < fej/ that followed. J 1 .?I'V - When the announcement of whmt had tak- i f v " <en place'was made the ship's company, 1 •, ' ' seemed as if stunned. There was a brief i • consultation., and then the .steamer's course t )■' was .changed, and in a few moments she 1 was, steaming,jack ;to Sydney. The Heads i were .reached at nine o'clock this morning, < V , and the- pilot boat at once came alongside, ' ' and by it messages were sent ashore to i f|®v ' members of Mr. Seddon's family and to Mr. I i- Hall-Jones stnting what had occurred. No ] '?• other. communication was then allowed with i i ' ' the lapd, it being desired by Mrs. Seddon - ' ' that her sons 'and daughters {should bo the i first to hear of their father's death. < $ (> A BUSY MONTH IN AUSTRALIA. ] rjjX . The, Ostwestry Grange had left Sydney i kf%&£S'-iov ; Auckland at three o'clock'' on Sunday 1 morning, and the Premier and the members t of his .party had gone. on board a few < It f': : minutes previously.. Saturday had been a 1 very busy day for him, and he left Mel- 1 bourne- by trsin-on' Friday afternoon, after , y ■ ' having held a conference with Mr..l)eakin V-; and Sir. William Lvne oil trade reciprocity, 1 • f " and had'been entertained at luncheon by members -of the Labour party, who had f' given him a most cordial greeting. The p', .'-J. 5 conference 'with.' Sir. W. Lyne was continued !'®?- ' on the-train, and lusted until, a late hour. h '* A,' Oil retiring,}&.his private compartment *'■ ' ■ Mr. Seddon was unable to rest, and had no sleep that night. Ha arrived in .Sydney at If!; y eleven o'clock on Saturday morning, and at 1■- , once went to the Hotel Australia, where 1 there was a great number of people waiting '#T •" 'to see him. He was engaged with these \ i visitors and'with his secretaries all day. and ■ ' In the evening went to a performance at the , Criterion-Theatre, with the members of his )j'' ' family, '.and afterwards attended a supper r*'?V J party with .them at the House. - \' i-'' r ■ Alter supper, although the hour was very »' v late, 'and, he had had no . sleep since Thurs- !; j day night, he insisted on going back to the Y hotel with his secretaries'and attending to r' . some correspondence. This kept him until ■' ' after .two .o'clock on Sunday.: morning, but.(i ' when he went to the steamer he"was never- , - theless bright and cheerful. He bade fareJ* ; well to his daughter (Mrs. Dyer) amd friends mm ■ on the wharf with good humour. . THANKFUL FOR A REST. ; ' But a few minutes after ho went down ';•/ |, to the saloon .it was noticed that lie looked lj,t very, rvery tired, 'and he sought his, berth lafifil ,-with. obvious thankfulness that he' was to' 'j r have a rest.' His last day on land, had been fflw \ the reflex of- his whole life, and one of a.l*! % • most superhuman activity' and marked de- •_ vc-tion to duty. .:•> , I, , . ■ . - v *'• During the whole period of his stay in V' ' Australia,'from the day three v. eeks before,' when ho was. received with a* great popular H * l " ovation on landing in Sydney, until that I$ - last night, he had seemed to be the < inbodiJ? • ment-of vigorous manhood, and there had been.no apparent-failing. - : ; , The elation naturally caused by his mag'•L ' nificent; reception on. all hands hau made t!' ' him look even to ; members of his family h' better than lie had done for years, Shortly 0% ' 1 before his collapse he had- expressed his. J i intention of preparing on the following day material for the speech to be delivered at tgst- the .opening of Parliament, and had spoken J with pride at having concluded with the 1 federal Government- a,. reciprocity treaty '•t( * - which would be a great benefit trf Australia pfj and 1 New ! Zealand. , ; These- subjects had 'I • been topics of-his-conversation but a- few t minutes ' before Ins death. - • I .Tito blow inflicted .on Mr. Seddon s , familv by. his sudden decease was tumble. M " When <• Mr. Seddon ; went on board the ' r Oswestry Grange on Sunday morning lie I- ' was a worn-out man. "The hardest. month I've ever had!" he said to a companion, sitting talking to ■ him in the saloon. "I'm I'ki glad* it's over," ho r continued, passing his j." ' band' over his forehead. "Good night!" ' ' and he went' tt> his berth/'" His companion I;.: ' thought even then that he had never before j^ 1 , '' seen human weariness epitomised so clearly -■ ,on one face,, He had,drawn on the well of - endurance to its deepest limit. That stal*<r . , wart iron frame had been weakened by the ceaseless toil; of fourteen years, and no J. . , longer possessed the recuperative power tr-'i! S ' .'that was once so strongly predominant. '• > 1 ' Hle jaded condition was not- surprising, for . during the' visit id Australia he. had hardly had' a moment's, rest, v•- • . Respite' there was none.- tie was be- ' •% { . sieged..by day and by night by visitors, and x -• was ; received everywhere with unbounded v hospitality. ' Not one , moment from early morning'fo late at night had he to himself. .' - , He played his part all through with magui- ' ticeiif stienuoHsness, even flown to the r/.i • .'smallest obligation "of courtesy. _ His.greet- ■ ing hi Australia, had'been splendid, and was, (,'i ' his culminating triumph, but was too much for him. A month ago his spirit craved for SA T - leisure; and for that he came to Australia. ; Instead of obtaining it he was plunged into • ' the-whirl of "business and was feted and r' lionised in. a manner that wrecked his vitalfn' ' ity and sapped his constitution to the very : drees. . ■ • —- - '-' THE NEWS IN SYDNEY. 'yr hen the news *of -Mr. Seddon's ■ death was posted in Sydney expressions ox deep / • and. genuine.regret were heard everywhere in the. city.. People who had not long before cheered him to the echo now mourned t with' the. New Zcalandci-s at his end.. "I ; . fervently, hope that the sunshine ui pros- • : perity., happiness,' and contentment will be with the people of Australia" were his final in concluding an interview prior to ■^ r embarkation. They were remembered now ft.with mournful interest. Out there in the harbour lay the big liner on. which New. '/■' - Zealand's greatest citizen slept his last-long 'J- ' ■ sleep;'calm and cold. , ' Ho 'reposed "there, .magnificent in his fe'i'- seeming peace, 'his hands clasped and his •<[" brow..without, wrinkle. Death came softly . ' , to him,.. touched him with a gentle kindness. $$' ~ . One thought more of the loving caress than • the icy hand. At the door of the stateroom sat the widow, his lifelong good friend and |vV; companion, bowed -.in' grief, .with her daugh- '; I 1 - ter and son. All through'-'.the night they .* / had sat' there in stricken silence, their agony of mind more poignant by reason of Cgi'p.", C* the -distance from home and the loneliness -of the ocean.» The feeling of isolation comIffi'''. ,■ .'-. r mon to those on a ship at sea was intense If," ; : , during that mournful run back to Sydney. '■: * T"he silence, broken only by the throb '. / of, tho engines', was intense, and: everyone |/) crept noiselessly about, almost unable to I- The silence, broken only by the throb of the engines, was intense, and: everyone- ,. crept noiselessly about, almost unable to i grasp the significance of what lmd happen«d oil, that lonely, silent ship. There was ' • '.an inclination to cry out aloud in order to i ' relieve the nervous strain . that' j.tis on

A few weeks before Mr. Seddon landed in bright sunshine amidst crowds of friends and admirers, while this morning his widow returned from sea. in a murk and drizzling, rain to tell her family that they were fatherless. It was a bitter and a tragic experience,/ softened only by the reflection that death had come to its victim as he might perhaps have wished it.