A MISTAKE IN PREMIERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17250, 28 August 1919, Page 8

A MISTAKE IN PREMIERS.

MR. MASSEY AND THE ADMIRAL. ■":% The story of the naval reception ac- :| corded to him at Dover was told by She % Prime Minister at the gathering of tha' -i Wellington Orphans' Club, at which Lord I Jeffiosve and officers of the New Zealand Cv were the guests. " You can always trusS ? the navy," said Mr. Massey, and ex- 5 plained that on one occasion it became J necessary for him to proceed from Paris :' to London. Unfortunately, bo missed the, * morning train to Boulogne, and was won- * % Bering how he would get across, when " he bethought himself of lie represents- f ; five of the British "Navy in Paris, knowing that ffiey always had a lot of little ships about. So he waited on tha naval „ representative. " Could he run him over to Dover!" " Certainly }** came the an- J swer at once, so he and his secretary, Mr. Frank Thomson, took train to Boulogne, and .on arrival there found a little boat awaiting them—not a destroyer, but a submarine-catcher— of a type of- boat built specially fcr the war. This speedy I little craft ran them over to Dover in - an hour and a-qnarter. When they left the ship, he, to his great surprise, saw thai the admiral of the port was present with a guard of honour, and though he "■ tried to look as if be knew all about it, he was puzzled at the unusual honour bein» paid him. The admiral came for- ; wart: "Good morning, Mr. Massey; hope • you had a good run across. You'll find breakfast all ready at the hotel." Mr. Massey thanked him, and passed on with '' a thankful heart to the breakfast, ... \ But the secret was too good a joke, ©"fen fop" 6he Silent Navy to . keep silent about. A naval officer who was behind the scenes said that, the evening before, the admiral of the port had received from Paris the wire: "Prime Minister arriving in the morning.". The navy's representative had omitted to* say that it was the rrima Minister of New" Zealand. When he met Mr; Lloyd George a few days later, he could not resist telling him the joke, and in reply he said: "Well, you filled ths bill -"