QUEEN OF THE CARNIVAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17641, 30 November 1920, Page 6

QUEEN OF THE CARNIVAL.

CORONATION CEREMONY.

The queen of the recent Roman Catholic Queen Carnival, Miss Erina O'Connor, was duly\ crowned at the Town Hall last evening. The coronation ceremony, directed by Mr. Owen Cardstqn, was admirably presented. For picturesqueness of ceremonial, dignity, beauty of costume, and careful attention to detail it could scarcely have been improved upon. The queen herself, attended by full retinue and all her former rivals for the thrOne, paced through the hall in procession, with train-bearers, maids of honour, and pages. When\the whole tableau was arranged upon the platform the spectacle was of striking beauty. As, heralded by trumpet blare and the crashing chords of the great organ, the queen took the throne, she was greeted with a spontaneous and enthusiastic outburst of applause from the crowded hall. The other queens, who preceded her, were each given a cordial reception. The ceremony of crowning was then performed by Dr. H. 'W. Cleary, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland. In paying a tribute to all those who had worked for the success of the carnival, he said it was the crowning achievement of its kind effected by the Church in the Dominion. Over' £15,000 had been raised by its means. He then placed the crown upon the head of the queen amid renewed applause. Following came the final presentation of the attendant queens, after which honours and titles were bestowed upon the principal carnival workers with truly royal lavishness. Included in the ceremony was a musical programme by the "royal soloists," Misses Madman and Monck and Messrs. Dixon, Yenables, and Dobbs. Mr. Leo Whit-taker acted as accompanist, while Mr. G. Ingleby Allen presided at the organ.