THE LINER QUEEN MARY SIR EDGAR BRITTEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22824, 7 March 1936, Page 13

THE LINER QUEEN MARY

SIR EDGAR BRITTEN

INSPECTED BY KING EDWARD

ABSENCE OF FORMALITY

(British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

RUGBY, March 5,

The King, attended by the president of the Board of Trade and the Secretary for Scotland, arrived this morning at Glasgow from London, alighting at the station close to the shipyard, where the Queen Mary is nearing completion. The object of the visit was to inspect the new liner. The chairman of the shipping' company and representatives of the builders were waiting to receive the King at the gangway. As his Majesty walked aboard, the Royal Standard was broken in the shipyard, but this was the only sign of royalty in the yard. While the King was making his tour of the vessel one of the great turbines of the Queen Mary was running.

On mounting the main bridge the captain (Sir Edgar Britten) was presented to his Majesty, and when he went into the engine rooms a number of workmen and engineers were also presented, and the King conversed with the men for a few minutes. He inspected almost every part of the ship from the boiler rooms, which he climbed down steel ladders to* reach, to the searchlight platform. The King stood for some time on the bridge fascinated by the scene below him in the shipyard and out over the Clyde. While he was on board many men who helped in the liner's construction were presented to "the King, and when lie came ashore there were remarkable scenes of enthusiasm, cheering workmen breaking through the police cordon surrounding him. The King expressed the hope that he would see the liner again before she went into commission, and it is thought there is a possibility that he may make a short trip in her on one of her trial runs.

After luncheon the King visited the corporation housing schemes in Glasgow, and also visited the over-crowded area from which the inhabitants will bo transferred to the council houses. He entered six tenements, chatting for some time in each case with the occupants. Men, women, and children surged round him in the roadway and cheered him with the greatest enthusiasm. CHEERED BY WORKMEN LONDON, March 5. Absolute lack of ceremony and formality marked the King's visit to the Queen Mary. He drove from Clydebank railway station to the shipyard through lines of cheering people. The Queen Mary was not decorated. The King used the ordinary workman's gangway in its workaday condition of grime and coaldust. Hundreds of workmen crowded the sides of the liner and cheered as the King went aboard. His Majesty acknowledged the salute by removing and waving his bowler hat. The tour of the ship, at the King's request, was confined to the Royal party, which visited several of the first-class state rooms, the officers' quarters, and the engine rooms. The King also inspected the third class quarters of the Queen Mary, declaring it equal to the first before the war, and at the conclusion of a two and three-quarter hours' tour of the liner, said he was very pleased with everything he had seen. The King chatted with the captain and other officers, and a number of the foremen and workmen were also presented to him. A VISIT TO TENEMENTS LONDON, March 6. (Received March 6, at 11 p.m.) After inspecting the liner Queen Mary the King visited the corporation housing scheme in Glasgow and entered six /tenements. His visit to the tenements unforgettably fulfilled his broadcast declaration that he was "still the same man as the Prince of Wales." The King strode over muddy cobbles and along dark alleyways in a district which is generally regarded as one of the roughest in Glasgow. He stood in dimly lighted rooms and listened with obvious distress to the miseries of families of seven or eight living in two rooms. He visited a family of four where a fortnight-old baby was in bed, with the washing drying in a corner. The father, who was blinded in a steel works accident in 1901, asked "Who's there?" King Edward replied, "The King," and warmly shook hands with him. His Majesty listened to the wife's complaints that rats were everywhere and the rooms were so dark that artificial light was necessary almost all day. The King was relieved when he was told that they would ba rehoused soon. He met a five-year-old boy, who asked, "Are you the new King?" The King, patting the boy's head, replied "Yes, sonny." He told officials that the conditions were appalling, but he had seen worse in Durham. He added that Glasgow must redouble its rehousing efforts. The King, on leaving the Queen Mary, was surrounded by. cheering workmen who demanded a speech and shouted "Good old Teddy," which was reminiscent of his grandfather's nickname.