CROMWELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 28

CROMWELL

I March 14.— The visit of hi* Excellency Lord ' Banfuriy to our tiwn c*me off on fcsaturday, and as for once tho Cromwell cleik of tbe weather was on his goo.d behaviour everything passed off pleasantly. The Governor was driven frdii Alexandra to Cromwell by Mr W. fc>. Laidlaw, and the only hitch in the proceedings was that owing to his not 'betn/f in a vehie'e of his own the people did not know exactly whether the Governor had or had not ai rived Tbe sol'taiy trooper riding ahead looked rather lonely. The Defeiue depaitment might have sent a corporal's tile at least. An addre-s of welcome was lead by the town clerk, and f-uitably responded to by his Excellency, who read his reply in a very disiinct and sonorous voice. Tbe luncheon was attended by a,bout 30 cit ; zen", and passed off well. An excellent fpiead was laid out by Hoit Mountaey, aud a& ths proceedings wt-re by no me<irs stiff and formal everybody felt at home and enjoyed him:- : self. After the, lunch and the.customary toasts j bad beon gor>e through hi-j Excellency was driven i nut to the Electric No. HI claim, and witnessed the launch of the pontoons of that company's third dredge, which is a monster, including the staging. 110 ft long and out 35ft. wide. Tbe launch rame off apfcaciidly, and tim contractors (Sutherland and Nelson) aie io be complimented oa the psrfectne.sß of their arrangement*. Tbe customary bottle of ch^mpacrne wa? brokcp usainst the bows by Mrs James M'George, and as the huge pontoons slid down ihe skids the Ojvernor christened the dredge tbe Lady Kanfurly. and expressed the wish, that- sha nrglit break the lecard. After tha'j the vice-regal party were driven to Electric No. 11, where the Governor and his aide-de-camp were takeu on boi.rd by the Messrs M'George an-l' witnessed a wath up ; b-it a wash-up on the ' Electric Company's uredge? is a. deep, dark ' injstery, upon which no profane eyes are allowed i to gazi, not even the awfu' orbits of the mayor ana councillor?, who kicked their heels about on the river bank while tbe dreadful rite was performed. The result is fafely locked fathoms deep in the breast's of hsa Excellency and his atde-d'i-cauip and in. those of the happy shareholders. Judging, bojpe'-er, by tbo bulk of the bag which was carried dovm the ureut by the manager of the Iccil ba«k one ivoul jud^e it to be between 20(oz and SOOoa. After inking a drive to Deadman's Point t,> gar a look ac the Upper Clutha Valley the vice-regU party drove off for Clyde. Hoax — Some joker or other with a vivid imagicatioti and no particular resoecfc for what Cailyle calls ths "eternal verifies" spread abroad the umiour that war had been declared against Britain by Russia, hnd that the Governor had- not stopped at Alexandra, but had gone straight on for "Wellington as fast as special trains and s^e.-imers could cirry him. I believe there wan quite a tobacco parliament at every street c.-rner, and that saveral very sanguinary engagements were fought, in all of which th» Russians were, to uss local sl&dst, '"Dona bad." If war does occur, and the British spldiels' bullets aud bayonets do as much execution ii_s people's tongues, the Russian bear i 3 in a parlous plight. '