THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 33

THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

His Excellency, Lord Ranfurly, returned from Australia on Tuesday after an absence of nbout seven weeks. He went to Hobart in the Waikare, and the passage was the longest yet made by that steamer. Arriving there too late to catch lhe v ( morning train to Launceston, the Premier of Tasmania placed at his disposal a special train, which made record time across the colony, and caught the Coogee at Launceslon. His Excellency arrived in Melbourne in time for the races on- Saturday, November 4-, and stayed with Lord Brassey till the following Tuesday week.- The usual gaieties of race week took place, and there" were either balls or dinners every night somewhere or other. One of the chiefest of these functions was the ntayor'9 banquet, at which there were some 600 guests. His Excellency left Melbourne on November 14, accompanied by the Minister for Mines, Mr Foster, and the party went to Castlemaine,' where they saw gold dredging as carried on in Victoria. The same night they drove to Bendigo, and the mayor of tliat town took his Excellency round the various places of interest during the. few hours available on the following morning prior to his departure for Swan Hill. From Swan Hill he went down the Murray' by steamer lo Mildura, where he stayed on his own property for some days. A great alteration" was noticeable in the district, and a general improvement for the better. The settlers all seemed to be doing well, and to have plenty of money in their pockets. ' The fruitdrying industry had made great- strides, and 1-roof of this may be found in the fact 'that about 800 tons of raisins are now produced annually. After a few days in Mildura his Excellency left for Renmark and Adelaide. At the South Australian capital he was the guest of Lord Tennyson for about eight days, • when, he returned' to. Melbourne. During his

stay in Victoria 'arid South' .Australia liul . Excellency spent a certain! amount of time in visiting the various -industrial schools and reformatories. He left Melbourne by the Monowai, and had' a fine^weather passage across, arriving in Dunedin as above-men-tioned. He went • north by the express on Wednesday.