THE WOMEN'S PRESENT TO THE DUCHESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 28

THE WOMEN'S PRESENT TO THE DUCHESS.

This morning at half-past 11 the Duchess of Cornwall -and York received a deputation, consisting of Lady Stout, Mrs H. D. Bell, Mrs Wallis (wife of the Bishop of (Wellington), and Mrs T. M. Wilford, m reference to the presentation of a carved model of a Maori food house which is being presented to her Royal Highness by the .women of Wellington. At the time ap- * pointed the ladies assembled in the large drawing room, the beautiful decoration of ,wbich, now that there was no crowd in it, could be seen to advantage. Tall bamboos from the conservatory and beautiful palms and ferns were placed in different parts of the room, and the magnificent scarlet leaves of the poinsettia lit up the greenery in a - most striking manner. At the appointed time her Koyal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall and York, with the Countess of •ißanfurly and her two daughters (Lady Confitance and Aileen Knox), and attended by the Hon. Mr 3 Derek Keppel, entered the drawing room, and the ladies present' curtteied as they were presented to her. A model of a Maori food house belonging to iLady Ranfurly, and similar to the one that is now being carved for her Royal Highness, was on view in the room. It had been placed by Lady Ranfurly under the fronds of a tall growing tree fern, the stem of .■which was clothed with lycopodium. As the {Duchess, with her lady-in-waiting, the Oo^iiitess and her children, and the other Sadies assembled in front of the model under the great * tree fern fronds one could not /but be struck with the group. Mr 3 Bell, as president of the Women's Committee, asked Iher Royal Highness to accept the jjift on fbehalf of the f wornen of Wellington. She {explained that the present itself was not yet finished, but the Countes3 of Ranfurly had Sallowed a model that she possessed to be for the occasion, and permission was asked to forward the gift to England when {completed. "It is very nice, and it is very ffeind of you," remarked the Duchess, and then, examining the model, she asked, " Will 'it be like thi3?" Mrs- Bell replied that it ■; Would be almost a fac-simile, and that it would ,stand upon a carved table. " Will yon express to the other ladies my great thanks?" said the Duchess, who, then talked (pleasantly for a few moments, shook hands •gain with the ladies present, and the cereKaony: ended,.