THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2673, 7 June 1905, Page 34

THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

TBE SOUTHERN TOUR. (Fhom Our Special Reporter.)

LAWRENCE, June 1.

Lord and Lady Plunket and suite left Dunedin by the 8.25 a.m. train to-day on an official visit to some of the southern towns. His Excellency Yias p.ccompanied by Sir Joseph Ward' and his private secretary (Mr B. Wilson). The carriages containing his Excellency's party were detached from the express on arrival at Milton, and after a few minutes' delay a- start was made for Lawrence.

RECEPTION AT WAITAHUNA.

The Governor and party vere met at the Waitahuna Railway Station, which was decorated with bunting, by the local school children and a number of local residents. During the brief stay of the train the children sang the National and Ne^ Zealand Anthems, and Sir J. G. Ward introduced ihe chairman of the School Committee (Mt R. York), who extended a cordial weicomc to his Excellency and Lady Plunket. The Governor -briefly addressed, the children, and expressed his pleasure that no matter where one went in New Zeala-nd he was met with the same consistent loyalty to King and oountry and Empire that was conveyed in *he patriotic songs rendered by the school children. He also complimented the children on iheir healthful appearance, and made a request that they be given a whole holiday. Sir Joseph Ward called for cheers for Lord and Lady Plunket, and the request was lustily complied with by the children and those assembled on the platform. Sir Joseph afterwards read out the latest press w&v news and the latest cricket .scores, which were received with interest, and as the train departed the visitors were heartily cheered.

RECEPTION AT LAWRENCE,

His Excellency and party arrived at Lawrence at noon, and were received at the railway station by the Mayor of the borough (Mr Herbert H. Leary) and a large asemblage of the townspeople. After formal .introductions and handshaking.? at the station, Sir J. G. Ward called for cheers for Lord and Lady Plurtket, and, the call having been heartily responded to, the gubernatorial and Ministerial visitors were escorted io carriages in waiting, and a squad of the Tuapeka Mounted Rifles, under Captain Edie, forming an escort for the Governor's brougham, the party was driven via Ross place and Peel street to an embankment opposite the Government Buildings, where the Lawrence District Hig* School Cadets formed a guard of honour under Darton. The -children attending tHe High School and St. Patrick's School were formed in line on the roadway, and on the arrival of his Excellency and suite at the courthouse saiug the National Anthem and saluted, the local ' brass band also playing a bar or two of the anthem. After the party had been seated in iront of the courthouse building The Mayor read the following address : — May it .please your Excellency,— We, the Mayor and councillors of the Borough of Lawrence, as representatives of the burgesses v of the town and on behalf 01 the residents of Tuapeka generally, desire to offer to your Excellency. Lady Plunket, and the Hon. Kathleen Plunket a most cordial welcome, and to express our appreciation of your early official visit to this district. Your stay being limited to a few hours, we will be unable to give you an adequate idea of the resources of our district, out hope to .show .you* Excellency over the principal institutions of the town, also the Blue Spur mine. Although your visit will necessarily .be a brief one, we trust that your recollection of the same will be pleasant and interesting. The district of Tuapeka is one of the most important mining centres in the colony, and has had a share in conducing to the general prosperity of 2few Zealand, both from the amount of gold won and by attracting population of the right class, consisting of sturdy, independent, and resourceful miners. The agricultural industry has also progressed in a satisfactory way, and the desire of the people to settle on the land has been forcibly exemplified hy the manner in which the Greenfield Estate, recently thrown open for settlement, was iaken up by eager Applicants. The farmers of the district as a class -are presperoua, and with the liberal -land laws cf -tbe -colony will become still more so in the future. While we fully appreciate the honour •your Excellency has conferred in visiting our town, ' ■tha compliment ia much enhanced Jby the presence of Lady 'Plunket ana the Hem. Kathleen Plunket, as thia i» the first occasion in the history of the .district when .we have been so honoured. We embrace this opportunity of testifying, through your Excellency, our deep .sense of loyalty to our beloved Sovereign, his Majesty King Edward VII, and fervently pray that he may be long spared to rule over his subjects, whose devotion and loyalty to the Throne are spontaneous and universal.

The address was signed by the Mayor and all the borough councillors. His Excellency, in rising to reply, was received with applause, and he said : Mr Mayor and Councillors. — It is with much pleasure that I receive your kind and Joy*l address, and her Excellency joins with me in thanking you for your very cordial welcome. I am extremely glad to have this opportunity of paying a visit (though necessarily a snort one) to your town, meeting some of your citizens and seeing something of your institutions, and it is most gratifying to me to find such prosperity in this district, with which I shall hope later lo become better acquainted. lam much interested to hear of the success which has attended both agriculture and mining in •this neighbourhood, for where the prosperity of a community depends entirely upon one main pursuit, there must alwny3 be in the background some anxiety as to the future, and should there be more than one flourishing industry, even if one source of employment and profit languish, the perir:a.nent pro^Derity of the district remains practically assured. As his Majesty's representative, I ha\e listened with deep satisfaction to your hearty expressions of loyalty to the King, repeating as they did that deep and sincere sentiment of devotion to the Crown which so happily exists throughout this important part of tho British Empire. On behalf of myself, Lady Plunket, and my sieter, I thank you once more for ihe very kindly personal greeting you have given, ond I trust that I may have further opportunities of visiting again, the prosperous town and neighbourhood of Lavrfeuoa,

At the conclusion of his Excellency's address the school children sang the New Zeal.and Anthem, and, the Mayor having introduced to his Excellency members of ■the Borough Council. County Council, and other local bodies and a number of citizens, cheers were given for Lord and Lady Plunket and Sir Joseph Ward. The formal proceedings were then brought to a close.

At the close of the reception ceremony the Governor and party were entertained at luncheon by the Mayor and councillors at Montgomery's Hotel, where a number of toasts were honoured, and his Excellency and party wero then driven to the Blue Spur." On the return from the visit to Blue Spur, and prior to leaving by the 3.30 p.m. train for Milton, the party was met at the station by the School Cadets (formed in line as a guard of honour) and by a number of townspeople, and as} the train moved off the children again sang the National Anthem and a verse of "Auld lang syne," and cheers were again giveji for his Excellency and Sir Joseph Ward.

ENTERTAINED AT A CONVER-

SAZIONE AT MILTON. Hi 3 Excellency the Governor reached Milton at 5.20 p.m., and was met at the Railway Station by a large gathering of Milton residents. The station was prettily decorated with evergreens, and, as at Lawrence, there was a liberal display of bunting. The Mayor of Milton (Mr W. Moore), the members of the Borough Council, and the town clerk were present, and Mr Moore presented his Excellency with a formal address of welcome, assuring him of Milton's loyalty to the throne. Lord Plunket, in reply, said: Mr Mayor and gentlemen,— l thank you for the address you have been kind enough to present me, and also for the generous welcome you have extended to Lady Plunket and myself. It is most gratifying to me to know of your devotion to the throne, and I am pleased to recognise that Milton and its neighbourhood assumes the same loyalty towards his Majesty the King as other districts I have visited in New Zealand. As you stated in your address, my 6tay here is a brief one, and I regret I have not had a fuller opportunity of meeting the people of this and the surrounding districts. However, I trust hopes in this respect may be realised on some future occasion". That the colony may increase in prosperity during my term of offios is, I can assure you, my sincere desire, and I am glad to see that this part of Otago continues to hold so satisfactory a place in the general and material condition of New Zealand. On behalf of Lady Plunket and myself. I thank you most heartily for your kind wishes. — (Applause.)

Cheers were then given for the vice-regal party on the call of Sir J. G. Ward. Hi& Excellency and Lady Plunket were entertained during the evening at a conversazione in the Coronation Hall.

The party visits Balclutha and Kaitangata to-day.

BALCLUTHA, June 2.

His Excellency the Governor and party, with Sir J. G. Ward as Minister in attendance, left Milton by the express at 10.10 o'clock this morning, and proceeded first fcer Balclutha and afterwards drove to Kaitangata. Mr Jamea Allen, M^H.R. for Bruoe, joined the party at Milton; and Mr J. W. Thomson, M.H.R. for. Clutha, was met at Balclutha, and with Mr Allen accompanied them to Kaitangata. The

EECEPTION AT BALCLUTHA was of a preliminary nature. The party was met by the Mayor (Mr John Dunne) and Mr J. W. Thomson. M.H.B. The Balclutha Brass Band played the National Anthem; the Clutha Mounted Rifles, the Clutha Rifle Volunteers, and the High School Cadets formed a guard of honour along the railway platform; and on emerging from the platform the gubernatorial visitors were greeted by the children of the Balclutha High School, who sang the National Anthem and, at the call of Sir Joseph Ward, gave cheers for Lord and Lady Plunket and Miss Kathleen Plunket. The formal reception at Balclutha. take 3 place to-morrow (Saturday), and will take the form of a luncheon at 1.30 p.m. in the Borough Chambers, when a formal address of welcome will be presented. His Excellency and party, accompanied by an escort of the Clutha Mounted (Rifles, the Mayor of Balclutha John Dunne), and Mr R. -Grrgor, afterwards entered a number of drags and waggonettes and proceeded .by the main road through Stirling towards Kaitangata. At Stirling Sohool * halt was made *nd the school was visited, the- children singing the National Anthem •3 the Governor and suite -entered the building. Mr A. >E. Farquhar, representing the school authorities, introduced his 'Excellency to the children, and. a short address ■by 'his Excellency having been given, the drive to Kaitangata was continued in cold and threatening wea-ther, that destination being reached mt 12 o'clock.

HECEPTION AT KAITANGATA,

For the purposes of the reception a triumphal arch of evergreens and flags WBS . ©reoted at the eastern end of the Kaitangatu bridge, and immediately adjoining this a . raised dais, enclosed and roofed with Union Jacks, was erected. The Kaitangata Rifles j (under Captain Souiiess) and the School Cadets (under Captain Moir) formed a ] guard of honour in the vicinity, and as the ,j Governor's party approached the Kaitangata Brass Band struck up the National Anthem, j After his Excellency had .alighted the Mayor J of the borough {Mr C. E. Yates) presented ! an address of welcome, expressing pleasure i at his Excellency's early visit to the district, assuring him of the loyalty and devotion of the citizens to fhe King, and conveying oordial birthday greetings to his Roj'al Highness the Prince of Wales. The address | concluded with the expression of a hope that his Excellency's present visit would be ths forerunner of many others. His Excellency replied as follows:— i "Mr Mayor and Gentlemen, — I beg to thank you iv my own name and that of Lady Plunket for the kind and loyal feelings which have prompted you to present , mo with this address, and for the consider- ] able trouble to which I can see you have put yourselves in order to make" our visit to Kaitangata agreeable and interesting. I . have listened with great satisfaction to your hearty expressions of loyalty and devotion to his Majesty the King, and I shall not fail to communicate to his Royal Highness : the Prinoe of Wales your cordial birthday j gre&tjng. I know that neither ,th© Prince I nor Princess will «vor forget their pleasant j visit to this colony, and are always inter- • ested in hearing how New Zealand §>nd its people are progressing. I can assure you ] that her Excellency, toy sister, and myself know of only one drawback to this vfoit to j

a short one; but I hope to have other opportunities of accepting your kind invitation to oome among you again." Lusty cheers were then given for Lord and Lady Plunket, Sir Joseph Ward., and the pre&ant Administration, etc., and a visit was afterwards paid to the State, school, where his Excellency and party were shown over the rooms, and the children in the infant room sang some kindergarten patriotic ditties. This function concluded, an adjournment was mad© to the Bridge Hotel, where a capital luncheon was prepared, which was done justice to by over 30 guests. The toasts honoured were "The King," "The Governor," "His Excellency's Advisers," and " The Mayor " ; and at the conclusion of the luncheon his Excellency and party visited the Kaitangata mines — the Governor, Sir J. G. Ward, and the male members of the party going through the mine, and the lady members of the party and others contenting themselves with a view from the outside.

The party were heartily cheered at 4 p.m. on embarking on a special train for Balclutha.

The Governor visits Owaka and Ratanui to-morrow morning, re-turning to Balclutha in time for the formal reception function.