MISS GRACE PALOTTA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2983, 17 May 1911, Page 76

MISS GRACE PALOTTA.

ON HER FAREWELL OF DUNEDIN. G races three on the Mtraea nine R ichly gifted are said to wait; And armed with Beauty's inspiring power C an gild with glory e'en Wisdom's gate— E ither they've willed a smile away. P erfeot, sweet, with a light divine— A light to make remembrance demL ong after thou hast sailed the brine 0 r thou, lovely Grace, ha3t fled your sphereT o tread the ways of human kind, T o light with joy the shadowy paths. A dieu! Thou leaves* dear friends behind. —M. A'. J. Ceawfoed. Dunedin, May, 1911. FOR REMEMBRANCE. Ten thousand leagues away in that onoe gayest of all capitals in Europe—Vienna—a sainted mother lies dangerously ill. Here in Dunedin a devoted daughter, anxious and sorely distressed, but with eyes aflame, ha;, been smiling bravely, administering chanty out of her wondrous bounty.

Between that far city on the Danube and this city of Eternal Hills has stretched a golden chain. Cables have flashed tihe intelligence that the little mother is praying her daughter's return. How soon? To the anxious mother lying on a bed of suffering time is counted' by heart-throbs —not by figures on a dial. To the devoted daughter separated by miles of ocean every absence is an age. She, too, counts time by heart-beats. ghe smile? as she mounts the platform to auction seats in aid of the suffering women of Otago! and sings from her heart " Oh, listen to the band!" for sweet Charity's sake! Scarce one of Dunedin's gathered _ thousands knew of that suffering mother in the far-off Austrian capital, and, not knowing, could not well know of the aching heart pouring out its bounty for the suffering women of Otago I Miss Grace Palotta alone knew; but such is the soul of her. Now she's gone! By the most direct route Miss Palotta is travelling post haste. She left Dunedin on Thursday, sailed from Wellington on Friday, reached Sydney yesterday, and to-day (Wednesday) is speeding bv train to Adelaide, where she joins the Osterley, sailing on Thursday. Miss Palotta disembarks at Naples, travels bv train to Rome, where she enters on the final stage of her journey—then home! It must have been hard (says a lady friend and admirer) for the company that so long have acted together to say farewell in Dunedin to Miss Palotta. The reason of her going was sadly imperative, end the pluck and determination with which she —crushing down her own fearful anxieties—worked up to the moment of departure, was splendid. Though but a feiw days elapsed before she went, her colleagues were resolved she should carry away some of their long and happy camaraderie, and got for her a very fine suit-case. On the silver plate below the keyhole they had engraved—from one of the songs in " The Scarecrow," in which Mis 3 Palotta figured so sweetly—" Mary, "We shall Miss You." But no one in the company could be found willing to present it—they were all so depressed at the parting,—and so in the end Miss Palotta discovered it in bier room at the hotel when sh,.-> returned from playin«- for the last time with the comrades she _had_ acted with so long. One member with infinite pains—for the lime was short—wrote and illuminated a farewell address to Miss Palotta from the company, who all signed it She is resolved some time, if all goes well, to come back again to Australia and New Zealand, where she has made, and is leaving behind, so many friends.