PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3100, 13 August 1913, Page 72

PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

During the past few years various jubilees of an historical character have been celebrated in and around Dunedin, and reminiscences have been many and pleasant, some fact and some fiction. The jubilee of the Boys’ High School is causing me to draw on the past, also. In my case, however, I am not going to relate personal reminiscences, hnt to make reference lo some news items 45 years old.

Some weeks ago I had handed over to me five -or six early numbers of the Illustrated New Zealand Herald. No 2 is dated Dunedin, April 1, 1868, and as No. 3 it dated May 1, I assume that the issue was a monthly one. And what do I see on the first page of No. 2 —No. L I haven't the pleasure of possessing.' “HALS. Galatea, Captain, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.” And who was be' The brother of our late King Edward VII. Tile picture is an interesting one because it illustrates the transition between sail and steam. She is a pretty object, shown as she is in full rig or nearly so, though I suppose the smoke from the two stacks would not allow the sails to he white wings. Other pictures show the Galatea in dock, the attempted assassination of the Duke by a Fenian in •Sydney, the assassin, the man who seized him, and the Duke taking his ride abroad after his recovery. In those days mails took about six weeks to go Home, and as there were no cables the shooting of the Duke would not be known to his mother, Queen Victoria, until live or six weeks after it took place. I was in Ballarat when I saw the Duke, so let me relate a little of the history of his visit there. Ballarat is divided into two parts by the Yarrov. ee Creek —one ..part being the city and the other tlie town, each having its own council. For the reception of the Duke—Prince Alfred as we knew him—it was proposed to build a large hall ; hut neither council would contribute towards putting the hall in the other’s area, and the difficulty was got over by building the “Alfred Hall” over the creek, naif in the city and half in the town. I was one of the thousands «'f youngsters, hoys and girls, who assembled in that hall to sing “ God Save the Queen.” We all wore navy ribbons and a gilt anchor and rope entwined. Then when all was over, each of us when leaving had a bag of fruit thrust into one hand and a hag of pastry into the other. I suppose there must have been over a ton of fruit and perhaps half a ton of pastry bagged up for us on that day. But I wasn’t going to relate any personal reminiscences, was 1? I may add that the Illustrated New Zealand Herald feared that, in consequence of the attempt upon his life, the Duke would hot he able to visit New Zealand. He did, however. In the same issue gentlemen from the Emerald Isle come in two or three times for notice. One says: “A number of Irish gentlemen waited upon the Superintended—Otago had its own Parliament in those days—asking that St. Patrick’s Day might ho declared a public holiday, hut the request was, after consideration by the Executive, politely refused, and the refusal caused no small amount of illfeeling. It was, stated that there would he a Fenian demonstration on St. Patrick’s Day, and all sorts of absurd and untruthful rumours were spread about of intended doings; but the day passed off very quietly, there being far less drunkenness and disorder than is usual on occasion of public rejoicing. The morning was ushered in by a procession, and, headed by a hand, a number of Irishmen paraded the streets, displaying any amount of whisky, and an equal amount of patriotism and good humour.’’

About the same time there were Fenian displays on the West Coast. “At Hokitika a funeral procession in honour of the memory of the men executed was formed, and its members, headed by a member of the council, went to the cemetery and took the gate off it's hinges, space for a tombstone being refused by the authorities. A Roman Catholic priest who took part in the procession has been censured by his superiors.’’ Fearing an outbreak, all hotels were to be closed ; but some defied the authorities and were haled before the magistrate, who reprimanded them and said he would recommend Hie Government to cancel their licenses.

Many who read this Chat will remember the Vauxhall Gardens, or what is now known as Vauxhall. “On March 25,’’ we are told, “the Dunedin Volunteer hire Brigade, a body whose value has been frequently proved, and whose efficiency is not excelled by any similar corps in the colony” had its annual fete at Va.ixhall,

Auckland in 1868 was in the midst of stirring times. Tha Auckland letter says: “Outbreaks as so great now the alarm loses its effect. Major St. John, with oulv 200 men, is surrounded on every side by the liau huus. His force is out day anil night to prevent them making an attack on the town. iue officers and men are alarmed, and are expecting to receive assistance. ’’

Pages four ami five of No. 2 are taken up with pictures of Prince Alfred’s tour, and a picture of and article on the Light Lev. (1. A. Sehvyn. D.D.. who had just been created Bishop of Lichfield. He accepted the position at the urgent request of Queen Victoria, and a writer says of him : “His absence from New Zealand will he felt by the English Church, and I fear his mantle does' not fall on Elisha in falling on Bishop Harper, of Christchurch.” And again ; “Wo can scarcely wonder that every inducement and every argument has been made use of to retain for the Church of England in Great Britain the services of

so able a man as Dr Sehvyn. He has no equal on the episcopal bench. Ho is such a man as the Church at Home needs to guide it in the perilous days which aro quickly coming upon the. Mother Country.”

One of the news items tells us that Mr

i>. L. Furjeon had left Dunedin for Melbourne, eu route for England, and, under the heading “Music and the Drama,’’ an account is given of the play

“Leah, the Forsaken,’’ in which the principal character was taken by Mrs Robert Heir, who had just been widowed. After the termination of the drama Miss Harriet Gordon sang “with her accustimed brilliancy of execution’’ “Lo, here the gentle lark.’’ and “Auld Robin Gray," after which Mrs Heir came forward and iead the following address written by Mr Farjeon:

When first I saw Dunedin’s lovely bav

The clouds for me were dark. Though bright the day. Scarce could I look upon the verdant isles, Whose moss-crowned tops received fair Nature’s smiles, And there imprisoned them. My heart was filled With grief—with grief by that High Power willed, . ’ Who wills our fates, and in whoso hands wo aro Less than the glimmer of a lonely star. But when 1 set my foot upon the land, And felt the pressure of each friendly hand, Held out to me in sympathy, I knew That friends surrounded me—and then there grew A wish to see and thank them for the love Which brought, indeed—as the heaven-sent clove— Brought peace and gladness to the stormtossed ark — Some gleams of sunshine to my troubled bark. Dear friends, I thank you—thank you from my heart. And those kind comrades who have taken part In this night’s task. Unselfishly they came, Showing goodwill in something more than name. To-night contains for me remembrance sweet — May time fly swiftly till again we meet. A half-page illustration shows the General Grant, sails get, sailing into a cave hollowed out of the perpendicular side of one of the Auckland Islands. She was wrecked there in May, 1866; and you will remember that an expedition was tilted out in Dunedin last rear or the year before to recover the vast treasure supposed to he in that cave now. That expedition ended in smoke, hub we are told that another is being organised. The note accompanying the illustration says that “a portion of ner crew and passengers managed to make their escape from the wreck, and after enduring fearful privations for nearly 20 months, the survivors (17 in number) were rescued by the whaling bark Amherst.’’ Just one more extract to-day. It is taken from the report of the Acclimatisation Society: “By the barque Empress, a valuable collection, comprising 20U birds, consisting of partridges, chaffinches, greenfinches, grey linnets, starlings, thrushes, hedge-sparrows,, and yellowhammers. has arrived in Auckland.” We have rather too many of some of these birds now, haven’t we? / AN UP-TO-DATE .SHAKESPEAREAN ROMANUE.

Last w-eek I gave the rhyming lines, with numbers taking the place of names of plays. The following are the plays which take the place of the numbers: — I. Romeo and Juliet. 2. Lear. 3. Twelfth Night. 4. Macbeth. 5. Othello. 6. Sonnet. 7. Winter’s Tale. 8. Merry Wives of Windsor. 9. Love’s Labour’s Lost. 10. Julius Caesar. 11. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 12. Tempest. 13. Measure for Measure. 14. As You Like It. 15. Hamlet. 16. Cvmbeline. 17. All’s Well That Ends Well..—M.R.C., lowa.