ARRIVAL AT WANGANUI.

Otago Witness, Issue 3808, 8 March 1927, Page 18

ARRIVAL AT WANGANUI.

MAORIS’ ADDRESSES OF WELCOME. WANGANUI, March 3. At the official reception at Cook’s Gardens this afternoon a representative gathering numering about 25,000, welcomed the Royal visitors. A pleasing' incident in the afternoon’s welcome was when Mrs Toia Barnes placed around the neck of the Duchess a tiki, which has been the treasured possession of a Wanganui tribe for many years, and the Duke received a mat and an address from the. Maoris of the district. The address was as follows:— Welcome, oh, Sir, Welcome. To the Duchess, Welcome. . To you, our Royal guests, auspicious in your coming as the once appearing mystic white heron,-welcome to Ao-tea-Roa and Te Waiaunumu, and to this district and town. Welcome to you, son of the Emperor. We rejoice in the effulgence of our Royal estate and your awe-awaken-

ing presence, you, the living representative of the illustrious forefathers who have passed with the innumerable dead through the cold chambers of the grave to the dwelling place of the spirits. We welcome you, coming from your father, our gracious Majesty, King George V., who dwells in his far-famed stronghold in London, whose grandmother of illustrious memory, the beloved Queen Victoria, by tie Treaty of Waitangi, knit the Maori people into the greatest Empire the world has ever known, and by that act brought peace and Christianity to these shores. We are pleased that you come to weave more closely the strands of the great hawser that binds these islands to the Mother Country. Welcome! Farewell’ Convey to your father our kind expression of continued loyalty to the British Crown. Tell him how glad we are to be under the reign of British law. In conclusion, we say that under the folds of the glorious flag of the mighty commonwealth of British peoples we have come to know what is ' meant by the words justice, fair play, and Christian principles.

WELCOME AT FEILDING. DUCHESS RECEIVES BOUQUET. FEILDING, March 3. The Royal train stopped at Feilding. The Duke and Duchess of York were welcomed by the Mayor (Mr Carthew), Mr L. T. M’Lcan (chairman of the Kiwitea County Council, and Mr A. Campbell (chairman of the Oroua County Council). The Duchess was presented with a bouquet by the little daughter of the Mayor. Fifteen hundred school children, in their respective school uniforms, 1(X) Girl Guides, and the same number of Boy Scouts, with the returned soldiers and several thousands of town and district residents, gave their Royal Highnesses a rousing welcome.