GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE QUEEN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8425, 25 January 1899, Page 4

GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE QUEEN.

Somi; nimiM'tiy and some prcltv stories have been told concerning .Madame Annie (lii'y. Hei' --pccial power is that of intt'i I|iictiiig Neoich suugb : and a '• Burns recital' 1 usually ended with an uflei le\ee where she had lo slialie li.imK with hundreds of enthiHia^tic strangeis, either •Scotb, or of SVotb descent, or povsiblv only the warm lovers of limns that inu^l Antcii-can-are said to be. At Ua\ \';e\v. when besieged by an immense cio'ud, she tinned suddenly to linil a man piepuing to cut oil' a piece of )ilt tartan silk sen t— « hcther as a memento or ,i nuittei of businc-s speail.ilion is not staled. A \nung.Noh liwoinan wa- pathetic : "0, .Madame (Jivv , \ou have made me m> hoinesii-k '." and siie hi'iiied away from the jilatform with teat - lallingiast. At Ocean Crovv, \siieie lll.Oml Mcthodi-ts had assembled fur their annual ' amp uiecling, a ijiiamt nu ident i cent led. An aiiangcment was made that >m one ot tlic evenings Madame Annie (ac.\ should sing. At the appointed hour she sat m the aunts' room w.nt ing to be led to the pli'.loim, wlu-r, tin- dooi opened anil i«' l>e ii.luist. i^ til.d hi, 1.,. l x .-l at Ini 1 . !oi k«l al oat anuthei. and i' un.»li.it pie-

cipualelv filed out again. Then Majov Pond, her American manager, put his hcuil in at the door, glanced .it his charge, :uid retired. Then came a long and awful nan c; lint at last " t lie twelve good men .Hid Iran icappearcd, headed by a bishop, ami escorted the singer to (he platform, where she received a hearty welcome, and iho recital went, oil' splendidly. Afterwards the manager explained matter;-. It appears thai I he divines had never thought ot .such a thing as n lads "s arrival in evening dress, and the idea of such an innovation at si camp meeting nns c|iiite too much for them. No comprnmi-.c could he .-uggefctcd, and the iccital was very nearly given up, when Major I'nnd had an inspiration " Look lieic," lie said, "Madame Annie (Irev s-aii.^ before "Queen Victoria in thill sort of a frock, iiiifl 1 giir.ss what's good Liiou^'h fur (Jncuii Victoiia is ij.mn) enough for us." The charm proved as effectual with clergymen as with pirates, for Queen Yietoiia is truly a mime to conjure with in tliu Stales. "She is .vorshipped as the embodiment of all that is womanly and good.'' The bishop at once endorsed such sentiments, the rest agreed, and the ditlieulty passed by. At the close of her concert Madame ( Irey was surprised by the bishop laying his hands on her head, and publicly ble.-sing her, in spite of " that sort of a frock," while the audience mounted their seats to wave their handkerchiefs and applauded, and finally there was a rush to shake hands in the usual fashion. ]!ut the idea will certainly strike the Knglish reader that Queen Victoria would not. hetself have thought, a Jlethodist camp meeting cjuitc the occasion for full dress.