ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOMES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18583, 18 December 1934, Page 11

ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOMES

. THE DUKE IN WELLINGTON J * I ! YESTERDAY’S FUNCTIONS LASTING IMPRESSION CREATED (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON', last night. As warm as was the brilliant sunshine itself were the receptions given to the Duke of Gloucester during the third day of his stay in the capital city. The sweltering heat notwithstanding, large crowds were again abroad eager to wave or cheer tho .Royal ambassador as lie passed in public to his engagements. The main functions provided, however, an opportunity Tor more concentrated demonstrations of loyalty and expressions of goodwill than did the larger and more comprehensive gatherings on Saturday. This circumstance was particularly noticeable at the club receptions and the State luncheon. His Royal Highness was in excellent form, creating lasting impressions at each place lie visited. His utterances were again a study in balanced contrasts, and his deviation into dry humor when speaking at the ceremony of laying tho foundation stone of the new railway station, and his choice of figurative language at tho Parliamentary function instantly appealed. Wearing a typical English morning suit of grey, the Duke began his programme for the day with laying the foundation stone of the railway station, and was acclaimed by large crowds which had assembled for the ceremony. THE DUKE’S THOUGHTFULNESS An incident which will live in the memory of those who .were privileged to witness it took place .when the Duko met the ex-servicemen. Those present were prepared to drink the health of the Prince, and when the Royal visitor realised that the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., the president, was likely to have difficulty with manipulating a soda syphon with one arm. His Royal Highness immediately went to his assistance. Later ho helped Mr. Perry to light a cigarette. In English and in Maori the “Diggers” sang “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” His Royal Highness listening w’ith delight to the native version. “Good-bye and good luck to you all. I am very glad I was able to look in this moyning,” said the Duke, in acknowledging cheers from the ex-soldiers. The entire gathering followed the Prince to the entrance of the building, and cheered him again as the car departed. As a memento of his visit' tho Duke accepted and placed in the lapel of his coat a tiny tiki from the Wellington association. COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' PART. At the Commercial Travellers’ Club, the Duke was presented with a life membership lmdge and ticket of the New Zealand association, and learnt again that he was a. ‘Molly Good Fellow.” He was cheered to the echo as he addressed' a few words to members. ‘‘l have learnt in the last f’ew r months,” he said, ‘‘what the advantages of commercial travellers are, and I am looking forward to carrying the same advantages in this Dominion ns I did in the last.” ■Similarly cordial and enthusiastic welcomes awaited His Royal Highness at the United Services and the Wellesley Clubs. THE STATE LUNCHEON. Tho social hall in Parliament House has been the scene of many notable events, but rarely, if ever, of such a great and enthusiastic reception as was given the Duke at the State luncheon. There he met New Zealanders of representative type —members of the community which holds dear the ties which bind the Dominion to the. Motherland. So intensified was the v.olume of the ovation that several minutes elapsed before His Royal Highness was able to reply to the Prime Minister’s toast speech. At the conclusion of the reply there was a second ovation of like calibre. Many guests attended a subsequent garden party at Government House, the scene there being one of color and life. Those present wore in turn presented to His Royal Highness after being received by Their Excellencies. The Duke dined privately at the Wellington Club, and at 9.45 p.m. attended tho Mayor’s charity ball in the Town Hall, UNREHEARSED INCIDENT AT BALL. Further evidence of the democratic tendencies of the Duke was provided in an unrehearsed incident at the Town Hall to-night. In anticipation of the arrival of His Royal Highness at tho Mayor’s charity ball, large crowds assembled

in the vicinity of the civic centre, and it grew rather than diminished in size. As the arrival time approached, around about 30 .o’clock, the Royal suite appeared, and at once there was choering, but there was more to eoine. Having ascertained that the Town Hall had a balcony the Duke climbed the stairs and appeared before the concourse. Thousands of throats burst iu tumultuous acclamation, and in the excitement of the moment the rope barriers sagged before tho rush fr.om tho side streets and the crowd in its happy enthusiasm converged on the entrance steps. The police, who entered into the spirit of this unofficial reception, formed a double-armed cordon, wdiile the people vociferously acknowledged handwaves from the Prince on both sides of the balc.ony. Inside the hall, which was brilliantly decorated and crowded to the limits of comfort, the Prince was given another rousing reception. His first dance was a valse, which appears to be his favorite measure. Always interested in and immensely popular with the children, His Royal Highnegs will to-morrow meet Wellington’s rising generation in a display at Newton Park. There will bo no engagements in the afternoon, and late at night the Prince will leave by train for Hawke' ’s Bay.

KEEPING IN TOUCH DUKE’S JOURNEYINGS TELEGRAPH’S PART EXTRA TRAFFIC; FXPECTFI) The tour of tho Duko of Gloucester will include most of the well-known tourist and scenic resorts of the Dominion, notably Tho Chateau, Waiho Gorge (Franz Josef Glacier), and The Hermitage '(Mount Cook). As is usual on such occasions, a considerable volume of telegraph and telephone work, particularly press messages, require to .be handled. In order to provide for exEeditious disposal of this traffic, it has een necessary, said the DirectorGeneral of the Post and Telegraph Department, to adapt in some cases singlewire circuits to deal temporarily witli a much larger volume of traffic than) that for which they were designed. U'he difficulty is being overcome in economic fashion by using no more than tho existing single-wire circuits, but with the assistance at the outlying points of teleprinter apparatus for telegrams and carrier circuits for telephone calls. A single teleprinter will, said Mr. McNamara, do as much work as _ three Morse keys. With these accretions to the communication equipment, the outlying places will temporarily rank as first-class telegraph and toll stations. In addition lo the use of land-lines, each outlying spot will have an emergency radio set to deal with traffic in the event of there being line interruptions. 300 WORDS A MINUTE The teleprinter, by which 300 words a minute may be transmitted, can work with tho smallest assistance. For example, the old iron wire from the Hermitage to Timaru is by no means telephonically efficient. People using it have to coax and shout over this aged wiro in order to get through at all. But attach a teleprinter to it, and it becomes as efficient as modern wire erected yesterday. That is because the wire becomes r “carrier” wire, which is all the aid these marvellous machines need to shoot their messages over thousands of miles of territory. In

tho jargon of tho trade it is “wired wireless.” But tho teleprinter cannot get Timaru, as there is no corresponding machine there to pick up tho flying print, so the Hermitage will have to be connected through to Christchurch. Tho same applies to teleprinter messages sent out from Waiho (Franz Josef Glacier). As there is no teleprinter at Greymouth. the messages will be sent on t,o Christchurch. All telegraph, as well as telephone messages from Waiho or the Hermitage, will therefore bo pc n't direct to .Christchurch. Telephone calls from The Chateau will bo transmitted through Hamilton, while telegraph messages will be transmitted through Wanganui. At Rotorua, also, whero a large influx of visitors is expected, additional telegraph and telephone facilities will be temporarily -provided. Tiie Royal train will on occasions he side-tracked at wayside stations before entering important towns. At all these stations the train will be linked up with the land-line telephone system so that members - of the Royal party, and the accompanying press representatives,

wherever they may be throughout the tour, will be exceedingly well catered for in the matter of facilities for communication with the outside world.

WIRELESS STANDBY As a final precaution against a complete cut off by wire, there will be ■battery transmitting radio sets at the various out-of-the-way places to be visited by Ilis Royal Highness. The cost of the arrangements outlined above is not very great. All the necessary equipment was in sloclc, and rill that had to be done was to adapt it for the purposes of the Ro-yal tour.

ROTORUA ACTIVITY Ohinomutu Pa already presents a busy appearanee in preparation for the Royal visit. Throe big marquees have been erected to provide additional accommodation for visiting natives, and .small tents .arc springing up in many places. The influx is expected to commence to-day. :

The R't. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, will conduct a special Royal service in the Oliinchiutu Church on Sunday, December 23. The Duke and his staff will attend, and loud speakers will lie erected outside the building for the benefit of those'who cannot gain admission'. Sir Apiran'a Ngal a'is in Rotorua. Ho will act as master of ceremonies at the ceremonial Welcome on ArawA Park.