DONKEY ON PARADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 15

DONKEY ON PARADE

PEARLY QUEENS IN LONDON LORD LONSDALE'S FUN Fifty costermonger families in their donkey carts went to Olympic, Kensington, London, recently, to take part in the annual donkey parade of the International Horse Show. At least, the programme said they went for that purpose, but to the. audience it appeared as if they had come to meet Lord Lonsdale. As they dashed into the ring in tlieir flower-embowered carts, to the strains of “Knocked ’em in the Old Kent Road,” they blew kisses to him, yelled greetings at him and stopped to shake hands with him. Lord Lonsdale, who judges this popular event every year, stood in the centre of the ring smiling back at them, raising his hat and blowing back kisses. It was obvious that he is a great friend of the costermongers. What a grand procession it was! Donkeys were covered with rosettes, carts were packed with flowers, and the costermongers and their children were dressed in the gayest of clothes. There were the pearly kings in their sparkling suits and pearly queens in their ostrich feather headdresses, peanut kings in their curious costumes decorated with nut-shells, and the banana king. Lord Lonsdale recognised nearly all of them. He pinched the babies’ faces, and was particularly interested iu one pearly baby who was no more than three months old. One donkey was pulling a barrelorgan. Its owner played “Sonny Boy” on it, and the costermongers danced. Lord Lonsdale danced with them. Lord Lonsdale handed round cigars. He gave them to women as well as to men, and one or two of the older women boldly smoked them as they drove round the ring.