"THE NITRATE KING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6482, 27 February 1889, Page 2

"THE NITRATE KING.

[Feom otjb Lokdok Cobksspondjnt.J Colonel North's Great Ball. £10,000 Melted Into Air, Grumbling Guests. ' " , ~ Lokdow, San; 11. Wu"TAt * CTOW BNtSHTAJNMBHT. ... '• rr* l •^?l t " te , Kin **" fan °y u ■***•■ Hotel Metropole on Friday evening l»*t will long be remembered as the most un>* BAtiafaotory entertainment that ever coat— SfS^T*,, 1 "^. of money. K Colofel North spent (according to hfc own Socount) £10,000 on "thißlittle do," Every . luxury which the heart ofc man could 4eB«e or even think of was liberally pro- • Tided, down to, or rather up to, bedrooms for such gueßtft as were too overcome by • the colonel's hospitality, to be able to find their way home. The supper tables abio-;' lately groaned under the weight of costly :' and unseasonable delicacies. Yet, bar perbaps the 200 people who got first into the - supper rooms, and who Btuok there for the . rest of the night, I doubt if any of the " guests did much else but grumble. For one thing, far. too many people had been ' asked. The whole of the theatrical pro- - feeaion seemed' .to me to be present, and ~. every Dick, Tom, and Harry whom Colonel ' North had ever nodded to m the city mutt haye had cards. What our hose would call "the swells" were, with the exception ot Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, ' conspicuous by their absence. The overcrowding didtrt really matter much till ; supper time. Then, indeed, the fun of the evening began in sad earnest. The early birds (as I have said) swarmed the ban- : quoting hall, and the doors were promptly closed. Outside for the rest of the night stood a cross and hungry crowd. Dancing ' was given up. /We were all too anxious to get a, glimpse of the glories behind £hosa Closed doora to dance. Occasionally a few well-suppered persons emerged, and sundry supperless ones were admitted; but lam sure as I can be that many of those who" sat down to eat at the stroke of midnight* ware ■ still feeding when our party effected a strategical entrance by * «dd door two hours later. By that time the waiters were completely demoralised, add it was only by heavy tipping we managed to secure a sliod of pate de perdreaux and a glass of " Koch. r fX*i 1880." The wine was excellent {the -. beet, I should think, ever given at rack a ■ feast), and the guests' were not slow to • take advantage of the fact. A* the table adjoihing ours sat a porcine citizen, con- • * Burning hot * house strawberries with intense relish (though they were really, I '. found, quite flavourless), and hiccoughing ■ the while "five bob a berry." A. sombre- : looking old gentleman in a grey wig wag pointed out to me as Harry Payne; the! . Drury Lane down,' and poor 1 Toole, in J hi» " Don " trencher and gown, seemed the reverse of. hilarious. Tour friend^ Stuart - ! Cumberland, came disguised as a media val knight ' of some Order, to which (so ' ho • explained) he really belongs; and Tom Thorn paid his host a delicate compliment '< ' by wearing a sort of smock encrusted with : "nitrate." As ! a whole, however, the " ooatumes were not Btrikingly novel or original. And what,perhapß, you may ask,beoams of 'Colonel North himself? Well, I don't : know. , Some Bay he was shut up with a ' few intimates in>& room upstairs; others : ' that, he permeated the crowd, disguised : variously, to. hear what was said about', him.', ■ , ;.-. /; . , . _■--■■.- < ' THE MILMONAIBE HIMBII/F. : ■ North's career, bo far, has lun very . much, on the lines of -Baron Grant's. I fancy, however, he is a shrewder man than the versatile Albert, and therefore likely ' to last longer. At present the City estimates him to be worth eight millions ! Colonel North's prestige arises, of course, ' in the main from the fact that he has never ' made 1 a failure in anything he has undertaken, nor been associated with one. Now; direqtly his '.name. iß. mentioned in {; connection with this mice or that ' patent, there is a rush, for shares. "If North takes it up the mine will succeed, whether there's gold there or not." I heard a city man of great experience say of some venture under discussion the ofcaer day, "He dare not let it fail, A faiure • would be too serious a thing for him." Unquestionably the Colonel, besideshaving great good luck, possesses immense ' perspicuity and knowledge of men. The way in which he converted an unpromising ' venture like the Italian Exhibition into a ' huge ' success, despite the serious draw- < backs of bad weather and Boyal disapproval, has inspired me with immense respect for the man.. He must be a genius at organisation. ' The papers are, of course, full of North and his coups, hiß presentations, his hounds, his houses, and 'his fol- ' lowers. ' I suppose there never 'was a man * surrounded by more vultures and hangers- ' on. "Catch him in a friendly mood, and," he'll as like as not -make your fortune," said Geoffrey Thorn, the other night, at the Metropole. " Why, he gave Tom : Thoxne, of the Vaudeville, a hint out of - which he's made £8000 without spending sixpence"— and so oh. • •. : ' • A PBOPOS LINES. '•'.*• George B. Simß is, as usual, on .the spot ' with some apropos lines, vide the following :— ' ' • ■ ■■■■•'■••■•. • - COLONEL CBCBSUB. ■•< . - Have yon heard of Colonel CiOius? What! yoa .haven't ? Uareonhigh. Do yon see that comet blazing in the rut flnasoial . flVvp ■ i i k :■:< •.-« ■. ; Note its size and note its splendour, and, the glory - oritstail— .- ... By its side all stars and planets stop their twinkle ' and turn pile. ' ' , / • There are people etill in Asia who bow down before the sun, ' ' ' • . And the moon ot many races has ere now their' ■ homage won; ■•■.•"•. 'V But the idol ot the moment is the comet bl th» ■ ■ : . day— ■ . . . ■ ' ■ It's to blazing Colonel Crioaeas that no end' 6t ' peoplepray.- •: When his hougemaid'in the morning goes to shake : . the mat outside, . ' There are crowds of people waiting, and the. mob ' spreads far and wide ; . >'- r , -■■ , They are waiting for the Coleuel, and they Jostle, : push, and try • , . To get near enough to touoh hinr or to catoh haa ' ; ' ' kindly eye. ' . - • t. Statesman, poet, author, actor, artist, menhant, •. and divine, ■ >••■■-. • ■:,.■■; All in humble adoration come to worship at bis. • surine; '. ' ■ ' ■- ' And their oheeke are flushed with. gladness, isft there's triuniph in their ejes, •■ ■■'•'••.•.■] '.It he gives them an allotment in hu latest eater- • prise. „-..- ■• . ... „ .■ . He's a heart heneath the wa^ifccoat that enfolds ' his spacious cbe.-t, ' ' ■ ' ■ " And a hand that fccitiers b->onty Korth and South- '• and East and West; No one asks ia vain ft favour— in his ea«y-goin» J Hewiileoattergoldenohanoes'mongthacappiian^i - . •Tery,day. . , ■ . . -. ..." . ... , ; ;..■ . Here's a health to Colonel Cwbcob— blnil, big. : : hearted millionaire'Who's donteui hia prinoely fortune with his ' : ' followars to share. ' . ■> ;■' - Bnt he moat be getting* tired -of the crowds that : daily oome, ; ;. ■: • ;■ ;■. . Greedy Lararoaes waiting at his table for a ojrumh. ' He ho» Riven them High Kiekeya and Alpacas. and the rest, ■ * „ • • • ■(■-..,■ And has told them when In Dayrates they with , profit can invest. ' * ■ ■' • ■ He has flniijr the crowd his favours; and has loaded ' all hu friends, -And. they now might leave him quiet joat to mate' - . some Blight amends. ' .' To be pestered and surrounded, morning, after- . noon, aod night, . , • --: May not aeem to Colonel Crosans a perpetual' .• ■ delight; ' ■ •■:-...'- > - • : And (shouldn't be a«tonißhedit.ott.eraQrninßL.bt'.i* ' Bhoußl my, ' • "O, her»-haDg it, yna'<« u naiianoei Do; eoa» foundjoUfgoawayt" . -