THE ROYAL TOUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7133, 25 June 1901, Page 4

THE ROYAL TOUR.

tHBTEIIDAI J S CEREMONIES. GLORIOUS WEATHER. | A d»f of wayward rauhine, oawl«a of ffau4 of shadow, nothing save the reeling, fgtUlfa bh» of farthwrt tky was surely a, fttfag tfhrtaa for the embodiment at ma> olty 1 ! big «ffert in connection with th» |taj«l rW*. Bfcill • a*"i windless, tin* air [ |»1> keenly enough with a touch of frost, Wfeidi brought the last of the "flying gold Of jh» ruined woodland" eddying lazily to tfo ground. It was an ideal New ZeaJand winter day, end beneath the benigpMifc .Wearing of its touch Christchurch Called her fairest on her honoured gutsts. ■ Tll» t»wa was early astir, fear the big • iwfow, which has been carefully nursed : i ftnd loitered into absolutely big-gooseberry n tea-serpenty dimensions, was at last to , U «prnng, in all its glory of gigantic grandeur, upon, an, appreciative colony. But there were preliminaries, and though tbt mart effective arrangements had been made nwuny little details still remained for final ttdjtatment. Royalty,' too, had other fish to fry before attempting the'joiat. So • Jar as the Duke and Duchess were concerned, the first function to claim their attention was the children's demonstration at Victoria Square. As usual, the Royal pair wereiato in starting ; ina<*d, Royalty Bids fair to be accepted as a legitmnaxe waM»ym in .New Zea.and^ ior uikpunctuaiity. It iff an uniortunate fashion to sfet in a work where Royal precedents count for as much as the aeca..ogue. However, tbab is KipUngs "other story." An eager, merry throng of animated youngsters . ' uwaruied upon the big stands in the *jqnare, warrag their toi-tois with a wild aad conveying a. ridiculous suggestion of tne animated tails of, a . {argantuan paci ox otter hounds. 1W < geatnery seeds of the plumes showered in '.■■.': "y rain of yelic.w dust over everything and ' jir-eryone, flinging witih the tenacity of a • ridow or a lawyer wherever they toucned. vhe children were soon as speckled as a lot •rf trout, but the delay ol the Duke and tactless did not damp their enthusiasm. ttro-sg in the knowledge that the Royal ■*• pair were to grace their demonstration ; ihey possessed their little souls in cniuctish §oe, and buzzed their anticipatory r« eagerly enough; Presently • the carriage rolled, up, and a shrill cheer pierced the air, before the crisp young voices broke into a lusty rase of the National Anthem. There was tittle recognition of tihe occasion by either the Duko or Duchess, who seemed rather ' to have a profound disregard, approaching almost to boredom, of th« whole function. 7t»t oarriaga was courteously hooted during tbe singing of the National An*h«m, (ton tbm at flooe drove off, So far as the yetingrtm were concerned, the. visit was mpaadj imttatitiacbary, and with the senmmmm ot flMMhood, many of tibem were *efc fivw to tmreaiata the poverty of the feeftptfen oeoorded them by both the Duke *ad Dttdt<«a, '- )& adjottrameat to th« parade ground, Hji6 Duko- was in pursuit of his tibtfge?, ft* once conveyed an impression pf moMiveneM of the much-talked of faV&W. Vh* big equate, considerably over ft mfla round, was framed by vast crowds #1 tee&K who pressed in many deep, eager fa catch a glimpe of the proceedings, in review order in the hollow paaara tfcu» formed were the troops, 11,000 ia naaiber, in all the inspiriting garb of v WW» The brightly-uniformed .staff officers, > fallaeißff hither and thither, lent an addiSwaflt not* of enlivening colour, and as tflto «y« ran down the far-stretching; front, fMtfftg ixom •erried rank to serritd 1 rank, $ w&* apparftot that here, at last, was a ttuetioa of a wholly inspiriting and moasnioiM nature. The stands were also 's&yily Ittdeft with, onlookers, all at their -trightwt and best. . The Duchess arrived - good time, and more amiable mood, in ampany witk Lord Ranfurly, and was -pua&diately followed by Lady Ranfurly jrs a, representative body of the Royal Siib». Very soon the Duke, accompanied _>y oi brilliant suite, rode- up to the salut- • Ha bfl*e, to an accompaniment . of cheers, U -far tie most- energetic yeib accorded him. ftie Elfbaaea was riding the sameYmagnifi38flt ohftfftr as he used at the Auckland p«Hew, and the Christchurch public, ' who lota ft horte to a man, and almost to , ft woman, promptly divided their atten- . iimn about equally between horse* and 1 rider, Ti« Duke, who is a past-master in - the jirt of reviews, and apparently no mean ." military expert, at once got to work and . yode round ths assembled ranks, to the ac«emp«)oim«nt of an irregular rattle of altering, Then . the- march past began, .'Vbi w iha waiting ranks resolved them|»l?es late battalions, into companies, and into uniii, mma idea of the meaning of the phroro "elevan thousand men" began fe }mrr«i» it«elf u P°a the minds of those to vham figures do not speak. Company .#ffe6f ernnptwy, battery after battery, troop ■'Kvhfir 'tioep, in a seemingly nev>er- : end;nfl: p^e^n, the soldierfl marched past, their -dteMet bajvla .vicing briskly with each other wltbtheJr martial music. The march pws flal«had, the troops formed up in ref^ff order by battaliors and marched en S»WHa towardf th« saluting base. It was '■ a final Jlluffcra-tifln of majeetic . strength — . n ipl(w^movrinif, uncoaquerable, iiastayable to« J* «P 8 k» itwlf, and the people, deeply toueh&d. oh&cred again and nprain. . The OMD^nuM halted, and the members of the j rptoirn&i &miSr> qeiita were jnarchsd loth© J #POB*, whera ' their nvttduls wer» ; pr«*«3ited >; J)jf {hn Puke In p*nwn. It was rather HRrtJ-aUmfxy, md *ugg«stiye eoniewhat of A HUPday «)ho©l pri»!6-gir!rig, and the sue madlng review of tha old veteran*, . in ( whjdh tha Ducheu OK-Lably participated. •Jw coaveved an improtman of " eetregg." altijxmiffh the Duke wa'j kindness it»elf in tt» poTJOflfll Interest he displayed in the Hoor4> ftf th« "old bs-ttlere." Ifwurallj', the Prj»u«r, as offic'fll fe.Khcr of the D*f#noa Force, vu pleaoad to roSrd th« ml&w as th« most successful and ip-ee^TO firootlon, no far, of the Rm-al tow. Probably W« colltague, the Hon J, QarroU, wao wan with difficulty re- ■ fjtrain#4 fr«m participo+ing in— w«li. in i^emcthinjf opproaehrng the " akog?th«r " — . In f3b« hftkM of bis compatriots ot R-otoru'a, : would claim prid« of placo for the rsaark- . able spec+aolen viewed at that plage. Sir J&MQh Wwd, if hi« innat* modesty would permit, jnltfht express a predilection for fha tnterwmng owemo-ny of investiture,

which was the principal attraction of the Wellington programme. Every* man's own geese are proverbially swans, but disinterested visitors, who have followed the tour to its present stage, including even those perverse and stiff-necked scribes whose duty it has been to faithfully record the Royal progress; and who, pachyder* inatous in their generation, are hard to thrill, admit, with unwontei enthusiasm, that the review has been, the feature- of the visit. Brilliantly spectacular, it lacked something of the uniqueness of the Rotcrua festivities ; magnifio&n<tlv impressive, it shared not the grace of Wellington's ceremony of investiture, btit it hod a solid backing of Imperial splendour, wWch made for enthusiasm. It was the largest function of k% sort yet participated in by th* Duke in tha oolcniee, and this lent an additional glamour to its magnificence. The Duke subsequently expressed himself in terms of warm approbation of the fearing of the men, and had a particularly warm word of «ulogy for the Cadet*. The precftoiinga were all over shftrt'y. afber wno o'olork, and as a comparatively unampertont' and formal reception, at which the Royal motto was "La/be- again," comprised the remainder of the bill for the day, our jruests were let down with yi l|ffjitnes» th«it must have been decidedly ieifrcihlng after the linked sweetness longi drawn-otri of the northern pro-grammes.