Hamilton Welcomes Royal Duke

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19462, 29 December 1934, Page 7

Hamilton Welcomes Royal Duke

VV7HEN Prince Henry, Duke of ** Gloucester, takes his departure from Ohaupo this afternoon he will have covered in a remarkably short space of time one of the greatest dairy production centres in the world. Hamilton and the Waikato have taken especial pains to ensure that his welcome should be pf. an enthusiasm worthy of the loyalty which exists in this district, and the visible evidences provided by the displays of; bunting have given to Hamilton and Cambridge an air of more than usual significance.

The presence in Hamilton this morn-

ing of crowds of visitors was the first human demonstration of the warmth of the welcome which awaited His Royal Highness. The enforced curtailment of his stay in the Waikato could have caused no greater disappointment to residents of the district than it has caused to the Duke himself. His interest in the country life of New Zealand and Australia has already been made manifest at many stages of his tour, and it can be taken for granted that he would have found delights and interests in this part' of New Zealand which would have charmed him. r

The programme which was finally mapped put for to-day provided oppor-

tunities for a fairly comprehensive, although necessarily concentrated, inspection pf the chief features of the Waikato. The business centre, Hamilton, offers a very good example of the progressive provir/iial town, which has now begun to cast off the minor uglinesses associated with mushroom growth. Cambridge, and its environs, should provide His Royal Highness with a strong reminder of the English countryside. Its quiet serenity, its wooded lanes and byroads, and the snug seclusion of its situation on the banks of the Waikato River, possess an old world beauty which few towns in this Dominion can claim.