AT MOUNT VIEW.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 902, 23 August 1910, Page 6

AT MOUNT VIEW.

THEIR EXCELLENCIES' NEW HOME. A GLANCE AROUND. Lady Islington, wife of his Excellency the Governor, is due to. arrive in "Wellington from London on Thursday morning. The part that Governors' wives have always played ,in AVellington, not only in the graceful amenities appertaining to social life, but in more vital questions affecting the interests of women and children, lias already aroused considerable scuriosity among our lady-folk in her Excellency's coming, and many will l)o anxious to see the lady who must ever be regarded as the social head of the State. A Dominion representative yesterday paid a visit to the new Government House at Mount A 7 iew (where his Excellency and staff are now ensconced). "Wonders have been'done in the last month to the grounds on both the north and south aspects. The ground which stretches away from the northern front towards the fence-line (at the rear of those, private premises which stand back from Adelaide Road), has been beautifully turfed, with exception of the asphalt lawn tennis court (which needs levelling up at one corner badly). The bank on the eastern side of the drive is'being turfed in one part and planted with shrubs in another, whilst a little shrubbery, has been planted near the entrance gates on the opposite side to the guard-house—now in course of erection. The transformation which has been effected in the. grounds on the southern side is even s more striking. What was- a veritable chaos of broken masonry, old tins, and timber a few weeks ago has been laid down in lawns and flower beds, divided by broad gravel drives and walks. The old concrete fountains, which were familiar features in the courtyards of the building recently demolished, now stand in the centre of what promises to be a. fine garden plot in front of the carriage entrance. The space between the drive and the building has been laid down in turf, as green and already as-smooth' as a billiard table.

An American visitor. to one of "the stately homes of England" is said _to have been smitten with the perfection of its lawns, and approached the head gardener "to get wise."' "?Jow, say," said the -American, "how long did that lawn take to make, stranger, three. -or. four years ?" "Six hundred and forty years come Michaelmas,'.' was the imperturbable reply. "Wall, after that," said the abashed American, "I guess I'll-stick to tomatoes!" Lawns .do _ take many years to get into proper trim, but a very admirable quality of turf has been secured for patchwork in the new viceregal grounds, and yesterday it looked as -green as an emerald and as flat as a bond.

Inside there is a good deal of bustle, incumbent on the settling down process, and the whole place smells rather distressingly new. The mingled odour of tho spirits,* from the varnish,-paint, polish, and size still clings to the dadoed corridors, and the delicately-tinted rooms. Some of the bedrooms ' are lined with plain canvas, which looks very like the promise of .a recrudescence of the tapestry wall-decorations of mediaeval times. The house is bustling with servants imported from England, who arc all intent at present in making.ready'.for the'reception of Lady Islington and her daugli-. ter. - .