H.M.S NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1723, 14 April 1913, Page 6

H.M.S NEW ZEALAND

THE SCENE ON SATURDAY.

WATCHED BY, THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS. -■

FULL ACCOUNT OF EVENTS.

SHIP'S ITINERARY AND OFFICIAL LIST OF "FUNCTIONS.

■'This -England, never did nor neve^ shall . Lie at tho proud foot of a conqueror, ■ But when it first did help to wound itself. • Now those her'princes are como home again, ' Como the three corners of tho world in arms,: / ,-• And wo shall'shock them; naught sliaU mako us rue If England to itself do rest but true. Shakespeare—"King Joint" Umler easy steam—barely steering-way, tn fact—flying the world-famous White Ensign, trimmed to normal battle load,line, smoking all she-knew -from ..'her.three funnels, grim grey, a little fquat in appearance, as most heavy fighting ships ore, H.M.S. New Zealand moved •in over tho gale-swept harbour on Satur- ' day, punctual to tho minute. The an'cliors.were let go right to the tick of tho -time announced. Being always on the 'tick of time is "a way they have in the '•Navy." , ' ■ . - One thought" of the fine, high-pitched' .patriotic lines spoken by King John in , Slmkespearo's play of that name.' "Three '-corners of the world in .armsl"- Tes, 'that was it exactly. > The gift of snch a formidable unit to 'figure as;part of tho check to England's. , rivals was powerfully illustrative of the • Prince's home-coming with "three corners i of tho world in arms," for, very" surely '(-one now sees) the great colonies of England must be taken into grave consideration by any power, contemplating war [with. England, and if these great food(.•producing • countries upon which a 1 i ; section of 'Europe is beginning to look ;'for supplies (and will do so more and . as their,-populations increase) can :.'-only provido themselves with snlficiently I strong convoy fleets . to -ensure the safe ••passage of the fruits of the soil, they '-.will be doing much to strengthen tho i3m;pir«. , 1,. The New Zealand is a fearsome fighting 'machine—much more of her bulk is be'Jow, the water-line than above jit. . As ': sin/ steamed through jthe lights of • the ' harbour, she underwent as many ( 'changes .'in' appearance as a ■ chameleon at sport in a crocus tied. hen she first came abreast Point Jernihgham the cruiser had for'a background a grey smother of lowering clouds, which' all but obscured : the Ngahauranga-Pe.tone foreshore; and ngainst it her bulk'stood out almost black with no relieving high-lights, just a great ugly shape in- silhouette, which any schoolboy, could have sketched in a few minutes. - .• -• It was W. S. Gilbert who said that there is beauty in ugliness, and - thatclementWas discoverable in ,tlie case-of • tho New Zealand, when the clouds above her broke,' and the sun disclosed the order,cd ■ decks (with the higher freeboard of the bows steadily diminishing), her toweding fore turret, and tho great dumb guns. :. " On ths .part of the warship herself there was no evidence of joy—such might •ihave been as incongruous as a bulldog ■ bedccked in baby blue ribbon. Tho only bunting displayed; were the white ensigns • , at both mast-heads, and at the stern. For nil the gaiety she displayed, she' might | have been a funeral ship bearing ho(pe ithe body cf a'King. It was for that rea-l-son, perhaps, that, her slow, 6ilent proifere3g to her anchorage bore an extra imjipressiveness to tho twenty thousand eyes ; Rand more which- were turned to the. - ' ..- 1 In her wake came the local fleet.of (steamers—most of them black with spectators, but all strangely dwarfed in size /by the bulk of the battleship. With) -Vtiright bunting, astrcam, they fell into, s rough order astern as the warship passed {•Point Halswell, some of them keeping .too far away altogether. Owing to. the ;balf-gale blowing, the yaohts and motor'boats did not, and could not, get into (lino at all, but manoeuvredat' V safe distance „ from the steam, 'craft, and 1 afterwards circled tho warship, ( as she swung slowly Tound.to the anchor's \'rip, all making, as it were, obeisance to '.the JJIjSOOjOOO worth of steel, which the ujoifliaion. has given to .England,.*- " TOWN &/WATERFRONT; Th'e 'interest created:-was evident in 'town. Prom 1 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. the streets were practically deserted; If the -warship had got down into tho KaiWarra Sight' and' pitched a shell straight up {Willis Street the chances are that'no one ■would: have been lit, nnless it was .some shockingly unpatriotic tramcar. Tho shdps (were loyal to the core. Every .window almost boasted a liberal display of bunting in. the brightest oolouis, and correct ps to design, but tha people were either out on -the'wind-swept harbour or at some \ 'jMint of vantage along the foreshore. Soon after noon the procession steamers "began to fill np with spectators. " Tho tHuohess. was simply black with trippers, inoluding the combined: school choir and City Band (under Lieutenant .Herd); .Government officials manned |tho, Tutano-" kai and. Hinemoa, the Navy Leaguers wero ; accommodated on the staunch littlo Terawhiti, and the public swaimed on tho .iMararoa, Navua, Queen of the Sonth, and : lother steamers. Atftioro one popular placo of vantage was 'Clyde Quay and Oriental Bay, where thousands of peopla must-have assombled to ' see the ship airive. The Clyde Quay wTiarf was crowded, the Clydo Quay Parade was thickly lined with people, 'and a big orowd assembled at Fitzgerald's Point. Tho rocks and sands of Oriental Bay wero numerously peopled, and the roadway between Wilkinson's Tea Gardens and Point Jerningham was astircam with peo- ■; pie. The scene was enlivened- by the presence of hundreds of motor-cars, motor cyclos, horse vehicles, and push-bikes, tho drirars of which wore all anxious to ob- . tain tlie best view of what was going on. TTortunatoly ono place was as good as the other on Saturday afternoon. Quite a number of people climbed Mount Victoria to witness the warship entering the Heads, whilst others on the heights of . Oriental Bay, lioseneatih, and Clyde Quay had a magnificent bird's-eye view of tho ( floating pageant. Others preferred to take their view with the sun at their backs, aud for that purpose peopled the w'harves from I'ipitca Point to Lower Taranaki Street. . 4s the New Zealand dronDed anchor

close in—in a line between Fitzgerald's Point and the, King's Wlinrf-all were afforded the sight they sought. It was, unfortunate that, the weather was'not more propitious than was the case. It .was a dirty, glum morning—a lowering leaden sky, half a. gale of wind, and a flying peck of dirt for anyonowho. wanted it. At il o'clock it looked as if it were going to ; rain heavily, but an hour Liter saw a rift in tho clouds, and from that out "Old Sol" put up a bravo struggle which lasted throughout the afternoon, but tho spectacle was largely destroyed by -: the unruly state of the elements. CROWN OF FIRE. : Many people.,visited the waterfront during the evening to view the cruiser; She was readily distinguishable in the mirk of mid-harbour. High abovo tho twinkling ligrhts of her ports', jnd suspended between the two 'masts, was a crown of fire— the outline of the Imperial crown, splendidly designed in electric lights. It glowed brilliantly, in" the surrounding blackness like a symbol—the symboLof the Dominion's warm loyalty to King and crown.. OFFICIAL VISITS. After the arrival of H.M.S. New Zealand in port on Saturday afternoon, Captain Halsey, attended by Lieutenant Boyle, paid an official call on liis Excellency the Governor •at Government House. Later ill the afternoon his Excellency, accompanied by Captain Shawe, Military Secretary, and Captain Eastwood, A.D.C., returned. the official visit. The Governor was received on the board the battleship by Captain Halsey, who introduced to his Excellency tho officers of the ship. A guard of honour was mounted on tho quarter deck, and on his Excellency' leaving the battleship a. salute of seventeen guns was fired. On Saturday evening his Excellency, attended by Captain Shawe and Captain Eastwood, was present at the dinner given by the Wellington Club to Captain Halsey and his officers. The Prime; Minister and his colleagues, and also the Acting-Mayor (Mr. John Smith), members'-of the City Council,, tho Town Clerk, tho chairman of the Harbour Board R. Fletcher), most of the members of that body, and the 'secretary "to. the board, went out \n the Jauie Seddon.. The Ministers had precedence, and they went on board first. When they came down the gangway a few. minutes later, the representatives of the city and tho harbour authorities went on board, and were> presented by the Act-ing-Mayor and the chairman of tho Harbour Board to Captain Halsey. No formal speeches of any kind were delivered.