GIANT IN LOVE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2086, 22 May 1907, Page 1

GIANT IN LOVE.

PROPOSE]/ FROM AUDIENCE TO STAGE.

CHASE OVER EUROPE.

All the elements of real romance (says a London paper) are wrapped up in the story of the love of Mr. Clive Darril, an Australian giant, for Miss Mariedl, a Tyrolean giantess, and one of the tallest ladies who have ever appeared in London. The lady stands Bft 3in high, is 23 years of age, and of passably good looks. Mr. Darril is the son of a wealthy Australian farmer, hailing from Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales. He is 24 years of ago, and is no less than Bft Bin high in his boots, and broad in proportion. Up to a few months ago he never set foot outside his native wilds, but his father having died and left him a comfortable competence, he determined to leave Australia for a short time, and “do” Europe. Arriving at Vienna in January, he first saw Miss Mariedl performing at ono of the theatres there, Mr. Darril had previously expressed his intention of discovering, if possible, a lady of about his own size and build, with a view to offering her marriage. Immediately he set eyes on the tall Mariedl the Australian determined that he would wed her if the lady should be agreeable. “This is the woman,” he declared, “that I have been looking for. My ambition is to rear a race of giants for posterity to wonder at and admire.” But between the swain and the object of his affections stood the lady’s manager, who was adamant to all appeals for an introduction. Darril bombarded her with bouquets and bonbons, and sat in the stalls every night at the theatre. But he got no nearer the accomplishment of his heart’s desire. Suddenly the lady disappeared. After much difficulty he traced her to Berlin. In the German capital no better luck awaited the earnest lover. ?She appeared at another theatre, and despite appeals to her manager and letters addressed to the lady herself, Mr. Darril failed to advance his suit- At the termination, of the Berlin engagement, the young Australian discovered that Miss Mariedl’s destination was London, but, it was not until she was announced as appearing at the Hippodrome that he got the clue as to her actual whereabouts. At every performance one week Mr. Darril occupied a seat in the stalls. He renewed his appeals to the manager of the fair object of his love’ and sent her letters, but without avail.

A dramatic climax came when Sir. Darril, standing up in the stalls, addressed the object of his affections on the stage. The audience listened open-mouthed, and it was soon evident that their sympathies were with the giant Australian. "Whether the lady on the stage understood the" fuli trend of Mr. Darril’s declaration of love is an open question, seeing that she does not speak the language. Tho officials requested Mr. Darril to desist, and he left the theatre. He was again present at night and the afternoon’s scenes were repeated. Then he wont round to the stage-door in an endeavor to have a personal interview with tho lady, but he was ordered away, and tho police were called to keep out the lovesick giant. As a result of this Mr. Darril has been refused admission by the Hippodrome management. But Mr. Darril comes of good colonial stock, and is not easily beaten. He had learned that by the terms of Miss Mariedl’s contract she must' bo taken out of town every Sunday, and ho determined to follow her. Therefore,. when on Sunday the giantess drove down into Surrey, the Cornstalk followed in a motor-car, and overtook her at Guildford, where, in the Angel Hotel, they were introduced, despite opposition from the lady’s manager. by their friends the couple took lunch to--gether, and Mr. Darril seized the opportunity to advance his suit. Tho manager .ultimately relented so far as to consent to write to Mariedl’s parents and ask whether they would permit the. young couple to become engaged.

CAPTAIN COOK.

On April 28th we celebrate the arrivabof Captain Cook -and his fellowvoyagers, on board the barque Endeavor, in Botany Bay. It was the beginning of things British in Australia —a far more important event than the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock, or the entry of Raleigh’s colonists into the forests of - Virginia, It is a day that ought to be celeb'rated in a becoming manner. With regard to it, the Hon. J. H. Carruthers, Premier of New South Wales, is right in sentiment. It is the 28th of April, not the 26th of January, that ought to be the day, in 1770, when Captain Cook, the great circumnavigator, first entered Botany Bay; and therefore it was the start of British possession, and the initial step in the establishment of civilisation in the Antipodean world. That is a far more important anniversary than the proclamation of our anniversary by Captain Phillip on the banks of Sydney Cove (now Circular Quay) in 1788. ' ' ' "

It " is interesting to note the progress of Captain Cook as he sailed across what is now called the Tasman Sea. He left Cape Farewell, Now Zealand (near where Nelson is now), on" Saturday, March 31st, and at 6 o’clock in the morning of April 10th, 1770, he saw land extending fnom N.E. to W. at a distance of from five to six leagues, havingi 80 fathoms "of water, with a fine sandy bottom. He sailed westward until 8 a.m., and then bore along the shore N.E. for the easternmost land in sight, being at the time in latitude 37,58 deg. S. Cook gave the land the name of Point Hicks, because a lieutenant of that name.’had first discovered it. Then he sailed along the coast, calling another point the Ram’s .Head, another Cape Howe, and the fourth Mount Dromedary. That was the first discovery of Eastern Australia, or New South Wales, by an Englishman. Cook sailed along the coast, discovering Cape St. George on the 24th. Eater on he tried to land higher up the coast, with , Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, a South Sea Islander, who acted as interpreter, and ' four

rowers of a boat. This must 'have been somewhere above where Clifton or Bulli now stands. Captain Cook saw what he calls Indians (aboriginals), but “they ran away into the woods.” At daybreak on April 28th, 1770, tho men on the Endeavor discovered a bay, which seemod to be well sheltered from all winds, and into which it was determined to go with the ship. He sent the pinnace with the master (Mr. Molyneux) to sound the entrance, while the Endeavor kept on. Early iii the afternoon they anchored under tho southern shore, two miles within tho entrance, in six* fathoms of wator. The natives on shore do not seem to have paid much attention at first to Captain Cook and his party." The latter made advances towards them, but were repelled with scorn. The ribbons, beads, etc., which they left in a hut (or mia mia) on the top of a hill were not removed next morning, “and not an Indian was to be seen.” A party of men were sent on the second day to dig holes in the sand, where the water might gather, but going ashore a little later some of the officers found upon a more diligent search a small stream more than sufficient for their purpose. Thus passed the momentous April 28th, 1770, and its successor. After over 300 years of history, what wo call the United States have now 82 million people, though they started 130 years ago with only 3J millions. As we have five millions now, is it not reasonable to expect that we shall have about the same number in another 130 years? If so, how important becomes the anniversary of the day when Captain Cook sailed into Botany Bay, and thus virtually founded the British dominions in this part of the world. Probably Captan Cook and his companions builded better than they knew, because it is not given to aIJ men to peer into the future. It was upon the report of his voyage that the British Government, smarting under the loss of their American colonies', whch had become independent, determined to effect settlement in the great island continent to the south. Phillip and the first fleet were, therefore, sent to Eastern Australia, or N.S. Wales, as it was sometimes called. But that\was only the second great step in the matter, and therefore the anniversary of Phillips’ second lancflng—the one at Sydney Cove —ought not to be considered as the national holiday. And in connection with that settlement by Phil-

lip, what a marvellous prophecy was the ono made by Erasmusj Darwin, grandfather of the great Charles Darwin. Erasmus Darwin died in

1802, and the poem referred to was written in or about 1791.) Here are some of tho lines:

Where Sydney Cove her lucid bosom swells, Counts her young navies and the storm repels; High on a rock, amid the troubled air, Hope stood sublime, and waved her golden hair, "Hear me,” she cried, ‘‘ye rising realms record Time’s opening scenes and Truth’s unerring word. There shall tall spires and domecapped towers ascend. And piers and quays their .massy structures blend.” While with each Breeze approaching vessels glide, And northern treasures dance on every tide. Her graceful steps, descending, pressed the plain, ' And Peace and Art and Labor joined her train. . Has not that prophecy been verified almost to the last word? We have realised all that the poet predicted, and we are destined to realise still higher aiid better things. Within fifty years Australia will be the most powerful nation in the southern world. Therefore, I repeat, the anniversary of Captain Cook’s landing in Botany Bay should be our chief holiday, because it was the beginning of things British 'in this part of the world, and it was free from the sombre surroundings which accompanied the proclamation of Captain Phillip on January 26tli, 1788. —(E. W. O’Sullivan in the Sydney Morning Herald.)