WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 17 August 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE AMERICAN FLEET. THE CAPITAL'S WELCOME. {Special to “Guardi-.n”.) WELLINGTON, August 13. The welcome given to tlie American Me-: on Tuesday was spontaneous, hourly am! dignified. l’raetically the whole population of l He city turned out. at one point or another, to see the oreat ships make their way up th.- harbour ami to pay its tribute to the mighty nation they represented. Ibo ofiieiai ivcoption at the Town Hall was tree from stilted tonnalilies and the speeches were east in the happiest vein. That of the Prime Minister appealed partioularly to the big audience . iM d wa ■ tm.netuated by frequent marks ,)•' warm approval. “I had the pM\i-!,-je of commanding some of your men ;he front line during tlm said Mr ( neles m claiming tie kindred of the two nations. •■'Alien I -ev 'rommnmled’ I mean that I ''.as given a oininiiity with a I nited States officer in charge of it. We were sups posed to teach them their mb. but they knew as much about it ns we did. Those fellows were as good as gold and as game as pebbles.” The Mayor emphasised the bonds of blood and tradition bolding the two nations together and recalled the dramatic rescue of the refugees at, Russell by the Aii’iOrier.n sloop St. Lewis away hack in the middle lorties: while Sir Robert Stout commended to the nations the example of the I'nited States and Canada in living side by side in peace ami harmonv without any suggestion of military aggression. Mr 11. 10. Holland. the leader of the Labour Party, managed to say daring tilings without offending against the proprieties id the occasion.

AMERICAN SAILOR MEN. To biased eves accustomed in the - mil rt appearance, alert hearing and easy movements ol the British Tuck Tar the American sailor appeals in the Wellington streets more than a little behind his prototype in these respects. To begin with he seems to tie atrociously dressed, lie wears a white head-piece, a sort of compromise between a pastry-cook's rap or hat and a girl's knitted romping cap. It is worn in a score of different ways, according to the whim of the wearer. "bo toatmoiii.se* with no otlier part of the turn out. Then the jacket of navy blue is tie]it and Inna;, wholly unlike dark 'lav’s upper garment, and the trousers are close-fit ting or baggy, long or short, again, presumably. according to the whnm.ol the wearer. "I ,e toutensemble” is completed in many cases by the addition of a pair of gloves, an article of attire which .lack Tar never a heels in temperate zones and probably would make him look grolrsipm anywhere. Lurther. a great majority of the rank and tile ol the visitors look extremely young, between nineteen and l wen I y-lour seeming to re the •ip;., class into which seventy-live per ceili of them would fall. Ihe men march poorly, without' any ol the suing and rvthm of British sailors, and even without keeping step, a trifling detail they ignore altogether when on leave. The officers, on the oilier hand, possess all the best physical chnraoteristits, dress t-l-eir parts appropriately and attend punctiliously j to the demands of their profession. STATE ElVl'l ATIOX. The reappearance in the ifoe.-e »f 1 li. of the Religious Exercises in Schools fid!, promot 'd by some of (he ( lntrehes and fathered lor legislative purposes by Mr 1.. M. i-itt. is creating a little commotion in political circles. Mr Isitv- entered the House some fourteen years ago a - an nut-sin.l-out snpnavl.ev of the "free, secular and compulsory’'system of education and until he accepted the marge of the Churches latest, assault upon that system he had been generally regarded its ore of its stoniest upholders. Rut the utt tuber for Ch.t istehnreb North has changed his views up. u mniiv political que.-ta.in- during the last two or 11 i .os r- a ltd it need mo ho entiled to his discredit I hat lie has i allied lot im a-.sl-.ta in o of I I c f iiurelies ill their present eantpaigu it is a lit tic unfortniiate for himself, hnwetor, that he has nhrn(l nietl his convictions on this part miller question Oil the eve of las rettre-ii-1-t.t from polities, when Ids constituent-. will have no opportunity to free him iron) the (barge oi ineotisisteiley. .Members of the House, who had hem spending their "Elect Holiday" away Irena Wellington, have hurried hack I r ill North and Smith determined t l-esi.-l 1.1 ti e hr I ditch, ill- pnssag. of Mr Isju’s "baby." and judgir lime the the mrUMiro lasi -o -ion all their voles will la- require, to prevent it making lurther progtes; (luring I lie present session. The Ho t eminent, in iieeorda m e wit it its main Pui,,me nf ike "'.'dnsM-v policy." wi! treat it as a non-pari.v measure am supporters of ill*- ihii. so tar. It.-tvi dun,- much more active lobbying, that ha i! s onnonenl s. WEI.I.INCTOX SHOW. The Wellillgt.nl Show, which close: ai the end of the’ current week, hut this war proved a very graltiyitn: mich'ss, both eduealionally and fitinn ciallv. 'I he wot weather, which wouh lone interfered seriously, if not disas troitsly, with an outdoor attraction o any kind, has been really tut assist aiue lo this well-housed display o products and industries, with its in numerable stalls and side-shows. J lion sands of people who would not ventin': cut to fool Inti I matches or pictur shows have made their way to tin great sheds on the Eipiien Wharf on: found the cheapest two or three hour onlei lainiuen.t to ho found within tin city. Htu the Show deserves a ltighe compliment than this. Thanks inaittl to the efforts of it dozen individual working under exceptional diflieultio the show is well equipped in alnios e'.'erv department and has been adtuirahlv run hv a small staff' of efficient officials. It necessarily partakes largely of the character of a bazaar, hut the industrial and produce classes are exceptionally well filled and the exhibits of -hoop and fat cattle, though limited in mi tit hers and variety, are equal in quality to anything seen at the metropolitan agricultural shows. The success of this year's effort lias assured 'the continuance of the exhibition and if Wellington will earnestly apply itself to the development m the display it will relieve itself from a reproach under which it lias been labouring for many years.