Prince in a Street Mart

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 May 1927, Page 6

Prince in a Street Mart

A Mannequin Who Wasn’t Wax LONDON. April 7. Into all the hustle and uproar of a crowded London street market at 'Woolwich yesterday afternoon —somewhat unexpectedly—stepped the Prince of Wales. He was passing the market on l\is to the headquarters of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society to visit the Co-operative Exhibition in the nine acres of Thames-side docks bought by the society and christened Commonwealth Buildings. His decision to walk round the street market was taken in response to an invitation that he should visit the stalls tendered to him recently by the Street Traders’ Association of Woolwich. Tightly sandwiched in the crowd, he submitted good-humouredly for a time to all the pushing entailed. Then, when women shoppers recognised him, the crowd melted in front of him to enable him to pass. Pelted With Flowers Stall-holders pushed forward with hands extended and the Prince bestowed a handshake on as many as possible. Others, who realised the helplessness of trying to reach him, pelted him with daffodils and other spring flowers. “Good shot!” he laughed as a yellow bloom hit him on the shoulder. He was shown the fruit stalls and oldclothes stalls and put many questions to his guides, among whom was Sir W. Joynson-Hicks. The Prince and the stallkeepers joked with each other, some of the latter holding up their wares for inspection and asking such questions as “What do you think of that for a banana, your Royal Highness?” and “Aren’t they beauties?” As the Prince passed on from a stall at which bananas were submitted for his inspection one trader exclaimed, loudly enough to be heard by all the members of the royal party, “He didn’t see a straight banana.” More than 30,000 people cheered his arrival at and departure from the Cooperative Exhibition, where he stayed for more than an hour. He asked many questions about the site—formerly part of the dockyard—particularly as to what use was made of it in wartime, and was pleased to hear that it was again to provide employment for many hundreds of people. Jam and Pottery There was a general laugh when, while inspecting a fashion display, the Prince showed sudden surprise when a figure clad in a fashionable frock moved slightly. “Do you know,” he said, “I have been looking at the mannequins for quite a long time under the impression that they were wax.” He was particularly interested in an exhibition of jam and conserve making, and discussed for a few minutes a furnishing scheme for a bungalow. Pottery making on an old-fashioned potter’s wheel also held his attention. After he had talked with concert artists lie shook hands with Mr. J. Oliver, conductor of the St. Hilda’s Colliery Band, showing in his conversation that he had followed closely the prize-winning career of this Northcountry band and the growing keenness at band contests in this country.