Untitled

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 15, 18 June 1913, Page 8

(Continued from Page G.)

Captain Halsey, "I thank you from the 0] bottom of my heart for the welcome jj which you have given us here to-day in a| New Plymouth. I only regret that our p stay here is so short. I congratulate T the chairman of the Harbor Board on a; what he has said about his harbor. I i, look forward very much myself to comini? out here again some time, and especially will I look forward to coming alongside the wharf and berthing here." (Applause), j, Captain Halsey was then introduced . to old settlers, and to a number of Maoris, who gave him a welcome in native fashion. p AT THE OIL WELLS. c The official party, after the welcome at the wharf, proceeded, to the Moturoa ? oilfield, where Captain Halsey performed' < the ceremony of turning the oil into the refinery. The following representatives of the company were present:— Messrs C. Carter (chairman), H. Okey, . M.P., J. B. Roy and J. Little (directors), J. D. Henry (technical adviser, repre- t senting the London directors), L. Keith ' (field manager), G. S. Miller (refinery manager), and E. H. Tribe (secretary), together with Herr J. Ritter von Fedo- ( rowitz (Dominion Oil and Prospecting ] Company), Messrs P. P. Corkill (Tara- , naki Oil and Freehold Company), T. Fur- , long (Inglewood Oil Company), J. H. . Quilliam, F. T. Blundell and others. The party were shown No. 2 bore,,: and then went to No. 5 bore, where they were shown the flowing oil. They were then shown where the oil was stored, and afterwards were taken to the,refinery.: Here the chairman of the Advisory ■Board (Mr. C. Carter) made a short speech, referring to the appropriateness of the occasion that the visit of H.M.S. New Zealand should come at such a time as to enable Oaptain Halsey to turn the oil into the stills of the new refinery. Captain Halsey performed the necessary operation, and in replying to Mr. Carter's remarks, expressed the hope that the industry would prosper, and the oil "flow on for ever." COMPLIMENTARY LUNCHEON. LOYAL SPEECHES. At noon the official party arrived at the White Hart Hotel, where some seventy gentlemen sat down to luncheon. His Worship the Mayor (Mr. G. W. Browne) presided. On his right was Captain Halsey, on his left his Honor Mr. Justice Edwards, and there were present, besides, Messrs H: J. H. Okey, M.P., J. B. Hine, M.P., C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., members of the Legislative Council, the e mayors of the various boroughs throughi. out the province, chairmen of local boi dies, and of the military and civil professions. The toast list was t a brief one. After the toast of "The '- King," proposed by the chairman, had e been duly honored, his Worship proi. posed the toast of "Our Guests," 1- In the course of a short speech, he said Q the toast he had to propose was a unique e one (a welcome and a farewell)—one t that could only be the outcome of some t great upheaval of the Empire. It was e New Zealand's happy lot to discover that ). a weak link existed in the chain that it hound the Empire. Without any hesi- ).. tatipn, and immediately on.making.this t. discovery, New Zealand forged the link •e and promised another, if still a weak 1- spot existed. (Applause). That exie ample had resulted in other parts of the d Empire making efforts to strengthen up 1- and .unite in a great effort-to ensure a [t lasting peace. "Our one great wish," r n continued his Worship, "is that the Dom minion's gift may prove a messenger ie of peace in serving the Empire. We real■y ise that upon the Navy our honor—our i c very (Applause).' e . In saying farewell, we do so knowing j n that even if it is our good fortune to see i e the New Zealand in these waters again, ls she will Only return with the Flag unlß tarnished, and with honor to those who B gave her." (Applause.) jf The toast was drunk with great enuj thusiasm, and musical honors were acB f corded Captain Halsey and the officers , n who accompanied him. 0. CAPTAIN HALSEY REPLIES. , Applause, hearty and sustained, greetj ed Captain Halsey when he rose to respond. In the course of his reply, he f said that he knew perfectly well that if there was one place his men would have liked to be landed in, it would be New .'_ Plymouth. (Applause). The New Zea- " land was manned by a Plymouth crew; their depot was at Plymouth, and, speak- " ing personally, Plymouth, though not his birth-place, was yet his home. One "" of the last people he met when he left Plymouth was Mr. Spender, the head- " master of the school, and he said, "There ' is a place in New Zealand called New • r Plymouth. If you go there, will you try ' 3 ' and see a flag which the school children ' of Plymouth exchanged for one sent to lfl them by the children of New Plymouth ?" '° Captain Halsey continued that he had £ " had the pleasure of meeting the headlt master of the Central School, and "" j he hoped to see also the flag, so that '; he could take a message home to the '* .children of Plymouth. ' e "Speaking of the children," eur guest said, "I should like to say how much I ' a appreciate the trouble you have taken S J to ensure the children seeing the ship. "* I am perfectly certain that it is an Jt important thing that all your children 1- should go and see that great objeet- £> lesson. It is much more important that " they sliould be brought up with that Imperial spirit than that you older people a should go and get in their-way and pre--0 I vent them seeing the New Zealand. '■ Wherever we have been in New Zealand, you have realised this, because in every " place the children have had first place, 'e I think that this is rightly so, and that *- it is for the good of the' Dominion and the Empire. ' " * *i; "His Worship has said," concluded the speaker, "that sliould the New Zealand come back, he hoped it would be with an untarnished record. Gentlemen, I can only say that you leave the honor of the New Zealand in our hands, and that we n shall do all we can to uphold the great « traditions of the service and the Emt, pire. (Applause). lam perfectly cer- ■ - tain of this much, that we will never i, return if we have tarnished that honor." d Afterwards Captain Halsey inspected the flag he mentioned in liis address, v and in his characteristic manner he n>d marked that as the children here had had s a holiday oh this occasion, he would do i- his best to get the. children of Plymouth o a holiday when he returned to that i- city.

THE MOTOR TRIP. ( „ After luncheon, Captain Halsey and hie I F officers, escorted by his Worship the\p Mayor, Colonel Malone, Captain Lampen n and Lieutenant W. E. S. Furby, visited )c Pukekura Park and St. Mary's Church. \ They then climbed Marsland Hill, and / r afterwards motored round the surrounding country. l JOTTINGS. l s The number of school committeemen in North Taranaki is surprisingly large, judging from the number that accom- . panied the children on the Tutanekai ' yesterday. One country school was re- } presented by ten scholars and sixteen committeemen! !; Over a hundred tins of biscuits were distributed yesterday, all but a few being given away. Of the 7000 buns pro- j vided, 0000 were given away. . That the Seaside Committee know how to make good tea was demonstrated yesterday. There was no "stewing" or < •'smoking." It was, in the words of one ' old lady, "equal to what I make myself ' at home, and that can't be beat." The ! committee have learned from experience, , and leave nothing to chance. They had three large tanks heating water all day, ; and numerous coppers were employed in brewing the tea, which could be had in weak, medium, or strong quality. There was one party who expressed disappointment with the tea. "I shan't take any if you can't give me any cream with ' it, she exclaimed. She went without. The commissariat department deserve 1 the greatest praise for the excellent way ' in which they, managed their part of the | affair., Everything was as, suocessfal as ' it o'ould be. • ' - '" Owing to no private party undertaking 1 to set up a booth at the Breakwater, ■ the committee had erected a tent for the ' sale of biscuits and buns. Messrs. ! Brookes and Vinsen were in charge, and • did their work splendidly. There was a ' great and, unsatisfied demand for fruit J and lollies, and had traders set up shop ! for the sale of these necessary picnic r commodities, they must have done a ''roaring trade." There should, after yesterday's experience, be no dearth of tenders for selling refreshments in future. The crowd around the tea tanks between 3.30 and 4 was so large that one , or two of the smaller schools out Whanga way were unable to get supc plies in time. Members of the commit- '■ tee, getting wind of this, at once pro- • needed to the train and handed to the 3 teachers in the railway carriages tins of ,r biscuits with which to regale the child- '" reft. ;> The "lost children" room, conducted '■> by the W.C.T.U., was requisitioned seve eral times during the day. At the close »" of the day there were two children un- >- claimed, one from Kiore and the other y from Eltham. Mr. J. Hislop, the Gov's eminent representative, who rendered ie invaluable service during the day, got d into touch with the railway authorities, * who communicated with the parents or the friends, with the result that one was id ] placed with a relative and the other bilie leted with a local member of the ie|W.C.T.U. le The number of people who patronised is 1 the boats cruising around the warship it was comparatively small. Had they been it 1 able to board the warship, it would have i- been different. This was shown by the is rush on the launches, which tendered the ik vessel. So great was it that the sale of ,k tickets, had to be stopped at an early x- hour in the afternoon. The crowd at ie times were difficult to keep back, and ip one one occasion Marshall Bellringer had a to read the "Riot Act." Over £IOO was » taken from the sale of launch tickets, 0 . and had there been three times the numer her of launches, the demand would still t j. have been unsatisfied. ttr The wharf arrangements had to be al- )/ tered at the last moment, owing to the t „ lateness of the arrival of the Haupiri. ee The Union Company, however, rose to Dj the occasion in a splendid manner. Mr. n ' Pearson, the local manager, at once al--10 lowed numbers of the children to use the Taviuni, and Mr. Penman, the Northern n _ Company's manager, also offered the c _ Rimu, which made a special trip for the children. The changing of shipping arrangements caused a little inconvenience and delay, necessitating changing the childit. ren from one side of the wharf to the , e . other, but it could not be helped, and l le the best was made of a situation that i{ | could not have been foreseen and prove! vided for. , w | The first boat, the Tutanekai, was a . time-tabelled to leave at 8.15, but owing y . to the lateness of the arrival of the wark'. ship and the Tutanekai itself not being ot H ai l f ? r , the cllild,e, >. J * was 9.15 before the first batch went out. The last school f( . boat returned at 3.15. d- m Tli £ Tutlln ekai made five trips, re . Ea . rawa made two, the Taviuni two, the Rimu two, and the Haupiri r two trips. The launches were gome [y throughout the day. S S to t ( ? nly , °" e « an^vav ™s used on the ," Tutanekai. and the process of em- • barking n nd disembarking was verv f. 8l ? w ' t ll tilki "g over thirtoy-five a minutes each time. Had more *J gangways been available, the work could "* have been materially expedited. Mr. Dinecn, the Government officer, did splendid work in getting the children sj aboard. His previous experience-he has J been dom* the work throughout the mi tour of the battleship-enabled him to in Ca T,f ° U i- the W i )rk With **«* ™™ S s. » ♦!. I *i ° ers of the Tut anekai stated -n that the arrangements for handling the ■t- public were the best yet made at any of it the New Zealand ports. The Governl Z i°*?l (M /" Hi9l °P' Under-Secre-lc taiy for Internal Affairs) was also hi^h e- ..n his praises of the way in which ererV d. thing was carried out. "It i 9 verv d, creditable to all concerned," said Mr ' Cl ,° ek ' when the launches had rT, t] r\ lMt tri P s . there were still >: «\e • a hundred people aboard, and Mr ie Hislop arranged with the Captain of the id Tutanekai to take them off. They St m bnck rt? a,n after dark, evidently* 4S? in s.tisfied with their trip and with what ic thev had seen whilst aboard. re 1 he officers of the battleship were it much taken with the view of New Plv a- month. 'lt J. the prettiest town we r. W WPn New Ze J own we » o The Vicw from the decks ' pLi « • aVS, " P w " lndee<l * one ,1 and this was considerably enhanced bv s , the beautiful weather prevailing " ,u .riio warship has lost fifty members of d it crew since it left Home. . The ves Orel's poliso are very active now IZ h*^e. all manner of precautions To S t vent further desertion P Several members of the local Hospital

staff went aboard the warship, for the purpose of. inspecting the warship's hospital, which is considered to he the last word in hospitals. They were given an opportunity of seeing everything, and were much impressed with the appointments and equipment. There was a fair swell on early in the morning, and tendering the vessel by the small craft was none too easy One launch crashed into the side of the warship, and took off a portion of the porthole. The launch had a narrow escape. The head executive officer, Mr. F. T. Bellringer, was veritably the "right man in the right place." He had everything well thought out and organised, and there consequently was no hitch. The success of the day's proceedings was largely due to him. The Territorials under Major Fletcher, rendered invaluable service. Without the troops the work could never have been carried out as successfully as it was.

The school children were under the di"rnction of Mr. 11. Trimble (chairman of the Education Board), Mr. P. S. Whitcombe (secretary), and Inspectors Ballantyne and Whetter. They did splendid work, as did Captain Rogers (late of the Imperial Army), who directed the movements of the children after they arrived at the Breakwater.

The Taranaki Garrison Band arrived on the scene in the afternoon, and discoursed an acceptable programme of music.

The problem of ministering to the wants of the inner man was handled in a most efficient manner, if the quantity of tea, sugar, and milk dispensed to the children by the committee is any criterion.- The fact that 150 .Hm of tea, 0 bags of sugar, arid' 70 gallons of milk were served out seems to indicate that everyone's wants were satisfied. If they were not, it certainly was not the fault of the committee.

The steamers were kept busy throughout the afternoon in cruising round the battleship, affording a very good view of the monster at close quarters. At about five o'clock the New Plymouth station held a crowd such as is seldom seen there, all waiting for the homeward; trains. The streets were thick with brakes and traps, whose happy young occupants gave ample vocal testimony Unit they had spent one of the happiest dnvs of their lives, and those who Have worked so hard must be recompensed by the knowledge that the visit of H.M.S. SJew Zealand has been a happy day for the children of Taranaki. It is estimated that close on 20,000 people visited Moturoa yesterday. The vailway traffic returns for the day aggregated olose on 10,000 passengers, including town and country, and about 10,000 visitors came per "shanks' pony," motor car, and other vehicles from all parts of the district. The total ship takings were not available last evening, but it is --estimated thev will run into about £4OO. . One satisfactory feature of the proceedings was the entire absence of acci-

dent in any form. Considering that there was the largest crowd ever assembled in

Taranaki, this is something to be grateful for. It says much, too, for the behaviour and ordliness of the Taranaki public.

Two young fellows were found \iear the refreshment booth showing' signs of They were promptly shown off the place. His Worship the Mayor is well satisfied, with" yesterday's, results.■•'.. "Far bett6r than I thought they'would," he said to a "News" reporter'last night. Mr. .Browne did not spare himself over the affair and made a capable chairman of the committee in charge. Never in the history of New Plymouth bave so many motor ars been Been together as at Moturoa yesterday. The number of vehicles, too, was very large. Owing to the Tutanekai not tendering the warship, the Taranaki Veterans were unable to board her. This was a great disappointment to them, as it was also to the committee, who, had they known in time, would have made other arrangements for getting them aboard. A searchlight display which lasted over half an hour was given by the New Zealand before leaving. Each of the searchlights is of 32#W candle power, and the effect on the sea, sky, and neighbourhood was both weird and extraordinary. The beams were manipulated seemingly with the greatest of ease, and the variations were surprising. The 'busses and other vehicles plying for hire reaped a harvest, the like of which they never before experienced. They probably would like a Dreadnought here two or three times a year. Mr. Flannagan's donkeys were in great request .on the beach, which was thronged with myriads of happy youngstew. Donkey races were organised which generally resulted in the donkeys reaching the winning .post without their riders. Children's races were also held and the youngsters were regaled with a plentiful supply of lollies. PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN POST. During the morning, Command sr brace sent a cutter to the Tutanekai and asked Captain Post of that vessel to attend on board the TT.M.S. New Zea- £ n m Ca P tain Pos t. as commander of the Tutanekai. has tendered H. M. S. New Zealand during her stay in the Dominion, and Commander Grace, mi behalf of Captain Halse.v and the officers of the ship, made him a presentation of a solid silver cigarette case, ssuitably inscribed. Commander Grace eulogised the splendid work done by Captain Post in all ports, and also the ready manner in which he had acquiesced to any requests made by the battleship. In concluding, he expressed the wish that Captain Post would long be spared to use the gift. Captain losts health was then toasted enthusiastically by the ward room officers. Captain Post, in responding, said that he was pleased to know that his workwas appreciated by the captain and officers of the New Zealand. He had endeavoured to do his best in this as he had clone through life.