THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTS EXHIBITION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8410, 26 April 1907, Page 7

THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTS EXHIBITION.

* —■ {From Our London Correspondent.) LONDON, February 24. Mr Reeves accepted the invitation to be present at the opening of the r above Exhibition, yesteulay, sit the Horticultural Society's Hall, West.minster, by the King and Queen. The South Africans are lucky in getting such an excellent "leg-up" —the occasion was one to be well remembered. Large numbers of people assembled along the short route between Buckingham Palace and the Hall, traversed by their Majesties on the way. Carriages •conveying the Prince and Princess of Wales, with an escorfcof Life Guards, passed before the Royal procession. Prince and Princess Christian, '■" Princess Louise , Duchcfs of Argyll, and the Duke of Argyll were also in • advance Short though it was tie Royal procession was seen to excellent advantage as it emerged from the gates of the Palace. The polished accoutrements of the escort of Household Troops glistened under the

bright winter sun, and the scarlet

,-.vliveries, of the attendants showed up >- ' well in the clear atmosphere. The Royal carriage, drawn by four bay hursts, appeared first. The .second and third carriages, each alto drawn by four bay horses, conveyed respectively the Earl of Sefton, Master of the Horse, the Duchess of Buccleuch, Mistress of the Robes, • the Marchioness of Lansdowne, Lady in Waiting, rhe, Hon. Charlotte Knollys, Woman of the Bedchamber, and Viscount Althorp, Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Granard, Lord in Waiting, the Earl Howe, Lord Chamberlain to the Queen, and the Hon. Henry Stonor <Groom in Waiting. The King's two Equerries in Waiting Captain the Hon. S. J. Fortescue, and Major F. C. G, Ponsonby were in attendance on horseback. Their Majesties were as usual, cheered along the whole route. Aniorg those present were the Spanish Ambassador, the Portuguesa Minister, the Danish Minister and Madame de Bille, the Argentine Minister, the Belgian Minister and Countess de Lelaing, the Greek Minister, the Netherlands Minister, the Norwegian Minister, the Swiss Minister, the Swedish Minister, the Duke of Abercorn, Lord and Lady Strathcona, Mr A. Lyttelton and Mrs Lyttelton, Mr ~" W. Churchill, The Countess of Lyt- / ton, the Agents-General for the Colonies, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, the Mayor and Mayoress City of Westminster, Alderman George A. Berkeley, Alderman Lieut.-Colonel Clifford Probyn, Councillor H. J. Greenwood, Councillor L. Duval Hall, Sir Trevor Lawrence, President of the Royal Horticultural Society, and Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Sir W. Carrington. The purpose of the Exhibition will be best described by giving in full the address which was read by Captain Bam :■—"May it please your Majesties: We, the Chairman and Members of the Executive.Committee of the South African Products Exhibition, London, 1907, venture, with our loyal duty and greeting, to welcome your Majesties in the name of the Administrations of your Majesty's five colonies in South H*Africa. This Exhibition is the result of the joint efforts of the South '" African Governments and your Majesty's subjects to bring in a practical manner before the people of the United Kingdom a representation ; of the resources and products of the sub-continent. It represents a new and gratifying movement in South Africa for the products of the soil and for the increase of their number, not only for home consumption, but for export i n Great Britain and other countries. If such a happy result could be achieved, it will not only promote the prosperity of South Africa, but increase its purchasing capacity, and tend to augment the value of the colonies as markets for British manufactures. It is with this twofold object that your Majesty's loyal and humble subjects in South Africa have prepared and submit to you the large collection of typical products now arranged in this building. Rejoicing that the colonies of South Africa have thus been drawn together in new|industrial developments, we take % this opportunity of conveying to your Majesty, in the name of the Governments and people of South Africa our and their unalterable loyalty and attachment to yotir throne and person. And in tendering also our heartfelt gratitude for your Majesty's gracious presence here to-day, accompanied by Queen Alexandra, we do but express to your Majesty the unanimous sentiments of all South Africans. On behalf of the Executive Committee —P. C. Van B. Bam, chairman;H. Handcock, secretary." An interesting part of the performance was the unexpected knighthood of Capain Bam, to whose untiring efforts the Exhibition may be said to be greatly due. At a break in the proceedings the King and Lord Elgin were seen whispering together, and the King turned to an officer in attendance. The officer unsheathed his sword, and at the same moment Lord Elgin motioned to Captain Bam. And before the crowd realised exactly what had occurred, Captain Bam had knelt down before his Sovereign, the King had touched him lightly on each shoulder with ' the sword he had borrowed, and Captain Bam was a knight. Sir Pieter Bam then proceeded to discharge the interesting duty of presenting, on behalf of the people of South Africa, out of shilling subscriptions collected alike from colonists of Dutch and English descent who fought on both sides in the war, to the King a walking stick of P rhinoceros horn, and to the Queen a fan of ostrich feathers mounted in South African gold. Their Majesties received their gifts with much graciousness, smiling at the new knight's regret that the SouthjAfricans had not yet seen their King and Queen. ' Their Majesties and their Royal Highnesses then made a tour of the buildings examining the products of all the colonies, which brought the proceedings to a close.