MR ARCHIBALD FORBES AT GREY TOWN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1324, 10 March 1883, Page 2

MR ARCHIBALD FORBES AT GREY TOWN.

i Mv Forbes the world j renowned war correspondent who is it present on a leo(taring tour "in. ibis bonntry paid, a iyisit-tq j Grayiown at the request of five gentlemen, j who guaranteed him a certain sum and ; his expends-paid' if be would g)va ;o'neof, his famous lectures," Mr Forbes Arrived' by the noon train and took up his quarters at the (Jreytqwn,- Hotel, where he shortly after waited qu by His W°"hip the' Mayor, Mr F. H. Wood,,', who.gave him a hearty welcome to the town.' Mr Wood afterwards took Mr Forbes for a drive to see. the. surrounding diatrict. Papawai was,first, visited, where'Mr Forbes in}er»jeife(}' the »aiivea/ i aiid [expressed hiinaelf pleased'with tbeirHd-' 1 vanced state of civilisation and the good hahilajionsjibut; unfortunately ■Manihera the cliief was absent frohi the settlement. Mprrjson's fiush and Waihenga were then visited, and MV.- If«r-bes was muoh pleased with the; country, -and compared it favorably with any place he Had seen. lu ihe evening the TovrnHall w»s crowded in every part, between 20Q and W per sons being present, The small committee had worked : hard, and considering tho Bhort nptjce,. with evident success, and had a proper audience, to meet , the jeotqrer. We «ve K'ad.to know, that it waa : also a financial success, there boim; a small surplus over the liiiaranffle, wltioh the pomn)it;ee. intend ; over to Bome Ipca] ioatitutiou, Mr Forbes commetioed his lecture by first giving his' ideas of what attributes a war correspondent abonld be blessed with such as agift pf topgups, European,: Aswtio, and African, strength' sufficient to 'ride on horseback for five days', and subsist for two days without food, have a temper as even as it woman's, and still be big enough and ugly enough to take his own part if necessary. He imagined Julius Ctesar would have made a good war correspondent if he did not have such a wish to conqutr nations or lead armies. He then commenced bis personal experience! of the Franco-Prussian war, and held his listeners enthralled, by his stories of and bbpr,> flnly 'to fopi'lbem to laughter by some i-jriaint remark, or the recital of .some ambsjng The Sflige of Paris, his on trance there, the state of the city, i|ie fearful of the' Opi)imi)ne wiff) fhejr fearfgl of hort'ora, were all rapidly dealt with, Then followed the Turko-ltussian war, tales of heroio bravery pnd terrible .disaster; the orossing of tho Danube by the Russians in the small hours of the- moWing in pontoon boats; the terrible fire of the Turks; and the irresislable charge of the Russians up the. slope.were most graphicly given'; he being a close spobtatorof tlie terrible contest, in fact having gone over jn the third boat that orossed. Then followed in duo pourse. thg figl}t in front of Plevna,'where a'E'assian'ueneral lost an army; the the' repulse,- the groans of the dyiiifj' and'wounded ; the powerful emotions of those who witnessed the Russian soldiers without 'fenders; not Nil!}!?' whether t" advanco orVretire', arid tho feolin'| of djsasfe'r, AH were portrayed in a" powerful ipannor.' He then apspribed jiisride tpßucharest,and bis intervjew with His, Jrnppriai ilaje.sty. iho Czar, and gaveto grand piotijirejpf'thej tvvp Bcprjpa; tljeCzar ijs lip appeared at" the front, and in all Hiß jrflpenftl.potflp and splendor in St. Pefersbitrg two! months later on. He next touched slightly on the-Afghan .'War^and then;' wont on ,to Zululand, .where'he described 1 ! ihe appearance of the battlefield after the terrible catastrophe to the English Anny, also tho incident of the winning [of jhei Victoria Cross by Captain Beresford and Sergeant. OToole; the finding of the body of the Piince Imperial; and terrible defeat of the Zulus. Tnise'hded this most able lecture.- -It jsimpossible togive'a'ny idea of the feeling of the audienee while listening to Mr 'Fdifios.""He"*pj;do'eodi from solomn to gay and.'gay lb; solemn in! a most remarkable manner, Some of his pathetic .portions'; bringing'.' tears of sympathy/andnoxt'moment his recital of a droll house'with 1 laughter,' Mr purhes ana-''his. stylo, has been so often wri'ten of it is unnecessary to say-more fin -the subject. 'The audience was a mqst attentiye.on throughout, and Mr Forbes wished -Mr Wood to, express to thp masters and children of tho school the great- pleasure ]|p experienced in witnessing the very quiet and orderly manner in which the ebh'ool chjldren/.conducted themselves. He alsp told Mr Wood, with whom : he stopped for a time after'the lecture, that he fiad never lectured to a better or more appreciative audience,