THE PRINCE'S RECEPTION AT NELSON.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 489, 10 April 1869, Page 2

THE PRINCE'S RECEPTION AT NELSON.

The Nelson papers seem to be actively preparing for the arrival of the Prince, but they are not altogether agreed as to the manner of his receptiou. First they disputed as to the ball-room, but the Committee have finally decided in favor of the Provincial Buildings, and against the newHospital, though it is larger and was most popular. Now they contemplate a triumphal arch in the niches of which, it was proposed by some brilliant genius, ten of the fairest maidens in Nelson should be placed, dressed in white, and showering roses on the Prince. The Colonist, however, imagines that the chaff of the street boys, the jests of the Prince and suite, the merriment of the Galatea messtable, the jeers and cheers of the crowd, and above all, the nickname which would for ever attach itself to corps of actors in these new poses plastiques —will, save the city from an exhibition as painful as it would be out of place. A specimen of Nelson production and manufacture is to be presented to the Duke of Edinburgh by Mr James Smith, an old soldier of the 58th Regiment. It represents wood, gold, copper, and leather, the production of this Province. It consists of a stick made of ake ake (or everlasting wood) tipped with Nelson copper, having a ferule at the handle made of Nelson

gold, a tassel of Nelson leather, and topped by a turned piece of bone, believed to be a whale's tooth taken from Hoke's pa in the early war of 1856. The chasing of the massive gold ring round the junction of the handle with the stick is very rich and well executed, and in the flowered scrollwork of the chasing are distinguishable the words "Nelson Gold." Countersunk on the top of the handle is a gold plate, on which is engraved the following inscription, surmounted by a figure of the sphinx, the badge of the 58th Eegiment:—" H.E.H. the Duke ot Edinburgh, from James Smith, an old soldier of the 58th Eegiment, Nelson, N.Z., 1869."