The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 6, 1902. AMERICA’S VISITOR.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 357, 6 March 1902, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 6, 1902. AMERICA’S VISITOR.

Jt is the most popular and the most accomplished of the I-lohenzollerns who, is on a visit to America as the guest df the nation and the personal retire“Tvrmafir jt 1 . 'of iVilYlhTi'h’) 1 . ’“W/iVC Henry of Prussia, the Kaiser’s only brother, is indeed one of the few princes in Europe who fulfil the romantic ideal of what the son of a royal house should be. A navigator, a scholar, a musician, handsome and dignified in appearance and lovable in personality, His Royal Highness will decidedly be the most interesti’ng visitor the United States has seen in many years. And there is every reason to believe uiat the olive branch of which ‘it is his mission to offer afresh will be extended by a most graceful hand. Henry, the sailor prince of Germany, “ Unser Heinrich,” as.lie is affectionately called, is now forty years old, having been born on August 14, 18(>2. Among the many points in which he offers a striking contrast to his brother, the limperor, none is more significant than the fact that,he was the favotile sen of both .his mother and father, and that he was loyally devoted to them both at a time when William then Crown Prince, was pursuing a decidedly unfllial course. Personally, Prince Henry is a little less tall than his brother, but is far more symmetrically proportioned, and so well have his twenty years of seamanship agreed witli him that lie gives an impnssion of perfect health. He has a handsome face ana head, and wears a close-trimmed blonde seal'd end moustache, after the fashion of the present Piince of Wales, his cousin. The Prince began his nautical career as a mere boy, and during the years when his older brother was being very carefully coached for the responsibilities of sovereignty the young Prince was making tours of the world under careful guidance, learning the many lessons which foreign ports could teach him, and becoming pretty thoroughly informed as to the requirements of the Imperial navy. When ho became full grown he formally entered tLe navy as a minor officer, and has ovcl since pursued a career of bravery and distinction, for which it is claimed liis brother has but inadequately rewarded him. Although it was his fate to play but an obscure part in history, while his brother has the opportunity to secure immortality, be I s by no means without honor in his own country, and is the hero of countless anecdotes. He was a lighthearted, lovable fellow in his school days., with a keen sense of fun. One day while rambling through the palace grounds at Potsdam he began plucking flowers and handi nß them to his sister Charlotte. A newly engaged elicit'd ian walked up to j the children and warned them that the pursuit was forbidden. When ho found that the boy was not disposed to bo docile the custodian said, “ Come with me, little fellow, we shall have to see about this. “ With pleasure,” answered the boy, ‘-but I must first go and inform my papa.’ “ Where does your papa live ?” “ Over there "—pointing to the palace—“and lie is the Crown Prince.” In his earlier life he was accustomed to speak quite frankly to his elder brother. ‘’Oh, I am not afraid of him,” he said once. “ I have read that since the French Revolution he has no power over. me. ’ Among the studies which the young Prince pursued at this time was the science of making clocks. It was the belief of the late Emperor that every member of a Royal House should provide for all possible vicissitudes by learning a trade, bo while Henry was learning to be a clock maker the present Emperor was acquiring a complete knowledge of glove-making. Prince Henry was twenty-six years old before he thought of marrying. Then he fell in love with his cousin, Princess Irene of Hesse, third daughter of Queen Victoria’s favorite daughter, Alice, and sister of the Czarina of Russia. The match was strongly opposed by Prince Bismarck because of the near relationship of the royal lovers. But the sailor prince was so thoroughly in love that his father, the Emperor Frederick, then sufiering from his mortal illness, strongly wished to indulge his favorite son, and the Chancelloryielded. ' The marriage took place shortly before the Emperor’s death. It was to this lovable prince rather than to his brother that the late Emperor Frederick wrote on a slip of paper when he was nj longer able to speak) 11 You at least have

never given me a moment's sorrow, and will LUHko as good a husband ns you have been a loving son.” And after his death

it was found that lie had left the bulk of his fortune to this well-loved son, who is therefore financially independent of the imperial whims of his despotic brother. Since then the life cf the brother of flic Emperor has not been the happiest in the world. Many of his disappointments are due to the jealousy of the Kaiser, who could not very well help being aware of the fact that iiis brother was vastly move popular than lie, and that there was a strong hope that Henry might supplant his brother in the sovereignty. So two

months after the wedding, when the Emperor made his brother a commander in the navy, he also stationed him at Kiel, which is a quiet, dreary port where, when not in actual service, the prince must stay without budging except by explicit permission from the Emperor. The prince and princess, with their three children,

live in the royal castle at Kiel. The eldest child, Prince Waldemar, who iias already been enrolled in the army and navy by a foinial ceremony conducted by the Kaiser, is a tragic reminder to his parents of the wisdom of Prince Bismarck’s warning, inasmuch as he. is deaf and dumb. On various occasions, when the Emperor’s ealousy is supposed to have broken out jt fresh, Prince Henry lias beer, banished to England or some other foreign country. These incidents have received perhaps more notoriety than they deserved. At all events it was probably for no such reason that he was suit in 181)7 to China, to look after Germany's interests there. On leaving on his mission Prince Henry made i lie only speech which lie himself says he ever made. Perhaps if he had made more of them the Emperor might have detected a satirical quality in this one, which addressed him as “ Most serene and mighty beloved Emperor,

King and Master and Lord, for ever and ever.” As it was, however, tiie Kaiser thought the remarks very graceful and appropriate. The prince, by this time become an admiral, performed his diplomatic duties in China With distinguished success, and is the cnlv foreign prince ever honored by an interview with the Dowager Empress of China, whom lie describes as “ sublimely stolid.”

A meeting in regard to the Seddon testimonial takes place to-morrow evening.

A meeting of suppliers to the Kia Ora factory is to be held to-morrow night. The Zealanclia Quadrille Assembly’s season commences this oxening.

Boys are warned that they will get into trouble if they damage the trees along the river bank.

Applications for the position of caretaker of the Poverty Bay Park will be received until noon to-morrow.

The annual meeting of the Poverty Bay Hunt Club will be held on Saturday afternoon next.

The Makauri school concert will ho held this evening, and promises to bo largely attended.

The Cook County Council invite tenders until noon on Saturday for various road works. Messrs Common, Shelton and Co. and Messrs Wyllie and Mason hold their monthly stock sales at Waerenga-a-htka to-day.

Messrs ’Wjyllio and Mason and Messrs Common, Shelton and Co. hold their monthly stock sale at Waerenga-a-htka to-day.

In the Poverty Bay Rowing Club s trial four race last evening B. Williams crew defeated J. Webb’s crow by a couple of lengths. This evening J. Pool’s crew meets H. Taylor’s crew. II is believed that all accounts against the school picnic committee have now been sent in. The finance committee met and passed accounts, end payment awaits the claimants at ihe office of the secretary, Mr Geo. Stubbs. Messrs 1-1. Sandlant and Co., the well-known tailors of Gladstone KoaJ, have a special advertisement in this issue drawing attention to the fact -t-tmt, they have received then winter open for inspection'. from the best manufacturers, and include some specially attract;' e lines. The Waiapu races take place on the 22nd of March, and to judge by the number of horses to be seen daily in charge of trainers, it is going to be a big meeting. The course is at Waiomatatini, where the great Maori hui is to be held on or about the same date as the races, whereat over two thousand natives are expected. So it is likely there will be a lively time.

Messrs Kennedy and Evans’ Tawera proceeded up to the Tarnheru works yesterday for a load of pelts for the steamer Mimiro. The operation of opening the swing - of the Turanganui bridge was watched by a large crowd of spectators. Tho gas main had tobe disjoined by Messrs Spence and Arundel, whilst Mr J, Stewart saw that the telegraphic apparatus was not injured. The Borough Council had also a couple of officials superintending the proceedings. The chief attraction in town this after-

noon and evening will be the Horticultural Society’s Autumn Show, which will be held ill tiie Theatre Royal. Excellent entries have been received, and there is every reason to expect a most successful show. The refreshment stall will be in the hands of the Misses Cuff, of the Geisha Tea Rooms, which is a sufficient guarantee that nothing wiil be wanting on that score. Judging will commence at half-past ten this morning, and all exhibits w'ill require to be staged by that hour. The show will open at two o’clock this afternoon, and close at six, opening again in the evening at seven o’clock.