"A yelling horde of coolies accompanied the Duke of Connaught to Blake Pier yesterday. People rushed to the windows and out of doors to investigate. It was the passing of the Duke, not in person, only in bronze. The latest scheme of the self-constituted reception committee has revealed itself. It is the talk of the town and the sight of the waterfront. The statue of the Duke of Connaught has again been moved. It has seen many sites not 'sights', for most of its career has been wasted in a godown or under a builder's mat shed and its latest site at the entrance to Blake Pier cannot in any sense be regarded as permanent. The Committee has conceived the brilliant idea of confronting the Duke on landing with his own image. It is sincerely hoped he will survive the shock. Were His Royal Highness to see himself as we see him now, half covered with dirty matting and shackled up with red tape (real red tape) and bamboo, we are sure he would have the whooping-cough." Why should he have been removed from the company of the other members of the Royal Family in bronze, or why not let 'em all come '*"
It will be seen that the tendency to view the Colony's statues with a certain amount of levity was already becoming apparent.
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