The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-09 00:00:00

ENTERTAINMENT TO THE ARCTIC
CREWS.

The men composing the crews of the Alert and Discovery
were received, by invitation of the Lord Mayor of Lonion,
at dinner in the Mansion House en Tuesday. evening —the
Daily News gives the following account of the entertain-
ment :
The dinner hour was half-past five, and the enter-
tainment was given in the ordinary style of the
City banquets. The sailors, marines, artillerymen,
and petty officers, clad in their regulation dress,
were presented to the Lord Mayor as they arrived,
each receiving from his lordship a hearty shake of
the hand. Invited to meet them were sheriffs,
aleermefi7hoinfaillorts, and several representatives of
former Arctic Exinditione, now distinguished as "old
Arctics." By permissien of the Admiralty. the Ballot's'
came up from Portsmouth, under the command of
Lieutenant Fulford and Lieutenant Gifford, who were
he only officers present at the banquet, the honours
of the City to the officers themselves being fixed for a
later day. At dinner the men were served with_ the
usual succession of viands and wines, and it is perhaps
hardly necessary to say that among eighty men selected
from the best of the navy each and all conducted them-
selves with unexceptionable propriety. A friendly feel-
ing, if one may be permitted to say so, between the
domestics and guests was by no means to the disad-
vantage of the latter; and when after dinner Mr.
Taylor, the new toastmaster, with a happy blending of
geniality and dignity, mentioned each man by name,
and invited him to join the Lord Mayor, aldermen,
and sheriffs in a loving cup, the honours Of the °Ses-
sion were complete. Jack was a little perplexed by
the formal etiquette of the loving cup, but finding the
compound therein sweet and warm, waiveri any little
difficulty by drinking deeply and honestly both to pre-
senter and expectant. .
Due form was observed by the Lord Mayor in bring-
beforwhis -guests "The health of the Queen and
the Royal Family ; "but this serious matter of post-
prandial discipline over, his lordship announced in a
genial manner that each man would be provided with
a pipe and an ounce of the best tobacco. With those
accompaniments the Lord Mayor gave "The Navy
and Army," feeling sure that if called upon the two
services would do their duty, a sentiment which was
loudly applauded.
Mr. Eaamerson, chief boatswain's mate of the Dis-
covery, responded in a few brief and appropriate sen-
tences expressive of the appreciation of the crews of
the way in which they had been received on '
return to England.
Mr. Wood, colour-sergeant of the Royal Marines;
who with his comrades gave variety to the circle, of
blue jackets around the Mansion-house board by the
hue of their scarlet uniforms, thanked the Lord Mayer
very kindly for his hearty reception, and wished every-
body a happy Christmas.
Mr. Bunyan, of the Discovery, was now called upon
to sing a song, and was "received with cheers."
The musical arrangements generally were impro-
vised, the vocal party consisting of Mr. Farquharson,
Mr. Seymour Smith, Captain Skey, and Mr. Wilford
Morgan. The professional gentleman's duties were,
however, largely relieved by amateur effort, and none
of the guests probably enjoyed the relaxation more
than he.
• In giving the toast of the evening, and propos-
ing to the guests "The health of Captain Sir George
Naree Captain Stephenson, the officers, non-commis-
sioed officers, and crews of the Arctic Expedition,"
the Lord Mayor said the history of this country was a
chain formed link by link of the brava deeds and manly
daring of her countrymen. That history was sung and
told in song and story—
It's a glorious charter,
Deny it who can,
That is breathed in the words ,
"I'm an Englishman."
. LT
(Cheers.) He could assure every one of the brave
crews of the Alert and Discovery, whom he had the
honour to see around him, that he might ask their
officers, whom he hoped to see in a few days, what
would they have done without such men—(cheers)---
and what would they (the men) have done without
such officers. (Louder cheers.) To such hearts of oak
might the honour of England always be entrusted, and
that honour would always be in sofe keeping.
The toast was acknowledged by Mr. Joseph Good,
chief boatswain's mate of H.M.S. Alert, who, on be-
half of his shipmates' wished those who came after
them "may reach the North Pole—if there be a North
Pole." (Much laughter.)—Mr. Eddy also thanked the
Lord Mayor for his kind reception.
Mr. John Padmore, chief carpenter's mate, followed
Captain Skey's patriotic song by proposing "The Old
Arctics," coupled with the name of Mr. Dore, chief
gunner. He assured his hearers that his comrades had
been actuated throughout by a desire to emulate the
. brave deeds of those who had gone before them.
Mr. Dore haying responded in a jocular vein, Ser-
geant Wellington, Royal Marines, proposed "The
Health of the Lord Mayor," which he was quite sure
would be drunk with warm feeling.
The Lord Mayor thanked him for the straight-
forward manner in which he had proposed the toast,
and assured his company that he took the earliest
opportunity of asking as guests to the City of London
to that hospitable building men who had deserved so
well of their country.
The prescribed list of toasts being thus completed,
the company thawed, and half an hour was spent in
enjoyment of Arctic songs by Mr. Banyan, assisted in
a duet by Mr. Emmerson. The Alert Sledging
Chorus," bearing a most distant relation to "The
Barber's Daughter of lelington," was given with great
spirit, and was followed, by express request, pre-
sumably from the chair, by a "walk round " dance by
two of the company.
The revels concluded at an early hour, the sailors
having to return by train to their ships at Portsmouth.
In point of physique, manly bearing, and orderly con-
duct the Lord Mayor's eighty guests were men of whom
the navy and the country may well be proud, and,
judging from the geniality of their spirits it is not
surprising that so large a proportion survived the severe
test of their duraece in the dark, dreary wastes of the
ice land.

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