The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-22
PASSED AS THE PRINCE.
The Residents Of Halifax Duped by
Five Jolly Midshipmen-OneR Repre-
eents His Royal HiZhness.
From the Mem York Star


From the Mem York Star.
A resident of Halifix now in this city, is
authority for the statement that the dignity
of his royal highness Prince George of Wales
received a severe shock during his recent
visit to the Nova Scotian capital Five
midshipmen, serving aboard II. u. s.
Thrush, the craft that has the honor TO be
commanded by the Prince Of Wales second
son, and are implicated in the affair, and
are TO b. courtmertialed. An effort has
been made 10 suppress the details Of the in
cident; and Halifax ne wspepers have loyalty
refrained from saying anything about it.
IL appears that the leaders OF Halifax So
ciety were in flutter of excite nent when
they learned that Prince George Of Wales
was TO accord their port the honor Of visit.
They held meeting. arted an entertain
ment fund, subscribed literally and made
arrangements to give the young gentleman
the most elaborate kind of a reception.
One of the handsomest houses in Halifax
was renovated throughout, furnished In
luxurious style and put in readiness as
lodging place for the royal guest. French
chefs were installed in the kitchen, the
finest horses in Halifax were put into the
stable, and funkies, attired in gorgeous
livery, were sprinkled all over the establish
ment The cellars were stocked with the
costliest wines 10 be found in Nova Scotia,
so that there might be no lack of material
in case it should be the royal pleasure to
paint the town in deep crimson on the first
night of the royal visit.
H. NJ. s. Thrush, with her princelv COM
mander aboard, dropped ancher in Halifax
harbor at o'clock on the evening of Aug.
3. Immediately a dignified parsonage,
endowed with a plentitude of gold lace.
was taken out to the vessel in a steam
launch and humbly begged, in the name of
his royal grandmamma's liege subjects
resident at Halifax, that Prince George
would come ashore. For some reason or
other Prince George did not want to go
ashore, but it was contrary to etiqutte 10
impart the refusal to the gold-laced digni-
tary, so the latter was allowed to go back
in his launch without any distinct reply to
Halifax's invitation, viii Q his highness Or
ganiZed a delegation to telder his declina-
ton in a fittingly ceremonious manner.
Five aristocratic midshipnen. who had
been granted shore leave, were commanded
to array themselves in their best finery and
carry his highness' distinguished regrets to
the people of Halifax. The five mid ship
men were: The Hon. S. II. Ponsonby,
younger son of noble peer: Henry Pixley,
whose papa is an admin al in her majesty's
navy; W. j. Draffen, F. N. J. Cargill and
George Woodloch. To Midshipman Pixley,
the oldest, and, as a general thing, best be-
haved of the five, Prince George entrusted
his message
When the quintette reached shore they
incautiously sampled several glasses Of Nova
Scotian firewater before proceeding to the
headquarters of the reception committee.
1t suddenly occurred to the mind of the
Hon. s. H. Ponsonby, who has the reputa-
ton of being an inventive genius aud
wag, that it would be, as he termed it, "a
jolly lark to play off a dummy prince on
the Hallifaxers"
Three "middies" fell in with the scheme
at once. Pixley offered feeble resistance
for while, but finally acoeded to the will
of the majority, and even consented to play
the princely part. The party accordingly
let it be known that they were IN town and
| ready to be treated in manner befitting
their importance. The reception COMMITTEES
made their obeisance to them in loyal zeal
and soon had them established in the house
prepared for royalty.
- Midshipman Pixey assumed the charac-
ter of gracious and affable young prince,
and iItimated that he was not averse to
seeing everybody pitch in and enjoy them
| selves. His easy manners made profound
sensation among the bellies of Halifax, and
| he and his associates made an agreeable i'm
preston during the evening Toward morn
ing they gathered themselves together,
| picked up the Hon. S. H. Ponsonby, who
was suffering from a bad attack of alco-
holic prostration, and made their way back
| to the Thrush.
Halifax newspapers teemed with the in
formation that H. K. H. Prince George had
| spent night ashore, and behaved with a
princely nonchalance which had endeared
him to the hearts of his grandmanma's
subjects. Somebody on board the Thrush
CHANGED to see one of these enthusiastic de-
scrptions. The news that he had been
| ashore reached Prince George, and as he
was toler0bly sure that he had not put his
foot on Halifax terra firma, he ordered an
investigation. AS a result, five gay and
indiscreet midshipmen are reporting their
manifold sins and wickedness in a snug
corner of the Tnrushs orlop deck.