Sydney

Queen Salote In

Tonga’s Ruler is Cordially Received

Queen Salote Tubou, D.B.E., Ruler

of Tonga, arrived in Sydney as the guest of the Methodist Church on July 30. Many interesting descriptions of the Islands potentate and her little kingdom appeared in the Australian newspapers; and, for a few days after her arrival, crowds gathered in Sydney whenever it was known that she would make a public appearance.

It is not a pleasant thing to be stared at in this fashion by strange people, but Salote bore the ordeal with quiet dignity.

She was attended by two maids-of-honour,

Misses F. Oneone and F. Tubou (pretty Tongan girls of noble birth), and Rev.

Roger C. G. Page, who is president of the Tonga Methodist Conference.

The Queen made no public appearance without the assistance of Mr. Page, and usually one or two prominent men of the Methodist Mission organisation were in the party. As a result of this careful assistance and good management, the numerous public appearances of the Queen passed off without any untoward incident, and her charm and poise made a good im pression upon the fickle Sydney crowds.

When the Marama berthed the first to meet Her Majesty was her eldest son, Prince Tuafa’ahau, who is a popular student at Newington College, N.S.W. The 17-years-old heir to the Tongan throne, who is six feet tall, was affectionately greeted in European fashion by his mother.

For several days, Salote was kept busy with official calls. She was accorded a civic reception at the Sydney Town Hall on July 31; lunched with the Governor and Lady Hore-Ruthven at Government House; and was entertained at the George Brown Training College by Mrs. J. W.

Burton, wife of the general secretary of the Methodist Mission. The following evening, as the central figure in a large and very friendly gathering, she was offi cially welcomed by the Methodist Church at Sydney Town Hall.

Shunning all display of ostentation, Salote quietly attended Divine Service with her son at Haberfield Methodist Church, on Sunday, August 4. The en suing fortnight was spent in visiting the beauty spots of Sydney’s surrounding dis tricts, and in renewing acquaintance with

Australian people who had known her in Tonga.

On August 13, Queen Salote entered a private hospital to undergo a minor operation. It was successfully performed and in mid-August she was still convales cent in hospital. It was hoped that she might spend a few days recovering on the Blue Mountains, but medical opinion advised against the extreme cold which is now gripping that popular re sort.

Early in September, Her Majesty will leave Sydney for Canberra, and later will go on to Victoria, as the guest of Rev.

J. W. Grove, president of the Victorian Methodist Conference. On October 3, she will depart from Australia by the Katoomba for Fiji, to take part in the centenary celebrations at Lakemba, where the first Methodist missionaries landed in Fiji in 1835.

Mr. V. A. Pratt, of Tobera plantation, who is one of the best known planters in New Guinea, left Sydney by the Mari posa on August 21, with the intention of spending a few months in the western states of America and Mexico.

A snapshot on the wharf at Nukualofa, when Queen Salote was leaving Tonga. Left to right: Mr. J. S. Neil (British agent), Mrs. Ragnar Hyne (wife of the Chief Justice), and Mr. W. G. Bagnall (Minister for Finance).