ON SPECIAL DUTY

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16254, 3 July 1918, Page 8

ON SPECIAL DUTY

LETTER FROM CAPTAIN" T. E. Y. SEDDON. The following are extracts from a letter written by Captain T. E. Y. Seddon, M.P., to a friend in Wellington, shortly after his arrival in New York: When I received orders to proceed from Franco to the United Kingdom on duty, I had but a hazy idea of the work I was to undertake.. However, as the representative of the New Zealanu Division, I deemed it a very great honour indeed, and on arrival in London 1 set to work to find out what would bo required of me when onco I got to the United States. I had a letter from Lieutenant E. Wilding to Sir F. E. Snr.tii, Attorney-General, which gave me an inu yiiucuou to a aeligiittuiiy &u----jjtajjOiiauiy Wiio tnict iuiuseu utiußiuKua'a visit to tae States, auu umjosc counsel unci advice weio invaiuaLiie. In u lew worus, he told me what wurii 1 siiould bo iiKwy to uo—the amount or travelling, tue dithcuities aua pit-falls—-and men to crown bis kindness ne gave me letters of introuuciiou to friends ho had maue during iiis vis't.

liie lvcv, Dr. Lawrence (LL.D.), the celebrated writer on International Law, gave •me letters to Jiiinu Root, and otiier eminent university men, so I felt tnat I was well prepared for the tour, and would not long feel a stranger iir a strange land. Wuile I was in London waiting orders from the War Oiiice, I was fortunate enough to attend at the House of Commons when Lloyd George was enunciating tho proposals contained in his "Man Power" Bill. I did not hear him at his best. Tho tremendous importance of his utterances —the reverses we had just suffered being fresh in every mind —the amount of open opposition and hostility, they all told against him, and ho confined himself very closely to his notes. Once or twice when twitted unfairly, his Celtic fire belched forth, only to bo checked 'iv his mature judgment. When he came to the proposals in connexion with Ireland, there was a perfect pandemonium. We never • have such scenes in the New Zealand Legislature. It was hard to catch all that was said. Lloyd George about eight times during his speech had to resume his seat owing to interruptions and points of order. I had tea after tho speech with Lord Blytli Lord Jellicoe was there, and Sir William and Lady Morris, from Newfoundland. Lord Jellicoe spoke of tho attractiveness of New Zealand as a place to live'in. telling us that he got his impressions from the wonderful illustrated newspapers we possess. *"1 was al>le, during my stay waiting for orders in London, to run down to Cambridge, to see some of our Cadets •it the O.T.C. Allen and Breach (formerly of Ikomatua), who were with me at Passchenaaole, were at Queen's College, and were as happy as students in peace days, and both doing splendidly. Our fellows have done very well at Cambridge, excelling in drill, studies, | and games. Allen was stroke in his crew. I also saw Cyril Stringer. All the Canterbury men were nearly finished their course, and were looking forward to gotting their commissions. 1 was the guest at Cambridge of the Master of Downing. One day T ran down to Oxford to see how our Cadets were there. Colonel Heaton Rhodes was to go with me, but was unable to do so. I had a letter from Colonel Rhodes to the Master of Balliol. Ho personally very kindly showed me several of the rcllegcß. Again I heard nothing but praise for our New Zealanders. Ho lauded the Australians, who had dbne their military training at Oxford, and then when asked about tho New Zealanders, he exclaimed: "They are super-excellent." I had lunch in the great dinipg hall at Balliol. I was to have met John Masefield, the poet. Mrs Masefield told me that he was over in America, on the samo mission, on which we were being sent. , We wore glad at last to get word to leave London for Glasgow, to take, a ship there for America. The fourteen of us arrived at the appointed time, but the ship not being ready, we were given 24' hours' leave. Captain -Edward, of the Royal Fusiliers, and Captain Harris, of the Naval Division (an Australian), and I, took advantage of the occasion to run out to see Loch Lomond. It was a beautiful day, and we took onr time, walking on the "bonnie, bonnie banks." The lake is fine, but, the scenery is very placid. It lacks tho of our New Zealand scenery, and even old "Ben Lomond,' with its "steep, steep sides," looked mild and small when one recalled the rugged "Remarkables" at Wakatipu, or the snow-capped mountains behind Lake Kanieri or Sefton, and the Alps oho sees as one looks at Mapourika. Still, there was a charm about Loch Lomond, a placid quiet soft look that is characteristic of the Homeland lakes. A haze from the smoke of gorse fires enveloped the high lands, lending a pretty purple colour to the bolder outline of Ben Lomond. The gradual slopes, the trim-kept farms stretching from the water up to the j hills, the fir forests, all formed a sight so different from anything we hav© in 1 Now Zealand. As we walked from the lake to Balloeh, we laughed as we tried | to put words to the lilt of the old song, "Yo'll tak' the High Road," nor did wo stop till we arrived at the hostel. Here Maggie, a comely Scotch wench, with the prettiest of accents and a. smile that would give anyone an appetite, offered us tea and girdle cakes and jelly and butter. After the sugarless tea, tho bread and margarine of England, the tea was splendid.. It was all so homoly, the warm welcome of the place, and the breath of the brTze of the hills seemel to put vigor and frmli life into us. We enjoyed every minute of our stiy. Next dav we left Glasgow. Once before when 1 had sick -leave I visited the shipbuilding yards on the Clyde, but from the shore one gets a poor idea of the tremendous natnre of the operations. . As the ship glides down the river one sees on both sides yard after yard -where ships are being built as fast as human hand and human brains can make them. Closely together are the skeleton frames of threo destroyers, stacked more closely than one could credit, and floating in a dock is a brand-new submarine. A forest of iron posts surround another ship, and all the while the roi?e of hammering sounds like a thousand machine-guns going off nt the same time. Girls and men rush round these bee-hives of industry, and the energy and celerity displayed nro such that you can almost see thf- ships form into shape. The latest model of a tramp is turned out in quantities, its ugly form not being improved by the many devices employed to make it less easily observed by the enemy submarines. The various » systems of camouflage are startling. The cubist and futurist certainly seem to have bfen dabbling in the art of deceiving the enemy. An American defined camouflage as "the -art of making what is appear it ain't," and certainly the painters of ships have done that. We passed shipyard after shipyard, and everywhere the same industry, the sumo noise, the same going on. Certainly shipbuilding is one way of boating the Hun. and tho Clyde worke-s are putting ud a splendid fight. Good luck to them—the workers and the women who are labouring «o hard.

"We oasSed Thrmbarton Rock, which looms large like an fort-ress,-and there we saw the ynrds which ■were the birthplace of nearly all onr Union Stenm Ship Compass boats. "Hie Rock. I believe, was n fortress, nnd so. tho story noes, the Colrjnhouns, wily fighters, invited the holders of it to a carnival srening. The unsuspecting gncsts imbibed too freely, and by thai* ruse the Co'quhouns got possession. I ORnn'ot vouch for the veracity of the tt/im. bat au officer of our patty who is

descended from the Colquhouns proudly told it. We arrived at Greenock, and there liacl to await orders from the Admiralty, liiat night we walked the deck and admired tUe scenery. The hills and the uplands reminded me a good deal of Marlborough, lb appeared to me to be .1 veiy beautiful country, a country of which the people are too modest, it .vas perfectly boautit'ul in the glow of the setting sun. Kext morning we got the signal to sail, and two destroyers -hot out and preceded us down the sound. The night after we had clearxl land there was some excitement, a siren giving three or four sharp shrieks, and our course was suddenly diverted. When we asked about it, we'were told that the look-out man spied a periscope. The ship went to ram it, ana the dsstroyers turned like hounds on a hare towards the spot. The submarine apparently spotted us, and being at an angle not suitable for wasting the torpedoes, submerged. That night we received word to sleep in our clothes, but 110 more periscopes were seen. It was interesting looking up the lights from the Irish coast. Next night there wore no more lights and no more land, only the roll, the incessant roll, of the Atlantic. Our course we did not know, nor did we ask, but it was considerably longer than usual. Days and nights we spent preparing notes and exchanging stories and getting to know one another. It was an excellent trip. Our Captain Davis, a "Welshman, had been in New Zealand, and talked merrily of his breeze experiences in Wellington city -and harbouV. The day before we arrived in Now York was Sunday. The purser held service, and a very hearty one it was, too. Of onr party there are officers who have had experience in many parts of the globe. One officer has seen service in India and Egypt, another in Samoa, East Africa, another in Russia, another in GalHpoli, another in China, and the rest in Franco. Some have written books, others have lectured. One fias conducted a recruiting campaign in England. They all mid eminently snited for the work ahead. Of the 14, four are lawyers, bo at last the lawyers are coming into their own. There is very important work ahead, and everyone is as keen as possible to do his best. \