AMERICAN FLEET.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18422, 1 July 1925, Page 11

AMERICAN FLEET.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR VISIT. A meeting of citizens to consider tho Matter of making suitable arrangements for the entertainment of the officers and men of tho American Fleet, who nro duo to arrive at Lyttelton on August 31th, was held 1 in the City Council Chambers yesterday.' The Mayor (the Bev, J. K. Archer) presided over an attendance of between 70 and 80 people.. Tho Mayor welcomed those present, nnd called upon the Town Clerk, Mr J. 8. Neville, to outline the arrangements which had been made in connexion with, the visit of the British Fleet. After this had been done Mr Archer said it' would bo Arise to follow somewhat closely on the lines which had been adopted in the case of the British Fleet which had visited Lyttelton last''• year. Mr C. J. Treleavcn, on behalf of the Canterbury Branch of the Navy League, said his body was prepared to assist the Citizens' Committee in any way possible. The . L'o'aguo would probably also do a littlo entertaining on its.own account. He considered that on account of the climatic conditions .whi-ch. .usuallyruled in August,... there wpuld be little possibility; of arranging ■many outside fixtures, but, he said,'the Eailway Department-might be.prevailed upon to. ; provide excursions to ' Timaru and Otira. He also suggested that teas and dances should be arranged for the evening entertainment of the mon.. He wished to remind those present that during tho war period when New Zealand troops called in at any. of the American ports, the men had .been very hospitably entertained .by the citizens of the United States, and* ho hoped that when the American sailors visited,here they would be greeted with similar hospitality. Mr A. F. . Carey, on behalf of the said 'that that organisation would co-operate whole-heartedly in the entertainment of tho American visitors.. When the.British Fleet had called here the Y.M.C.A. had,provided accommodation for a large number of the men, buft he understood that in. the case of the American Fleet the organisation would have to be on" a larger scale, because 1000 or 1100 men.would bo billeted in the City each evening. He hoped that matters would be so arranged that the necessity .Of charging tho . sailors 'for their meals and beds would be obviated. Mr A. D. Ford asked if there was a balance of £6OO remaining after the ■entertainment of the British Fleet. This sum, he understood, was held by tho City Council, and he wished to know if it could be useel for the entertainment of the American visitors.The Mayor'said thete was-a balance of £o3l,'but it was held by_ trustees and these gentlemen must decide what was to be done with it. Mr' \V. E. Leadley said the E.S.A. would eo-operatc in the entertainment of the sailors and had decided to throw open its club rooms to them. Ho moved that those present form themselves into a general entertainment committee, with powor to add to their number. Mr J. A. Frostiek, in seconding the motion, said' the British and Foreign Sailors'' Society was willing'to'assist in every way in the. entertainment of the sailors.

The motion was carried. • The Mayor was ■ appointed chairman of the genoral committee. . Mr Flesher suggested that a ; small sub-committee should be set up to go into the matter of the arrangements, the appointment of various sub-commit-tees uecessarv and their personnel, etc. The following sub-committee was then appointed:—The Mayor (Rev. J. K. Archer), Mesdames Algar Williams, W. S. Bean, Colonel E. Toung, Messrs W. J. Walter, .T. A. Flesher, W. Machin, A. F. Carev, H. S. S. Kyle, F. E. Sutton, H Holland, J. 0. Jameson, J. A. Frostiek. W. E. Leadley. Norton Francis, J. J. Dougall,'and G.*P. Purnell. Mr J. S. Neville said tho expenditure in the case of. tho visit of tho'British Fleet was £1167, and of this a.balance of £631 remained. The Mayor intimated that Mr H. P. Bridge, American Consular agent, would be prepared to advise the committees on any matter requiring , attention. Ha statod that in the ease of the.visit of the American Fleet there would be some 2100 men to entertain —alarger number than in the case of the recent visit of the British Fleet. He suggested that a handbook should be prepared giving full details of the arrangements for the The sub-committee appointed met afterwards and adjourned until Friday at 7.30 p.m. to' prepare a report for presentation to the general committee on Tuesday, July 7th.