KITCHENER'S VISIT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 746, 19 February 1910, Page 6

KITCHENER'S VISIT.

A DAY AT DUNEDIN.

THE CROWD TAKE CHARGE.

DISGRACEFUL SCENES,

. (Br. Telegraph.—Press Association.) . Dunedin,. February 18. The defence works at Taiaroa Heads were' this morning ' inspected.' by Lord Kitchener. ' No. 1 and. No. 2' Garrison Artillery companies (Dunedin and Port Chalmers Navals), comprising 105,'.: officers and men,; and the Permanent, men, numbering thirty-two, went into camp there on Thursday, night, and, by. 10.30 p.m., the five guns in use were manned and the port was, to all - intents and purposes, sealed and under surveillance. Lord Kitchener did not arrive at . the Heads until 10 o'clock this morning, ,'and was accompanied by Sir Joseph Ward,Colonel Kirtpatrick (Lord' Kitchener's Chief of-Staff),' Colonels Eobin,.Collins, and Tuson, -and Lieut.-Col. Smyth, Officer Commanding the Otago district. At the Forts. . ; The inspection commenced at the ; ongine house, where the electric power forthe searchlight is /generated.; Lient.- . Colonel Allen, commanding the ■ division of Garrison Artillery,; next led the way. to the searchlight itself, and then to the six-pounder quick-firing gun, which is situated at ' Harrington,, Point. The 'party' then made-.its way .to . the snmmit of the Heads,-and an ascent was made to" the- fire' -'controlstation. ; Here there is a six-inch disappearing gimrrthe'mosl modern weapon ■ at the Heads, but Lord Kitchener merely looked at the, site. The old : obsolete 04-ponnder (muzzle loader) on Howlett. .Point, he treated, similarly. He also had. pointed out to him the loca-: tion. of .two new. "12-pounders, shortly -to; he erected. The commanding position of Taiaroa Heads ; seomed - to! engross ; ; thi. whole of 'his attention..-

;With the'men.comprising the Garrison Artillery ,-he expressed himself, quite enthusiastically. Walking .along the lines lie took 'notice of medals', and 1 service badges on the breasts of-several -of the men, and, in a kindly interested way,, inquired what; they, were .for'.'.The ]V<,. Zealand twelve years'' long-service medal! seemed to have caught his fancy. He had. never seen.it before, and, turning to Sir .'Joseph ; Ward,' told him: that he would like to.have ono of them. "Fine-looking men" Ws his comment on more than one' occasion.: The - medical . section. of '- the Otago University Officers' Training Corps, which was present, deeply interested him. The'' whole .inspection did. not; last more than an hour, and, at the conclusion, Lord ; Kitchener, left" immediately : for Dunedin. The Amokura Boyi. ~ --■ ■ On entering . Port - Chalmers he was shown, over'the,new. dock, and. then, on stepping ashore, was received,by the boys, of'.',; the trainingship..Amokura, _ who .formed :a guard' of honour. He;asked -the officer..in' charge all:> about -them,;....and. then addressed a few- wordsof encouragement ;to\ 'them, telling them that he ,-was pleased to have'seen-them,-and that they were a,fine healthy-looking lot. He then left amidst cheering, by motorcar lor "Dunedin, which.was 1 reached 'about one o'clock. The Garrison volunteers broke camp at 2 p.m.,. and,.before proceeding to ombark on the defence, steamer on tho way , to town, were briefly addressed.- by,' Lieutenant-Colonel '. Allen, " officer com-, manding the division, w;ho expressed . his pleasure at, the .muster,- and,the manner in which-'.the'men..-had ,behaved .in. camp. ; He trusted that, the occasion would be. regarded : as;'a : memorable one.-and- that the men' would aim at' acquitting'themselves according' to the'high .standard, set them all by Lord" Kitchener.- . , , •

' ; : ... ■' Scene at Forbury • Park. . . ; , r The public flocked to Forbury Park' this afternoon to .witness the review of tlio school cadets, Boy Scouts,,.'and Veterans by Lord 1 ■ Kitchener. The weather was; threatening at times, but it hold up -well: The attendance numbered" about '10,000' cadets and scouts, ' and the parade 1 was drawn up in line of battalions in quarter column. The portion-of the..fourth battalion occupying the centre, of-the-line was about 500 yards .deep, and .was an! imposing • spectacle. -About- 3; o'clock, Lord Kitchener, accompanied ■ by 1 Colonel Kirkpatrick,, ..arrived . by,;;' motor<ar; : The ; chauffeur, '{ entered by ; the; wrong gate, but, apparently, there was someone' there' to tell him what arrangements had been made.. The motor-oar then'turned, and soon ■ appeared in - the public enclosure where the Field-Marshal alighted. Sir Joseph Ward, the Hon. J. A. Millar,- Colonels'Eobin, Tuson, and Collins arrived at the ■ same . time ; and joined Lord Kitchener. -The 1 shal spent half, an hour in reviewing the cadets and scouts, and then 1 inspected the veterans, in whom ho displayed more than ordinary" interest. Review Interrupted The, nest part of the programme was the-march past. Taking .up a'position at ,the saluting, base, Lord' Kitchener and party soon found .themselves; surrounded by an. ever-growing mass of people, '.who poured into the, review; ground- from all ■points. This was a most-regrettable pro-ceeding.',-The: police'did •'•their) best-to stem the tide; but wero- powerless, with' the 1 result- that' the ' march past. completely. lost its value. " Each company was' visible, to Lord Kitchener for a distance of only..about 40 yards as they approached and passed oil. It-was impossible owing to the crush on the ground to carry out the nest _item—the march past in review order—this being a great disappointment; to the boys and to a large section of the public. ', ~,

' I'hen ensued a wild, scramble, which was happily of short duration". ; At tho conclusion of the! march past, Lord Kitchener and party walked towards the grandstand. l Men, women, and - children hustled, or. were, hustled, after them, and in the, commotion, children were knocked over, women screamed, and men called out,"Keep -back," but still the crowd surged on. .It was a 'disgraceful ' scene, 1 and the senseless, rush was, only stopped by tlie crowd reaching the limits of the' enclosure. There were 2848 boys on parade, comprising .68 companies, assembled from all,, over, Otago.- The presentation of colours to the. Boys'. High- School Ciidets took place, though the, snctiess of the function was marred by' the disorderly, proceedings , referred to above.'' Who Was, to Blame? - As the result, of inquiries, : it. appears that the, muddle' at Forbury Park was due to the fact that, there was.no definite, authority to make all arrangements. Tie City Corporation issned tickets- for. the: grandstand, and; enclosure, ■ and notified the ; course- of. events : .to . the public, but' the -responsibility .for. the - administration ot.it was thrown on the defence'authori-' ties. The. military authorities state that at' the, meeting of • the Kece'ption Committee;'it was decided that as no -. troops would be available, for tho afternoon-this' police,be asked.to assist. Last,night the police were asked,' on behalf of 'the Mayor, to assist in supervising . the -'entrances to the grandstands and the gates' leading to, the inner enclosures, but, they were not asked to -perform any ■ duty,----in connection with tho parade ground/i-i- ' Nearly 2000. men are in camp in "tho vicinity of Abbotsford, awaiting " Lord Kitchener s orders in regard to'. manoeuvres.. •;•-•

, Tho Mayor .of' Duncdin. informed n "Daily Times" representative to-night that having made inquiries in respect to the" arrangements for the' reception of Lord Kitchener on Thursday . night, ..: sofar .'as they,. affected. thei Prime Minister, lie. finds that a mistake was .made of which he was unaware at tho time. He has expressed regret to the Prime ■ Minister, who is-now, satisfied that no' dis-' courtesy was intended to him.! The Mayor of Dunedin explains that the. civic authorities' offered to provide the IPrime. Minister, with a seat in the same carriage with Lord -Kitchener, but- Sir • .(Joseph Ward failed to communicate his fishes. The military authorities'advised"that Sir Joseph Ward would use a motor-car»pro-prided Iff tiiem* 1 j ■ ;

VICEROY OF INDIA. : According to a Press Association message, which appears in our cable, news to-day, the .Vice-Royalty of India has (on the authority' of an Indian - message in the "Standard") been definitely offered to Lord Kitchener. •'

: CHRISTCHURCH PREPARATIONS. Christchurch, February 18. The practical work in connection with Lord liitcheiier's review of the local troops and cadets was commenced at Hagiey Park this morning, when a detachment of Permanent Artillery > made a start with tent pitching. The site selected for the camp is that formerly occupied by 'the main Exhibition Buildings,, -and when, the. artillery men have iiuislied their work there will be about 200 tents available for occupation. ;An excellont supply of water has been obtained" froni one of the wells " that' were used in connection with the Exhibition, and plumbor3 have been at' work distributing water over the camp by means of. two-inch pipes. The infantry : tents will be occupied by the' cadets' till Tuesday evening, when the local . volunteers will go into oamp. : Arrangements' have been-made to have telegraph, and telephone. services in connection with' the .camp.,'

THE JOHNSONVILLE MANOEUVRES. A . beginning was made'yesterday by /a squad of the Permanent Artillery in-peg-ging out tho ground/for .tho camp at Jolmsonville. ,' The "erection of the tents, numbering between 500 and .600, and .marguees (about twenty) will be commenced on Monday, and is expected to be finished by' Wednesday night. " Arrangements for: the water supply are now-.inland. ,The supply depot,at, the camp will.be set up on -Thursday. -. ; Lord., Kitchener .will ride over , the ground on Friday, and decide, on the manoeuvres to be carried out the following day. The forces, at v his disposal •will consist of, two. field, batteries, a company of field engineers, four regimente of mounted infantry, seven - battalions of infantry, one- cycle corps; and: one ' field hospital—making a total of . about '8000 men. - v '• i

Inspection' of the . forts , round 1 the harbour will; be made by Lord Kitchener on Friday morning, and he 'will be asked to j express an opinion /as to the practicability of certain n«w gun positions.-

;On Saturday evening Lord Kitchener will'be the of tho Wellington Club. I About 8000 cadets-aTe expected to'parade before Lord Kitchener at the Hutt Park: on Friday. They, will .not be' put through .'any extended'movements, : but simply paraded for -review. < ■ ■'• - The Wellington Eifle Battalion (Lieut.Colonel W. G. Duthie, : 0.C.) will parade at Thorndon Station at 6.30. p.m. on Friday, in readiness .for entrainment to the Joims6nville camp. The battalion will parade in full marching-order, with leggings, water bottles, haversacks,'.. mess utensils,-and one "cooked ration. . ' NO CANTEENS. ' i .Tliey.New, Zealand Alliance has been concerned •- lest canteens should - be lV established „inthe ..volunteer. camps that, are forming, and, in'reply, to a telegram, the secretly of the alliance-received a . message, from the Prime' Minister last-night stating-that there will, be no - canteens connected with the assembling, of - volunteers during Lord Kitchener's inspection.