CAPTAIN HALSEY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 18 April 1913, Page 6

CAPTAIN HALSEY.

ENTERTAINED BY N.Z. CLUB,

HIS BREEZY 'SPEECH,

THE SHIP, HER GUNS & MEN,

"EVERY BUTTON ON DUTY." An enthusiastic welcome was given to Captain Halsoy and other officers of H.M.S. New Zealand by members of theNew Zealand Club, who entertained them at luncheon' yesterday. The officers present'were: Captain Halsey, EngineerCommander T. H. Turner, Staff-Paymas-ter F; P. E. Hanhani, and Chaplain Scott. Among the other guests were: The Priino Minister (the Hon. W. P. Massey), and tho Mayor of Wellington (Mr. D. M'Laren). The Hon. C. M. Luke presided, and there were upwards of 200 people present.. !,j , The,chairman stated that he was very 'happy to t.c able to extend a welcome to Captain Ualsey and his officers. (Applause.) Such a p welcome as naval officers could be certain of receiving in any part of the. British Dominions. The British race were custodians of great traditions, and. those traditions had been established very largely by the British Navy. They must all regret the necessity .for war, but they believed also that the British Navy was the test possible assurance of the peace of the world. Ho had very great pleasure, too, in welcoming the Prime Minister. (Applause.) CAPTAIN HALSEY. GRAPHIC' IDEA OP THE SHIP. : Such a round of applause as has never before been heard at the club's board greeted Captain Hnlscy when he rose to speak. He esteemed it a very great honour, he said, to bo allowed to be present as their guest,' and ho said this not only on his own behalf, but on behalf of the officers who were lucky enough to bo with him. He was w'pll aware that the reason for his presence was that he had the honour to command that magnificent ship which New Zealandcrs had presented to the Empire. He felt that his was a great responsibility iu commanding the New Zealand, because, apart from the fact that she, was a great ship, he felt that she would never be away from the gaze of patriotic New Zealanders. Therefore it behoved all who served on the ship to be "every button on duty" at all times. "Every Gun' Cost £13,000: Every Broad- ' side £480," Captain Halsey went on to speak of tho ship. The amount of stuff put into the vessel was marvellous. Could they realise that every one of those eight twelve-inch guns was 47ft. long? Each'gun weighed sixty ton's, and cost .613,000. It was'a huge expenditure, but it was all for the object—the object of peace.. Every time one of 'those guns was tired with a full charge; it meant an .expenditure of sixty golden sovereigns. When a broadside was fired the weight' of tho projectiles was 'something like three tons, and the cost of that broadside would be about iMBO.. ~On t board the ship' there were eighty rounds per gun, so that they could throw away a ; lot of money. When the time came, if it ever should come, when they had to.throw all that money out of the ship, he hoped and believed that the officers and men would be. so trained that they.,.would, throw.■it i /iut .to-some effect.' '(Applause.)' 1 "' '"'"' ■"'"■>•''"'> '■)"< Training was essential to successful naval warfare. They had an engine-room complement of 330 officers and men, and if they were not well trained the guns would not bo a bit of good. Tho captain must be able ,to. rely, upon the, ship steaming at'her proper pace'-,'ii"Ji6' co'ufd not, the ship would not Le efficient. There were other, departments also. There were many carpenfersV/ahd,.mechanics by whom' repairs had to be made. •

The Ship's Trip—so,ooo Miles, They would have steamed something like 50,000 miles when they returned Home after this cruise, and although they wojnld not,. lie hoped, go into any dock, they would arrive in such a fit state that if required'.'.they.'Would be ready, still ready,: to; fight, and, if possible, more .elUc'ieqt than when they started out. Tlio 'ship iwas built at Glasgow by. the Fair- . field Company, and he did wish to put in I a 'word for the builders. The. Fairfield Company were as keen as the people of New Zealand, the donors of the ship, and as keen as the officers and men of the ship.to make,.t|ip' New Zealand a wellbuilt ship, arid they deserved some recognition for, .haying done so. Pioneers: in' a Great Movement. ;The present cruise had been up till.the now the'most interesting cruise he had ever made, arid he was looking forward to ■still more interesting times ahead. They : had hai a magnificent welcome in Wellington, and they all knew they would enjoy their visit to New Zealand. He referred to the magnificent reception given to the ship'in'South Africa. Undoubtedly that welcome was given in admiration of what the people of New Zealand had done for the Umpire. The people of South Africa, realised, as the people in England realised, that the New ZeaJanders,_jn_.coming forward as they did at such a time as they' did, were pioneers of the great movement that had taken place since. (Hear, hear.) This gift of the ship had done much to preserve the peace., tit' the jyqrjd. ' (Applause.) At the time the. gift'-was made ho had read the fcommehts mado.iipon it in foreign newspapers, and. from.. those comments he felt he was justified in saying that the gift had made .the peace of the world a great deal more secure. Red' Letter Days for the Children. He was delighted to notice the splendid arrangements made by the Government here to send children on board the ship. He;' was perfectly certain those days on which' they came on board the ship would be.red letter days in their lives, to be remembered even until "they are old and ugly like you and me." (Laughter.) He hoped tho trust reposed in himself and his officers,arid men would never be found to be misplaced.' This he could say: No pains would be spared by them in their endeavour to make the ship fit, efficient, and ready to fight. He hoped that if the day ever came when she would be put to the test, New Zealanders would bo proud of what the New Zealand would do. (Applause.) PRIME MINISTER, HIS HEAKTY WOKD OF WELCOME. The Hon'. W. F. Jlassey rose to propose a vote of thanks to Captain Halsey for his address. He thanked members of the club for the hearty reception given to him personally. They were all very glad, he said, to see Captain Halsey and his officers and men, and to see his ship in New Zealand waters, floating in the harbour of Wellington. It was not Cnptain Halsey's first visit, but .some of his officers- had come for the first time, although they were known already to New Zealanders as inen who had done the Empire good service. He hoped the people of New Zealand would give them all a very good time, and thnt tho officers .and men would have very pleasant recollections of the weeks spent among the .people of this' Dominion. The time would come—he believed it must comewhen there would be at least one • Imperial 'ship. stationed in New Zealand waters;,' and he hoped thnt some of the officers of the ship now in port would be officers of the ships to be stationed in NewZealand, perhaps in tho not-far-distant future. ,Anything that the people or the Government can do to make the present trip "an enjoyable unc they would willingly do. The motion was carried by hearty acclamation, the company sang "God Save the King," anil cheers were given for Captain Halsey: and the officers and men of the" New Zealand, and for the Prime Minister,