THE WARSHIP.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1728, 19 April 1913, Page 6

THE WARSHIP.

SCHOOL CHILDREN'S TRIPS,

TWO THOUSAND ON BOARD.

"JACK" FETED IN THE EVENING

School children again invaded H.M.S. New Zealand yesterday. Nearly 2000 arrived by rail from tho Hutt Valley and proceeded on board. About 900 came from Petone alone, 500 from tho Lower Hutt, and 300 from Upper Hutt. To-dav tho following country contingents will arrive and inspect the ship : -Tho schools from laekakanki-Tawa Plat will arrive at H.'Jo a.m., leavo tho wharf at 9.30, and Icavo tho warship at 11.15. The times for Jonnsonville-Ngaio are 10.30, 11, and 12.30, ™ r . wnton-Paraparaumu 11.15, 11.45, and J: 1 '; *n« l'oxuon children will arrive at l-'.lo, leave for the boat at 1 o'clock, and return home- by tho d.5 train. Wanganui children will arrive at 1 o'clock, leave for the ship ai 2 o'clock, and Tchtrn by the 5.50 train.

On Monday the Masterton school children will arrive from Masterton at i 0.50 a.m., leave for the boat at 11.30, return to wharf at 1 p.m., and leavo for homo at 3.20 p.m. The Hukanui-Masterton children will arrive at 12.00 p.m., leave for tho boat at 1.30 p.m., return at 3 p.m., and leave for homo at 5.20 p.m. ;Tlio children from Catholic schools will visit the vessel on Monday, at 2.30 p.m., being conveyed on board by the Tutanefcai. It has been arranged that on arrival in Wellington the visiting schools shall be marched at once to the wool wharf, there to embark for the New Zealand on a Government steamer. Experience shows it is advisable that this should bo done in strict order, and that scholars should be particularly warned to re-embark to return to the shore when the appointed signal is given. The signal to leave tho warship in the case of each excursion will be as follows:—Fifteen minutes before tho time of departure from the warship one whistle will sound; ten minutes before, two whistles; five minutes before, three whistles. ..'--'• OLD CANNON BALL. .PRESENTED TO CAPT. HALSEY. About one hundred and twenty school children from Hawera, in charge of Messrs. C. H. Strack Williams, Hooker, ?, n <l J c tr s-Ellis, and Miss M'Lean, visited H.M.b. New Zealand yesterday afternoon. Mr. Strack took occasion to present Captain Halsey with a cannon ball, which has some history attached to it. ihe ball, states Mr. Strack, was used by the gunship Alligator, in. the year 1831, when she bombarded a Maori pa on the iaranaki coast. Early settlers will remember the time when tho whaler Harriot, in charge of Captain Guard;'was; ttTecked on the Taranaki coast, and soiue M* crew were murdered bv the Maoris. Ine Alligator was dispatched to make reprisals. In thanking Mr. Strack, /Captain Halsey stated that he would keep the old cannon ball with many other curios which he had already received.

; > "THE LAW" ON BOARD. ! The Attorney-General (the Hon. A. L. Herdinau), together with tho Judges of tne Court of Appeal and prominent members of the local bar paid a visit to tho battleship at 10.30 a.m. yesterday. Tho members of the party were shown all over the ship, and were hospitably entertained by Captain Halsey. "JACK" AT PLAY. ; ENTERTAINED BY THE CITY. At the invitation of the Mayor and Citv j Council the men of H.M.S. New Zealand i and lyranius were entertained at the i lown Hall last evening. Tho officers were represented;' by -'Lieut. Garcia, of .ii.il.ij. i\ew Uealaud. Messrs. D. J. Kenny and Jas. Dykes organised the programme, which was contributed to by several of "the men of the breed," who were in good form, irito v (Slt ? a J' Reward)Browness,of H.M.b. Mew Zealand, the Navy possesses a very; sweet singer, a light tenor of sympathetic quality, .with some charming notes in the high register. He sang "My. Girl and "I Hear You Calling Me." •j Abie-beaman Blackmore, the "handcuff king, managed to escape from a variety of handcuffs, whilst concealed in a canopy of black cloth. Then he attempted to tree himself from a chain wound round an d round his wrists and padlocked, but at of seven minute's had to cry Uyo and have the chains. taken oft', »s the circulation-in the hands had stopped._. At the:second attempt he performed the feat successfully. Petty-Officer Prince played abousa march on the concertina, and seven seamen of the battleship executed a combined sailor's hornpipe. Little Cecil Haines recited "A Trip to Blackpool" cleverly, and had to supplement it with "Visiting." Miss Phoebo Parsons sang the charming wnltz song, be baran Rose" and "Waiata Poi," and Miss Mnel Lissack recited two humourpus selections cleverly. Mr. Pred Twiss sang "Alexander's Rag-timo Band" (with a chorus), and Messrs. A. W. Newton and D. J. Kenny sang tho comic i n *[\ " D °a t Let it Go Any farther, and with Messrs. Tunis and Hickmott sang, "Simple Simon" and lushing, humourously. Mr. Marcus Marks obliged with a comic Maori story, and Mr. H. N. Fletcher sang Alfred Hill's Maori Maiden" tastefully. The concert was brought to a close by Mr.-E. J. Hill singing Rule Britannia," in which the audience joined lustily. The real fun started when the sailors adjourned to the Concert Chamber to bo regaled with "cakes and ale" in good old English style. "Jack" was in excellent form, and made himself completely at home round the well-laden tables. Here he shook off any remnants of restraint he may have had left, and just had a right royal time. His Worship tho Mayor (Mr. D. M'Laren) presided. He was supported by Lieutenant Garcia, of H.M.S. New Zealand. ,Mr. Jas. Dykes obliged with some popular tunes on the pianoforte, and to hear those 300 men sing "Everybody's Doing It" and "Alexander's Rag-Time Band" was something worth hearing. Afterwards, when tho hilarity- seemed on tho increase, tho Mayor decided to close down, but tho sailors, who were quite enjoying themselves, commenced a series nf hakas in imitation of their recent Maori visitors. The spirit of the old Native chant of welcome seized on. several of the performers, who, headed by (Mrs. Knight, a half-oaste lady, did tho haka in splendid style. As tho sailors wended their way down the moonlit quay,'.ono, could hear faintly borne upon tho night breeze— "Komate, komatc! Kai Ora, Kai Ora!" ' ALE OR NO ALE?

TEMPERANCE REQUEST REFUSED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, April 48. A temperance-deputation waited on tho Mayor to-day to urge the civic authorities to refrain from supplying any alcoholic refreshment to officers during thc visit of tho battleship New Zealand at Auckland. They asked tho Mayor also to appeal to citizens to adopt a similar attitude. Mr. Parr, in replying, expressed the opinion if the sailormen wanted a glass of alo it did them no harm. "We must," ho added, "take the sailor as ho is, not as our temperance friends wish to see him." Ho declined to make anv appeal to tho citizens. Ho saw that the bluojackets in Wellington were excellently behaved, and not likely to; disgrace their uniform in Auckland. Tho executive ' committee mot subsequently and decided to adhere to their previous decision to supply a "lass of alo to men desiring it at the Town Hall luncheon. CRICKET MATCH. A cricket match between tho members of tho Wollcsley Club and tho officers of H.M.S. New Zealand has boon arranged for to-day. Tho match will be played on the Waiwctu grounds, at Lower Hutt. Tho teams will assemble at the club, and proceed by motor to the Hutt. A (rain leaving L.uubtou Station at 10'iuiniilcM past two will huvc special accommodation for those urocecding to the match.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE WARSHIP?" To tho Editor. Sir—l do not intend to take up mucli or your valuable space, although one is tempted to do so; but in tho interests of Iretweon thrco and four thousand suffering country school children, ivho visited the warship "by arrangement" on Wednesday last, and who camo from Wanganui and the Palmerston district, and who did not reach homo till between 12 and i m? ,' lrenry . an<l worn and sad, on Jhursday morning, perhaps you can enlighten thorn and myself by answering tho following questions:—When tho so-called arrangements wero made for the visit of these- country children, why wero tho Wellington public and a few thousand Wellington school children invited to attend on the some day? Why was no attempt made to run tho Government steamer to lit m with tho railway time-table? Whv wero the Wellington public and school oliildron permitted to rush the steamboats on the return journey from the warship, thus shutting out a large number of country children and teachers, who had to catch trains, and drive in many instances from 10 to 20 miles to reach their .names, and in consequence of such conduct on the part of tho aforesaid, wero from 3 to G hours later in reaching their homes than they otherwise would have been?—l am etc., T. R. HODDER, Chairman, College Street School Committee, Palmerston North. OTHER ITEMS. H.M.S. NY.v Zealand will not be open to visitors on Monday forenoon. AH Boy Scouts arc to meet in front of the General Post Office, Customhouse yuay at 2.15 p.m., in readiness to move oft at 2.30 p.m. for H.M.S. New Zealand. About 1500 parents and children from Masterton and tho north will visit Wellington by special train on Monday to inspect 11.M.b. New Zealand. Tho Wellington Harbour Ferries, Ltd will entertain the crew of the H.M.S. New Zealand at Days Bay on Monday next, April 21. The Duchess will leave the Ferry Company's Wharf at 11 a.m*. Luncheon is being provided for tie guests, and a programme of sports events has been arranged. Incidentally, a welcome will bo given by representatives of Maori tribes. Tho side-shows will be open for tho use of the visitors. As usual, the Harbour Ferries, Ltd., will dispatch their steamers regularly to H.M.S. New Zealand to-day and to-mor-row. An announcement of interest is inserted in another column of this issue. At tho Seamen's Institute this evening a novel programme is to be presented by ■ the concert party of H.M.S. New Zealand, under the direction of Lieutenant Garcia. Proceeds are for tho funds of the Missions to Seamen. . In another column of this issue appears an announcement as to the Navy League visit to H.M.S. New Zealand this morning. The Amokura leaves the Glasgow Wharf at 11 a.m. for the warship, and the trip is confined to adult and college

' branch members of the league. Tho State school branches havo already visited the batttlo cruiser. . The executive of the Orphans' Club announce that no tickets for this evening's function will be available after 1 d.iu.