EVENTS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2236, 24 August 1914, Page 6

EVENTS IN NEW ZEALAND.

TROOPS FOR OVERSEAS. PRAISE & ADVIGE BY GENERAL GODLEY THE MEN'S RESPONSIBILITIES. FURTHER BIG DONATIONS TO THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

By Telegraph.—Speoiel Correspondent.. Palmerston Nortii, August 23. The camp is continuing to be favoured with superb weather. Palmerstou folks view tho new soldier town of Awapuni with- proprietary kindliness, and the daily.tramp of a thousand men through town to the rille butts at Hokowhitu is an occurrence of public interest. . Tho camp and rifle range are at opposite sides of the town, so that the daily march for musketry training gives tho battalion some-excellent leg anil, involving a inarch of eight miles per day. The great event of Friday was tho arrival of the field artillery, of which tho expedition's, entire battery is concentrated here. Tlie men have little time for common gossip, but they are quite receptive of occasional topical titbits. Kitchener's description of them as halfbaked troops has tickled them immensely. A football has reached the men' from tte Hev. H. G. Rosher, vicar of All Saints','providing a means for what is said to be the best of all games for making men fit. The cabled heroism of the women of Europe is reflected among the women, residing on the outskirts of this camp, who have done great work .with' the wedle. They kept operations going night and day for ten days, and as a result produced, a'great heap of garments, of which the following is a. tally: —Shirts, 777; under-shirts, 788; underpants, 512; socks, 590; caps, 277; handkerchiefs, 437; pyjamas, 10; sweaters, 2; "housowives," 420; hold-alls, 193; bandages, etc., 194; medicaMowels, 12. ; The men in camp now number just c> er 2500, and tho total volunteers in the military district have reached' over 5500.. • ■■■■•.

'The 'two principal events this week will be General Godley'e visit to-day, and the.complimentary ball to be given by Palmei-ston ladies to-morrow. The latter takes place at tho Skating Rink. It.has been arranged.hurriedly becauso of the uncertainty as to the date of

io men's departure.

It is calculated that the Palmerston North districts gifts in money and kind to the various purposes associated with the war exceed £5000.

The National Mutual Life Association, Ltd., is grantfng leave of absence on full pay to thoso members of the staff who are volunteering to go to the front with the Expeditionary Force. . ' ''■ TROOPS REVIEWED. GENERAL GODLEY'S PRAISE AND ADVICE.

"I wish yon all a very good voyage and will look forward to seeing you in a yerj; short time. It may be in England, it may be m Belgium, it may be in Franco, ami I hope, eventually, it will be in Berlin.". (Cheers.) With these words (eays the Cliristchurch "Sun") Major-General Sir Alex-. anderGodloyon Saturday concluded his address to the members of tho Canterbury section of the' New Zealand Expeditionary Force. -i The morning' was damp and ,foggy, and at the. outset it was difficult to pick out the troops at any distance. The fog lifted gradually, and by 10 a.m. tho lair was tairly clear. The attendance of tho' public was not large, the hour and the weather militating against it. General Godley was accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. R. H. Rhodes, Colonel Chaffey, Officer Commanding the Canterbury District, and Colonel Smith, commandant of the camp. Among those who were present were. His Worship the Mayor (Mr. H. Holland), Biehop Julius and Bishop Grimes.' ,' "

Tliero were roughly 1560 men on parade—46o mounted and 1100 infantry. The mounteds were drawn up in-squad-ron column and the infantry en masse, while the preliminary inspection was carried out. The maich past was carried out in column of platoons, ami as the men swung past the saluting haso they presented a very smart and inspiring spectacle. The march past over, the men were drawn up before tho saluting base in hollow square format tion, while General Godloy addressed them. The Men's Responsibilities.

"Officers, 'non-commissioned' 'officers, and men of the Canterbury contingent, of the Expeditionary Force," he slid, "I wish to say to you that this is the last time till we meet in Europe that I shall have the opportunity of seeing you, and I wish to let you know how very pleased I am with what I have seen to-day of the two regiments which have been formed in Canterbury for service abroad. The regiment of Mounted Rifles is very well mounted on the whole, and is a very serviceable body of men, and the Infantry Regiment is all that I could desire. I hopo you will remember that you now represent the province of, Canterbury, and not only the province of Gantprbury, but of Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland,. and that Canterbury, and the otWer provinces look to you to uphold their honour nnd worthily represent them at the front. The contingents have been formed so that every district is represented. In the- mounted rifles there is a squadron representing the first mounted regiment formed in the Dominion, th« old Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. That squadron has tho honour of the old C.Y.C. in its hands, and as that squadron does when it goes on active service, so will tho Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry he judged, and they have a great tradition to keep up." Will be Watched.

FOREICN BOOKS AND PAPERS ' WANTED. TROOPS TO STUDY LANGUAGES. We/have been asked to announce that nny gifts of French, German; or oven Russian, books, papers, text books, and grammars will bo welcomed by the Defence authorities for the purpose of encouraging the study of those languages by the troops on their long voyage to the Continent. In. the six weeks they may be ( at sea they might not be able to grasp: a general idea' of any of tho languages inentioiied, hut it is.pps-. siblo that there may'be those on board who have a knowledge of one or other of the languages, who might assist others in gaining a smattering of one of the languages at least, enoughpperr r haps to ask simple every-day questions, and _ understand the answers. These studies would be considerably helped by such books as are mentioned, or dictionaries which give approximately the German and English equivalent for the English word. Any such books sent to Mr. Alex. Crawford, at tho Town Hall, will be gratefully received, and handed over to the proper authorities.

"ALL FOR BRITAIN"

A NEW LEAGUE SUGGESTED,

In a letter to the Editor, Mr. J. H. Beale, Waipiro Bay, says:—"The patriotic feeling so visible to-day prevents the sale to a large extent of German Roods, but this is only for a space, and when, normal conditions aga'in reign we will patronise our enemies as of old. Sir, it can bo said as a fact that year in and year out, we, who claim the protection of the British Fleet, by our patronage of foreign made goods contribute largely to the upkeep of the German navy. To think we help to build'a fleet that will be used against us is unbearable—but we make Germany prosperous. An "All |or Britain" League is wanted—an organisation started to enroll men and women in the devotion of their country, and every membor pledged, solemnly, to buy British-made articles when practicable. Wo think enough of our Empire, surely, to do this; the sacrifice is so small, and the end attained so worthy that it behoves us one and all to buy every time British goods. Sports Protection LeagueWhy not?". '.'.■. I

GROWING OP CEREALS RESTRICTIONS OF CROWN TENANTS REMOVED. Tho Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) informed a reporter yesterday • thafcertain restrictions which were placed on tenants of Crown' land taken up under the Lands for Settlement Act, with regard to cropping and the growing of cereals, had been removed by him this' year, in order to allow the tenants to- grow more cereals if they felt inclined. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Tlrnaru, August 22. At a meeting of farmers at Fairlie promises ,were made to put in extra wheat totalling 220 acres. ■ A canvass of the district is to be made for more. Mr. B; Wright offered seed at 4s.' per bushel. It was proposed that an appeal for wheat-growing be made through the Churches. The Anglican minister present accepted the suggestion at a meeting of the Farmers' Union, Timaru. Wheat-growing was urged for patriotic reasons, but also on the ground that it was bound to pay. The season is said to be very suitable, and the land ia at present in good condition. An increasing interest in news of the war was evident by the large crowds gathered in tho principal streets on Saturday night, awaiting tho announcehient of important cables. The' possibility of news coming through of a decisive battlo between tho forces of tho Allies and the Germans also brought a great number, of the public out last night, On Saturday night tho Island Bay Scouts Drum and Fife Band played in the streets, and with other scouts formed an interesting procession. In the afternoon the Salvation Army conducted a street collecting campaign in tho city in aid of the Mayor's Fund, and met with a generous response. The 6um collected totalled £34 7s. '3d. A suggestion has been forwarded to tho Minister of De.fence (the Hon. J. Allen)'bv, the Y.SIICA. urgine that a religious mooting should bo held in the City, for the Wellington section of'tho Kxpeditionmy Force, immediately mior to leaving, )■

The other squadrons, continued General Godley, were in a similar position —eacli had the honour of its regiment and district in its hands. In the infantry the first company was from tTio First (Canterbury) Regiment, which His Majesty the King had.honoured by becoming its Colonel-in-Cliief. Thgy should remember that every man in the First (Canterbury) Regiment would bo watching them The same thing applied to the Second Company, -.vkidi represented the Second Regiment of Canterbury Infantry The others represented tlio districts from f which flicy came, and lie could not impress on thorn too strongly how the people would bo watching them, and that they had fo make or mar the reputations of the , regiments from which they came. With nil the good will in ihe world, with all tho training-they had, and the desire to soe active service, it would bo all no good unless they mado up their minds they were going to' be well disciplined. Ho did not mean by tliat the discipline that came- from fear. He meant tho best kind of discipline—tho 6ort they had overy right to expect from the class of men ho saw before him, meu who realised tho necessity for discipline and subordination. On board the troopsliio, and when they got Home they mi?lit ha'vo to do things that were 'irksome, and when on active service they might havo to undergo- hardship. Tt 'was wider hardship that they had the best ■lest. They should always keep tiiai. in thei' , winds. W'icii they jrnt Home tli n r ..would bg .nut of tho

Regular British Army, and they would nave to comn up to the same standard. He wished them a good voyage and said onco more—and paid it because he meant it—that New Zealand and the province of Canterbury ■ and the other provinces had every right to be proud of the men who were gowg to represent them, and lie had not the slightest doubt from what ho had seen and from what he knew of the soldierly spirit of Cantorbury, but that the men before him would worthily uphold the honour of tho regiments from which they oame. FOR HOME DEFENCE.

Tho following copy of instructions already issued to officers commanding districts has been forwarded to the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce, in reply to representations made by that body.—(l) Offers from the Legion of Frontiersmen, citizons, and other bodies to train for home defence should be dealt with, as follow: (2) applicants should be informed that they should either (a) join an existing rifle club individually; (f>) join an existing rifle club collectively as a distinct (sub-unit, i.e., company; platoon, or section; (c) form a now rifle club under the existing regulations. (3) The method of joining existing rifle clubs is to be given, preference, as there is only a limited number of rifles in the Dominion and issues to rifle clubs must be curas it is not considered that the situation is so critical as' to necessitate such a drastic measure as disarming senior cadets. (4) In pases where sufficient rifles are not available for training all members of rifle clubs, it is suggested that arrangements should be made for utilising those in charge of Territorial and Senior Cadet unite for tho purpose, whilst in no way taking the rifles out of tho charge of the unite concerned, (o) If certain rifle clubs or , sub-units of rifle -clubs* wish to form mounted units, there is no . objection to their training as such, provided that all extra expense involved is borne by the members concerned. (6) Eifle clubs will select thpir own officers and for recommendation to the Defence~"Departnient headquarters.,.