ENGLAND IN WAR TIME

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2345, 30 December 1914, Page 2

ENGLAND IN WAR TIME

A NEW ZEALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS. Miss Lena . Van Staveren and her sister, who have just returned to Wellington from a visit to England and tlio Continent, have naturally found tho months they spent away (from New Zealand months of absorbing interest, even apart from the'gttSit war which hi/, swept the nations from tho edge of the precipice upon which they have been for years into tho raging "whirlpool of dreadful actuality. Naturally,' with a sister who has been winning fame in the musical world with hor wonderful voice, such a visit could not fail to be interesting since it opened the door to a world of music and art to which we in Now Zealand aro but seldom admitted and so seldom even glimpse. England—tho courtesy, the unaffected simplicity of her people, her srt, her .marvellous treasurers' of history, her undying virility—laid tcnactious fingers upon Miss Van Staveren, and even New Zealand shrinks into the shado beside them all! Holland In War Time. Naturaly the first topic touched upon m the course of an interview was the war, ' . • "Where were you when war was declared?" she was asked. "We had gone over to Haarlem, where the house_ of a friend had been placed at our disposal. When wo left lUigland, there had been no whisper, no outside official and possibly business circles of such .a calamity. You see _ people at Homo had got used to sitting upon the brink of a volcano and when it finally blow up everyone was stunned and could not beliove that the thing most dreaded had actually ocAnd when Hhey finally' vM realise it, they did'not realise how vast tho conflagration was to be. Three days after wo had got to Haarlem, war was d oclared. At the , actual time we had. been staying at a very beautiful watering place on the Zuyder Zee, and at once tho chef and the waiters at the hotel left. They were called to. the German colours. And so it went on, Russians, Germans, everyone of fighting age, was calleH.

It. had been our intention," continued Miss Van Staveren, "to visit Germany next, after wo had left Holland, but of course every thought of doing so was dropped. Instead, wo went to Cook's, arid were told that the last boat they could guarantee to leave for England was to, leave that night. Most luckily for ns, although on leaving iimgland wo had had money changed into German currenoy ready for our travels, something had made us change it into Dutch, and so we were ready tor the emergency of the moment. We wore laoky enough to secure passages on this steamer for London, and were thankful to get a square inch or two to sit upon, so crowded was it with people hastening away from Holland Responding to tho Call.

I thought tho response to tho'call simply wondorfuj,"' said Miss Van btavoren, m roply to a question about tho ' recruiting at ' Home. ' "Every n iiere men were coming forward all coalitions, all. ranks, and of all whom flo had met. in London and among those whom our friends knew, hardly one was not off to the war, or had not olrerea his services. Everywhere men wero tm.„ng,-• aiid. one of the stirring Rights was-to go to the parks and watch them hard at work. The artists and_ the writers' corps wore very strange f? ? I first.- They hardly knew their right foot from then-left, hut it was surprising how quickly ihoy mas■tered it. One of the most -charming sights that wo saw was when we were riding on the top of a motor-bus in London. We passed a company of khaki ■ men swinging, along the roads', possibly on their way to embarkation, and at once every, man on tho bus (most ol tliem were quite old) wero on their leot, hats off ..'and 1 cheering as hard as- t-hoy could. It was very fine. 'iPf course tho war has brought to a Ml-stop everything in the way .of theatrical enterprise, and everything in tho musical world for a time at least. iuy sister was to have toured with the vumjan Company, but of course that was cancelled. All her other big engagements had to go also, and so it has been with everyone. At the present time sho is studying, and is also teaching.. When the war is over, who' knows? I ~i"! n SS may right thomselves in time." Bliss Van Staveren could not 6peak enthusiastically enough of the hospitality of English people, and of the Victoria League in particular; Through the lattor and through tho Overseas Branch they visited many interesting places, and were entertained in every possible way. Through Mr. Joint, at' one time Registrar of Victoria College, .she and her sister were present at*an interesting function at the Imperial Institute, and they were also present at a ceremony in connection with Westfields College, at which even -ts Own women graduates were not able to gain admittance. Such is the magic of being a New Zcalander.

1 Belgians and the Wounded. Of course tliey saw Belgian refugees who were arriving by liuiidreds every day in London, and some of the most pitiable sights-that Could be imagined were happening day by day among these victims of war. Hunted, stricken, sometimes carrying all their worldly wealth in a bundle, sometimes without even that, separated often from tho members of their families, they brought home to tho Londoners the actuality of tho horrors of war. In return the londoners and tlie English people generally, rich and poor alike, did everything they could to help them, and took them in wherover it was humanly possible. The way the women at Homo were working for the relief of tho Belgians, in trying to find employment, "for the unemployed and the distressed, and in working for thejoldiors and tho wounded was magnificent. Heart-stricken, longing for news from tho war, and', yet terrified to hear, they' threw themselves into the work of helping pthera and in doing so lightened something of their own burdens. Even when motoring through the streots they would ho knitting, and many, many private'cars wero turned into ambulance cars for transporting the wounded to the hospitals. A story illustrativo of the spirit that prevails in London was told of by a ragged little street urchin,'who, on voturnmg from -a message which ho had been asked to go by the ownor of a car which was taking somo of the wounded soldiers to a hospital, refused to take money in return. "It was for tho wounded" was tho simple answer of the boy. And thcro you have it all. On the way out to New Zealand the Maloja- passed the- Australian flotilla, .and oh tho banks of the Suez they saw the Indian troops" oil guard. In England, on tho Lord Mayor's Day, they saw in the military procession in Loudon the Now Zealand troops—those who have joined at Homo. It brought very cloeo and .vividly tho rehlisatioi) <ff what it was-to belong to the British Empire.