WELL DONE RAILWAYMEN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 8

WELL DONE RAILWAYMEN

FOR THE BELGIANS A SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINMENT COLLECTIONS OF £165 The most successful patriotic entertainment yet held, in Wellington since the war began was that organised by the railwaymen, which took place in the Town Hall last night. .His Excellency the Governor had graciously extended his patronage to-the entertainment, and he was present with the Countess of Liverpool. Other distinguished men present were: The Right Hon. W. F. Massey, tho Hon. J. Allen, the Hon. R. H. Herries, the Hon. R. H. Rhodes, the Hon. H. 1). Bell, Colonel P. Robin, Lieutenant-Colonel Gibbon, ' and Lieutenant-Colonel Hiley. The raihvaymen's. appeal to,the. citizens was "Help the Railwaymen, to help the starving Belgians,". but . they did not merely utter or print the appeal and leave things at'that.' The best methods of organising an entertainment wore followed by them with the greatest energy and astuteness, and the result was one of which the railwaymen have just cause to be proud. The first thing they did was to get printed (the* work was done gratuitously by Messrs. Coulls, Culling, and Co.) a very fine souvenir programme which they sold very widely at Sd. per copy!... - • The -entertainment was called a "Grand Assault at Arms." One of the specially warlike.'items oil the programme was a" bayonet fighting tourney by members of the force now in camp at Trentham. Fighting with the bayonet is a grim business, and at first the spectators were just a trifle shocked to see meu put technically hors de combat with- very fierce thrusts/with the dummy rifles and dummy spring bayonets the men use for this exercise, but gradually, the horror was forgotten as the spectators began to realise that no one was getting hurt, and then they began to-admire and be interested in' the skill. .And,it is nqt'.gerierally known that'.bayonet ;fighting is skilful. A mere 'rusher would have 110 more chance of, beating down a trained soldier than a street: rough would have with a professional pugilist. As our boys are taught, the exercise by their instructors, they use not only the point of the 'bayonet, but also the rifle butt and the barrel as well, and as ot> pertunity, olfers they use a wrestling trick or two. In addition to the contests there was' an exhibition of bayonet drill,by a squad from Trentham show-i ing the instruction in detail.

The management also' were fortunate in securing the services of Captain Leopold M'Laglan, a iui-jitsu expert, who knows'and;cin practise the real thing better than any other exponent of this art yet seen here. Indeed he claims to be champion of the world. With Professor Sims, a local physical culture expert, he gave- an exhibition of holds and'throws, never failing against a man very, much .above • ;th& average .in strength to rcduce him to-a helpless position. ■ He also showed the rather gruesome feat.', of; skill, of making Mr. Sims insensible by-', pressing on a certain nerve-centre in the neck, and afterwards reviving him by.a secret method of the Japanese. Another good exhibition waß given-by a lady pupil of Captain M'Laglen, who was attacked, in turn by four soldiers' disguised as roughs. She threw or held them with the greatest ease and certainty... ' ■.. ;

Of'the musical items. Miss Mina Caldow's song,- "A Pay Song,", as it was called on the bill,-must have first mention because.of the, result which followed it. Tho-song.was F. E. ' Weatherley's pogm, "Eugland's Call," set to music. As an introduction ,to the song the Minister if Railways, (the Hon. W. H. Horries) made a- speech of- appeal on behalf of the Belgian people, of which the following'extract' will show the general gallant little nation," lie said, -followed the example of the ancient Greeks against'the Persians, followed the cxamplo of the Swiss against the Austrian Dukes, followed the example of dear old,.Scotland at Ban-' nockb.urn,..and 'fo]lowed the example of ber nearer neighbours,-the united provinces of Holland as • against the Spaniard. These ;free nations now rejr.ico in their freedom,. though they worked so-hard to obtain that freedom, and. so it will be with Belgium. But. of all nations that have fought, for their freedom,'none have , gone through siich a - baptism ;of. • fire ■'' as the . ; Belgian ' people,'- and' therefore' it- is ,onr duty; the duty of -, every Englishman, to helpV this-■ brave nation, because •we know • as • well as.; anything that if it had'given way, had chosen .what might'have' seemed tho easier path,'the troubles-of the Allies might have - been- considerably, ' greater than they are' to-day.". (Applause.) After the speech and the song young ladies took up a collection; and' the audience contributed the sum of' £165 7s. Bd. This, with the profits on. the-entertain-ment—and the profits will be considerable—will go towards- helping tho brave nation. '

The other songs were old and wellknown, but perhaps ,the better for that. Mr. . Charles Clarkson sang "The Navy," Mr. Courtenay Mhor sang "Soldiers of the KiiiK," and Mr. Charles Hickmott .sang "Tipperary." The audience joined in all the choruses, and it was good to hear the soldier boys, of whom there were a good number present, ; sing "Tipperary,". the marching song of the Britisher. Mr. W. M'Laughlin's orchestra played a selection, and played the music, of all the choruses. Altogether tlio 'patriotic music' 'was most inspiring. Following were the results of the bayimet fighting contests:— First round: Private Bryan beat Private Stafford; Corporal Duggan beat Private Adams; Private Cottorill beat Corporal Bravery.; Private Ritchie beat Private Roberts; Lance-Corporal Fraser beat Lahce-Corporal Parr; Private Page beat Trooper Brewer. Semi-finals: Bryan beat Fraser; Duggan beat Ritchie;' Cotterill beat Page." Final: Cotterill-beat Bryan. Duggan did not compete. A tug-of-war was held between teams from the camp and Petone Workshops, but the Trentiiam team, a husky lot of men in splendid condition, won ver.v easily. The stage was tastefully decorated with flags kindly lent by Mr. R. G. Knight, i