Y.M.C.A. WAR WORK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2841, 4 August 1916, Page 6

Y.M.C.A. WAR WORK

'' ' •' — J —* LECTURE BY ME. W. H. GEORGE. Before a large audience,, Mr. W. JI. Gporge, one of the Commissioners of the Y.M.C.A. who went to Egypt a feumonths ago, repeated his interestina:'lecture on Y.JI.C.A. ivar work at tho Town Hall last evening. The audience, which was an enthusiastic one,' included His Excellency the Governor and the Countess of Liverpool,' and "a party from Government House. The chair was occupied by tho , Hon. It. Heaton Rhodes, who said they, all ,■ knew, the good work of the Y.M.C.A. in the Territorial camps and also the great work they had done at the training camps at Trentham, Featherston, and any other camps, whero their marquees and huts were always to T>e seen. It was the same at tho front. He had seen for, himself the great work the association had done in Egypt, on tho Canal, and even at Anzac. He could remember when he. visited Anzac seeing the eager crowd waiting for the Y.M.C.A. hut to )je opened. They realised that further provision of the kind should have been made for the men, but there were many and those had been overcome by the Y.M.C.A. (Applause.) He paid a tribute to the work so enthusiastically, done by Messrs.. W. H.'George and W. G. Jamieson in Egypt, and said it was largely due to their efforts that the scope of Y.M.C.A. work in Cairo had been extended.

' Mr: W. H. George, whoso experiences on his recent tour have made him an accomplished lecturer, who judiciously mixes the gay with the grave, gave a very lucid and interesting sketch of the enormous and far-reaching work of the Y.M.C.A. since the-war had broken out, gave facts ami figures relating to the providing of huts near eveTy camp in Egypt and at Gallipoli (where the tent was blown up by a bursting shell on one' occasion)', along the sandy wastes that flank Suez Canalj along the British front in Flanders—where between tlio sea and tho Sonime they had some-two months ago..some 67 huts erected at places from five 'to seven miles behind the fighting line, all built in five foot sections, ready to move forward. Mr. Gcorgo quoted numerous testimonials from the King and many of his generals, testifying to the good work that was being done "by the Y.M.C.A. among fee men, but porhaps the most humorous ono was from a "Tommy," who testified: "The Y.M. blokes were not such bad sorts, though they were Christians!" They wanted to ■ raise .£500,000 for tho work of the current year, and of that amount tho Grand Council of the Association were looking to New Zealand for ,£50,000. They had already raised J525.000, and would be very pleased to receive a cheque for the balanco from anyone present or absent.

The lecturo was splendidly illustrated with numerous slides, showing views of Egypt, street scenes iu Cairol tho association's rest-houses in Cairo, and the adjacent camps, and good photographs of the departure of the Now Zealand troops from Ismailia for Alexandria,, en route-to France. In showing views of tlio ticenes of the riot in Cairo, Mr. George paid that it had been pointed out to him that his advertisements had only mentioned the Australian soldiers as huvI"? been connected with that disgraceful aft air, but he had been assured since that both New Zealand and British troops wero participants in tho trouble and it was only fair to the Australians to mention it. Beferring to the social scourge, by which more soldiers had suffered than were wounded at Gullipoli, he said that the wonder to him was that the authorities had not "cleaned up" the Waza district in Cairo before tho troops were taken there. Much of tho awful harm done would havo been averted had the British Government followed tho lead of tho French and ttnssinn Governments and stopped tho sale of spirits. Even if they had been wise enough to have closed tho Cairo hotels and drink-shops at 6 o'clock (as had now been done .in Sydney), 50 per cent, of the trouble would linvo been averted. Moving pictures-of training operations' both hero and in Egypt, were also shown. At the close of his lecture, tho proceeds of which are in aid of the hostel for New Zealand soldiers in London Mr. George was given a very hearty vote of thanks.