THE PAKEHA ARRIVES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 211, 31 May 1919, Page 6

THE PAKEHA ARRIVES

A .RECORD DISEMBARKATION'. Though the evening was wet and e** tlremelv cold and miserable, tevcral thouwind people asfcmjiled on the King's \\ Imrf, and at the entrance to meet lie reiimiwl men by the transport l'akcha, winch drew into the wharf at 4.110 p.m. yesterday. Tl: was good to note that the lvretcheil wealher did iiot-in Iho least alloc the warmth of Hie greeting, which. was well up to Wellington's best standard. -After the men hud come ashore they had to run the gauntlet of a lano c>l ■ cheering people outside the main entrance, each motor-car loud of "Diggers" .being given a rally as they moved citywards. The disembarkation arrange. uienlSj planned and executed by Lieuteui anl-Colonel ll'Doniild and Captain Prictor, were, perfect. The number of troops approximated 1.1011 (there were lliTO Ne\r Zealand troops, with a few other.units), a record number for one ship. Yet, with the use of two gangways only, everyone was' ashoro in 23 minutes—a remark'ablo achievement hv view, 100, of the. fact that the operation was conducted iu the hnlf-light of an intensely cold, damp evening. Looking, back on the disembarkation arrangements of a coupie of .years ago, tho performance' was. a praiseworthy one. Equally expeditious.was the work of tho. stall, who boarded Iho vessel in the strearoYat 2.30 p.m., and completed the checking of iho ship's complement,. l)cfore the vessel'■ was berthed. As' usual, members of the Wellington Motor A'oluntcer Corps, under Captain \V. Fi'yor; -were present in stronjr .force, and .did notably good work in'seeing the men to their various destinations (includinjr .the conveyance of Eomc 70fl men to the ..rail way station); The Auckland contingent.left for the north, by. A'special train, which left, at , 7.15 p.m., anil the Taraiiaki and 'Wiinganui men also proceeded by the train as. far as Palmerston - North, and. will be, sent, .on to their respective district this morning. The Wairarapa anil Hawke's Bay men will proceed home by. this morning's exnrei3. Those for the'south went forward by the Maori last evening, and the Patoena, which had been. held, back for Ihe purpose, conveyed the Nelson and • West Coast draft across tho Strait last evening. . '•„'., The Pakeha, which enjoyed a fairly good weather passage across the Pacific called at Newport News,. where she remained coaling for five. days. During that time the' men went into tho big American camp, that stretches away from the port for a considerable-distance. Therethey wero housed in spacious. well-built everything connected with the camp is said ,to' be far up-to-date than anything they had. experienced on.the other side of the Atlantic. Tho American soldiers, of which .there were some thousands, said that tho camp could necommodate a million men. New. port Xews.has its naval.. .construction yards, and .when/the Pakeha,. was fh"ra a battleship was on the slocks which wW said to-be bigger than .anything afloat. Shore' leave'. was freely granted, and ;nany of tin; men visiter]'.Washing.ton, Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk, The transport v.as. six hours only at Colon (Panama. , Canal), durinir which time the ..residents proffered them all hospitality. . ' " ' Lieutenant-Colonel G. W. Cockroft, of Wellington, was the' officer commanding ■ the trdons on the Pakeha. . '