SPIRIT OF TOC H

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 139, 9 December 1929, Page 9

SPIRIT OF TOC H

BIRTHDAY FESTIVAL FRIENDSHIP AND SERVICE

All the year round there are boing done in Wellington voluntary work 3 of service for those who afe in peed of them by a band of workers who carry out their duties unobtrusively, yet unfailingly, and whose presence in the city passes generally unnoticed. The work is carried out by the members of a world-wide organisation founded during the Great War, • and embodying the principles of friendship and servico so magnificently exemplified by the men who fought side by side in tho years 1914-18. It is the carrying on of tho spirit of Too H, a body as undenominational as it is international. ■

Once a year the members of Toe H come forward to tell what they have done and the progress they are making before they slip back into the obscurity that hides their humanitarian activities. The local branch held itß annual- meeting on Saturday night, when the symbolic ceremony of the Toe H lamp was carried out and the occasion synchronised with similar functions throughout the world, wherever the movement lias spread, the most important ceremony taking place at the Albert Hall, London, where the lamp was lit by His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales, and the banners of- all branches of Toe H were carried in procession.

The local function, after a year spent in service, was marked by the spirit of friendship, and there was no mistaking tho feeling of camaraderie that prevailed. Tho proceedings opened with the Toe H ceremony of light, with its call to remembrance of those whoso service was given in the Great War. The Toe H song, "Jerusalem," followed, and further choruses were intermingled with the speeches until the ceremony of the lamp, accompanied by a prayer, was again gone through, and the Toe Hers and the Toe M'ers.- were free to enjoy first a supper and then a dance.

, "BODY OF lEBESPONSIBLES."

Sir Alexander, Koberts, who wag accompanied by Lady Roberts, presided, and extended a welcome on behalf of Toe H to the visitors present. "Some may say," said Sir Alex., "that Toe His a body of irresponsible men— (hear, hear, and laughter)—but he might say that that is what we want in Toe H. We want cheery, hearty, irresponsibles; not men who have a strong purpose behind them. In other words, we want cheerful workers who will do the work in a cheery, happy spirit." The aim of Toe H was service, and many men who were not able to support other such organisations because they could not afford it could do even greater service through Toe H by giving of their services.

w '.'I want you all to realise," he continued, "as most of you would when we, performed our ceremony to-night, that there is a very serious 6ide of Toe n, and that has been' handed down to us from, the very start. Toe H is marked by a lack of ceremony, but behind it all is a feeling of service and religion."

NEW GROUP TO BE FORMED.

Dr. Bowerbank, chairman of the Wellington Branch, said that ho wished to speak of the birthday festival, •which was being celebrated, simultaneously by every branch of Toe H. The Christchurch and Dunedin bodies had recently been raised to branch status, and-their lamps were being lit for the first time by the Prince of Wales at the Albert Hall, from the master lamp which was kept burning perpetually. "In "Wellington," he said, "our family has grown very considerably during the last year, and for the sake of the family spirit another group, which will include several of the old group, will be formed here." The movement was growing slowly but steadily, but tho members were anxious that it should not grow too fast in order that it should preserve a very sound foundation.

"I have been ' asked," said Dr. Bowerbank, "if the ideals of Toe H are not too high for the average person. All I can say is that no ideals can be too high for any person." (Hear, hear.)

As an indication of what' Toe H stood for, he said that there was now a group ,in Berlin. In view of the fact that Toe H was started as an army organisation by a chaplain, that there was now a : group in Germany showed the hold it now had. He had received a letter from the secretary of the Berlin group, an ex-naval officer who had served in the war, in reply to a letter he, Dr. Bowerbank, had sent to him after the local branch had entertained a number of cadets off the Emden. In it the writer showed a true recognition of the ideals of Toe H, realising that only by spreading the spirit of friendship could further wars be prevented.

OUTLINE OP ACTIVITIES,

In reviewing the activities of the past year, the jobmaster, Mr. Noel Dame, said that the chief feature had been a large increase in membership,over twenty-fivo new members having joined up. The main difficulty had been in getting them all placed, and they had found that the best scheme was to get them out in teams. They had been faced with the task of keeping Toe H alive, and it was no easy matter. It might be pointed out that they could get a" man to dig a garden for the same wage aB they paid a parson, but there was no credit attached to it. Toe H men were expected to do things. For a while it was difficult to get members to give up their Saturday afternoons, but they soon became accustomed to it and to know the men they worked with.

Last year the holiday camp had been attended by thirty-three boys, of whom ten were orphans. This year, in the camp at Resolution Bay, in the Marlborough Sounds, there would bo lortyfivc bciys, including sixteen orphans. The miscellaneous work done during the year covered a wide field. The wireless group had attended to over fifty sets; the first aid group had gained fourteen certificates; tho concert party had given a very successful entertainment at the Ohiro old men's home; disabled returned soldiers had been wheeled about tho town and to tho services on Anzac Day; blind men had been assisted from the ferry steamers to the V.M.C.A.; soldiers' widows had had their gardens dug and their rooms papered; and a host of other small but helpful jobs had been done. Altogether the work showed a great advance on the previous year, and it was expected that more would be done next year. An address was then given by Colonel C. G. Powles, C.M.G., D.5.0., chairman of the advisory committee.