Welcome Home.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 28 March 1918, Page 3

Welcome Home.

There was a very cordial ring about the function arranged by - the Levin Patriotic Society and held at Everybody's Theatre on . Tuesday, night to welcome home the lodal and district soldiers who have returned from the front. • The Theatre was pa'Cked before r eight o'clock, and numbers of people stood at 'the entrances throughout the proceedings. A notable feature of the function was the large attendance of returned men, about 25 of whom in uniform or wearing their badges, were present, and as the honour- > ed guests of the evening, occupied special seats near the stage. The programme consisted of admirably brief speeches which expressed the community's goodwill towards those who had done their duty so faithfully, some wellchosen musical items and the pic- . ture "The Girl who Couldn't Grow tip," which was immensely enjoyed by the large audience. Mr L. Scott acted as director of the proceedings, and the Mayor spoke on behalf of the town, Mr J. Mclntyre being the other speaker. .. Mr W. Hughes and Private W. A. Pringle were associated very effectively in the duet ' "Watchman, what of the night," and they weye recalled to, repeat the item. Mr Ken. Aitken was : in excellent form and quite cau; ght the audience's fancy with a I humorous recitation for which he 1 was enthusiastically encored. < Miss W. Walker was heard to ■ great advantage in "Come, sing 1 to me" and Private Pringle's fine tenor voice greatly pleased the '' audience in "The Secret of the ' Tide," for wliich he was recalled, - singing "Somewhere a Voice is < Calling," with great expression. < A popular item was a song and ] dance by Mr Les. Scott, who had i to make a re-appearance to satis- ( fy the audience. 1 The Mayor said men who had c done their duty and done it so < well were deserving of a public i welcome; it was their due, as the 1 presence of so many people that < evening showed. They had met i on previous occasions to wish the ] men good luck and Godspeed, ] and the Mayor said all would i agree that good wishes had i materialised in regard to the men E before him. They had seen sights ( that would remain in their mem- \ ories as long as they lived. And \ when old age came —that time es- \ sentially for memories—they wo- j uld be able to recall with satis- ] faction the fact that they had done their duty and done it well. s (Applause). The memory that ( would dwell most with them, however, would be their recollections of the time when they ( took part in the great war. I lie < Mayor said this country was bull- , ding up an enormous debt as a ( result of the war. The only way ] the burden could be eased was by. E everyone exerting himself to the 3 utmost of his ability. The best j advice he could give returned ] men was that, 'after they had ta , ken the holiday they were so well , entitled to they should again enter fully into the life of the community and take up the duties they could best perform. lhey came back with the respect of all and they would find everyone eager to lend them a helping hand, so that they would have every opportunity to make good. For a small place, said the Ma: ( yor, Levin had quite an imposing list of honors, and he read the roll of those local boys who had won distinction: , T . Lieut. Brian Palmes, son ot Mr and Mrs P. E. Palmes, Hili tary Medal for valour. Company Sergeant Major Fletcher, who returned with the last draft for duty, Military Medal. ~ , » Private Alex Gray, an old boy of the Levin School, and son ot Mrs 11. Makin, Military MePrivate George Adsett, son of Mrs Adsett, an old Levm resi dent, Military Medal. Rifleman W. Hannan, one of Le vin'a most popular sports, Mill tary Medal. , Private Albert Purcell, one ?i the latest local soldiers to gain the Military Medal, was one o± five "brothers who had volunteered. The Mayor read the following list, as far as could be ascertained, of the local men who had returned: Private H. A. Alderwick, W. H. Adsett, R R. Butt, F. C. Durward, T. Edwards, L. Francis, A. Horrobin, O. Horrobin, T. A. Harwood, E. F. Harwood, C. Howe, T. M. Kingdon, H. E. Lodge, Langley, E. b. Morgan, E. Musso, A._A. McDo nald, H. McDonald, W. Paterson, D. B. Pollock, R. H. Pringle, W. A. Pringle, G. Ransbotham, G. Robertson, J. Rolston, C. A. Russell, L. Smith, J. A. T. Thompson, G. Widdows, J. P. White, L. B. Wilson, F. C. Wooding, A. Walker, Wil- , liamson; Lance-Corporal M. Mclntyre, Sergeants H. R. Bailey, W. D. Bennett, G. Marriott; Serprt.-Major J. Young; Quartermaster Sergeant Fletcher; Lieut. T. G. Vincent. . The Mayor said Levm was also proud of the fact that Bra ■ j tradierGeneral Freyberg, V.0., i>S.O., and Captain J. G. Mer- | ton, Military Cross, were resi- " ■ dents Here. , Finally the Mayor expressed J i in a few felicitous words the gen- J ' j eral pleasure at seeing so mahy , men back and also the hope that ■ ' the day was not far distant when 5 all our soldiers would be back m their homeland. , , „ Mr J. Mclntyre, headmaster o± the Levin High School, was the 1 other speaker. He said men who had come back from the horrors ' of an awful war did not need moI : thering. He did not say they did not want sistenng (laughter) especially if the sistenng . was - done by someone else s sister. 3 Two years ago at a gathering to 3 farewell about a dozen men who were going to the front, the spea-

ker had remarked that for yean old boys had touched their hats t< him in the street, but he said th< time would come when he woulc like to touch his hat .to them "I feel more than ever to-night,' said Mr Mclntyre, "that aftei what the men present have gone through, I ought to salute them." At that time the list of old pupils of tht school • serving numbered about • thirty, - but it had grown until now it numbered nearly 200 boys who had. gone through the school and then gone overseas to fight. It seemed to. him that they did not quite recognise what these boys had done, and it was only on* looking through l a list like that that it was brought back very forcibly. Recent alterations to the school had revealed some old photographs. One of' these was of - the. school I football team in: . '1910. There ' were sixteen 'b(3ys in- the picture, and fifteen of these had gone to the front, • the other being phsically unable to go (applause). At leasV'ttfo 6f them had received the Military.. Medal, and two more' would never return. _In another photo going back eighteen years was a boy who had distinguished himself in the aerial service but was now a prisoner in Germany. A recent letter told how he had made all preparations to escape and had almost reached the frontier of Holland, when he was recaptured and again imprisoned at a place further east. Mr Mclp.tyre said it gave him the greatest pleasure to take part in the reception of those who had come back from the war, especially of those who were old boys of the old school. Just before the picture was shown, the Mayor said they were very grateful to Messrs Scott and Domb, who had offered their theatre free of charge for the function and had assisted in other ways. The committee felt that it would only be fair under the circumstances to pay for the ligh ting of the building. Everybody s orchestra was also deserving of their thanks for its tuneful playing, and the Mayor also expressi'he general appreciation of the efforts of the committee which managed the function (Messrs ii. R. Gardener, W. Hughes, D. b. Mackenzie and Mrs Goldsmith, with Mr Keedwell an ex officio member). ,Mr 81-enkhorn said 3pecial praise was due to Mr Gardener, whose happy idea was that the welcome should be iree to all, and whose well-known attention to detail was responsible for the smooth running of the arrangements. The Town Ban , which played a programme outside the theatre was also mentioned by the Mayor, who finally presence. Apologies for absence were re ceived from Mr A. R. Chairman of the Horowhenua County Council; from Mrs J. White on behalf of her son, Lance-Cor-poral Jesse 'White, who is at present at Rotorua undergoing treatment and is doing so well that ne hopes to be discharged shortly, Private T. Edwards, of Te Horo, where he has taken up a farm, and Private C. Russell, who is at present in the Hospital. APPRECIATION. (To The Editor.) Sir, —Referring to the public and official reception and welcome home to the returned men held last night, allow me, on behalf of my comrades and myself, to express our extreme pleasure and gratification to the citizens of Levin for the heartiness and warmth of the welcome extended t0 US - , xl J. •£ Let me assure them that it they were pleased to see us, we, on our part, were more pleased, if possible to be present in Levin amongst our old friends, acquaintances and pals once again i± only for a few short hours spent in such an enjoyable manner as last night. Our thanks are due to everybody who helped in any way whatsoever in connection With this real welcome home. ; A GRATEFUL RETURNED MAN, who was lucky enough to be with old comrades last night. Levin, March 27.