UNUSUAL INCIDENT IN A CHURCH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1526, 23 March 1916, Page 2

UNUSUAL INCIDENT IN A CHURCH.

A rather unusual incident occurred at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church at Hamilton on Sunday (states the Auckland Herald). The minister, the Rev. A. Gow, during the sermon, read •extracts from a book by Stephen Graham, wherein the author drew a lurid picture of the behaviour of the Maiu Expeditionary Force at Cairo. At the* conclusion of the service, Sergt.-Major Purdom, who left with the main body, and was with them in Egypt and Gallipoli, rose in the body of the church, and stated that while the author might have some data for his comments, the strictures applied only to a small handful, who had a predisposition in the direction indicated, and who. in all probability would have acted similarly in New Zealand, But it was an exaggeration to infer that the men as a body were affected. Numerous agencies were actively at work, both to assist the men and to warn them ot the pitfalls, and many officers were ever ready and anxious to conserve the welfare of the men. He could personally assure parents and friends ot men at the front that the picture drawn by Mr Graham need not give them concern. Marked signs of approval of the sergeant-major’s remarks were shown, and the incident closed.