SOLDIERS ON LEAVE

Southland Times, Issue 24834, 28 August 1942, Page 4

SOLDIERS ON LEAVE

Difficulty Of Getting Meals The difficulty of soldiers travelling long distances on leave getting meals at railway stations en route was mentioned at a meeting of the Southland Provincial Patriotic Council yesterday. Mr P. L. Hodge said he had suggested to the railway authorities that the railway refreshment rooms should, be run on the cafeteria system so that there would not be the present congestion. However, he had been informed that this was not possible. Men on troop trains were paraded to get meals at stations and thus it was possible to serve a large number of them in a short time. Men on leave, however, had to join in the general rush and take their chance in the same way as civilians. The result was that some did not get much food on the journey. Mrs J. Hargest: If the men are travelling by night I should have thought they would have preferred to sleep. Mr Hodge: Everybody cannot sleep on a train. “Soldiers on leave can get a bed at the Y.M.C.A. institution on any night of the week,” said Mr J. D. Gilmore later in the meeting. Mr J. Hickey (Woodlands) said that he had been told of several soldiers on leave in Invercargill who did not know where to go to get a cheap bed. There was no club in Invercargill like the Union Jack Club in Christchurch where men could get accommodation. Mr W. J. A. McGregor said he, did not understand why it was not generally known among the soldiers that beds could be obtained at the Y.M.C.A. in Invercargill. He had thought that the word would have been passed round.