England in War Time

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 38, 19 May 1916, Page 2

England in War Time

LECTURE BY MISS NiARGHANT. There was a large attendance at the Parish Hail on Wednesday evening to hear Miss Marehant (Principal of St. Mary's School), who has recently returned from the Old Country, deliver a llecture on "England in War Time." !T«o lecture was very interesting and instructive, and in conclusion Miss Marehant was accorded a hearty vote (of thanks.

IN THE SUBMARINE ZONE. Miss Marehant related her experiences from the time she left New Zealand. During the voyage the captain of the Remuera in which boat she was a passenger, was hailed by the captain of a collier, who said he had on board the crew of a ship that had been destroyed by a .submarine. The first knowledge the captain had of the submarine was when lie saw the wake while on the bridge. Later, the submarine fired thirty shots and the steamer caught tire. Near the Stilly Islands, the Remuera was again stopped, on this occasion by an outward bound steamer belonging to the New Zealand Shipping Co. The captain'of the vessel said he had received an Admiralty message to the effect that submarines on which were mounted quick-firing, guns were in the vicinity, and gave the latitude and longitude where they were reported to be. He also slated that 80,000 tons of shipping had been destroyed during the week. The Remuera was advised as to what route to take. In the middle of the afternoon, the steamer was again stopped, this time by a French destroyer. Very few of the ladies retired to their cabins that night. Miss Marehant said she retired about midnight after seeing the lights of a number of French lighthouses.

FIRST SIGHT OF HOMELAND. Early next morning her cabin mate came down and told her they were ill sight of England and that a destroyer was guarding them. In a few bonis, they were in English and then in tlie Plymouth,-harbor. There'were; booms across the harbor entrance and, a'zig-zag course had to be taken. The. pilot knew well where the floating mines and dangerous places were.; |Thc* boat .train was waiting at the station, and she saw; .doctors Hitting about: :a train—a hospital train—that was drawn alongside, but she :took no special heed of. .it. She ; was,sitting, -in, they carriage whetf \ BMB hekrdjj the- wofft "GaHipoli'fj .'mentioned.' j she rushed out and inquired if the* soldiers were New Zealanders, but ;,wapj informed that they were not, and that the New Zealanders had gone on in the train ahead. The wounded New Zealanders are now being taken to the New Zealand or special hospitals, and not scattered all over the country as was the'case at beginning of The war. She met with wonderful hospitality, whenever New Zealand was mentioned. When out in the country one day, she met a Dominion soldier, who was asked* what he thought of England, ahd He replied that it was lovely and was worth fighting for. Every bridge and tunnel was/guarded by iuen.;in;uniform.

LONDON BY DAY AND SIGHT. On arrival at London, the absence of porters young men and middle-aged men was at, once noticed. Nearly every man was in khaki, and nearly every motor was painted khaki, with the deapartment to which it belonged written 'on it. London had greatly changed ; night used to be nearly as light as day; but now all that was-changed. The orders were very stringent. The electric globes were all painted black on top, so that the light could only show downward. At first, motors were only allowed to use one dim head-light, but owing to the number of accidents ■op nn <1 they were allowed to light the tail-lamp. The railway trains were all in darkness, the window-blinds being kept down. The reason for this was that the Zeppelins used to follow the Scottish express into London, and then drop bombs on the city. At one time it was common to see young men in the West End going to business, but now they were in uniform, ami their places had been taken by old men and boys. It was a wonderful revolution Over five million men of the Old Land were either in the trendies, in training or in some branch of the Armv or N'avy. Old men, boys ami gii-ls were taking those men's places ami this had been done so quietly and thoroughly. She felt that Mr Asquith had done an extraordinary thing m effecting such a marvellous change. THE ZEPPELIN RAIDS.

The amounts the papers gave ot the Zeppelin raids were very vague, as the places where they occurred were not stated On night she was awakened. , )V a Rmil noise, and next raornmg Earned that a Zeppelin raid had taken place the night before. Next evening .he retired for the night very excited At about 10.10 a great noise was hoard, then sirens were sounded to alarm he people of Zeppelins. The ware-Wig s [it up the sky as light as day, but the Zeppelins could not, be seen, though w \\ ( |av it, was stated there *eie tI ,;. CP The anti-aircraft guns were soon I 1 their shells, and a lupbuie C M he scon ascending very rapidly. Ued halls-fire hond.s-were seen dropi,t and four landed on building ~iT-h were soon a mass of flames, lhe ~,i (1 on i v lasted about ten minutes. i' homhs were all dropped a stone s „ w from the bank of New Zea and st Rartholmew's HospitaJ.and the Bn .is'., Museum. On inspecting; the damnext day ; it was surpnsmg usee vIL little destruction's caused, OJ ~,. three buildings winch -Miss Aim ; nt asv, the bombs and damage bad P p"etrated beyond the first and

second storeys. In all the buildings all around the area, the windows were broken. The following night another attempt was made, but the raiders were driven oil'. The anti-aircraft guns are mounted on platforms in different parts of the city. The guns resemble a crane. At one part of tbe city a battery of guns was noticed. The defence of London is very effective, as shown by the fact that during the hist raids not one of the machines have been near London. The Zeppelin raids were responsible for recruiting going up by leaps land bounds.

COUNTRY PEOPLE KNOW LITTLE. The people of New Zealand knew,, very little about the war, and the same was. : tho*«:aKe of the' country folk of England. While in Sussex she. was ! driven 's&) tho railway station by a • man who stated that "George was j back! trie has been to Flanders: 'Ho says either the 'German's would have to give*hv or 1 the English , would,", Though,repeated attempts >vere made, the man refused to be aroused to the fact that a world war was waging. It had been said that the country people } if they saw a company of Germans j marching along would shake them by the hands, thinking they were Territorials! LABOR AND THE WAR. Labor had behaved excellently. The Unions had given up privileges such as ■ allowing girls to work in certain \ etc. While in London.a ahpektj ( ,was ! visited of s&%(sss a pair of pJ*?M! Pyt me assistant/'; In-\ formed thjes , :the , rnianujJ no)'', matting; ' ladies' boots, but only meii's arid.army boots. They were, however,:, still. making, shoes. The war \yas : felt, more in' London than ift Nw ' Zealand:'' r Sbme ; articles were very scarce ,in London, but in New Zealand, to a certain extent, American . imported ;gortds were used. A i great question ,to \ lie settled, was, Would, the live million men, if they reiurn as is sincerely hoped, go back to their old employment, and would Lie women who were earning up to over £4 per week at ammunitionmaking go back to 10s.per week. ■••■■■■

AFTER TWO YEARS. ' When in the OlcJ Country two years ago, what stYuckthe speaker was the narrow track in which the educated women' we're working. When the war brokejout, these women put themselves unreservedly in the hands of the Nation. Some were now.workiiig f in munition''factories, others:-.'an and others educating the-people : to d'ye better. The working claKp l gitls'wore acting as ticket collectors,drivers of carts, on suburban trams,' and in hotels and restaurants. IP THE GERMANS LANDED. The coast around-England was entrenched and well guarded. On many public buildings were placards giving instructions in ease of the Germans landing on English soil. The notices tell the people to march down the thoroughfares in crowds, drive all stock before them, labol the stock as a measure of identifying them, tie labels around the children's necks, and many other measures. SUBMARINE HUNTING. About Christmas time the speaker was a guest at a dinner given'in honor of the capture of the 50th German submarine. Before leaving England } she believed the number had increased to over 80. These submarines were now

British ones. She believed that tho Germans stopped their submarine pol'icy about Christmas time because they 'were short of submarines.

On arriving at Liverpool to embark for New Zealand ( it was found that the steamer was not at the wharf and they had to wait about four hours. The cause of the delay was never obtained. It was said a short time previous to her arrival that 160 men captured on two super submarines had been marched through the town to the camp. The speaker believed that when caught the .submarines were kept under water for a certain period, so that when raised to the surface the crew were dead. The jNavy was not quiet, as it was always indulging in. small fights. THE WORST NOT YET. It was known that the enemy was held on the West front, but the Allies could advance if they wanted to. They could not hope to secure peace by the ; enemy meeting with.a few defeats. The worst was not yet or near it. OUR POSITION. New Zealand had not been affected by the war yet—except by a few in the iGallipoli campaign—and the speaker expressed the wish New Zealand would be. so that she would be touched.

THROUGH CANADA. . In conclusion, Miss Merchant said f . ... the return journey was made via Caniada, and while travelling on the trains I she mot with a number of Americans'. One man said 'that from the State no came from, 30,000 men had crossed tl)o border at the coinmeneeent of the war and had enlisted to fight for Knghind. If ncfed be; there were still 10'0',0'o6 to fight Tor the Old Country. He said the Germans liad ibst the respect of the' civilified world by their'Zeppelin raids, wherein they killed woriien ami children. • : ' ' ■ ' ' , ; The meeting closed with the singing of the National Anthem. ■ • '