WELCOME HOME TO TAIHAPE LOCO. DISTRICT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3350, 1 December 1919, Page 4

WELCOME HOME TO TAIHAPE LOCO. DISTRICT.

T RETURNED SOLDIERS. The 111e111ber§ of the Taihape»Locoixiotivé? stiafi combined. yesterday to give a. Vs;0lCOIl.lC home to the members of the stafi who have returned from the front. The function took place in the form of a picnic, sports meeting, and smoke concert. In addition to returned soldiers of the locomotive branch, the president, secretary, and commi-ttee of the‘ T:Lill-sips‘ Returned Soldier-s’ Azssocimtioii, outside msemu bers of the Rovers’ Football Club, traffic and nta-int-enance, returned soldiers, and Rifleman “l\Iolr()” Belliss, the well-known soldier footballer, of Taihape, were also the guests of the committee. The function was favoured by good weather, and close’ on ,100 assembled at ‘the grounds of Mr M. Swenson, Ngawaka, kindly placed arthe disposal of the committee, and afterwards at B'ennett’s Siding Hall, also placed at the disposal of the committee by Mr J. A. Anderson. The following eomnlittree was responsible for the -arrangements: Messrs V’. J. Munro (chairman), E. Hassett and W. ‘T. Liavin, joint secretaries, W. H. Eerbert, J. Hanley, W’. J.‘ Thomson, A. Russell, and P. Daly. : The proceedings opened with the [usual loyal----toast, after which the [chairman proposed the toast" of the .day, “The Returned Soldiers.” -In ’speaking to the toast the chairman welcomed, on behalf of the locomotive I men who were left behind all of their comrades who had gone to the front, and had returned. It was sad to relate, however, tTl7a’t. eighteen of the locomotive men, formerly of the Tai-» ‘hope district s-taif, would never re- ] turn. These men sleep for ever on the

|battlefieldg of Gallipoli and France.. ; The fallen heroes, formerly -of the locoI motive brunch Taihape district, are: T. McKenzie, J. R. D. Andrews, H. A. G. ‘Clapham, P. "M. Close, ‘R. J. Cook, E--0; or-owe,‘l>. W. French‘, R. Houghton, ‘'l'. E, Knowles, L. T. Matthews, J. A. 'Molloney; B. SulliVa.n, C. R. Small, C. H. Warren, D. Hisllon-, N.¢ 8.. '\Vestel'holni,g'--‘A. J. 'Whel-d-on, and J.. Kennedyl. lFew of those present realised the safprifice in life their comrades had ma'de, {and when concessions were made to ‘those who were fortunate‘ - enough to come back, it was bought at the expense of those men’s lives, and was not too great. No concession [granted by the Government or Patrio,tic Society was Worth considering, as compared with the price paid for it.” Practically none of-those present, and none of the public knew ‘of the war effort of the locomotive branch, and in common all other branches of the railway service. Speaking of the locomotive branch, with a staff of about 120, it would surprise manyto know that altogctlrer ‘S7 members of ‘the loco. staff -had gone into camp;~t-his inspite of the fact that they were protected_by the Department, and in many cases refused permission to enlist. To» enable. them to enlist_,.about a dozen had resigned the SGI'VICG.' Of those who enlisted 25 are entitled to wear the 1914-1915 star, and 18 were killed or died on service. and 9 have returned so seriously incapacitated by wounds that they were unable to perform their-ordin-;-.ry vocation. It would thus be seen that those who enlisted were not merely on-lockers; they had all prowl-l ed themselves men of valour, and in this respect had done honour to themselves and their comrades. Decorations were irvon by P. Flynn (D.C.M.), 'l‘. R, Crocker (D.C.M.), B. J. I’enberthy (M.M.), A. T. Rhane (".\I.M.), C. H. Warren .-(deceased) (Croix dc Guerre, French), also by C. Me-Alinden (M.M.), C. Linehan (11..\[.) (traiiic), and Quinn (M.M.) (maintainenee). He called upon those present to drink with enthusiasm. and sincerity to the toast of the “Returned Soldiers.” (Applause and cheers for the boys.) Mr F. J. McCormick, in responding

for the locomotive returned soldiers, thanked all those present for ‘the trouble they had -gone to in expressing their good. will tow'a.i_'(ls the returned soldiers. Those who went were, per—haps, more fortunate than those who stayed behind to keep the Wheels turning. Tlie‘railwa.ymen were essential workers. and it was apparent from the number of men turned, down for trivial“ defects that there was an ur.-wri-tten instruction to ‘turn down as m'.—my as possible for “flat feet” and similar defects. All the bravery was not confined to those {vho ‘went on active service. No greater example of bravery, stoieisni. and 11I1SC]fiSh]'l0E~s had been displayed on the field than shown by their late comrade Driver 'l‘. Welsh, and by Fireman ‘T. McKenna., on the occasion of the lat; "accident near Mataroa. Peace hath its l1e:'oe.~: no less than War. A» Mr A. ‘eLatimer. returned soldier. thanked the c-om-mittee on behalf of the traflic staff. Ml’ W. R. Stevens. president. of the Returned Soldiers’ A.ssoei‘3tin-.7. repli‘d on behalf of the Tailiann Dist:-int Returned soldiers, and Welcomed all those not already members of the Association to join up. an“ help in tgw 2005 fight. All benefit ol,»tained..by '4‘-I?‘Tlf-‘<l ‘lnenibeixq had been cot thrc-ueh their gissoaiation,‘ even atlie curt_:_li_lVme».nt.l.= 05.

speci “ fr holidays to rlailwa)’ 'm°m' hers Kctive service had been fmlght‘ -against by the ‘Returned Soldiers’ Association. _ Mr Lawton, cozulllitteeman °f_the R.S.A., thanked we railway committee for their invitation to outside soldiers. He aptly remarked that it was the, workers who fought in the war, and the workers as .3 body were the first to extend an organised Welcome to returned soldiers. (Applause-) Mr T. Bennett (Maori Pioneer Battalion), also thanked the committee for the opportunity of being present, am} from -3. glance around they knew how to entertain their guests and make. them welcome. V Apologies for absence were received from Mr E. Lenihan (secretary R.5.A.),), 0Moko” Bellilss, IW. Mice Lennan, and P. Wakeman, During the afternoon a sports programme was provided with the events being open to returned soldiers. The following were the results: Quoits: F. .J. McCormick 1, L. W. Lockie 2. M 75 Yards Race: H. Eat-on ‘l, W. Moloney 2. Tug-of-war: Returned soldiers 1, Loco. 2. -At the smoke concert in; Bennett-’s Siding Hall, the following contributed items: W_ .La.vin, F. Frietos, W. J. Thomson, A. J. Forenian, J. Wa.rren,T G. Simm. Messrs G. Ardell and H. Hartley presided at the piano. W During the day the proceedings were enlivened by several selections from the Taihape Brass Band, which greatly ‘assisted in rnaking the function as enjoyable as it proved tobe. Much praise is due to Messrs E. Hassett and W. Lavin for their indefatigable work in .organising and carrying out the many duties falling to the secretaries. It was mainly due to ‘their-_eifort that one of the best functions yet held by fh'e““railway stafi can be chronicled, I On -Saturday framed enlarged ph-c»to~~of the late Enginedriver .T. Welsh, subscribed for’-by -the railwaymen of Taihape, was hung in the railway Social Hafll, as a Trfiemorial to the deceased, and to shcwmthe "appreciation and reverence in which his memory is held.