FOR THE RED CROSS.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1915, Page 7

FOR THE RED CROSS.

THE APPEAL FROM BRITAIN. COLLECTIONS IN NEW PLYMOUTH. ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23. In connection with the appeal from Britain for assistance for the Red Cross I organisations, the Deputy-Mayor (Mr. W. A. Collis), has received the following telegram from His Excellency the Governor:— "(1.) I have received a telegram from t the Marquis of Lansdowne, with the eon- . currence of Their Majesties, tile King s and Queen, and of Her Majesty Queen t Alexandra, suggesting that October 21st e shall be appointed as a day for an aps peal throughout the Empire by street - and other collections for the purpose of 0 meeting the growing demand for funds if for .Red Cross requirements both in France and the Near East; (2) Contrie butions received from this appeal are to li be devoted to relieving the suffering of I, our sick and wounded soldiers and sailors g wherever they may be located; (3) It t. is hoped you will be able to lend your ;r assistance; (4) Should branches of the y Order of St. John exist in your locality ). it is suggested that you might arrange e to co-operate with them; (6) This ap- -- peal is entirely for money and not for e goods in kind." g As the suggested date for the collece tion falls on a Thursday, Mr. Collis eonr. eidered it would be an unsuitable day to d hold a street collection in New 'Plymouth, , 8 and he accordingly telegraphed to the Governor yesterday morning asking if arrangements could be made to hold the collection here on a Saturday. The o Governor's private secretary replied: "In reply to your telegram I am directed to |0 say that the day fixed for collection j was Lord Lansdowne's choice, but his j Excellency thinks that you should do whatever you consider best in the matter j to obtain a good result." In view of this it has been decided to hold a collection in New Plymouth on d Saturday, October 23rd. Mr. Collis yesterday conferred with Mi's. Dockrill (sec,g retary of the New Plymouth branch of 0 the St. John Ambulance), and they are co-operating in the matter, Preliminary , g arrangements will be put in hand at once. It is proposed to hold a public |f meeting in the Town Hall 011 Thursday, October 21st, at 7.30 p.m., to complete the procedure. y - e "Put your periscope up, but not too fur," said the New Zealander. The men j who manned the traverse had stepped down, and I jumped up, taking good care not to push my head above the e line of sandbags. It was the nearest 1 view I had ever had of the Turkish trenches. They were only about 20 yards away. J A NEAR VIEW OF TURKLAND. r Ij saw then that maae of trenches I a have before described, and followed the 1 enemy's line as it approached the Post, 0 They had barbed wire entanglements 1 enough, and huge mounds of earth, and 1. further along great stumps of wood e that looked like targets. These I found s on enquiry were wooden beams—huge e |ong rafters several feet thick, protect. 3 i"g their trenches. Some were rent and a split where our huge bombs had struck t them, and others had "oeen "blown to o matchwood by high explosive shells. I e could see that all the Turkish trenches 0 were covered as far as posible. The immediate foreground was littered with old jam tins, some of which were unexploded "bombs." There was a rifle covered with dust, and a heap of rags. My attention was called to . the red colour of the upper portion of what had been a Turkish jacket, and gradually I made out the frame of the soldier, who had mouldered away inside. It was a pitiful 6ight. There were four other unburicd men from the enemy's flanks. Nearer still was a boot and the skeleton leg of a Turk, lying as he had fallen in a crumpled heap, I gathered all this from the peeps I had through the periyjope. Tnen I bent and doubled around the top of the Post through all manner of passages, and then 15 feet away was the apex of the Turkish line. It was bullet and bomb proof, and looked deserted, but it occasionally spat fire during the night—so did our loopholes opposite. It was not very broad, the top of this ridge—not, I suppose, altogether 80 yards across, and across that neck 1 exposed to a flanking fire from each side f the Turku had attacked the Austrar lip,lls, and the Australians had driven > them back, as the cables have already ; tOld. '