TRAFALGAR DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1915, Page 3

TRAFALGAR DAY.

PARADE AT WHITELEY VCHURCH. Thursaay next marks the hundred and tenth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, and the occasion was celebrated yesterday morning by a parade at the Whiteley Church, where the Rev. A. B. Chappell preached an appropriate sermon. The parade was a particularly strong one. Veterans numbering about thirty, a similar number of members of the Defence Rifle Club, a number of Territorials under Lieut. Crutch, and about forty Boy Scouts, under District Commander Milne, paraded at the Coronation Hall, and, led by the Citizens' Band, matched to the Whiteley Church. There they were joined by about a hundred High School Cadets, under Captains W. H. Moyes and A. R. Ryder. There wa3 a large congregation. The preacher based his sermon on Nelson's famous signal—'"England expects that every man will do his duty." The history of the signal was fully explained, and its meaning was employed to point a lesson for' to-day—a lesson which the preacher parimpressed upon the young people of the congregation. Points in Nelson's life were touched on, and the preacher emphasised the, valuable lessons which they provided in these critical times. The Rev. Jlr. Chappell concluded with a short reference to the present war, and expressed the hope that young men who had not yet seen where their duty lay would see it as had those men who had gone to the front, and who had fallen or been wounded. An feature of the service was it practical illustration of Nelson's signal by hoisting it in the church exactly as it fluttered, from the Victory on October 21, 1805. This was admirably carried out by the Boy Scouts. A further use of the flags will be made on Thursday evening. Then the annual meeting of the Victoria League will be held in the Good Templar Hall at 7.30, and will be followed at 8.15 by a public gathering, at which a programme of stirring patriotic items will be rendered. Mr. Chappell, whose boyhood (spent in Portsmouth) gave him frequent opportunities for visits to the old Victory, has full knowledge of the history and traditions of Nelson's great message to the fleet, and will lecture on the signal, with the aid of the flags, which will"be manipulated by a party of Boy Scouts. No charge will be made for admission, but a collection will be taken for the Wounded Soldiers' Fund.