"BATTLE AND THE BREEZE"

H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND'S . TATTERED ENSIGN FRAGMENTS SENT TO THE DOMINION. The Right Hon. the Prime Minister (Mr. W. F. Massey) has received the following letter from the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, High Commissioner for New Zealand, regarding the silk ensign presented by the women of New Zealand to H.M.S. New Zealand :— " I have the honour to inform you that I have recently received from Captain Lionel Halsey, R.N., C.M.G., a letter in which he states that 'the silk ensign flew throughout the action (the naval action in the North Sea when the German battlesln'p Blucher was sunk), and if necessary will fly again, though it is much reduced in size, but I kept all the old frayed-out bits to send back to the Dominion as a token for coming generations. These I propose to send to you and ask you to have them conveyed to your Government, should they desire to have them.' The pieces of the ensign have now come to hand, and I am having them carefully packed and sent to you under separate cover by the present mail. You will, no doubt, think it desirable to have them displayed in the Dominion Museum or other suitable place." To this letter the Prime Minister has forwarded the following reply :—: — " The High Commissioner's letter (covering some tattered fragments of the silk ensign which the New Zealand accepted from the women of New Zealand, at the instance of the Timaru branch of the Navy League) has revived many memories of the visit of the ship to the Dominion, and of our association with yourself, in that time of peace. We all appreciate' the proof, which your present message affords, that you still, in the midst of your great and pressing responsibilities, have time for kindly thought of the Dominion. The people of New Zealand have followed with eager interest and pride the story of the New | Zealand's part in the naval war, and we all have confidence that you and •youi S officers and men will, when your opportunity comes again, again give the enemy cause to fear the ship which beats [ our name. You will gather from the enclosed copy of a letter received from the secretary to the Battleship Presentation Fund that the remnants you have forwarded will be deposited * in the Municipal Art Gallery in Timaru, where a letter from you on the subject of the flag already hangs. On behalf iof the Government and the people of New Zealand, I desire to send to you and your gallant ship's company a message of our trust and confidence in you and in them. — Believe me, your truly (Signed) W. F. Massey."