"THE FIRST REAL BLOW."

SYMPATHY OF THE CITY. Speaking for the citizen* to-day, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) said the x receipt of the casualty -list* was the first real blow of the war that New Zealand has felt. "Up to the present," he continued, "we have been buoyed up by the interest shown in the enthusiasm and interest shown in the preparations for the war and by the recognition of the splendid spirit shown by our boys in the sacrifices they have made and are making to go to the front in the greatest campaign in which Britain has ever been engaged — the greatest war of the world's history. I repard our boys as being as much at the front in the Dardanelles as if they were in the trenches in Flanders. The casualty-lists show that the fighting there is, and is likely to be, as fierce as in France and Belgium. Th© tremendous responsibilities arising out of the war cannot now be entirely appropriated by Great Britain. We in New Zealand are being made to feel our burden likewise. Details to hand so far are but meagre, but they are sufficient to indicate the strenuous character of the fighting in the Dardanelles. It is a matter for the pincerest congratulation that young New Zealanders have proved their worth in every way in waging what to my mind is one of the mo*t serious fights — the conauefit of the Dardanelles — connected

with the war. The messages already received from His Majesty, the Secretary of State, and the Admiralty relating to the part played by the New Zealanders »od Australians are, I am sure, no mere idle words, but are sincere in the fullest meaning of the word, and they all testify to the splendid and heroic work done in Turkey by our boys and those of Australia during their baptism of fire. "It is only now that the individual loss and suffering are coming home to us, that we are beginning to realise the depletion, of the flower of our manhood by war. As a community we deeply sympathise with all who are bereaved by the war. Our hearts go out to the parents and friends of thoee who have fallen on the field of, honour, and of those who have been wounded. But we know that it will be recognised that the sacrifices, great as they are, have been made in the furtherance of the British desire for world -peace and world-free-dom. ' "I feel sure many an heroic deed has been done at' the Dardanelles that will be enshrined for ever in the hearts of i our people, and such will remain a lasting memorial to the bravery of the men we have sent. 1 "To the women of New Zealand we owe more than we can pay. They have helped to equip our men aow at the front, and we mourn with them. They, too, have played a nobie part in this war, and we can be quite sure that they will not relax their efforts, no matter how deep may be their grief.''