CHEERING THE BOYS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 238, 5 October 1916, Page 6

CHEERING THE BOYS.

CHRISTMAS BOXES IN THE TRENCHES. 6,000 PACKED IN AUCKLAND. BUSY SCENE THIS MORNING. DO THE GOODS ARRIVE? '"The parcel arrived in good order, due ti> your excellent system of packing an;l to quick delivery. We are all very proud of the way in which you ladies are working for our comfort and welfare, and I can safely say that your gifts from timeto time have cheered many a sad heart and called up many tender memories of licme."

So wrote a member of the Expeditionary Force to the Auckland Women's Patriotic League, and when the extract was read by the president (Mr. J. H. Gunson) to members of League assembled in the Town Hall to-day to pock the Christmas gifts, ac a reply to a recent statement by a New Zealand officer to the effect that the gift consignments were not arriving, it wse hailed with enthusiasm by the company present.

A WORK WORTH WHILE. Thie was only one of a number of extracts read by the Mayoress from letters from the trenched, showing conclusively that the devoted and sacrificing work of the remarkable organisation which now control* women's patriotic effort in the Dominion has not been in vain, and that the little presents and comforts are prized and appreciated by the recipients. For not oniy doea the gift scheme mean that the soldiers who have not the good fortune to 'be regularly supplied with comforts by their friends iwUl have their lives brightened, but it is a reminder to those >rho look beyond the gift to the sentiment attaching to it that the sense of communal obligation at home has not .been blunted by long months of war.

So once again the women workers of Auckland assembled at the cupper-room of the Town Hall this morning to engage in the welcome task of packing the gitta for Christmas. The parcels on this special ocasion are of double the value of the monthly parcel, and are intended specially lor the boys in the trenches. The wounded and sick in the hospitals of the Old Country, and the reinforcements in training in England, have been committed to the care" of the' War Contingent Association, to which the Dominion Patriotic Associations liberally subscribe. Nevertheless, to cneure that every soldier in the firing-line obtains a I parcel, a huge consignment of gifts is being cent, Auckland's share of which is 5500 boxes, each valued at 5/, and involving a total expenditure of about ■ £1500.

WOMEN'S ORGANISATION. The Women's Patriotic League is now J the last word in organisation. Hundreds of ite members are enrolled as packers, and accordingly for the heavy, task of to-day there had been no difficulty in obtaining the attendance of about 340 willing workers, who were divided into two shifts, one for the morning or afternoon. In these warlike times military terms are apposite and businesslike, and the women had arranged their forces in the approved military way. The strategical plan had been drawn up by the general staff under the energetic secretary, Mies B. Spedding, many weeks ago. , This had - adopted the stout cardboard box as the most satisfactory way of cramming the huge quantity of stuff i into the limited space afforded on. the transports, (had calculated the measurement of boxes and packing cases with mathematical exactitude, had carefully selected the contents of the boxes to accord with epace and the conditions of transit, and had worked out the method of packing. Then, for a week preceding the grand attack, the field engineers had been 'busily engaged in preparing the ground, with the result that when the actual work of packing was commenced this morning the 'whole of the goods were neatly arranged on eight circular tables, in sncha manner that every packer had the whole of the articles required for the| filling of a box within reach. AN EXACTING DISCIPLINE. The tactical operations -were in the hands of Mrs. W. H. Parkes, assisted by Mrs. F. W. Wilson and Mrs. B. Buttle, and ac the infantry battalions arrived at 10.30 they were assigned to the tables, and the assault on the 'piled socks, handkerchiefs, and sweetmeats began. The women workers have long been inured to discipline, but there was an extra tax on their loyalty this niornjng owing to those in charge of the arrangements having decided that in order to prevent the overcrowding of some tables and the neglect of others, owing to friends arriving in parties, the workers must go to the tables to which they were assigned. There waa gome little murmuring, but most of the ladies recognised the wisdom of the edict, and then the work commenced, each taHe being supervised by a captain and lieutenant.

MAKING THINGS HUM. Business is not business if men arc supposed to be the sole possessors of the instinct of organisation and method. The articles comprising the gifts seem to fly into their places like the fragments of a shattered vase Teplace themselves in a freak film. Into the bottom of the box went three cards, one a cheery Yuletide message from Lady Liverpool, another a 'New Zealand view—which this year replaced the sprig of manuka—and the third a message and acknowledgment c»Td from the Auckland Women's Patriotic League. Next went a thick winter pair of socks, and a cake of chocolate, with a tin of lollies and a tin of Christmas cake at the eidce. Khaki handkerchiefs neatly filled up the spaces to this, point, and next was fitted in a tin of cigaTettee, and finally a tin of potted meat or soup. The 'whole was neatly tied up with a pair of strong leather bootlaces. !Ry way of variation, at

other tables tobacco and a pipe substituted the cigarettes, a tin of milk replaced the cake, and a pencil or tin of cafe au Ja.it the soup or potted meat. At a side-teHe running the length of the- room other women we're busily engaged in packing the boxes into cases. A party of privileged male visitors, consisting of the Mayor and members of the City Council, were due at 11 a-m., but, unlike the -women, they -were late, and a bait had to-be ceiled lest the work should be accomplished before their arrival. But for this interval, it Is sate to assert that the morning's task of packing 3,000 parcels ■would ihane been accomplished within an hour. When the mayoral party arrived, the . Mayorew mounted t-he table and made: a brief speech for the joint-benefit of the viaitora and the members of the ILeagse generqily. She rfcad numerous extracts from letters proving that the previous gifts had arrived safely both in France and Egypt, mentioned that the

money required for the parcels had been ; over-subscribed, and that the additional parcels would be given to the tx>ye on the transports, and, as an answer to criticism that sometimes was levelled at the League, reviewed the tangible results it had been able to achieve by its organisation. The ladies who acted in charge of the tables were: 'Mesdames Elliot, Bennett, Dearsley, Batime, H. Walker, Gallagher, and Horton, and 'Miss Wright.