SOLDIERS' GIFT CAMPAIGN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 83, 8 April 1918, Page 3

SOLDIERS' GIFT CAMPAIGN.

~.- , «... — ■ WANTED £25,000, AN ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. STIRRIXG AJODR. ESSES. IN TOWN" HALL YESTERDAY. A big gathering of citizens in the Town jlail yesterday afternoon assembled tn liear the case fir the Soldiers' Gift scheme mat is being carried out by the Auckland Women's, intnotic League, and several interesting speeches were nitidc. The meeting was convened aa the final preliminary before the launching of the campaign in the city and district to-day, and this task 01 arousing public enthusiasm for the scheme was abundantly successful. The -Mayor of Auckland. Mi. J. 11. (Junson, presided over the gathering, .Mrs. Cnuson (the Mayoress ami president of the Women's Patriotic League) spoke, and tho Rev. Steele Craik, who was chaplain-captain with the New Zealand Forces in France, delivered the stirring address <it the afternoon, other speakers were Mr. I. 11. Tpton, a member of the committee of business men winch is assisting the League in the campaign, and Hon. Geo. r'owlds. After the singing of the National Anthem, the Mayor made a brief address, saying that in this war there could be no such tiling as equality of sacrifice, for there .vaa nothing that could be compared witli what our brave boys were doing. They were going forth to lay down their lives. Those who remained behind had their sacrifices to make and duties to perform. Remembering what tile soldiers were doing for their sakes, let them do tlieit duty faithfully, and niiike their sacrifices with a willing spirit. There was but one wav in which these duties could be fulfilled.' and that was by organisation. " It is a duty and a privilege." he said, " for each and all to give undivided support to such a body as the Women's Patriotic League. which is doing, has done, and will continue to do such noble work for our soldiers."' It should he a double honour to help this -women's organisation because those who were carrying on the work were the mothers, wives and sweethearts of the men at the front. The soldier men themselves, the real heroes of the war, were unanimous in giving that distinction to the Women who are working for them. The organisation was supported by the Government, " Let everybody, therefore, jrive them credit and see tliat in response to their appeal they arc provided with the funds to carry on their wjrk. They are accredited by the Government, backed by the citizens, and appreciated by the boys at the front. Let us. therefore, cooperate with them that this great work they are doing voluntarily and wholeheartedly may lie continued." THE SCHEME AND ITS WORKING. The Mayoress, Mrs. ,1. li. Gunson, president of the League in Auckland, detailed the scheme and the activities of the League. In. short, the Eeaguo existed to follow the movements of the men from the time they left till they returned, and to provide them with comforts all the way. Before they left New Zealand they were, provided" with '" hussifb," and hold-all by the Dominion Gift organisation, and witli this she explained that the Dominion Gift was one organisation. Each different centre worked tinder its own name, but all worked in the common interest and all worked together. The Women's League here bad been asked to increase their monthly number of parcels from li.ooo to 7,.">00. This meant that £12.000 a year—X.7Uo a month—was wanted, and for the Regimental Fund scheme £0.000 a year more. The speaker showed the different articles that were in a typical parcel. The New Zealand products such us butter, sweets, cheese, sugar and milk, meat extract, socks and banket-chiefs! The League had sent 77,000 volumes of literature to different hospitals and homes and camps. No scheme had had such a hard passage as this of Dominion Gifts, but the organisation had held together through thick and thin, and thousands of hearty acknowledgments had been received from every branch of the Forces. The League had enlisted the clTorts of the school children, and these were doing line work for the cause, which was a labour of love, and was assisted in many instances by women who had given their sons, and often by those who" had given their only suns. Now the cooperation of citizens, men and women, was wanted. "Gould | ask one question before T close?" said the Mayoress. " Do you believe in our work for the soldiers';" Loud applause and cries of -Yes. yes:" "" Well. then. [ shall expect every penny of tliat .L"-2.-,,0(l(l we arc askin-- for.'" (I beers.) GIFT PARCELS HEARTILY WELCOMED. Chaplain-Captain Steele Craik made a stirring appeal to the people to give to the limit on behalf of the men at the front. He has just returned lion, active service, and spoke with first-hand knowledge of the conditions that obtain there, introducing into his appeal many a reminiscence that showed how very welcome the parcels were to the men. "I feel that my first duty this afternoon," said the captain. "i s to you of the keen appreciation with which the men fighting in France receive the splendid gifts, sometimes when they arc needed exceedingly, and at all time's they arc heartily welcomed. War today is very different from what -we read in the annnls of the historian. The soldier now-a-days is better looked after, and guarded against disease. There has been not one epidemic in the British armies during this war. And another thing worth noting is the wav the soldier is looked after when he is wounded. Often it is no easy matter to get him off the battlefield, but when that is done he is taken away in a motor-ambulance and is spedto the base hospitals. Then he i s taken without loss of time to a hospital suitable to his case, perhaps carried across iv fast boats to England. Behind the lines there are many different arrangements, all for the comfort of the fighting man. There is one town in France that 1 remember an old brewery, well-known to the New Zealand boys. The great vats tliat once held beer hold water now. and the men can get real hot baths there. Then there are laundries for the washing of clothes, and picture shows, and concerts and coffee stalls. These last three are associated with the V.M.C.A.. and 1 may say here that J consider the work , of the New Zealand Y.M.G.A. to he bet-' ter than that of any other V.M.C.A. ! . organisation at the front. There was' one time when the New Zealand boys ■ had taken Messines and were holding it.'

The V.M.C.A. secretary there —he used j to live iv New Zealand—arranged to cross Xo .Man's Land after them with two pack horses laden witli cigarettes nnd other comforts. (Loud applause.) He was ordered to abandon the scheme, but thi s proves the spirit of that grand, organisation. Tin-: ARMY ORGANISATION". ' ''As another illustration of the work' that is being done for the troops, when the New Zealand boys went ' over the top ' to the capture oi' Abraham Heights. I before Passehondaele, J saw the road . to the front line from the base, and 1 understand that no fewer than 37.000 j vehicles, bringing food, ammunition and ! general supplies, came along that road j during the 24 hours of that terrible day. lhere is a truly magnificent organisation for the comfort and equipment of the army. The whole nation has become an army, and every effort is organised to push back the menace that stares ns in the face-a menace to all tliat we are accustomed to hold as good and sacred." '" It may lie asked if the organisation is so perfect why these constant appeals'; One of the things that cheers the boys more than anything else is the knowledge that those at home are thinking of them. It cheers them to know that we have raised £57.000 for the Red Cross; that we are putting our hands in our pockets frequently and deeply and opening our hearts widely. This "is the thing the boys like to bear. Then people might ask whether there is to be any end to these appeals. J believe the Hon. Geo. Fowlds gave the only possible answer to this when he said at Mount Eden the other night that you may think you have been giving very freely, but you must remember tliat there is hardly a day, an hour, that your boy is not risking his life. Safety at the' front is unknown. Your boy is constantly bearing the brunt, and is always under gunlire. day_and night. Some people say, too. that these parcel gifts are exceedingly insignificant things. The boys aro going through strange experiences and sufferings there, and there is not one of them who will not be strengthened and broadened by them. And it is the little things in their daily lives that hearten them and will make every man stand .-boulder to shoulder in the' line. Though these parcels are small tilings, they remind the boys that the people at Nome in New Zealand arc making sacrifices, too and this makes a strange link between the men and those they have left behind. They show the men that the citizens arc all fighting too. and that they are not fearing the coming year. a home Touch. '■ Remember," he continued. " we want those little extras that make all the difference between comfort and monotony. \\ lien you invite your friends to dinner you do not set 'before them a piece of meat and a chunk of bread. Xo, you garnish the table with little things ■—napcry and flowers and sauces—and it makes a pleasant meal. The rations of the men are good. We have lived on them, and have lived well, but we do like a lollie occasionally. (Laughter.) We are issued with tobacco, but it is not enough for a heavy smoker, and not too good. It is not enough for mc!" Knlarging on this, the speaker drew a picture „f the pleasure that a tin of tobacco from New Zealand brought, and bow every man was willing and ready to share bis prize with another who would otherwise have gone without. "They always appreciate these things," he explained, '-for they give a 'home' touch. The whole army is a huge machine under the control of the Government. What we want is that the boys may discover in this army life that there is something with the home touch reaching them."' EXPERIENCES IX" THE LINE. '•Let mc give you an instance from niv own personal experience to show how our soldiers appreciate the work of the Women's Patriotic League. On October 1. last year, my battalion, which had been marching for a week across the plains of France, arrived in the. firing line, nnd went immediately into trenches just in front of Abraham Heights. On the morning of October 4 they left those trenches and took the heights by storm. The day on which they took them "was tine of the .worst 1 have known in France. It rained pitilessly, and it continued to rain for days, while our boys were still holding the. positions they had seized. There were no trenches whatever where the men were—merely depressions they had excavated themselves, each capable of holding 30 or 40 men. There were no duckboards, no system of drainage, simply a hole in the ground, and there these men had to stay for four or more days. The mud at the bottom' of the trench soon got to a depth of IS inches, and the men hud to stand in that- day and night. They could not creep out to sleep on the top: there was mud there, too; they occasionally cut a nidi in the side of the trench and tried to snatch a sleep. Even then their sleep was liable to be broken with a call to 'stand to." This went on for four days. -Imagine their plight—the state of their clothes, their swollen feet, their bodies perishing from the cold. The battalion was at last relieved, and they came out. And what a sight they were. They bad gone in a smart body of men; they had left many of their mates behind: they were over-fatigued, hardly able to carry themselves down the road. They were utterly exhausted. While in this condition, at the end of their first day's march to the rear, they found waiting for them a huge collection of bags containing parcels and gifts from the Women's Patriotic League of Auckland. (Applause.) And in each parcel there was a new, soft, dry pair of socks, a veritable God-send to these men. Is it worth while sending parcels to our men -when they arrive tinder such circumstances? (Applause.) "Out at Hie Trout we have a way of addressing one another which has become very popular. A man meeting another says. 'Good day. digger.' 1 do not know whether it suggests that' infantryman's work is more largely digging than anything else, but I tell you this in order to tell you of the name they have invented for you at home. They call you 'the stokers," because you 'keep the home fires burning.' Xow, our boys are depending on you to keep the home fires burning. Tt may he necessary to send more men to the front, .hut surely it is the highest wisdom to 6ce that the men already there are kept in the top of condition, for, remember that the condition of our men as fighters depends as largely upon psychic as upon physical health. If the men's spirits droop their efficiency goes at once. Xothing will keep the men keyed up better than a knowledge that the people of Xew Zealand are standing behind them all the time, are thinking of their comfort by sending them parcels, and are performing such work as is being done by the Auckland Women's Patriotic League. (Applause.) "These men Tiave a tremendous claim upon you. T remember the first week we were in the line. There were a large number of casualties, and it was part of ,111}- duties to sec that the personal effects jof the men who were killed were taken jcarc of and sent to the proper quarter I I remember going through the pockets of one poor fellow who had died f,„- ],;, .country, and I found there a pocket-book

inside of which was a letter. It was ras duty to read the letter. In it I found* two little locks of hair tied by a piece of ribbon. The letter was from a little girl, and .was written to her daddy. She wrote: 'Dear Daddy,—My little "sistergiving her name—and I arc each sending I a lock of our hair.' And at the close shewrote, 'And, oh, daddy, do come home; [soon.' That man would never come back: ; to his children. He went out to fight having the burden of his dear ones on bis soul. But he faced his duty unflinchlingly, he did his bit, and gave bis all. .There are many men at the front carryling similar burdens. Is it not up to you jto stand behind them? (Applause.) Is |it not up to you to make that burden a .little easier? You can do it!. (Applause.) REGIMENTAL FUXDS. "Just a word in regard to the regimental funds," continued the speaker. "As Mrs. Gunson pointed out, there are things you cannot send to the front. Ire Christclmrch some time ago patriotic people were making sandbags for the front in response to an appeal. One' family was so enthusiastic that tlicy not only made more bags than anyone else, but they took them down to Brighton Beach and filled them. . (Laughter.)) There are some things you cannot very well send to the front, but there are certain tilings you can arrange to havo supplied to our boys in France. That is the purpose of the Regimental Fund. There are officers—not a few of them —* who are spending all their salary to pro* vide for their men some little extra comfort in order to 'buck them up-' It is a big task to provide a battalion of a, thousand men with even vegetables for one meal. It is more than any officers! should he asked to do. In the Regimental Fund you will place in the hands of the officers a certain amount of money that will be used to provide fresh, vegetables, fruit, and other things. Ore one occasion we were out of the line, resting, in a little village beyond reach of the guns. Our boys were housed in barns and cattle sheds, which had noi floors. These places are very cold for men who have only two blankets. We were able, with our Regimental Fund, to arrange for a large quantity of hay, and the men were thus able to sleep in a little more comfort. This is worthi doing, is it not? (Cheers.) It would also be possible with Regimental Funds, to arrange for coal to warm our boys. ''Men and women of Auckland," concluded the chaplain, "'I do beg you to stand by this appeal. Do let tho men over yonder know that they are not forgotten. You can do it easily. The whole of the money is not wanted at once. We should be able to raise £25,000 during 12 months by this scheme. I believe it can be done, and will la done. (Applause.) Ihopeyouj will come forward in a generous way. Do not be satisfied with giving Tialf-a---crown. This work is something big. and vital, and comes more closely home to us than anything else. It affects our boys in a fine way. I must congratulate the League on the start it has made already. I appeal in the name of the boys at the front to every section of the community to 6ee that the campaign is successful." (Applause and cheers.) "I congratulate tho League on the money already promised before the campaign has started, and. citizens, I look to you to see that the whole of ths £25.000 is realised." (Applause.) "As a member of the joint-committee of business men and members of the League set up to make this appeal," said Mr. P. H. Upton, "I am called upon to explain the manner in which this appeal will be carried out." The speaker then went on to give details of the methods of campaign. In the past all such appeals had been carried on by a system of collection boxes, but this was a failure. It was not at all suitable to the occasion. The appeal was before the sum total of the citizens of Auckland, and it had been organised on a system that had been very successful in England. Strong committees in the city itself, and in every suburb, would direct the army ot voluntary workers who were to go about making a systematic! house-to-house canvass. At each house thero would be left a franked envelope, and it would contain a promise card to be filled in for any amount that could be spared. TheTe would be also a card to be filled in with the name and address of the donor, and a statement of the object* of the appeal. The.sum of £57,000 had been raised for the Red Cross funds by a. recent appeal, and this was subscribed "by; only TOO persons. That was not what was wanted in this instance, for the gft scheme concerned everybody, and everybody should subscribe according to their ability, so that everybody should have a. personal interest and a share in every; parcel that was sent out to the fighting men on the front. Hon. George Fowlds spoke briefly but to the point, referring to the excellent work that was being carried forward by the League, and to its strong claims on' the generosity of the citizens. Everybody should share in giving support to' the scheme, he said, for it was a matter that touched us nearly, and helped ths boys. Mr Upton read a list of the leaders in the city and in every suburb, and the meeting closed with the singing of thai National Anthem. In the intervals between the different addresses the city organist, Mr Maughan. Barnctt, rendered several solos on the organ, and Mr Sydney Butler, tenor, sang two songs. The meeting through.* out "was most enthusiastic.