A WILL AND A WAY.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 63, 12 September 1908, Page 2

A WILL AND A WAY.

When the FleoV was in Sydney no : facilities were given to country cadets for Seeing a sight such as they would probably never witness again, and corps had perforce to kick their ! heels in vexation, at home. The Ballarat boys were^made of sterner stuff. Application wa's""njade to- tlie Railway Department, for free return- tickets to Melbourne in view of the Fleet's visit, for the Naval Cadets of that place, a. corps of 130 strong, composed of; boys of jpronf- twelve to sixteen, drawn from well-known Ballarat families. Tlie Department declined -to grant the request. On the decision having been made known to the boys on. parade, they cried in chorus, "We'll walk to Melbourne to see tlie Fleet." ; The offer was at or.cc accepted. Ballarat citizens quickly subscribed money to defray the cost of tfie inarch", and gifts of provisions! /flowed in. The following day a telegram came from the Premier, promising the boys free return tickets, but the .corps was on its dignity, and Sir Thomas Bent was informed that his offer was too late, j as all arrangements had been made for the march, and it was the boys' wish that the programme should be carried out. Sixty of the corps sot out, taking the 75 miles between Ballarat and Melbourne in stages of 13 i miles, leaving on Tuesday and arriving "on Saturday. They -slept in tents or in school buildings on the way, and fared royally at the -hands of sympathisers. Their arrival in Melbourne was iii the nature of a triumph. A band went out to meet them, and thousands awaited their approach. "The police could not check the enthusiasm of the crowd," says the Argus. "Personal friends and perfect strangers surrounded them and shook them by the hand, and motherly ladies pressed through the throng and embraced them, despite the boys' resistance. A young lady, with a constable holding both her arms, ran up to one little lad. She was his sister, as he blushingly explained to his comrades." The "baby" of the corps, a curly-headed youngster of eleven, was proudly presented to the Lord Mayor by the commander. The boys arrived in the best of health, and there were no cases of falling-out during the march.