SALVATION ARMY CONGRESS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2114, 3 April 1914, Page 5

SALVATION ARMY CONGRESS

• FFN'AIi DEMONSTRATION 7 . The annual congress oi' the Salvation Army was brought to a conclusion last jiight with a monitor final demonstration in tlm Town flail,, at which upwards of 2000 people were- present. The principal item, or, rather, series of items-,_ of the programme concerned < iho missionary work of the Army, i Representatives of tho missionary corps j in Japan, Java, Cb.ina s and India camej oa the stage iu turn, and the leaders { of each party, numbers of whom wer« ] dressed in the costumes of the countries ! they represented, told something .of the work in their particular fields, sang a soug or so, and generally contrived to make their displays interesting and. entertaining. Tho Army ate nothing if not thorough is. this sort, of demonstration, and • last night tho leaders of the several parties had prepared their displays with much attention to detail. Perhaps the most startling facts mentioned ware iu relation to India, Adjutant Gilbert Carter, recently of_ Bareilly, stated that- i.n India, the Salvation Army had now one million soldiers and adherents, and that in the Army several criminal settlements in India wer<j between 4000 and. 5000 criminals. There wero ether demonstrations not dissimilar in character.. Representatives of every section of tho Army in the Dominium, about twenty in all, marched on to tho platform, most ©f them bearing flags, and saluted the commissioner. Selected speakers fi'otn among their number addressed the meeting and the eommissioiter, assuring him that while he was abaci* t with tlit party of officers at tho ltttejiatio,»al Congress, tho salvation war would go on ■as usual, and the officers left behind would remain loyal to the colours. Later the forty delegates to the International 1 Congress paraded, awl speakers from . among theiji hade farewell to their eomMiles who are to stay behind. Still another _ display was intended to 1 typify tho social work of the Army. There are now eleven homes in New Zealand under the control of the Army far work on behalf of women and children. A party, of nurses paraded on tte stage, A number of cats from one of tho homes were run <ra the stage also, and the nurses with real babies gave an illustration of what the Army does for those for whom the-fo is no one else to care. Girls from the Florence Booth Ho.iii.e- at Wellington gave a display of physical drill, and a smart squad ef boys from the' Army Homo at Eltliam sang an action song and gave a really excellent physical drill display. They ww gttilse small boys, but the ease and precision with which they escfcUted any number of exercises so difficult as to be ssldom or never practised even itf secondary schools was wonderful. They were cheered/ repeatedly and enthusiastically.

_At the end of tlie progi-anjjiife OomrnissiOTief liis'hards spolto of tlm proposed expedition to the International Congress, Mentioning tllat all but- two or three officers of .the party were- paying their own fares Heme. Ho Said that ho Was satisfied tbat tlie work of salavtion would bo earried on vigorously in their abseiico, and ho liatl tho greatest pleasure and satisfaction in Jiiittding over tlie- reins of government to te's worthy chief secretary, Lieirt.-Cfll&nel I'owley.