THE HOME TOUCH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3198, 24 September 1917, Page 9

THE HOME TOUCH

NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS IN LONDON HOW TO KEEP THEM OCCUPIED (By "Triangle.") London, July 20. When as a stranger in this City of strange contrasts you surge with the human tide down tho Strand or wander by night through the region ol' f iccadilly Urcus you aro apt to judge Landon by tn© excessively garish show of tho footBut a fuller acquaintance with the ijin jiire .-i capital tempers disappointments with fairnoss, and you realise that for every dark spot there are many bright ones How to make these latter accessible to tho soldiers who mo :oished ill Oil four days' leave is tho big task that the Y.M.C.A. has tackled with distinct success. Last veolc no less than 2500 New Zcalanders were in town, and tho peaked hats and tho coloured pugarees wero bobbing un everywhere. One draft alone consisted of 1800 men wlio had been called to Franco from Sling, and the Now Zealand Y.M.C'.A. workers in London wero'only warned of their arrival on tho previous day. How the telephones buzzed in anticipation of the rush! There wore special entertainments to arrange, brakes to order for tours, honorary guides to commission, 'hospitality to bespeak in private homes, and many etceteras _ which aro understood only by specialists. In due course the troop train deposited its lively freight at Waterloo Station, and hundreds of men wero piloted by Y.M.C.A. secretaries through the mysteries of tho "tube" to tho Shakespeare and othor accommodation lints. For many a man those four days of sight-seeing an<l entertainment will fonn a life-long memory; 'hundreds were taken to places of foremost interest, introduced to the homes of charming people, and (provided with tickets for places of wholesome amusement. The War Winners. "What do the fellows most appreciate?" some may ask. Why, t'ho atmo6pboro of a home and association with wholesome isomen. Here is a case in point. A fow days ago a big, strapping corporal over from France was asked by ono of tho principal lady workers of tho Shakespeare Hut—New Zealand Y.M.C.A. Headquarters—to visit her 'home for dinner. After declining, with thanks, ho confided Iq a male worker that as ho had beon away from homo for nearly thteo years 'ho folt. norvous of mingling with company. Ilmost against his will he found himself at a home over tho weekend. and before returning to the grim work of the tranches he confessed tliat not for worlds would he have knowingly missed thgse few days of homely hospitality. This youn? Now Zealn.nacr, like scores of otlhers. has come to realise that back from; tho false ■flitter of the London streets are hosts of worthy men and women wild aro not only helpin" to win tho war. but are desirous of extending kindly Hospitality to the men who have conic 12,000 miles to champion the same cause. Over half a million of English women are ongaged in war work, and more than 20,000 aro rendering voluntary service of tho constant, energetic kind. Time and again, a soldier on leave from Franco goes into raptures over tho qualities of these English women, j&rbicularly on the first day of his arrival here. "The finest sight 6ince leaving homo," he will and by tho far a.wav gaze you can tell in wliii;h direction nis thojights are moving. It is Impossible to place on paper an .estimate of tho far-reaching service which these splendid women-folk aro rendering to the men of tho overseas Dominions, and indirectly to. lie nations as a whole. "Long and banpily may they live," is the wi6h of all j\ow Zealand soldiers. Memory-Weaving. During the long summer days, our boys have been, given some delightful outings in tho brighter parts., of suburban London. One day a party of sixteen went by river steamers to Kew, where they were tho guests a,t lunch of a titled lady, who afterwards Bccomiwuied them through the remarkable Kow Gardens (now festooned with millions of summer roses), and thoncn along the shaded Thames Embankment to tho home.of a relative irt Richmond, where tea was provided in. an 1 Old English garden. Friends in New Zealand .would . liavo smiled to have seen the natural way in which their heroes bold lay back in the old garden chairs as tho smoke-rings curled skywards. On- : another 'day a large party of Now Zealanders were taken for a short railway run to an ancient lodge in Middlesex. One can see them now* reclining on a terraced lawn ami chatting freely with tho group of ladies who had provided the tastiest, of al fresco meals, tho shade of a spreading chestnut tree toning down the sunshine, roses and other summer blooms in rare profusion; a stray aeroplane, manoeuvring overhead, and "Baldy,' (.he ■humourist of tho party, evoking Tipples of laughter with his droll recital of what somotimes happens to the <iernians. On. still another day a largo number of .our. fellows spent'the ' afternoon pleasantly 'iii Ilyde Park, and ended up with music and tea at the home of a Scottish lady, who throws lic'r richlyfurnished London houso open to our soldiers at, least once a week. Lady friends helped to entertain tho boys ini a manner which gives them a more elevated conception of.English hospitality. Hie Y.M.C.A. goes still further by. introducing men on leave, to iprivate homes wliero they arc entertained . over ..the week-end or for the full term of their leave. "Nobody knows and nobody cares" is a fatal feeling to come over a man, and this is what: the Y.M.C.A. is striving to avoid. In London jt is the personal touch that counts.