DISTRIBUTION OF GIFTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue LXXXVIII, 10 September 1914, Page 9

DISTRIBUTION OF GIFTS

Some doubts have been expressed in a Sydney paper as to all the multiplicity of gifts reaching^ the men to whom they were' given. In the Boer War, quantities of clothing and other donations never got beyond Capetown and the article adds, hundreds of Kaffirs could be seen dressed in pyjamas made by Australian women for their soldiers, while the second-hand dealers .profited hugely. But it must be remembered that mistakes may be stepping-stones to perfect organisations, and all possible care will be taken in this crisis that our men have all they oieed in the way ot equipment. Lady Godley, who was questioned on this point, and who was in South Africa during th« Boer War, states that present conditions are vastly different to those that prevailed theTe. ' There was then only one line of railway to convey everything, and the authorities -worked day and night with energy and patienct, but men and food came before comforts and dishing, and consequently piles of cases had to wait till there was room for them dn the trucks. Even then cases arrived, and were opened with eager , anticipation, only to find they contained articlee that "were not absolutely necessary, and. not what nurses and doctors were requiring urgently. With our troopships go two capable officers whose sole business it is to take care of the equipment and th« various cases of gifts, which will b© put into a convenient depot and distributed when needed. ' Every precaution that foresight and experience can suggest has been tak»n to ensure the well-being of our men. The hon. treasurer of the fund acknowledges the following : — Ladies of Wairoa (per the Mayoress) £400, £2 6s from Mr. Percival Clark and his juvenile pupils (violin)— Misses Eugenia Russell, Nellie Richardson, Rhoda Quin, Doreen Clarke, Addie M'Millon, Connie Butch, Minnie Watson, Ruby Brown, Messrs. A. Ward, H. Allen, David Aveny, H. Peck, Jack Ricller,, Jim Kennedy, Sam Harris, Percy Chase, B. O'Brien, "Raymond Carter, Raymond Irving, Leo O'Brien, Walter Williams.