DOMINION HOSPITALITY

Evening Star, Issue 23499, 13 February 1940, Page 10

DOMINION HOSPITALITY

ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY RAMILLIES COMPLEMENT THANKS EXPRESSED IN UNIQUE WAY After the departure from Wellington of H.M.S. Raraillies, the first British battleship to visit a New Zealand port, a letter was received from her commander, Captain H. T. Baillie-Groh-man, thanking the National Patriotic Fund Board, on behalf of the officers and men of the ship, for its gifts of butter, cheese, fruit, and fresh vegetables. There has now been received further evidence of the appreciation and gratitude of the ship’s personnel (says the ‘Dominion’), and it is expressed in a unique way—two framed scrolls suitably inscribed and bearing the signatures of every member of the ship’s company. The announcement of the receipt of this very generous and splendid personal acknowledgment from the officers and men of the Ramillies of the National Patriotic Fund Board’s action in providing not only butter, cheese, fruit, and vegetables, but also, through the State Country Library Service, books and magazines for the warship while in port in Wellington, was made on Friday afternoon after a meeting of the Comforts, Conveniences, and Amenities Committee of the National Patriotic Council.

At the meeting a letter was received from Paymaster Lieutenant - commander H. R. Sleeman, M.8.E., Assistant Naval Secretary, stating that Commander A. B. Fanshawe, R.N., second naval member of the New Zealand Naval Board, had received the framed scrolls from Captain Baillie-Grohman, and stating that Commander Fanshawe had suggested that they might bo acceptable' to the committee, either to hang in the office of the board or to be otherwise disposed of. “ I should be glad,” the letter concluded, “ if you would notify me whether your committee would like to have the custody of these scrolls, which are really effective mementos of the recent visit to Wellington of H.M.S. Ramillies.” There was a ready acceptance of the scrolls by the committee on behalf of the board. Those present at the meeting, which was presided over by Dr Alexander Gillies, expressed appreciation of the action of the personnel of the Ramillies and admiration of the great amount of organisation that must have been necessary to complete the finished articles.

1,000 SIGNATURES. The work has been beautifully executed. On each scroll there are 1G columns of names, the total number of signatures being over 1,000. In each ease the signature of the commander is last. It needs no imagination to realise that a great deal of work was entailed in the preparation and production of the scrolls. They provide not only unique and historic mementos of the visit of H.M.S. llarnillies, but also they speak eloquently of the efforts of the National Patriotic Fund Board to provide extra comforts for the fighting forces, and of the gratitude of British visitors to these shores for what the board did fpr them on their visit, and what it is also doing for the men of the New Zealand fighting services, whether they be sailors, soldiers, or airmen.

This appreciation coining in this way from men who were here but a few days and sampled the, hospitality of the people of this country—for the gifts that were made to the ship were paid for from funds subscribed by the public, the Comforts, Conveniences, and Amenities Committee of the National Patriotic Council acting as the agent for the people—is a sigual tribute to the work of tbe National Patriotic Fund Board, and should stimulate wholehearted public endorsement of its activities and bring that practical support without which the great work the board is undertaking cannot be accomplished. The inscription on the scrolls, in addition to expressing thanks for the gifts, mentions that they added to the happy memories, which will long remain, of the great hospitality received in New Zealand waters. The scrolls are to be sent around to the various provincial patriotic councils throughout the Dominion so that their members and others interested may see them, and afterward they are to be hung on the walls of the National Patriotic Fund Board’s office in Brandon House, Wellington.