SHORE TROPHIES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20186, 2 March 1940, Page 4

SHORE TROPHIES

SOUVENIRS “DITCHED” FIRST ECHELON LEAVE AIMLESS COLLECTORS LADY ON THE POSTER (By a Herald Staff Member Travelling with tlie First Echelon) Somewhere at Sea. Souvenirs and the hunting for them always provide entertainment and sport for the troops, though what the men hope to do with some of the trophies gathered at our first port of call is, and probably always will be, a complete mystery.

As the men returned from leave last night—a few of them somewhat merry and having to be helped along the wharf by their friends, and the majority at least dog-tired though not hilarious after their tramping on hard pavements after the long spell in deck shoes—the variety of souvenirs noted was remarkable. Among the early arrivals at the I ship’s side 'were men with cats pr dogs, Australian hats, badges and buttons, the hat of one of our gallant Allies, a police constable’s helmet, and pot plants. One party had motion picture placards, showing some famous actress in a seductive pose. Yet another reveller had changed his uniform completely, through a swap with an Australian. his choice of celebration being an expensive one, for it will cost him a pretty penny 1o get a new issue of clothes. No Buckshee for Ship-Owners For 'hose who watched tile stragglers arriving back at the ship, the best laugh of all, perhaps, was the arrival of two boys laboriously lugging a full-sized model of a nude girl, lifted from some sideshow place. Very annoyed, they were, when told to deposit it on the wharf, and leave it. Two others who had heard the staff captain say that, the ship was short of refuse buckets did their bit. They brought back from shore leave two city rubbish containers, bearing the legend: “Keep your city clean.” Politely told that they could not keep them on board, as the shipping company which provided their transport could really afford to purchase such equipment, they were more hurt than ashamed. They could not understand why even a wealthy company could not take its share of “buckshee.” Silent Salute to Departing Ships. As tlie ship pulled out in the morning, the troops lined the deck-rails for a last look at the wharf. There reposed, in silent isolation, the papiermache model of the pretty lady, nonchalently leaning against the door of a cargo shed, and surveying with unseeing eyes the evidence of a Dominion odyssey. On either side, the rubbish receptacles flanked her, and they were more eloquent than she; for they still flaunted their motto: “Keep your .city clean.” No doubt they have bfeen reclaimed by their respective owners by now. Gisborne boys aboard this vessel were among the quieter celebrants ashore. Most of them seem to have made up their minds to see as much of tlie world as they can, and there were people in the town who were only too anxious to gratify their interest by taking them for motor drives and showing them something of the surroundings of the port.