NEW ZEALANDERS IN SYDNEY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12402, 16 January 1901, Page 8

NEW ZEALANDERS IN SYDNEY.

THE CONTINGENTS AT THE CELEBRATIONS. STORIES OF RETURNED VISITORS. [Elion Dull CORP.ESI'O.VDEST.] WELLINGTON, Jan. 15. Chatting with some of those who have just returned from Sydney, I was told that the reason Lieutenant Hughes was superseded by Captain Hayhurst was that he was unable- to produce'anything like a fair proportion of his. men when Colonel Peiuon ordered the first roll call on his arrival. Lieutenant- Hughes explained that a certain number were on sick leave, and a certain number on special leave, and so on, but when the exacting commandant wanted specific details the little man was stumped. The fact is that the men became demoralised, in consequence of the conflicting orders read from New Zealand. They were not a little chagrined at a Federal escort being brought over to represent the colony when they were there, and they d.d not care whether they took part tn toe grand parade or not. All they wanted was to get their hands on their long overdue pay and have a good time. It was with great difficulty that they were mustered and got into lines and reduced to -a disciplinary frame of mind. It was not Lieutenant Hughes’s fault that his men went astray. He was a bit lenient with them, certainly, bub it was his magnetic influence which enabled the authorities to get the remnants of the First into line again. Lieutenant Hughes’s subsequent elevation to a captaincy is regarded as, an indication that he still enjoj’s the confidence of his superior officers. It appears from the stories brought hack from. Sydney that the boys of the First Contingent were not toe only ones to break bounds. Australian hospitality .proved too much for members of the. Imperial representatives, and men who previously -had seen years of service,’without a black mark, were lost for many days, and, alas, posted as deserters. Several of them wore found in obscure suburban public-houses. It was in the face of instances like these -that the abstemious Maorilandiers went up in the public estimation as the smartest, soberest, spickest and body of men who took part in the celebrations.