"THE COO-EES."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 283, 30 November 1915, Page 3

"THE COO-EES."

GILGANDRA MEN IN SYDNEY.

A MEMORABLE MARCH

Well, they're in. ... Their 320----mile march is over. The Gilgandra recruits— •' 'Hi tchens's. Own —Imve arrived (says the Sydney Morning Heyald). It will be one of our remembered days, this mid-November day of 1915, oft'which the "snowball army" from Gilgandra marched into Sydney—-bound for the Dardanelles. This was a triumphal procession, if ever there was one. .They were but a. few score hardy, sun-browned men of the west, .and their manners were somewhat rough and uncouth, and they didn'ii march exactly as the Grenadiers -would march; but their entry into the city was a triumph. They wore blue dungarees which didn't always fit them, and they were somewhat travel-stained and -weary after their five weeks' march —somewhat slouchy, in fact; but th& city never gave a more enthusiastic welcome to any body of men than itgave to these 203 men from the country.

Thus had the little army grown since it started out from Gilgandra. on October 10th, twenty-five strong. Ten more men from the little western town, set iv a district where big hearts are, joined the original twentyfive on the -way; and from Dubbo, Wongarbon, Geurie, Wellington, Stuart Town, Molong, Orange, Blayney, Bathurst, Yetholme, Wallerawang, Lith-gow, a.nd the towns along the mountains, and', indeed, all the way down to Sydney, other batches joined in, and were supplied with dungarees and white -hats—.and the purple badges ,with the■■:silver lettering, "Gilgandra. :Coo-ees—Hitchens's-■'Owiij'i 1' with which the contingent set out. They would have looked better in military uniform, no doubt, but that doesn't matter; the man's the, thing!—"the Men of the March," as' the Governor-General called them at Lawson on Sunday.

Three- hundred and twenty miles *as the railway goes; but the march along the road was really more than that. On an average the men marched about 12 miles a day, but on one day they covered 20 miles. On Sim-' d!ays they spelled; and at Lithgow they rested for one da}'. All the rest-was solid marching: They were of all ages and all sizes. Seme- of them had never been out of their own district before, and they never had an uninteresting day. From Wongarbon to Orange—one might say to Bathurst—they marched through perfect crops of wheat. A hundred miles of waving golden grain. Later oa-me the contrast, Wallerawang. past, the marching men came into the "dry country." It was so dry and, so hot on the Blue Mountains that bush fires were raging in many places. On Friday of last week the men walked through one: at Springwood on Monday they helped to put one out.

■ The march was full of incident. As long ago as May last Captain Hitohens—he is captain of tho Gilgondra Rifle Club—conceived the idea of this marching from the country to "the city; and he'did not only tJiink 'of a march from Gilgandra, but of a series of marches from different parts of the State at the same time, all of them converging, on Sydney. But the military authorities were hrkewaxm Laodiceans: they gave the idea no encouragement. Then a paragraph got into the papers. The press approved ; the people applauded; and Gilgandra; suddenly achieved un-dreamii-of fame. The Gilgandra route march was organised; others are to follow. And later, after the harvest, Captain Hitchens, whose son is already at the war, proposes' to organise- .another march from the western wheat fields.

7->'erywhere along the route entlftisiastic people assembled to wish the men "Good luck,", and incidentally to provide them with refreshments. Money too. During the march, between £400 and £500 was handed' over in cash to Captain Hitchens to provide comforts for - his merry men. Along the mountain road people even handed cheques, with a good wish for the men—"a speedy victory and] a safe return." In a twelve miles march one da^ £17 was received in this way. At Marrkkville £22 was handed over. It was so at almost every town all the way from Gilgandra— not merely receptions and breakfasts and dinners, but hard cash.

There was a tramp out west— "humping his bluey." He threw it down and joined the Gilgandra contingent. "Know anything of soldiering?" they asked him. "Know anything," said he. "Wait." s He untied his swag, and out of it came some medals. "Know anything of soldiering! I did a bit in South Africa, anyway, an' I didn't suffer from Mauseritis or Pom-pom - debility —not me."

So the Gilgandra men "roped him to," and he's Back to the Army again, sir. There was something pathetic, and something grand also, about his remark the next day:—"l was 'out' yesterday, but I'm a man to-day."

And there was another tramp, who threw down his swag near Bathurst, and joined the boys who carry the baimer with the words. »"First stop, B-rlin!"

Then, between Penrith and Parramatta, the last of the Macgregors was picked up—the last of the Macgregor boys of Cloy ton. Four brothers are already at the war; a fifth left Gilgandra. with the contingent; the sixth has now joined in. A father and son marched from out went to the city. Two brothers inarched together, and a third follows after the harvest.

All ages, a~nd .nil sizes, and all trades—farmers, shopmen, barbers, blacksmiths, mechanics, a horsobreaker, a mountain trooper, a journalist. And with them two boys of fifteen years, mounted on bicycles, acting as despatch riders, and riding forth and back. But the boys are returning to the Gilgandra home. Yesterday's march began at Ashfield. The contingent left the western suburb about 263 strong, but there are others now to be sworn in

—men who joined the little army yesterday. Veteran soldiers, too, long past the days of active service, took yp the step here and there along the route- and marched proudly .alongside tho Gilgaudra boys. "It makes a