AUSTRALIANS IN NEW YORK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 168, 13 July 1918, Page 3

AUSTRALIANS IN NEW YORK.

MARCH UP FIFTH AVENUE.

iOne day I saw the Australians march up Fifth Avenue to the strains of " Australia Will Be There," their flag saluted as punttiliously as if it were "'■Old 'Glory (writes a special correspondent. of the Christ! hurch Press from New York). Every Loan booth tried to get a few "Anzacs" or, Devils'" •(French Chasseurs Alpini) to autograph bonda, and very proud and! important •they looked while inscribing the'r names. The Australians also, worked hard with the British recruiting mission. When on duty they only had to stand a minute in the street, and they were mobbed by admirers., girls asking for a<utographs, a.nd men } offering •pleasing hospitalities, with'* the exception of ' 'come-aind-have-a-diriiik. Al! I spoke to seemed quite moved bv the graeiousness and heartiness o-f. their reception." they had not dreamt of anything like it. The New York Times said : "The city is> theirs, and all that in it they can find or we> can offer. Not only are they the guests of the oity; they are also the guests of every citizen who meets them, and till are eager to play the role of host. To spend money for them is at privilege eagerly sought, to take it from them isi something to be done only under protest. New York honours itself by honouring them, and how well, how modestly, how courteously do they bear themselves in> circumstances ' that might easily turn heads less steady than theirs!" Thi s does not sound like a description of Australian, youth, but I can endorse it from my own observation. They found they were regarded almost reverentially as. Anzacs, and bore themselves accordingly. Poor fellows-, it needed the magic of the name "Anzac" to cast a glamour over their wretched uniforms), so inferior in cut, fit, and material to -the stylish American uniform, although the Australian hat is certainly jauntier than. the straight-brimmed American. The hats r.rp t lhararteristic —the Australian is light-hearted and genial, while the American is deadly serious, and l seems' intensely conscious of the dignity of his uniform. • "Pershing's 'Crusaders, as some call them:, seems an appropriate name. Ever since America's entrance into the war, I have been oi.it every day. and generally all day, in most of the big eastern cities, and have nob yet seen. a. drunken man in uniform.