BLUEJACKETS' MASCOTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18657, 13 March 1924, Page 10

BLUEJACKETS' MASCOTS

THE BRITISH SQUADRON. GIFTS FROM AUSTRALIANS. WALLABY AND A TURTLE. [FROM our own correspondent.] • SYDNEY* Mar. 6. ' It is no exaggeration to say that the bluejackets of the visiting British Squad- • ron conquered the hearts of the people ot Perth and Fremantle daring their several days' visit there, and there were sad hearts on both sides when the great Ships sailed away for Albany at the week-end. Officers and men alike freely admitted that nowhere previously in the Empire cruise had scenes of such extraordinary enthusiasm been witnessed, and they expressed grave misgivings as to whether their gastronomical organisations would withstand such an embarrassment of hospitality should it prove typical, as it is certain to do, of their reception in, other Australasian ports. . One quaint manifestation has been the liberal exchange of souvenirs between the visitors and the townspeople. _ The latter seemed to think that mascots m the shape of various forms of livestock were the surest means of pleasing Jack, and had all such offers been accepted the ships would undoubtedly have been converted into floating menageries. One man, _ whose choice or a pet takes the canonform of a snake about 4ft. in length, which, to the discomfiture of his friends, he sometimes carries about in his pocket, was quite hurt when, upon producing it over a friendly glass with several Tars at one of the city hotels, a proffered gift of his little friend was hastily rejected. But the public generosity in the matter of mascots generally took a much more agreeable character. One of the accepted gifts was a pet wallaby, and its appear* ance on board the Hood was the signal for great excitement The bewildered Australian hopped about the deck and spread eonsternation among many of to men who had not obevved b IS and to whom creatures of the kangaroo type were something new in the realms of fauna. Many unceremoniously leapt to a safe distance at his approach, suspectmg ta i he mieht be an uninvited guest of dangerous propensities, and there was general laughter when his master went up and stroked' him and he fawned his head m A^nrths^rom 6 the north-west coast was also included in the list of accepted mascots but much reserve is , being exercised in the acceptances, and only a tew of the more polite parrots have been received after careful examination of their conversation. One officer explained that the capacities in this direction of one bird which the Australians took to France had become so notorious that the authorities were compelled to. exercise against undae enlargement of the vocabulades of the ratings.