NEW ZEALAND’S SHARE

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9171, 11 October 1915, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND’S SHARE

TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND GONE FIVE THOUSAND AIORE TO GO. A GREAT MARCH THROUGH WELLINGTON’S STREETS. Tens of thousands throng the roads To bid their warrors speed. “Give me the men and the munitions I want,” said Lord Kitchener in a recent speech, “and I will guarantee my personal reputation that we hold the war in the hollow of our hands.” New Zealand has already given 25,000 of her best and bravest, both pakeha and Maori, and the wonderful work they have done at Gallipoli sufficiently attests the splendid type of men they are. Their deeds of daring have won .them a foremost place amongst the greatest soldiers the world has ever known. As a famous French officer said of our boys ; at Anzac, “The finest troops in the world could not have done better.” New Zealand has already given 25,000 of her best and her bravest, and on Saturday afternoon .5000 more of the very best, lit and trim and staunch, paraded tho streets of Wellington in all tlio panoply of war, admired, welcomed, and cheered by tens of thousands of their fellow-citizens. The arrival of these bravo lads at the front will make up New Zealand’s quota to 30,000; and the despatch of reinforcements at regular intervals will by Juno of next year bring the number up to 50,000. Thus steadily and determinedly is New Zealand doing her part towards supplying Lord Kitchener with the men. he needs to prosecute tho war to a victorious, and triumphant conclusion.

HONOUR TO AVHOM HONOUR IS DUE.

Never before has Wellington witnessed so great and stirring a spectacle as that afforded by the march of the 2500 men of the 7th Reinforcements and-the 2500 men of the Ist and 2nd Battalions of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (the Earl of Liverpool’s Own) through the princi pal city streets on Saturday. Never before have the people of Wellington and of the surrounding districts turned out in such thousands to do honour to whom honour is due. All Wellington and his wife and children wore there. All, even the remotest, suburbs and their wives and' families were there. A fine afternoon, bright and not too breezy, tempted them forth; and the whole" line * of router-from Bunny street, down Lambton quay, along Willis street, through Alannors street and Lower Cuba street, and back along Jervois quay—was thronged many deep with an eager cheering crowd of (sightseers—nay, -of hero-worshippersi-Every coign of vantage was occupied by tho spectators. The slopes of Parliament House grounds, the windows,; balconies, and verandas of the street hotels and other buildings all along the lino of march, tho steps of the Town Hall, the stranded carts, . lorries, and tramcars all accommodated groups, great or small, of citizens,;. Every road-end passed by the troops had its packed gathering of ■ motor-cars and rilier vehicle all crowded with spec-: tators—-cheering, cheering all the way as the .men marched by. . '

. A HJSART-STIRRING SIGHT. It was, indeed, an imposing and; a heart-stirring sight to note, . ns far as the eye could see, the great column of ; the khaki-clad soldiery . .moving steadily, shoulder to shoulder; in most businesslike, most warlike fash.on, through the crowded streets, while the bands played martial airs, . the assembled thousands cheered and cheered again; and above them in the sunshine waved from every flagstaff “tne flag that has braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze/’ together with streamers of the Hags of tne Allied nations fighting side by side with the British Empire for freedom ; and for right, : . Largo and enthusiastic as it was, the crowd was most orderly, and the mounted police,; the Wellington Garrison troops, and the teenier Cadets hadi comparatively, little difficulty m keeping a way ciear for. more than the mile-iong procession, ' during the passage ofwa.ch all tramway auu other veii.cuiar traffic was, of course, suspended. Promptly at half-past 2 o’clock the troops started from the Government Buildings, preceded' by a military band. First. came the 7th Mounted Rides, then the Artillery, nextthe Ist and 2nd Battalions of tne New Zealand Ride Br.gade, headed by His Excellency the Eari of Eiverpool (Hon CoioneO' and ins stalf, and each- battalion, with its mascoite, a fine big buydog, beautiful in its very ugliness, 'i’lie 7ih Infantry followed, and then came ttho Army Service Corps, with the Kieid Am on lance and the Veterinary - Corps bringing up the rear. No less than nine bauds also took part in the procession—tiiree military bands, the R.lle Regiment Baud, the Trcntham Camp Band; and the sth Regiment Band; together with the National Reserve Band (late J upp’s), tne New- Zealand Natives’ Associat.on Band, the Salvation Army Band, tho Mission Band, the Waterside Workers’: Band, and the \V ellington Pipe Band. The ; notable pnysique of the Mounted Rides .was admiringly commented on. LOUD LIVERPOOL’S OWN.

The 7th Infantry, with their arms at the slope, presented a magnificent spectacle, tiieir bayonets flashing in tho sun; and it would be clilhcult,! indued to find a finer body'of men than the old “Trents,” now the Now Zealand Rifle Brigade (the -Earl of Liverpool’s Own), trained to a hair, ; in a style which clearly evidenced the splendid esprit de corps tnat inspires tho regiment. Unlike their follows, who go° to fill up the gaps in regiments and 'battalions that have already won world-wide fame, the Earl of Liverpool’s Own—(“Tho E.L.O.—England’s ’Ope,” as, with a humour that distinctly smacks of “the British Tommy,” they facetiously call themselves) —have yet to “win their spurs.. But that they will make good when put to the test, and prove their fitness to rank with the bravest, none can doubt who noted their fine physique and manly bearing on Saturday. The Rifle Brigade, 2500 strong, is a complete unit in itself, with its own Signalling Corps, Army Service Corps and band; and it must have done their Hon. Colonel’s heart good to hear the cheers and the cries o'f admiration that greeted them all along the line. No small share of the rousing reception they met with was without doubt due to the popularity of His Excellency himself. All New Zealand delights to do honour to the man who, with his noble wife, has, in regard to the fitting out of the hos-

pital ships and suchlike, done so much for New Zealand and for New Zealand’s heroes. A GREAT OVATION, A GREAT OCCASION. Especially hearty : were the cheers that greeted the troops as they marched" down Jervois quay on their' way back *;o quarters. It was a great ovation, indeed, worthy of the .groat occasion—an ovation that eloquently and with. no uncertain sound.- bespoke the capital •■■. City’s , admiration and approval of the very capital-, iroox». that go to fight for. New Zealand, home, and duly. That, after, a ■year and two months of war, . New Zealand,. alone throughout the Em- ; pire, has; not had to reduce the standard first fixed for her troops, and is still able to dispatch such splendid bodies of men to the front, speaks, well for this “Brighter Britain of the South/’ as the motherland of a hardy,- healthy,- manly race,; well fitted'to carry on the glorious traditions of the Old Motherland, the Old Homeland, to whoso call the Britams Overseas have rallied so promptly, so proudly, and so freely hi the hour; of clanger. BAD ARRANGEMENTS.

Altogether Saturday was a great day in tho history of the capital, winchmakes it all the more unfortunate that it has to be recorded that the arrangements for the display and control oi the crowd were bad—indeed,, very bad. ■ Very little forethought on the part of the authorities was to bo detected, and the arrangements generally were the cause of very grave annoyance and discomfort —and even danger—to the people who had son* in the force and who, naturally, wished to see as much of them as .possible. Three separate barricades were broken down by the angry crowd, and many people were crushed in the throng. All of this might have been. avoided ■ by having separate avenues properly marked, and kept open to each .point. Certainly, tickets were issued to the next-of-kin, and were supposed to enable them to see their connections, but as a matter of fact; the tickets were, in number, wholly out of proportion to the relatives there and were to a largo extent held by persons who had no sons in tho force. For all practical purposes, there need have been no tickets issued at all, because they were not taken at the gates, through which the crowds surged at their own sweet will. , BEFORE THE FIGHT As in the early mom we rise, Gold-creetcd mountains meet the skies; Almighty God' to Thee we pray "Oh I Let us live another day I Oh! Give us vision clear, and health By far exceeding boundless wealth. Desire intense to fight by Thee From day to day Bv land and sea/’ October, 1915. —F.P.