CAPTURED BY GERMANS

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9171, 11 October 1915, Page 8

CAPTURED BY GERMANS

LECTURE BY. MR ROBERT CLEGG. An extraordinary series of advent area which had befallen him and a. small party of friends were narrated on Sat--urday evening in tho concert chamber, Town Hall, by Mr Robert Clegg, a well-known citizen of Dunedin. Councillor G. Frost took the chair in the absence of the Mayor. The lecture, which, was given in aid .of the; wounded soldiers' fund, has' been delivered ,in many , centres in New Zealand, and'has benefited the fund to the extent- of, about. £540. To this total there will now bo added, the sUm of £44 fie fid. Coloured lantern slides illustrated the various ports of call touched : at ,by • the travellers on. their tour. . While they were in Paris the declaration of war between Germany and France was made, andl owing to. nearly all'.tho vehicles having been commandeered for military purposes, great difficulty was experienced in getting. to the , station from which the Marseilles train depart l ed. They managed- to get aboard a troop train crowded with soldiers, but the journey to the southern port was far from pleasant, more especially to the ladies in .the ' party.' From Marseilles they went to Toulon, then on_to Nice. Here, with no little difficulty they s©cured\aocomraodation on hoard a’train crowded with Italians returning to their-country* and eventually reached Genoa. Rumours of war kept them in an uneasy state of mind. The advantages gained by the 'possession pt English gold were, inestimable, and with perseverance they got aboard a steamer bound for Barcelona. From the Spanish seaport they sailed for Rio de Janeiro, with severely-strained passenger accommodation. They were obliged by a wireless message to call at Bahia, Brazil, and take on board no less than 700'stranded and starving Italians! Mr Clegg and party were thankful to reach Rio.' Negotiations were soon effected to continue their homeward ■ journey. The Indian Prince was shortly to sail for New York, and they secured berths. Ihev were not destined, however, to reach the American capital so soon, ior the- German auxiliary cruiser Rronpriuz Wilhelm caught them up, and. issued instructions for steering. After transferring the passengers to the cruiser aso the coal, the Indian Prince sent to the bottom of the sea. ihe treatment meted out to them was unexceptionable. After some days a boat arrived to. coal the Kronprmz, and they were transferred to the newcomer, which conveyed them back to I«o d Janeiro', where" they arrived five weeas after they bad originally set out from that town. They again took the ■„>=>* reaching Now York,, and sailed ia i another steamer.. Again they wero overtaken by a cruiser, happily Bntish this time. New York was reached in safety There they crossed to Vancouver and Sau Francisco, journeyed by boat to Honolulu, Samoa, and. five months after leaving London, jthey reached their final destination— Duncdm Votes of thanks were accorded at the conclusion to the lecturer, the chairman, and the lantern 'operator, Mr Whitelaw. In returning thanks, Mr decs remarked: "There; is no, place in the world like New Zealand. \ou are in a paradise, and you don t know it. There is no place to beat it I