THE WAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16590, 13 January 1916, Page 7

THE WAR

THE SHORTAGE IN OTAGO. • MILTON AND OAMARU MEN WANTED. A few men have come forward to fill the shortage in the Eleventh Reinioroemente, but 28 more aro required to complete Otago's quota. The men will leave Dunedin on' the 17th inst Otago is expected to provide 375 men for tho Twelfth Reinforcements, and 344 are available, leaving a deficiency of 31 in tho infantry branch. The Oamaru and Milton groups are again the principal offenders in this shortage. A rally was to be held at Oamaru last night. The InvercargiU, Milton, and Dunedin men for the Twelfth will leavo Dunedin this morning by special train at 11.55 a.m., and the North Otago men will be taken on board at Oamaru. In the advertising columns nvill be seen a notice to the citizens by the Mayor, with reforenoo to the departure of tho Twelfth Reinforcements to-day. His Worship asks that business premises, be closed between 11 o'clock and noon in order that employees may be given an opportunity to take part in the farewell; also that bunting bo displayed throughout the city as a tribute to the men who have responded to tho call of the Empire. ITie troops will leave the Kensington Drill Hall and proceed to the railway station, via Anderson Bay road, and down Stuart street. The farewell ceremony will commence at about 11.25 a.m., the speakers being his Worship tho Mayor and Ohaplain-major Dutton. Music will be provided by the Kaikorai Band. A special train will convey the men northwards, leaving at 1L45 a.m. PASSED AS FIT. The following men have been passed as fit for active service:— David William Murphy, miner, Woodhaugh. Ernest Edward Swete, grocer, South Dunedin. Donald Hunter, painter, Dunedin. William Aitken (4th Regiment), labourer, Dunedin. James Hunter, labourer, Dunedin. James Francis Roy, labourer, South Dunedm. Leslie John Kippenberger (4th Regiment) striker, Mornington. Leslie Galbraith, olerk, Dunedin. Lachlan Jamieeori, soap worker, rhmechn. Robert Leslie _ Pettitt (4th Regiment), plumber, Kaikorai. Dunedin N ° rmn MlLeo<1 ' P lasterer . South Harry Fieldwick, pastrycook, Dunedin.

ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH REINFORCEMEiNTS.

(Pes Dkitid Pubsb Associatio*.) m. n , WELLINGTON, January 12. in© Defence Headquarters was able to report to-night that t£io Wellington military districts quota for the Twelfth Reinforcements had been sent into oamp complete in all details. There was a, shortage of infantry recruits m the Wellington City draft but it was covered by recruite sent in from other parts of tho district. Recruiting in the citv has been particularly good during the last day or two, no fewer than 42 men passed as medically fit being registered at tho Buckle street office yesterday. The city ini n ca !* ec ' u P°n for many men lately to fill gaps in camp, particularly in connection with the Eleventh Reinforcements, and this fact is believed to explain the shortage reported on Tuesday when the Twelfth were mobilised. quota for the Twelfth Reinforcements, consisting' of some 600 men reached Wellington to-day, and was reported to be at full strength. The Canterbury draft is <Jue here to-morrow, and the Otago draft will arrive on Friday. The exact position will not be known until the mobilisation is complete, but there is reason to believe iiiat the Twelfth Reinforcements will be brought to full strength by tho end of the week. The Minister of Defence informed' a reporter that_ the response to the call for the Twelfth Reinforcements had been very much better than in the case of the Eleventh. Ho hoped that when mobilisation was complete on Friday it would be found that tho rallies had been filled, and tho Defence Department was to have no anxiety on thd score. The shortage reported in connection with tho Eleventh had been allocated to various districts, and he was informed that, the Wellington district had found nearly all the men required from it to fill the gaps in that draft. _ The extent of tho response from other districts had not yet been reported, but ho hoped to havo both the Eleventh and Twelfth Reinforcements complete -within the week.

HER RETURN TO NEW ZEALAND. i'Froii Otm Own Correspondent.) A U OKI* AN D, January 12. The Now Zealand Herald this morning published a telegram from D-mcdin regarding certain rumours that have been current in Dunedin regarding alleged occurrences on the Maheno during her recent cruise. The paper adds: — "In view of the reticonce imposed upon all who served on the Maheno, it is difficult to obtain suthorifcativo information on tho subjects' broached in the telegram from tho Herald's Dunedin correspondent. It is, however, a. matter of common knowledge in Auckland amongst those indirectly connected with the vessel that email parties of officers and men from tho forces lighting at Gallipoli occasionally went off to the hospital ship—both high-placed officers and men in the ranks—for necessary medical treatment, and to obtain food suitable to their condition, and badly needed, but nothing' that happened could come under the heading of social entertainrjient. Thev were generally men with highly-strained nerves arid in "a jaded physical condition, and in some cases the need for tho assistance they obtained on board was emphasised by the fact that within a few days of their visits thoy were brought aboard again to becomo inmates of tho wards. That warships at times came inconveniently close to the Maheno is admitted, but warnings to tho hospital ship ta move out of their neighbourhood came, it is stated, not from tho enemy, as has been alleged, but from our own naval or military authorities. It appears to 'be a fact that officers and others on tile Maheno were disappointed at tho time at tho fact that they wore ordered back to Now Zealand, but from subsequent developments as to their own physical condition as to tho ailments which must have been developing when those disappointing orders came to fhem, and which wero mostly cured on the voyage back to Now Zealand, they have since been heard to express the opinion that it was a wise step on tho part of tho higher authorities to relax tho strain that was upon them there, and give them a respite from active work for a period. It is stated that none of rhe medical and ambulance staffs on the hospital ships at work between the French and British coasts are'allowed to remain continuously on dutv for more than thrco months at a stretch. It is only in keeping with tho spirit of tho New Zealand medical and other staffs on board that they would gladly have gone to tho fighting front had permission been given, but they are satisfied that tho wisest course in t ? hc general interest was taken The statement that there was at any time friction, or even misunderstanding, between tho medical and namtical staffs is emphatically contradicted in statements made in Auckland _bv people who should bo able to spoak with authority."

NAMES OF THOSE SfELEOTED. iPu Umttud Pnias Association.l WELLINGTON, January 12. The selection of 53 nurses io complete the contingent promised to the Home authorities has been made. These names are as follow Sisters D. Anderson, J. P. Arnold, M. Atkinson, O. Ayson, E. T. Barclay, L. Barnard Brown, 0. Campbell, J. L. Campbell, M. Campbell, 11. Caruthers, E. Child, E. Curtis, T. Demden, A. P. Don. M. Eager, R. Edgerley. A. Evans, A. Finlayson, J. Flower, M. Galloway, J. Gilmer, A. llamann, D. Halincs, R. Kelly, A. Kenny, Elvie Kidd, J. C. Lodge, M. Mandeno, J. Mercer, A. Metge, M, Miller, M. Montgomery, A. Moody, J. Macpherson, I. Murie, Mrs G. M'Ara, M. M'Mahon, S. Nicholas, E. Pasco;-, 15. Perser, V. Peterson, M. Reidy, E. Sehaw, I. Scott, Mrs J. Slmnle, A. Smith, E. Stanton, W. St.ronnch, F. Thomson, C. Walker, J. Walker, C. Wise. Two ladies go as masseuses—\iz, Mrs Roy-d Garlick and Miss Christine Smith.

INVALIDS' EXTEA ALLOWANCE.

THE REINFORCEMENTS.

SOUTH SCOTLAND FOOT- . BALLERS. ,

RECRUITING

THE MAHENO

THE CALL FOR NURSES

The 2s per day extra to be paid invalided soldiers applies to those who are outpatients of hospitals, who are on sick leave - at their homes, or who are placed in convalescent homes, that is, all_ who ■ J are beiny treated actually as owt-patients. -.v The pay will be retrospective, going right itback to the earliest cases. All who bevl 1 lieve themselves to be entitled to it should make application to Quartermaster-general 4, Brandon street, Wellington.

A REMARKABLE ROLL OF HONOUR. \ The roll of honour of Galashiels Trinity > Rugby Football Club, which has been supplied to the Border Telegraph by a former •• secretary of the club, ia one of the most ro- i markable the paper has seen. It shows v : that out of 73 players and members 72 havo vj joined the colours, and that it is not the : , fault of the 73rd that he is not serving also, »» as he has offered himself twice and has been j rojected on both occasions. Where could abetter record be obtained? Of this munben over SO have been or are < still on active ■■■■ service, four have been killed, throe aro (> missing, eight have been wounded, and ' three invalided. This ■ olub had not a ; great record as far as winning matches was concerned, but in the matter of answering its country's call it has shown itself "all on, and has provided a most worthy example of _ (£ patriotism. ,'■» PATRIOTIC PICNIC. .There are in every community difference* of opinion, and to some in Middlemaroh - the idea of sports and dancing at the piesent tune seems altogether incongruous and ? out of sympathy with the many bereit ones whose noble boys have given their lives for King and country. A number of people who disapproved of the New Year sports preferred to spend the days;} with more subdued feelings, and a jjat- '■ riotic picnic party came into being, havingfor its object a desire to show respect for, the bereft, to show its disapproval of sports and dancing, and also to raise a subscription for the funds. The picnickers, some 40 odd, including children. w<Sje thoroughly satisfied with their undertaking, and thfe sum of £8 17s 6d was raised on the grottttd lb for patriotic purposes. " CAPTAIN WYLIE. J Adrice was received on Monday by M* and Mrs A. L. Wylie, of Inveroargili, thaii ;• then- son, Captain T. W. Wylie, IUA.M.CL, bad been Wounded (says the Southland - Times). Captain Wylie bas been with ths , Britisn Forces on the western front for l&f?: months and a-half, and has distinguished himself greatly, winning mention.. ia-'f despatches. No particulars of the in juries . Captain Wylie bad sustained are to hand.® .

b . JOTTINGS, i ' The Hon. G. W. Ewssell -will soon hara two sons in khaki.. One sailed l with tha • second hospital ship, the Marama, and an» other, Mr Douglas Russell, ia shortly going into training at Trent ham '">» .r The borough swimming baths at Pal» t merston North are free to soldiers in uni» form. Soldiers must take their own towela r ,% and trunkß (says a military order), and oott- ? form to the by-laws and regulations* t ; The Timaru Borough Council, at a meeting held on Monday, unanimously, agreed to -1 * support the resolution of the Christchurch . Citizens' Defence Corps in favour of immedij ate conscription. Tho Mayor and several f councillors had previously been opposed to „ conscription. j The Rev. E. T. Wynne Bond, vicar of' " 3 Martinborough, has resigned, from his charge >* r 2 in order to proceed to the front (reports tlio,;;* j Star). Mr liond has been vicar of the parish' ; I; tor upwards of 10 years, with the exception;' f of an interval of a few months, when' he wa»* f in charge of St. Thomas's, Wellington. ; s Had it not been for the unfortunate acci- ' j dent sustained by the King being thrbwis 5 from his horse in France, Lieutenant-colonel 3 T. B. Inglis stated, in an address at Auck- ,i i land on Friday evening (says the New Zea- inland Herald), liis Majesty would have paid j a visit of inspection to the New Zealand < t hospital ship Maheno when she was in i* t Southampton. >-* i Mr C. L. Nelson, of Canada, formerly bn v.;: s the sta,ff of Messrs England Bros., t Christchurch, and more recently of the Can. ¥ t adian-Paoifio Railway, arrived at oh Monday (says the Press) on leave, ia . order to go to the front The Can&dian- ! Pacifio Railway is pursuing the policy of' . " i promising their positions baak to employees . who enlist. Amongst the men who will go into camp s next week will be Mr Charles Fred Baasett; v': father of Corporal Cyril Bassett, of Auck--1 land, _ who gained rhe Victoria Cross lot' l technical services performed with the utmost ~ i skill and daring at Gallipoli (says the Do-' . minion). Mr Bassett is 50 years of ago, and 1 a printer by trade. He is joining the m- ' i fantry. . , f. i A story illustrative of the resourcefulness > i . and ingenuity of our German foes was told : f I to a representative of the Christohurch Press > by a ship's officer. It was to the effect that < some months ago a party of Germans ondj"' " Turks managed to get close enough to the' Suez Canal to send some swimmers, out to a ' dredge at anchor. They got the captain, an. Austrian, to enter a boat beside the dredge, ■ and, rowing ashore, the crowd of them disappeared with the master into tho desert. ' ' In an interview with Miss Little, an Eng-\ lish musician now in •Christchurch, that lady stated (says the Press) that out hore we had < no conception of the number of girls WhO' -• had gone out as nurses and probationers in hospitals. Women who had had nothing to - ■ do from one year's end to another now 1 v'i found employment, and worked assiduously, v scrubbing floors and doing all the hard work attendant on a probationer's position i in the hospital. It had been the cntird ' making of them. Tie Paris City Council has adopted a 1 measure presented by its President,' Henri 1 Galli, and Poirier de .Narcay, urging that | all subjects of Allied nations of military age : who are residing :n France be required either to leave the country or enlist m the | French Army, those who refuse to be con-' 1 "."' fined in concentration camps. The motion ' also sets forth that subjects or citizens of I neutral countries should not receive resi-' 1 dential permits except upon recommendation ' of their Governments, and after a rigid in- ' vesiigation of their credentials. ■ Canadian papers record that 800 big guns made for Franoe and Great Britain by tho , Bethlehem Steel Company were destroyed on "November 10, when machine shop No. 4 of the plant at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was burned. The monetary loss was £400,000, but the greater loss is in tho time necessary to replace tho big guns and the still more valuable machinery, and the ■ consequent delay in filling wax orders. Tho Bethlehem fire had barely been put out when j flames started in a pattern shop at the Eddy- | stone, Del., plant of tho Boldwin Locomotivo" Works, and patterns valued at £10,000 were . destroyed. Berlin and Vienna papers ro- I jo ice over these fires. The excellent way in which the French I railway systems have aided, and are still,, aiding, the operations of the French and*' British armies is shown by some partamlara published by Engineering. The circulation on tho Orleans railway system from August ' i 2 to 5 of last year amounted to 1500 trains, and that on the Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean system to over 3000 trains. The East of France system, besides having to deal with'.' v ■ heavy military transports immediately hostilities commenced, had to remove from tho Briey and Longwy districts 40,000 foreign :■» workmen, mostly Italians, employed in tho iron mines of those districts. As an ilhistra- £ tion of the conditions which obtained'in the ; 'f early days of the war, it may be stated that,o<t from August 6 to 19 of last year, tho"-. J '.J Orleans railway system carried up to front 54,000 tons of various provisions. 11 ' Colonel Eden Vansittart, of the Bth West ' ; Kents, who, on September 26, was officially reported killed at tho battle of Loos, after- , wards wrote home to his wife from Crefeld, '" ® Germany. After the official announcement .f* more than 80 members of the battalion " wrote to Mrs Vansittart, expressing their : sorrow, and saying how they worshipped their colonel, for whom they would have laid down their lives. About' 300 letters of -A condolence were received by Mrs Vansittart v A memorial scrvice was nc!d in London, 1 ' ,; the authorities arranged for the payment of a widow's pension, and Colonel Vansittart's ' will was proved. Colonel Vansittart's letter was written on October 25—30 days after he was officially reported as dead. Colonel Vansittart said he was lying wounded in tho prisoners' hospital at Crefeld, that ho was doing well, and wanted some clothing sent to him. f.