MAJOR DENNEDY'S LECTURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 38

MAJOR DENNEDY'S LECTURE

From the commencement of the Transvaal war our readers have been much interested in the comments which have appeared from day to day in our columns on "the 1 progress of movements in South ,Africa from the facile pen of Major Kennedy. On many occasions they have rafforded capital explanations of cables ' that were otherwise somewhat hazy in meaning, owing, of course, to the severe 'censorship that was exercised by the war authorities, and in his,, anticipations of events about f o transpire , Major^Kennedy was singularly accurate — a-fact.' .that gave a peculiar interest to his "Notes on the War." On Mondaj- 'at -the Garrison Hall .Major 'Kennedy .gave the public of the -city an / opportunity of listening to a lecture by him on _liie Empire: Its Defenders ancl Defences." The attendance was not so large as might have been anticipated. The fact is that when such luminaries as Mr Donald, Macdonald and -Mr '■ Banjo " Paterson are in the iield others of lesser light have little chance of drawing a 'ciowd. Men ,who have been on the a6tual battlefields in Soinh Africa during tke present ; war, and .who have seen Ihe awful realities >and the fearful terrors of the Avar, are more likely to prove attractive than thoae who have picked up .their knowledge of the conflict 'from writings or from hearsay. It must be said, however, •that Major Kennedy made his lecture interesting throughout. He did not confine his remarks solely to the Boer war, but, at any rate, three-fourths of his remarks had reference ,to ' that engrossing subject. He started off with a ■ .reference to several views of old and modern ■ships of war, thrown oai a Jarge screen on the 'stage, together Avith pictures of Lord Nelson, Lord Roberts, and others well-known in connection with the army and navy. Coming to Colonel Robin, of New Zealand, he said : " This 'is an officer you all knoAV, and I am happy to say that Colonel Robin has written home to Jiis father that my ■ Notes on the War ' were .the best guide lie" cbuld possibly take, and -that ,' if ihe followed' my -notes he could not go astray.'" • —(Applause.) Proceeding \o speak on the subject of 'his address, Major ,Kennedy said that when the war broke out .it Avas supposed Bri- - tain was ready. Nine-tenths of, the population .'thought the navy was prepared to meet the foe, and that the army, though small, was in every i-espect thoroughly fitted to take the field. In - 'fact, Lord, Wplseley had stated "that 70,000 men . were always ready to be despatched on foreign service quicker than the Admiralty could furnish transports for them. Last year the War Office made rut a list of troops for the various stations all over the globe, including the Home, colonial, and Indian defences, in which 256,157 officers and men were to garrison, but, unfortunately, when it came to a distribution of the troops there were only 236,229 officers and men available. From this point onward the lecturer devoted his attention tc showing in what respects, in addition to a shortage in the troops, the army and the navy of Britain are incomplete in various departments. This led him on 'to the Boei war, and he traced the events that took place from the start o£ the fight to the capture of Pretoria. Several of 'the reverses suffered by the British in the early stages he accounts for by lack of cavalry and mounted infantry. Incidentally, he mentioned that the colonial defences were far short of what they should be. Other places in r-ddition to the four lai'ge^ centres should be defended, and in., the case "of .Dunedin it wa's quite inadequate -to protect the city while tho-Bhiff ori the one side and Oaxnar,u-and Tirnaru on the other were left unguarded. 'The audience received the lecturer's ronlafks kvith .many rounds of applause.

The Ashburton Mail has been informed that the following is" absolutely true:— A young man .residing in a suburb of Christchurch was about to /proceed to -the Metropolitan trots, when a neighbour called in and informed .the household that she had missed one of her children. The young fellow generously offered to assist her to find her lost child, and after a long search this was effected. The young man arrived at tlic races a& the horses were ranging for the "Ladies' Bracelet. He glanced down "the card, and his eyes paused at "Miss Child." "'I have 'been seeking for a missed child this morning," he said, with satisfactory results, and maybe it was a good omen. He therefore plunged to the "extent of lialf a sovereign on Miss Child, with the result that bis ,purse was enriched to -the extent of 33103 2a.