ANOTHER RECRUITING RALLY

Otago Witness, Issue 3214, 20 October 1915, Page 51

ANOTHER RECRUITING RALLY

n c, . . .. , , . , , Un (Saturday night another of the popular open-air recruiting meetings, organised by the Recruiting Committee of the Otago latnotic Association, was held at the Town Hall steps ihe favourable weather helped to draw a largo crowd. A novel feature of tne meeting, and one that proved most suecesslul and popular, was the display of a number of appropriate lantern pictures on a largo screen. Ihe slides wero specially prepared by Mr D. W. Simpson, and were projected by him from a box placed just inside tho Octagon railings. His equipment included a telephone connection with the at the Town Hall steps. Iho National Reserve Band, under Bandmaster Davie, opened the proceedings, and provided stirring, patriotic music af intervale throughout tho evening. The slides were thrown on tho screen while tho band played. Tho pictures were of a very varied nature, and showed popular Allied war heroes, scenes at Cairo and Zcitun and on Gallipoli, tne battleships Sydney and Glasgow, tho wreck of tho Emden, tho Queen Elizabeth, and other warships, maps, scenes in England, and a few pointed posters. Colonel Stoneham, who acted as chairman, in his opening remarks apologised for the absence of tho Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark). who is at prosent out of town. If anv apology were required, he said, for holding another recruiting meeting, it should come from those men whose failure to respond made these repeatod meetings necessary. There was a possibility of the Otago quota for tho Ninth Reinforcements being short. The Minister of Defence believed that tho time had not r ,1 r.„ \ct arrived toi compulsion, and ii-o i • v: u j. • i i.i I i. r doing his best in order that the voluntary spirit might prevail. That was the proper spirit and when it was exhausted then was the tune to introduce compulsion From reaclmg the cables they would realise that tho Empire was in the greatest danger just no\y. Ho was quite sure that never since the war began had the Empire been m the critical state it was m now We did not ; 1( ? w 0 S l^°? c i 1 111 10 Balkans. j e did not, know what Greece, was going to do, or what Rumania was going to do There was even a hint that the Gallipoli Peninsula would have to be abandoned. If that were so, it seemed a calamity that the troops had ever been taken there. Germany was utilising every effort. Her strength was greater than we had ever imagined. It our Empire had had even half the organisation Germany had had, we could not be in the position wo were m now. We would have ended the war. Otago was short of 40 men. During tho past few days quite a number of those told to parade on Tuesday had found that thev could not go, and had asked to bo put on the list for next month. They wanted to find that night, as many as possiblo of those 40 men. Ho urged those who had enlisted in other branches of the sorvice to transfer to the infantry. In some of the other branches so few wero wanted and so many offered that it would be 12 months before they could get away if they remained there. Ho appealed to the ladies to do what they could to encourage the young men to go.—(Applause.) The Rev. W. J. Ashford and Dr Marshall also made apooals for recruits in stirring addresses. " As a result of the mooting 18 recruits signed on