RETURNING SOLDIERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3403, 4 June 1919, Page 25

RETURNING SOLDIERS

ARRIVAL OF TOFUA. MEN ENTHUSIASTICALLY YfELCOMED. Although, the troopship Tofua was not expected to arrive at her appointed berth at the Kattray street wharf on the 29th until U a.in., long beiore this hour people began to asaumolo on tne waterfront and by 11 o'clock a dens*v «rowd lined tne wharf to welcome the soldiers on their arrival. They were, however, doomed to a long weary wait in a particularly wintry atmosphere. Advice was received shortly after 10 o'clock that the vessel had stuck on a Band bank- opposite Bay, and. would probably be a little late, so the people settled down to wait with what patience they could 00-nmand. About 12 o'clock word was received that the ship would not arrive before 1 o'clock at the earliest, and the crowd thon quickly "melted away, but returned in incr eased r.umbers after a hasty lunch. . Fearing that the vessel might arrive too late to enable the northern men to bo conveyed north by special tram according to arrangement, Captain Dobson arranged with the Peninsula Ferry Company to send the Waikana to the Tofua to take the noi-thern men ashore, but fortunately this was unnecessary as the troopship, with the assistance of the tug Plucky, was able to get out of difficulties. ■ When the vessel was sighted about 1 o'clock a mighty cheer wont up from the thousands of people' who had assembled, and as the vessel drew up to the wharf the cheering was renewed. Captain "Williams lost no time in getting his ship safely berthed and the gangways were ' quickly put out to enable the men to get ashore without delay. The local Defence authorities are deserving of high praise for the expeditious manner in which the disembarkation was carried out, only 21 minutes elapsing from the time the first man left the vessel until the last of the soldiers stepped on to the wharf. This is all the more commendable when it is remembered that the facilities on the Dunedin wharves for speedy disembarkation, especially when they are in a congested state, are far from being perfect. The landing of the men was carried out in a cutting hailstorm, but tho ohilliness of the atmosphere was largely dispelled or forgotten by the warmth of the welcome from those waiting on the wharf, and additional brightness was given by the Kaikcrai Band, which contributed an admirably rendered programme of selections suitable to the occasion The local Defence Office was represented by Colonel Cowie Nichols, Major Lampen, Captain Dyer, Captain Dobson, and Lieutenant M'Carthy. The executive military officers on the ship were as follows: Major Chaytor, M.C. O.C. troops; Major D. E. Fenwick, 5.M.0.; and Captain Berneaux. The northern men—about 360 in number—were landed first, and were immediately motorel to the -station, where they were entrained for Christohurch and stations north of Palmerston. The lailway authorities kindly agreed to the necessary alteration in the time for the deoarfcure of tho '• special and this would enable the North Island men to catch the evening ferry steamer. The Christcburch draft was under the charge of Lieutenant Mills, while Lieutenants Fordo and Blaikie had charge of the Wellington and Auckland drafts respectively. The Mayor (Mr W. Begg) was present on the station, and the Otago and Southland Women's Patriotic and Welfare Association supplied refreshments, fruit, cigarettes, etc., to all the men—in the case of the northern men hampers being placed aboard tho train Motor oars were as usual supplied by the Otago Motor Club, and the men were jriven a great ovation as they proceeded to their destination The town was eaily beflagged in honour of the occasion, and every building—business or private—that possessed a flagpole, speared to have it surmounted with an emblem of welcome. The men for stations between Dunedin and Palmerston left by the 2J55 tram, and those Jor places between Dunedm and Clinton and on the Lawrence line by the 4 15 train. The men for stations south of Clinton, Catlins, and Otago Central left by the 8:30 train next morning. Dunedin citizenß have agitated for some time In order that some of the troopships arriving in New Zealand might maice Dimedin the first port of call, and, their wishes having been acceded to, it is certainly disappointing that the mishap should occur on the first occasion that a visited the city. The unwisdom of arranging for the vessel to arrive at Dunedin at 11 a.m. was apparent when it is noted that it was not hisrh tide until 3.30 in the afternoon —; n other words, the Tofua was timed to leave her anchorage when the tide was almost, at its lowest. The matter was referred bv a Times reporter to Mr H. L. Tapley (chairman of the Harbour Board), who stated that the Harbour Board was in no way to blame for the stranding of the vessel. Mr Tapley said that when in Wellington recently he, with the Mayor of Dunedin, arranged with the Commandant of the Forces that, in order to meet the convenience of the next-of-kin of the men returning by tho Tofua, that vessel should be brought up to the Dunedin wharf, and that wireless communication should be made with the captain instructing him to so time his arrival 'that, after completing boarding arrangements, the ship would be able to negotiate tho upper channel at high tide._ Later, however, the local military authorities —under, it is understood, the advice of the Union Steam Ship Company—arranged that the ship should leave Port Chalmers so as to arrive at Dunedin wharf at 11 a.m., and thus enable the men for the North Island to proceed by special train. As this meant that the ship would have to leave Port Chalmers at 10 a.m. — dead low water—Mr Tapley, at a conference with the Defence Department representatives and the Mayor on Wednesday morning, pointed otit the position, and urged them to bring the ship up either at 8 a.m. (to arrive at Dunedm at 9 a.m.) or at 1 p.m. His reason for this was that the acting harbourmaster advised him that if he was asked to bring tho Tofua up at. .the time arranged by the military authorities he would decline to do so, as the ve.wel was reported to bo drawing 19ft 6in, and the depth at low tide in the channel was Juet that depth. In spite of this, the

authorities decided to adhere to their original arrangements, with the result that she grounded. ... Mr Tapley wished to make it perfectly clear that his board was In no way responsible for the ship 'being brought up at the time she was. The master holds a certificate of exemption for the port o* Dunedin, and the services of the pilot were not therefore requisitioned. Had they been, he would have decUned to act. Mr Tapley added that as a matter of fact on the ship's arrival at the Heads tho master was asked if he required the services of a pilot, and he replied that it was not necessary. Naturally, therefore, this offer was not repeated yesterday morning prior to the vessel leaving for Dunedm. lhe Harbour Board officials were not approached by the U.S.S. Co. In connection with the ship's .movements. , There was a very high wind blowing on Thursday morning, and this was accentuated at Kilgour Point, .where the stranding took place. Here the wind caught her and made her unmanageable. Another circumstance was the fact that in consequence of this high wind the water was four inches lower than the maximum at low tide. What he (Mr Tapley) was greatly concerned about was that owing to this unfortunate circumstance the upper channel was resting under a stigma, but he felt quite sure that when the facts were made known it would be at once realised that had the ship proceeded up the channel at a more favourable state of the tide there would have been no difficulty whatever. RIMUTAKA'S MEN LANDED. WELLINGTON, May 28. The Rimutaka's draft of 721 men disembarked to-day. The whole operation was completed in 12 minutes. The South Island portion other than the men for the Nelson district will leave for the south tomorrow night. The Nelson men ■ left by the Pateena. this afternoon, and the North Island men left by the second Auckland express. PAKEHA REACHES WELLINGTON. TRAGEDY ON BOARO. WELLINGTON, May 30. The troopship Pakeha arrived in the "tream about 2 p.m., and was berthed at 430 p.m: Though the weather was wet and extremely cold several thousand people assembled to meet the returned'men, and th Wellington Motor Volunteer Corps did good work in taking the men to their destination.. , , The Auckland men left by special train at 7.15 p.m., tho southern men left by the Maori, and the Marlborough, Nelson, and West Coast contingent were taicen by the Pateena, which was held until o.Stf for tho purpose. - The Pakeha remained at Newport News for five days to coal, and during that time the men went into a big American camp, where they were housed in spacious, wellbuiit hutments. The vessel spent six hours at Colon, where the men were hospitably treated by the residents. . The arrival of the transport in the dominion was saddened by an incident which occurred aboard on Thursday. It appears that two soldiers got into a heated argument oh "the main deck, and eventually oame to blows, as the result of which Regimental Sergeant-major Samuel Stanley Choato, of Christchurch, fell heavily back on his head, crashing on the side of an iron winch. His skull was fractured, and he died almost immediately. The other man concerned in the dispute was placed under arrest, and .a courtmartial will be' held.

THE PAKEHA'S MEN.

The Dunedin railway station was thronged on Saturday night by large crowds, which assembled to welcome the soldiers who returned to New Zealand on the steamer Pakeha. The draft was only a small one, but the reception the men received was none the less cordial on that account, and it was obviously intended both to show the gratitude of the citizens and to make the men feel at home. The express was about half-an-hour late, due, it is stated to the departure from Christehureh being delayed on account of the ferry steamer, and also the extra heavy loading. Four of the men left the train at Oamaru and one or two at other stopping places, at all of which the soldiers were well received. Thirty-two men arrived in Dunedih, 16 of these being for this citv, and the other 16 for places south of Dunedin. The local men were conveyed to their homes by cars provided by the Otago Motor Club, with the exception of seven men who were motored down to the Jaw Hospital, in Clyde street, where they were admitted as patients. The remainder, who will proceed to their destinations to-day, were billeted at the Leviathan Hotel. The draft came down under the charge of Lieutenant Gustafson. and the men were met at the station by Lieutenant M'Carthy, under whoso control the arrangements worked satisfactorily*

The motor cars, laden with their joyous human freight of re-united family groups, followed the usual route. Stuart street and the vicinity of the Octagon were thronged with people, and the men were everywhere received with friendTv greetings and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. The Kaikorai and Salvation Army Bands turned out in full force to welcome the men. Amongst the draft were three former members of the Kaikorai Bnnd in the persons of Sergeant-major J. Dixon, who. for a time, successfully conducted a band in France, and Privates T. Roarers and C. Wa.rd.rop. The Salvation Army Band was present to do honour to Driver F. Tombs, a former member of its ranks.

Sergeant Stanley S. Choate. who was fatally injured when returning by the transport Pakeha, was a brother-in-law of Mrs F. H. Choate, Burnett street, Ashburton. Sergeant Choate, who was born and educated in Ashburton, was a. son of Mr William Choate, of the Royal Engineers, one of the few surviving Crimean veterans. Serjeant Choate, who lived in Dunedin for some time, was in Sydney when the war broke out. Shortly afterwards he returned to New Zealand and enlisted as a sapper in the Engineers. While in camp he rose to the rank of sergeant, and on leaving New Zealand for Egypt four .years ago last April was senior sergeant on board the transport. After being in Egypt he was sent to Gallipoli, and on the, way he saw the Carpathian torpedoed and sunk. But for the fact that he had been transferred to another boat ho would have been on board the Carpathian- He saw a considerable.

amount of service on the peninsula, and for some time wae quartermaster-sergeant. Subsequently he was In Franoe, where he filled with conspiououa ability the Important duty of Base Records officer, and waa a moat popular and highly-trusted officer, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Modal Ho waa 37 years of age.

CHARGE Op MANSLAUGHTER. WELLINGTON, June 2. A further development in the recent tragio affair on the transport Pakeha occurred In the Magistrate's Court to-day, when Sergeant Edward G. P. Marsden was charged with the manslaughter of Sergeant-major Choate. The police asked for a remand Counsel for accused said the military authorities investigated the case on Saturday, and had allowed the accused to go on condition that he reported himself to the police at 9 o'olook this morning. At that hour he went to the police station, and was arrested. The accused was remanded until Wednesday, bail being fixed at one surety of £SO.

Advice has been received by the Defence Department that the troopship Ruahine, with returning draft 250, is due to arrive in the dominion about July 4. The draft comprises 38 officers, 6 nurses, and 840 other ranks. Imperial Details are as follow:—Five officers, 6 Cther ranks, 139 women, and 35 children. The troopship Waimana, with returning draft 257. oomprisina; 1600 men, is due at Auckland on Juno 20. This is the largest draft that has yet boon despatched to New Zealand. The majority of the men are for the North Island. 766 being for Auckland and 571 for Wellington. " while the. Otago and Southland draft .comprises only 34- men.