MEMORABLE SCENE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13491, 21 September 1914, Page 4

MEMORABLE SCENE.

I BRTTAIN GOES TO AVAK. A PAGE OP HISTORY. : - LONDON, August 6. -• Yesterday Was iSwtdky. ,1* Svas a 'Sunday -wfe''swft s *npv_'r 'forget. ' . Lond'ofi's customary'' Sunday 'is - - x "d^y • bf '■ reVolirtionarv reaction .from*, the . tumult'* of- tho six prccqedihg days/with 1 Lp^doif _ thbu - sand rearing streets silent and deserted, and London's thunder; of movement a mere murmur of itself; /But- yesterday was not as; other Sundays havo been, On the Continent of. Europe its anxieties arid its , enthusiasms 1 would be such as could only be guessed at by London ; but m London yesterday the spirit ol war descended upon us definitely and unmistakeably. In London yesterday London's Sunday and London's peopm flcrt' traiu'foi'-mcd.

' The trouble had • been growing all tit week. By Saturday it was obvious that there could be' only "one way. On, Sunday morning the streets were filled wiih tho noise of ' its Avitrniilgi N'.<w.;p;;.:jp; sellers weht 'running, shouti i_ as *:>-*}\ only can. ' Every hour 1 bro'ii^il ' nl-ni • j'. new special editioii, and new and nit 'ft -menacing catch- words'.-' Then- papers \vere sold ; by the hiihdreii l hvusai i 1 tv the street's were filled with people and each word of the liews was m demand: Groups of men" ahd women Mcoc'-to yor-over--a siiigle -sheet. l In the omnibuses the last edition"' '• was' passed you.-.d as-- "a common absorbing interest. Liscuy.\i<>ii of one -subject,. and one only, drew peo pie together uipbri the sidewalk's for iiec and voluble' give-and-take of opinwi ani. foreboding: - ' On " Sunday* too, : morni m'^ aiid evening, and "throughout tlu>, day, •he London terminals of the Conr-.n'tjihi railway systems grew* into centres 'bl fevered exciiemeht/ ' "For one thing, this sudden, swift oxcitementj came upon iv m the very lioitr of { the- 'gteat August .holiday: 'The first week August would: in any c9se l ;haV_ discovered Charing Cross and Victoria^Siatidhs a secth J ing^'endez^ous of travellers to the ObiV tme'ilt,. but 'to-day's holiday ; tranic wai cbnf used, aiid suddenly single swif \ stroke bf fjttfe bli tTre"'.i*laffoinis, ;^>miri'pu-. pldcai'ds ,m& fel^ram^ :and notice bbfta-ds, " cried * halt" to all 'jiTeasua'e^seeker. b>y- wav of the. Channel crossing to France" ' The e^ery'day familiar: transit from London' tovParis at an end. There were trains' 'still to be had, bm they ' ran dpubtf ully; and 'the c6'ursc *'i their joiirne'V was' 'move' and move problematical.^' v S'o OhariiVg -'Crbss aiid Vie tori a .•'Sta tions became a confusion oi startled hoiiday-nSakers and a. worse cdlifusion of their''loads "ol 'baggage. - Bm Charing Cross v * : and 'Victoria Stationt were more than that: - Tliey were foi' Loirdon the'first sight 'of the preparatiorj for war. — . --'i^r ' ' •-•■ ■"■'..'■'. AT'CHAItING CROSS. '

• France has called' up her reserves, 'and upon Victoria Station and Charing, Crosfc converged hundred's of Frenchmen domiciled m" London.' ■'-' ''All day bn. Sunday they swarmed thither.' 1 Ttic " holiday tourists made open way for thenii Lightly baggaged, they hurried 'across flit barriers' of/ derelict pleasure' outfits, voluble, 'gay'r their -excited -. worlds filled the platforms: i With fervent embracing* and many kissings ' they took farewell of those they left behind. I ' They waved hands', from their trains ;'. they were gone to join: the colors,' to' "figlrt for France. I saw one train load of'Frcnch reservists thus depart. Last night Charing; Cross station was a wildly-excited place. Hun-, d^eds of ! pe'op'le:V were'-.- 'gathered ' Within iti and at- Hie first sound of their cheering thousands . came pouring m from the Strand; After 'that 'the cheering^ was a prodigious thing, and the singing, too, artd the enthusiasm bf l other- .vocal sorts. The train. .was. waiting--; the Frenchmen : w)io were to bo • its ■' passengers went to it; through '-- nartowJaneof access carved omV of the solid mass. Each .successive group of them had a welcome, and farewell that would have: done honor io heroes, \ Hats were... raised m the air -at their approach, -and -rounds tof mighty cheers swept upon them.- Tri-color lu>gs and Union Jacks waved from the midst of- the throng at quick intervals. "The Marseillaise" , was m huge chorus by* the French' section; of the crowd^ and •answereo! by the syiripathetically' definite "Rule Britannia"' of the English, with "God .Save the King*/ deliriously delivered, "and at whatever, cost to the island language, m a fearsome unison of French aiid British; tongues, and- at intervals a pause m- the singing this ordinarily .so typical' a-.; London railway . station "filled with sharp and sinister, cries of "Vive La' Guerre," "Vive L' Armee/.', "Vive La France." 'The actual-, departure of tlife train saw all' this fierce enthusiasm gather itself "/ into H ° Frenzy, ; and 'the crowd 'surged front the station upon the massed tKroiijgsort'.'the'- Strand outside, roaring their upliflihg appeal to the fighting spirit of ■ France 1 , "Auk"' Armes, citdyfiiis, •formeZ-'Vos bataill6ns." '■■-'-■ ' '-' Out m the streets this unforgettable Sunday; nighti 'had' developed mfco '-% fiercely patriots demonstration. Tens of thousands' 6f people 'were -out and about. The hoarse cries c-f the news-sellers were an incessant quick stabbing of the eriio-* tions. What news there was could only bo of the most meagre character. It came out, nevertheless, m journal after journal, and hour after hour; i-ho' sheet's containing • it -wero sold- almost as soon as? they appeared. Hundreds of thousands of newspapers 'Vnust' have been" distributed m London last night. v A CABINET MEETING.

. Around '''Trafalgar Sqbare aloiio were massed iiuge^ fcrow'ds,' ' 'and they "sWarmed f rom* ' thai; historic- centre " away 'down Whitehall; miti the ' War Office "and : the Admir^lty. 5 ; r, '''The"y.'^'wWe' brought' : up against air , impassa*ul« "wall 'of • people -at DoWnipg" street- wli^Vfe a vast assemblage stbbd' peering into tht* fatcftilarea where the Cabinet -Wets iricohsfant grapple with the : future of England ' and the Empire. ' " ' ■ '. -' ." The' greatest demonstration of all, perhaps, wa's thb iiriparalTeled enthusiashi outside Buckingham Palace. There on the broad spaces of St. James'^ .Park tens of thousands of^Lpndpners slioutecl and sang and cheered. -"^T'lie customary^ respectful recognition „j«I. f ßoy alf j; .- Twas swallowed up^'iiv ferVent 'acclaim >*-of the Sovereign m the,'.country's i crisis. ' Tlie King and Queen appeared upon the balcony bf- the palacbV The roar" of cheers that greeted th'em,i and' the thunder of the National Anthem- that followed the cheers, was the most tremendous out* burst- of patriotic sentiment' l haye 'ever ■heard. t '-' 'I hn-+*v*-*> '~