MACHINE GUNS WANTED

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 462, 3 August 1915, Page 11

MACHINE GUNS WANTED

APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE. MINISTER FOR DEFENCE GIVES APPROVAL. "More machine guns for the men at the front!" is a cry which Mr A. P. Hopkins, manager of the Belfast Freezing Works, has taken up, and it would seem that it will soon be taken up all over New Zealand. That is Mr Hopkins's idea, at any rate. On July 28 it was cabled from London that, as ihe result of a remarkable machine-gun campaign in Canada, 1000 had been promised in a fortnight, including 200 by the town of Hamilton, Ontario, and 500 by the Ontario Government. Then, on July .31 a message from Captain Bean, sent from Sydney, describing the New Zealanders' attack on Krithia on May 8, said:— 'They advanced, the Wellington Battalion on the left, Auckland in the centre, Canterbury on the right, and Otago acting as reserves. Both the flanking battalions advanced a distance of 300 yards, but the Auckland men faced a terrible machine-gun fire. There was a patch in front of them, known as the 'Daisy Field,' which not one man in five succeeded in crossing." Mr Hopkins, piecing these, messages together, and having lost a son in the slaughter mentioned above, having another son in the Navy, and two more on the way to the v Dardanelles, came to the conclusion that New Zealand was subscribing so many funds for "sticking plaster," as he put it, that he thought they should spend a bit more in killing Germans. He saw Mr J. J. Dougall, who wrote to the Hon. James Allen, Minister for Defence, on the subject, and the latter "sent a most sympathetic repJy, being quite in favour of the movement. He thought a large sum of money might be raised and cabled fo Lord Kitchener, earmarked for the providing of machine guns for New Zealand Infantry. Mr Hopkins has met with hearty support wherever he has propounded his idea. When he spoke of the matter at the Belfast Works, the men were in favour of subscribing to a man, and £25 was promised in no time. Then Mr Hopkins was travelling in a tram, propounding his scheme to a friend, when three lady school teachers overheard his remarks, and immediately expressed a desire to hand over 10/- each to the fund. Again, at the annual supper of Messrs Borthwicks and the Canterbury and Christchurch Frozen Meat Companies, held in Freeman's Cafe last night, the 80 people present all offered to assist, and passed a resolution to the effect that every man present would do his utmost to ensure the success of a fund for cabling money to Lord Kitchener to provide machine guns for the New Zealand Infantry.

Mr Hopkins is of the opinion that the movement will be taken up over both Islands, and that a large sum of money will be raised. When the fund is placed on a proper basis, Mr N. L. Mcßeth, secretary of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, will act as secretary, and in the meantime Mr Hopkins waits for an expression of public opinion.