STRATFORD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144525, 9 November 1914, Page 2

STRATFORD.

FROM OCR RESIDENT AGENT. Nov. B.—A very pleasant summer-like day helped to bring a great crowd to Victoria Park to see the church parade of the Defence Rifle dub. Territorials, Bov Scouts, Cadets and Fire Brigade. These bodies assembled at various points about 2 p.m. and marched through the town to the.park, music being provided by the Municipal Brass Band and by four pipers in Highland costume. On arrival at the park they were drawn ujj on three sides of a square, the public occupying the fourth side. His Worship the Mayor, who was accompanied by most of the Borough Council, gave a brief address, dwelling on the unique character of the crisis that had’led to the formation of the Defence dub and to the event: of the day. A short and appropriate service of prayer and hymns, with a scripture reading and addresses, was then conducted by the clergy of : the town. A collection was taken up for the British and Belgian Relief Fund. The National anthem was sung, with band accompaniment, and the large assembly then marched off thp ground to patriotic airs: Collecting both for the Patriotic Fund and for tho Relief Fund has been fairly successful in the district, but certainly has not been helped by the gentleman in charge of'the censorship of cables: Yesterday, for instance, there were two or three cables passed through that might well have been manufactured in Berlin for the purpose of damping down the patriotic fire of the colonies, I am not referring to naval or other setbacks, prompt news of which is stimulating rather than otherwise, but cables imputing slackness on the part of the people of the centre of (he Empire have a deadly effect.