EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16216, 22 August 1918, Page 6

EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS

(By R . S. M. Sturgos (author of “On the Remainder of Our Front.”) A Y.M.C.A. but ie a combination of many institutions. Some people imagine that it is nothing more than an ordinary canteen with a red triangle over the door. It contains a canteen, it is true, and thus serves the soldier as a refreshment room. But that is only one of its canacities. It is also a universal store, a library, a writing room, and an entertainment hall. It is, in fact, the private soldier’s club. The hut in which I am at present working “somewhere in France” boasts a large lecture hall, at Ifcae end of which a stage has been constructed, set off by a beautiful back scene of a pastoral nature—the work of an accomplished artist serving with the Army Service Corps. In this hall an entertainment of some kind is given every evening, and, so far, we have had no cause- to complain of thin or unappreciative audiences. In fact the difficulty is to find accommodation for all the men who besiege tho doors each night. The entertainments take various forms. Lectures are given on every conceivable subject of from higher mathematics to prehistoric animals. Occasionally . a traveller fresh from the East, from Mesopotamia, Italy or 'the Balkan States will enlarge our knowledge of the war as it is waged in other countries. Lectures are freciuentIv varied by concert* and cinema shows. Sometimes a concert party of theatrical stars from home will provide a firstclass entertainment, in which so many encores are demanded that, were they granted without limitation, neither audience nor nerformers would get to bed till the following morning. Hardly less popular are the amateur troupes drawn from the ranks of the men themselves. These troupes masquerade under various strange sobrimiets. such as “The Shrapnels," “Whiaa Bangs,” “Dough Knots,” “Maritime Minstrels,” “Sons of Guns,” and so on. Their programme consists for the most part of topical songs with swinging choruses, in which the audience semes the opportunity of proving beyond dispute that it also possesses vocal organs ,of no mean power. Many of the songs are composed by the ’ soldiers themselves ; the lyrics do not always conform to strict rules of metre, hut they are none the less effective for that. One song which has great vogue at the moment repeats at the end of every verse the expressivedine, “Oh! Oh! Oh! It’s a lovely war!” One verse, for example, concludes with these words:— •

“When yon wake nn in the morning, your n;3tns feel heavv as lead, But you never get up till the sergeant brings your breakfast up to bed Oh! Oh! Oh! It’s a lovely war! The audience takes up the last line and delivers it with a deafening crescendo which threatens to lift the roof. But there are times of anxietv in the life of a Y.M.C.A. worker, when, the machine slips a cog—a disaster which occurs from time to time in the best organisations. Two nights ago, for instance, a lantern lecture by one of our Allies was advertised for 7.30 p.m. Some time before the hour in question the hall was filled by a crowd of expectant soldiers ; the lecturer arrived punctually, armed with a box of slides, and all was ready, when it was discovered that the electric lamp for the lantern was nowhere to he found. After a frantic search involving considerable delay it was discovered that the lamp had been broken and sent array for repairs. Profuse apologies were made to the lecturer, wjio fully understood the situation and willingly postponed his lecture till the lamp returned. There remained a large audience to he dealt with—an audience whose patience had already been tried by the long delay. It was impossible to tnrn the men away after {spoiling their evening, something must be done, and at once. One of the officials had an inspiration; he faced the audience and explained the situation. Further, he said, being unwilling to disappoint the- audience,, ho would he much obliged if they would supply him with 1 a pianist, 2 a singer, and 3 a .song. There followed a confused murmur, each man nudging his neighbour and saying “Go on* Bill,” and Bill replying, “Go on yourself.” At last one man, whose abilities as a pianist wore well known to his friends allowed himself to be pushed forward, and others followed his load. As soon as the ice was broken the success of the evening was assured. In fact, the impromptu concert had to be interrupted at closing time by a vote of thanks to tho performers, followed by the National Anthem. The British soldier is naturally reserved and inclined to hide his light under a bushel, hut when that reserve can be broken through there is no fear of a dull evening in his company. He can entertain himself and his friends as well as anyone else can do it for him. * On Sunday the concert hall of yesterday becomes a church, wherein short services are held. The same piano which resounded throughout tho week with comic songs is now devoted to tho playing of hymns. Hymns play a great part in those soldier services, for a soldier is as fond of a good hymn as of a good song—perhaps fonder; songs grow old rtuickly, and when a song grows old it dies and is forgotten, but hymns live on by virtue of their ago. The old familiar tunes form a link with the past. They conjure no a vision of Sunday morning in some English country village nesL ling among tho trees—-a Vision of home and all that is nearest and dearest to the soldier’s heart.