RETURNING DRAFTS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 31 May 1919, Page 6

RETURNING DRAFTS.

ARRIVAL OF PAKEHA. Per Proas Acsooiation. WELLINGTON, May 30. The troopship Pakeha arrived in the stream about 2 p.m. and hqythed at 4.30 p.m. Though the evening was wet and extremely cold, several thousand people assembled to meet the returned men. The AVellington Motor Volunteer Corps did good wbrk in- taking the men to their destinations. The Auckland men left by a special train at 7.15 p.m., and the southern men left by the Maori, tho Marlborough, Nelson, and-West Coast contingent being taken by the Pateena which was held until 6.30 for tho purpose. ■ The Pakeha- remained at Newport News for five days to coal, and during that time the men went info a big American camp, where they were housed in spacious and well-built hutments. The vessel was six hours at Colon, where the men were hospitably treated by the residents.

The arrival of tho transport in the Dominion was saddened by an accident which occurred om hoard on Thursday. It appears that two soldiers got into heated argument on the main deck, and eventually came to blows, in which Regimental Sergeant-Major Samuel Stanley Choate, of Christchurch, fell heavily, the back of his head crashing on the side of an iron winch. Choate’s skull was fractured, and he died almost immediately. The other man concerned in the dispute was placed under arrest, and a court-martial will he held.