"CHILDREN'S DAY."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10769, 15 May 1913, Page 4

"CHILDREN'S DAY."

SCHOOL PUPILS VISIT THE NEW ZEALAND. OVER TEN THOUSAND CHILDREN ON BOARD. AN ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL OUTING. ' ARRANGEMENTS WORK PERFECTLY. , The originator of the notion of a Jpecial " Children's Day " aboard tho battle-cruiser New Zealand was evidently a lover of children and one well acquainted with the mysterious workings of the juvenile mind. Tho outing in ' which over ten thousand children participated at Lyttelton yesterday was entirely to the liking of ,the small lads and lassies of the coming generation, and their smiling faces and happy laughter must have been a full and rich recompense to the members of the committee which spent so many hours in grave and careful deliberation while planning the arrangement for the excursion. The entraining of ten thousand children, including many youngsters living at a considerable distance from the city, the provision of a commissariat and the careful supervision necessary over such an army of.young children, involved a very large amount of planning and contriving, and a 'very considerable expenditure. K the committee in charge erred at all it was in tho. direction of providing for contingencies which, as the event proved, were rather remote. The Railway Department and the members of the teaching staffs of the various schools carried out their duties with clock-like regularity and and-'from nine o'clock in the morning there was a continuous stream of children passing by train from Christchivroh j.tb Lyttelton, thence on a tortuous tour of exploration among the intricacies of the -monster warship, from the warship to the refreshment station, and thence back to the Lyttelton. railway station to Christchurch by train. The committee issued to all schools taking part in the outing a printed schedule, which gave particulars as to the train to be taken by the children from each school to Lyttelton, and the ' time of the return train's departure from the port, and by this means all uncertainty and risk of confusion was ' obviated. The catering arrangements proved more than, adequate, and both at the Social Hall in Lyttelton and at the Technical College in Christchurch the supply of refreshments was in excess of the demand. THE VARIOUS CONSIGNMENTS. The first consignment of youngsters numbered about IOOQi being ' pupils from the Waltham and East Christchurch Schools, and they arrived a"t the Port shortly after nine o'clock. Complete arrangements had been made for their safe conduct to and from the wharf, which was divided by a barrier, so that those going to the vessel went . up one side of the wharf to the end gangway and those leaving the vessel went down a near gangway and along the other side. The arrangements were in the hands of Mr J. Hislop, Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs, and Mr E. U. Just,, headmaster of the Lyttelton District High School, made a most efficient marshal. By half-past 9 the first contingent was on hoard. It was divided up into - groups of about thirty, each group be- , jag iii charge of a teacher or school [ committeeman, and taken round the ' ship by an officer or a member of ihe crew, who explained ' the mechanism and equipment that prove so great * an attraction to the average landsman. The children all appeared to be . keenly interested in everything they saw V and were eager for particulars and explanations. AvAt ten o'clock a further consignment of'over 1300 children arrived from the Addington, Somerfield, West Christchurch and Richmond Schools. At half-past ten about 1300 more arrived, including several hundred from, country schools. These children proceeded to the social hall, where they were provided with light refreshments. . During the morning between 3000 and 4000 children inspected the Warship. There was but little biint- . ing displayed on the vessel, although sbere were streamers of flags along the /wharf. A feature of the arrangements jtras that none but those in charge of the operations. and the children were allowed on the wharf. Outwardly the battleship was much the same as on Tuesday, but the fury "of the seas in the north gave her three great funnels a coating of salt spray, and yesterday morning Faith, Hope and were receiving attention from ;the Jack Tars. Alongside the great emoke-stacks a man looked a mere speck. Some had paint brushes in their hands, others chippers, an<J the • work proceeded as if nothing in the nature of a juvenile invasion was in progress. Over the port side, well forward, ■ there were a dozen or more men array';ed on a scaffold busily engaged chio/'•ping and cleaning the massive hull; . for Jack's duties confront him the same jn port as at sea. : ' YESTERDAY'S JUVENILE VISITORS. OVER TEN THOUSAND. f < Mr. Hislop was informed last night "that the number of> children who rjvisited the battleship- yesterday was : 10,714. , THE SHIP OF DREAMS. *■ v ONE HOUR IN ELYSIUM. . .PLEASANT SCENES ON THE WARSHIP:' > - To the average adult, a .visit to the .biggest warship that has ever entered Australasian waters is an interesting incident, an experience'which" will make vivid impressions and a.few lasting memories; but, taken all in all, it is an occurrence not of anv vital importance in the life of the individual, however great may be its national or Imperial significance. To the child, however, an excursion of the kind which took place Esterday is an event of tremendous imrt, something to be looked forward to r weeks, and to be remembered for months. Yesterday's outing, of course, »ppealed especially to the boys. The schoolboy, graceless and unimpressionable imp as he often is, is yet in closer touch than most of his elders are with all those sources of imagination and inspiration bound up in the national history of the British people. Whether he has wanted to or not, he has had to read of that great commencement of Britain's rise to naval power in Elizabethan times. Francis Drake's defeat of the Armada and Richard Grenville's desperate and reckless encounter with overwhelming odds are incidents which touch the boyish imagination and_ thrill the boyish heart even when told in the bald and economical manner peculiar to the authors of school history books. Luckily, the reading books still contain a few of the works of the poets, in which these purple patches of history are more worthily recorded. The boy, therefore, .is able to clothe a warship with the romance and glamour of the past. To him the New Zealand is not a big iron 1.,,.b0x of prosaic machinery, but a ship of the line, framed to take part in a battle of the Titans amid the roar of great guns, a living embodiment of that splen- . did pride and conscious power winch made Drake finish his game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe before he troubled to Ifhip the Spaniards. . GIRLS AS KEEN AS BOYS.

Every boy is at some stage, in Lis career torn'between three conflicting desires. He wants to be a soldier also a sailor, and aJso an engineer. Aboard

| the New Zealand ho finds all three professions represented, and has an opportunity for comparison which may solve in his mind for the time being this extremely vexed problem of a choice of a career. The little girl has as keen an imagination, and is as staunch a patriot as the little boy, and she finds her own peculiar joys in wandering upstairs and downstairs about a warship. Yesterday the girls who went aboard the New Zealand seemed even more anxious than the boys, if that were possible, to see everything that Avns to bo seen, and to learn all about everything. Thev, as well as the bovs, felt tho lure of " the beauty and mysterv of tho ships and tho magic of the sea." USED TO QUESTIONING. The men of H.M.S. New Zealand have evidently been seasoned by past experience to the task of playing nost to hordes of caper juveniles possessed of what Kipling calls "satiable cnrtio=ity." Thev took the youngsters in hand with a brisk and businesslike cheerfulness and a readiness to answer any and every question which should earn them a niche of gratitude in the heart of everv small person who trod the spotless decks of the monster cruiser. "What do you want to know now? Don't all speak at once." quoth a big seaman to a group of children. " That? That's a Ho'tchkiss six-pounder quickfiring gun. This is a searchlight. You move it round by turning this handle, and voti tilt it like thK What does I 'Ao tea Roa' mean? Well, you ought to know better than me. It means 'Long White Cloud,' or if it doesn't mean that, it means something else." A SYSTEMATISED ROUTE ON THE SHIP. Aboard tho New Zealand the squads of children were kept moving through the various parts of the ship, on a systematised route, so that a squad coming down a gangway should never meet a squad coming up. Members of the crew were stationed at various parts of the ship to act as ushers, and in every way the inspection was superintended in a shipshape and seamanlike manner. Although the majority of tho children were attached to school parties, _ and under the eye of their teachers, a' few came with their parents. INSTRUCTION COMBINED WITH AMUSEMENT. The teachers, of course, were bent upon making the occasion instructive J and informative, and perhaps meditated j base designs in the matter of essays to be written by their charges in the near future, but the shadow oF this threatened calamity was not allowed by the children to mar the delights of the day. There was at least one schoolmaster who outdid his pupils irt the way of leading questions, designed to elicit facts which should be impressed in the memory of his class. He inquired the names of the makers of all the multifarious weapons and machines, and went into obscure details in tho matter of hydraulic lifts and electric fuses until he had obtained a mass of exact and statistical information which would have filled a bulky Blue-book. Whether his small charges made notes or trusted to their memories was not ascertainable, but if they remember half they were told they will be naval encyclopaedias for seme time to come. IN THE PORT BARBETTE. Occasionally a school party would fall in with a member of tho ship's crew who was prepared to deliver a regular little lecture on the mechanism by which he was surrounded, and on these occasions tho moot energetic of teachers had a well-earned rest. In the port barbette —a most fascinating place, into which one crawled through a man-hole—there was a gunner who had brought his lecturette to the pitch of perfection. Without a superfluous word, and with scarcely a break in his diction, this gentleman would give a little audience of small girls instructions for the complete operation of the guns in action, with statistics regarding the weight of projectiles, thickness of armour-plating on the barbette and the cost of firing a single 12-iuch gun, and notes on the auxiliary hydraulic and ammunition-hoisting machinery. All this he would do in about six minutes, without turning a hair, and he would then take in hand another party and initiate it into the secrets and mysteries of the place with equal celerity and accuracy. Needless to say, he dealt only in essentials and first principles. His business was to teach the young idea how to shoot. "This lever must be pressed, that wheel turned. You must never press the firing trigger until the red mark on the breech was opposite the red mark on the breechblock, otherwise the electrical connection would not be made. If the left from the magazine and shell-room failed, you could feed tho gun with the aid of a small gantry from a pile of ammunition in the chamber immediateIv beneath the guns. If one of your hydraulic systems went wrong and you could not turn the barbette with it, you switched on to a second one by turning this wheel that way and that wheel the other." All of this information was absorbed greedily by small bovs and small girls, for that was exactly what they wanted to know. " WHAT A PLACE FOR A PLUMBER!" A barbette is a place where one could not swing a cat without considerably injuring the animal. It is chock full of pipes, which writhe in wriggles, curves and convolutions, and there are taps and plugs and meters everywhere. One little girl summed up the general impression beautifully by remarking in an awe-struck but audible whisper: "What a place for a plumber! " The lecturing gunner was occasionally asked a. question, and he never failed to score over the incredulous. When he told one audience that it cost about £6O to fire a twelve-inch gun, some presumptuous adult said that practice firing must be very expensive. "Not at all," was the prompt reply. "We just screw this little Hotchkiss gun here into the breechblock, and it costs us 15s a time." PHOTOGRAPHERS DISAPPOINTED. The photographers who swarmed the decks of the warship in search of pretty little pictures depicting the gallant tar describing the beauties of the ship to groups of youngsters were sadly disappointed to 'find that the decks had been covered over with awnings, leaving an amount of light which, while quite adequate for the purposes of inspection, was highly unsatisfactory from the camera's viewpoint. The Press photographers wisely abstained from attempting the impossible, but the amateurs rushed in in haste and exposed plates and films in a reckless manner. Doubtless they will repent at leisure on viewing the developed result. THE LAST CONTINGENT. The last contingent of the small visitors left tho ship before 5.30 p.m., a slight delay occurring through the fact that three pupils were missing when one of the parties was reassembled to leave the vessel. A search party was organised, and the dark fears entertained that the children might have fallen through a hawse-pipe or been imprisoned in a barbette were dispelled by their speedy reappearance in charge of some of the searchers. Six o'clock saw the last of the children back in Christchurch, and a great red-letter day in the history of 'Canterbury's young people was over. AMONG THE CHILDREN. LYTTELTON A MECCA FOR JUVENILES. There is a fascination about battleships that the youthful mind cannot escape. The small boy is never more happy than when he is wandering over some gunboat or man-of-war, peering down the mouths of cannons, investigating the wheels and works that bring them into action or demanding what makes the gun go off and why there are so many wheels to turn and levers to pullTho small girl is less inquisitive-

into the workings of the guns or the various mechanisms. She contents herself by watching with eyes opened wide nnd irrurmuring a big " Ooh " of 'wonder and astonishment when the patient man who is explaining things says that the gun can send a shell* a distance of fourteen miles or more.

Yesterday Lyttelton in and around tho station and wharves seemed to have collected most of the children within a radius of many miles. From nine o'clock in the morning, when tho first contingent of one thousand arrived to inspect the New Zealand, there was a coming and going of numerous hands of well-marshalled youths and maidens until well on in the afternoon. Train after train came with hundreds of eager young people, and train after train went out again laden with those who had seen the big ship and were now going home. ON THE WHARF. There was never at any time any confusion._ Tho teachers* all looked after their various detachments and received their instructions from Mr E. U. Just. The small boys waiting to go on board were very eager and impatient, and occupied the few minutes they were kept waiting by anticipating the sights they were to see and rivalling each other in telling of the warships they had seen in the past. A diversion was caused by the men of the Pyramus, which was lying on the other side of the wharf, taking exercise and a cinematograph operator at'the top of the gangway took "moving pictures " as the children went on board. A feature of the embarking was that all the boys saluted as they reached the deck of the warship. The vessel itself presented a busy scene all day for not only was it crowded with spectators but it seemed as if tho order had been given " All hands paint ship." INSPECTING THE SHIP.

The children seemed to take charge of the ship. They were everywhere except in those places that were marked "dangerous" or "private." Small girls rivalled boys in climbing to the highest point attainable. There was keen excitement among the boys and a great eagerness to have everything described and explained. They asked numerous questions of all kinds. From all directions there came " What is this?" " Why is that all covered over?" " What is that for?" " How do you use this?" The Navy men possessed much patience and used much tact. They were almost without exception goodnatured to the extreme in attempting to answer the volleys of questions put to them. The girls were quieter in regard to questions as to the working of the guns, but they were intensely interested in ''the Prince." and expressed a keen desire to see him. Failing this, tho pet monkey was in great demand. The small boys pushed eagerly, running; everywhere and wanting to see everything at once. The girls were more content to follow their leader and see things as they came. Through the crowds, all over the vessel, there were first aid girls ready to render immediate assistance should anyone be hurt but fortunately they were not called upon. THE GUNNER AND THE GIELS. A tall, humorous-looking gunner was surrounded by a bevy of youngsters. "Now, then, any more questions? Anything you'd like to know?" Instantly a girlish voice answered, " Where's the Prince ?" " We'll see if we can find him for you," and the gunner smiled broadly. "Well, have you got all your chickens together?" ho asked the teacher. "Right, then, quick march!" There was a scurry of small girls, talking excitedly in quick, eager tones. OFFICERS ONLY. On the way to the noxt point of interest a small boy was discovered in front of an entrance marked " Officers only." There was a seaman standing in the doorway, but the boy ignored him altogether. " You can't come in here," said the man on guard. " Yes I can," said the boy. " No, sonny, not this time," and a disgusted young hopeful had to continue his explorations elsewhere. THE AFTERNOON. In the afternoon a number of parents of country children also made an inspection of the vessel. It was the first time that a number of the country children had seen a warship, and in some few cases it was the first time they had ever gg,zed on the sea. To sho.v the interest that'was taken in the New Zealand, one family began the journey to Lyttelton at three o'clock m the | morning, arriving there shortly .before midday. REFRESHMENTS. Enthusiastic cheers wei - e given by tho children on leaving tho warship, and they the!: made- their way to < tho social Mall, where refreshments were ready for them. Just inside the entranc of the hall there was a long table, which was laden with, many thousand:, j of filled paper bags. Each child as he passed in was given one of these bags, which contained .'.even mixed biscuits, one bun and one cake, and he then went into the body of the hall, whore he received a cup of tea or lemonade. This refreshment was much ! appreciated by the young travellers. and when they had finished they wore a greatly contented expression. About five thousand were catered for in thi:> I way. A number of hungry children 1 came back for a second bag. and one ! boy came back for a third helping. It [ must have been a particularly healthy appetite that was not appeased until ' its owner had consumed twenty-ciu biscuits, three buns, and throe cakes. EXCELLENT ARRANGEMENTS. All through the day the various arrangements were excellent. Xo one was"lost for moro than a few minutes, no o?ie was hurt, and everyone seemed satisfied and hanpy. COMMANDER GRACE PRATSES CANTER BURY CHILDREN. Commander Grace, on being interviewed at the end of tl»i dav's iusTCo

tion, stated that ho was very pleased with tlio way the children had behaved. They had been mote easily and better lifuidlod than the children at either Wellington or Auckland. Thc-.v hr;d been most attentive, and had listened carefully and with much interest to tho do'-oription and explanation that had Ivui ".utde to them, and they had hiM>n well looked after by their teachers. Altogether they wore the. best behaved children he had met in Nov,- Zealand. Very groat praise,, he added, must be given to Mr Hislop for the able way i:i uhich ho had carried out the various arrangements of the day. Ho regretted that there bad not been more men to f,how the children over the beat, but although there had been altogether ion many children to be a bio to give them tho attention he. would have wished, the men had all done their best. MR J. HISLOP. Mr J. rfis'op, Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs, who was in charge of nil the arn'Tipements for "Children's Dav, - ' stated that he was very gratifipri at t!io of the visit. Everybad gone off without a, hitch of tiny'kind. J The arrangements made bv tho headmasters of the various schools had pleased him exceedingly, nnd had been" of great assistance to the marshal. Mr E. "U. Just. Too much praise could not he given to Mr .lust and to the committee for their work in jvssistinr the scholars to boat and train. Mr Hislop stated that as the day was arranged specially for the children adults'were not admitted on board, but prior to the date being fixed the Railway Department had made arrangements for n school excursion for schools north of Waipora and Cheviot branch to Mina. and' Captain Halsey had kindlv allowed the parents accompanying the children to go on hoard, as it was the only day in the week on which they could pet hack to their homes on the same evening. RAILWAY ARRANGEMENTS SATISFACTORY. The stationmaster at Lyttelton, Mr J. P. Matheson. stated that tho increased had been coped with successfully. There had been eight excursion trains during the day, and 8395 passengers had been carried. The children, he stated, had Veen exceptionally ea-sy to handle, and there was never any confusion throughout the day. THE CATERING. Mr M. J. Miller deputy chairman of the Lvttelton Harbour Board, who had charge of the arrangements for providing the children with tea, stated that about 5000 had received refreshment. A large number more could have been supplied, but the teachers were anxious to get the children homo as early as possible, and, consequently, in a number of cases there was not sufficient time before the departure of the train for the children to take advantage of the opportunity to have something to eat. CATERING FOR THE COUNTRY CHILDREN. The ehi-dren from the schools at some cli>. e from Christchurch were taken on , ir arrival from Lyttelton to the Technical College, Barbadoes Street, where the hall was 'fitted upas a refreshment room, and an ample supply of provender was provided. Arrangements were made that the children should enter the building from Moorhouse Avenue, departing by the Barbadoes Street entrance, so that the process of serving refreshments was considerably accelerated. A corps of willing workers attended to the wants of the little visitors, and the children departed for their trams or trains considerably recuperated after their arduous excursion.

RUGBST FOOTBALL

ARMY v. NAVY.

TERRITORIALS v. H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND. Teams representing Christchureh Territorials and H.M.S. New Zealand met on the Rugby field yesterday at Lancaster Park, and the match went to the local players by 27 points to S. The visitors were beaten but not disgraced. They were playing against some of the'best players in Christchurch, who gave a faultless display all through, and it was much to.the ship's credit that its team crossed their opponents' line twice. The visitors played a very sporting game, inasmuch as they rarely tried to find the line, but kept the Sail in the field of play, a. policy that favoured their opponents' faster backs. The visitors also were not safe in fielding the ball, and were slow to get moving, although there were brilliant exceptions to the rule. Evidently a number of the players had had "soccer" experience, for they waited for the bounce and indulged in characteristic "soccer" kicking.

CITIZENS' BALL.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR FRIDAY. A dancing space of waxed floor for 600 persons has been provided at the improvised ballroom on Moorhouse Avenue, where the officers of H.MA New Zealand will be honoured' on Friday night. The sitting out space will surround the dancing area and.will enable the floor to be quickly filled or emptied. The supper room will be spacious and the ante-rooms numerous, and all of them are being luxuriously furnished. The ivalls are being draped with art muslin and adorned with foliage. Baskets of ferns will depend from the coiling, and through them will run festoons of pink and white drapery. The ballroom will be well lighted with electricitv. and the lamps will be shaded to soften the light. Carriages and motors will enter from Moorhouse Avenue through the drive nearest to Colombo Street, and will depart by the western exit. The Ministry will be strongly represented and Mr Massey has decided to attend. Last night the following telegram was received by the local committed from the, Prime Minister:—"l am arranging to leave Wellington tomorrow evening (Thursday) and will have pleasure in being present at the citizens' ball to the officers of H.M.S. New Zealand on Friday evening." FREE ADMISSIONS TO CATHEDRAL TOWER. A suggestion has been made that the officers and men should he given free admission to the Cathedral tower, in order that they may have an opportunity to see rhe city and the plains from "a height. When the suggestion was placed before Bishop Julius yesterday he very heartily agreed to it. "Certainly,'' he said, ' ; the tower is open to all officers and men in uniform."