Stirring reception for former MP

BALCLUTHA: It was a stirring welcome home which was accorded to Sir Thomas Mackenzie in the local Oddfellows Hall last night by the people of Balclutha and the farmers of surrounding districts. There was a distinctly Scottish flavour about the whole gathering, and proceedings were opened by the old custom of playing in the haggis, the piper being Pipe Major E. Gold. The more venturesome spirits sampled this dish in small doses, but the others contented themselves with the admirable banquet provided by Mrs

Gold and served by an efficient staff of waitresses. The Chairman, Mr R. R. Grigor eulogised what Sir Thomas had done on behalf of the producers of this country, and expanding the home trade to an extent never previously known, but it was in connection with the war that their guest had rendered his most notable and signal service while he was High Commissioner in London. The men of the New Zealand Army, especially those who had been wounded, would remember to their dying day what he had done for them, and their parents also knew that they had been relieved from many periods of anxiety by the kindly messages and cablegrams which he had sent out to this country.