100 YEARS AGO
Marking Armistice Day
IN retrospect the swift passage of time finds its most revealing background. Over six years have passed since war broke out upon a scale calculated to shake the very foundations of civilisation. During a period of four years and three months the conflict raged with unabated violence and varying fortunes, engaging nearly all the nations of the old, and some of the new world in its feverish activities, and involving a prodigious concentration of energy upon the work of destruction. The end came dramatically. One by one the misguided allies of Germany collapsed, unable to sustain the struggle longer, and finally Germany, outwardly boastful almost to the last, when her great war machine was yielding on every hand under the hammer blows of the Allies on the Western Front, herself held up the white flag and ingloriously capitulated. The Armistice of November 11, 1918 marked the achievement of victory over the devastating forces set in motion by the most ambitious and aggressive military power of modern times. It was the crowning event in the great and protracted war drama. Most fitting it is, therefore, that this date should be remembered and solemnly distinguished by all capable of appreciating the issue which it settled and the deliverance which it brought. His Majesty the King has notified his desire that from 11 o’clock on the morning of Armistice Day there should be two minutes of silence, a cessation of all normal business work and locomotion, so that the thoughts of all may be concentrated on a reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.
Daily Catlins trains
Our Wellington correspondent wires that Mr Malcolm has received the following communication from the Minister of Railways: “With reference to your representations in support of the requests made for improvements in the train services on the Catlins branch, I have the honour to inform you that instructions have been given for a daily service to be run each way between Tahakopa and Balclutha. With respect to the request for the evening train on Fridays to be delayed at Balclutha until after the arrival of the express train from Dunedin, I find that this cannot be arranged without unduly prolonging the hours of the train staff, and as it is impracticable under existing conditions to supply an additional engine and train crew, this request will require to stand over for the present.’’
Eels problematic at reservoir
An eel 31⁄2 feet long and 9 inches in girth was sucked into the power mains at the Oamaru reservoir, and on Saturday night was found blocked in the nozzle at the powerhouse (says the Mail). This was but a baby eel. Eels have been seen at the reservoir that could negotiate the passage of a 10 inch pipe only with difficulty, and if such a one tied a knot in itself while in the power mains the position would be serious. — ODT, 11.11.1920.