Berkshire Chronicle Reading 11-1915

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PROUD OF,-:,:. o~/··Cm~ff AR¥Y.'.'

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cer~in ' pro~imlnt ; Berks~~~

~r.e8e#~'!t It~e ~,8em!>1!ng

peraonage

.1Bt' L""Y"~··~~j~~~~~I~~~~i~l~~~

e
Batt&lion Berks
Voluntr' Defence
.Regiment.,
oll
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fIad
been
of !
Sunday' morlling be WOll d probably have llasl.ened

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to withdra-r ·the <JesCri~~i~n -of .. ~oy 8~ldi«r~
that' he once .appljed : t~ the Volunteers. ,, !f this
genUeman l,ad pOes~sslid the interest n~ssnry
to Ce.use him to forsake thll 'eQmforts o~ home
nt the ee.rl y hour." o; 9.30 ~.m. 'what' would b~ve
been the ptcture pNisented to him on this cold
and grey ~ovembet: .m orning? lie would ~ave
seen gathe~ed together in 'front _of the ;: gloomy
portals of .the ,rl'ilw8.y station more than 409 'men
(the majori\.y of ,,!ltom, although clad' ill the gin"
green Yoluhteer wliform; .be;ng aboTt) ~he · mili·
te.rv age) li.ned up i.e. company formation, wiJ;h I
smiling, eager fnces, burdened only witli
filled haverSacks, and doubtless his first query
would hClve' been, " For what purp().';o I are these
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men assembled f"
And mv answer to llim would IH).\'e b een as £olc'
lows: .. '1' h05e, Sh·. Me men :who for more than
a year, through evil report and ' good . report,
despite eneers and cheap ridicule, without offjcia,1
'recognition or 6nc9urngement, with no' though£' of
self·o.ggr",ndisement
or
glorification,
have
mn.rched, drilled. ,and striven their utmost, . to
le. rn the trooe of a soldier, so . that if t he hour
sheuld come when tllei r services were nced ed
thev might be fOUl1.d 0.11 organised body of men
ready and fit to answer to the call of d"ty." And
that"llOllr ~l1me 11 'few days ago. As to what form
the work would take nOne knew or cared. They
only knew that it wquld be llllrd but ne~ s sary
work, and ·without a. moment's h esit.ation th ~ya nswered ~he ' : call" . with glad bearts and
willing hands. And thIS they were enger to do,
without aniy fee or reward, ' for one reason only:
beneath Weir grey· green jackets or mufti ;gar.b .
i1ley can- ied English: heart/!! Sentime nt, you ' sa·y f
If this pe 'sentiment, the pra.ycr of every true
Englishina.n ,will be, tt God J gIve us more senti:..

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each.

FIUENDS

ment."
And so on a. clleedess

Volunteers and spec,.1 cous.t "bles marched away
to do their duty. ' Arriving at their destinatiOli
the Reooing contingent were joined by
Volunteer comnanies from Maidenhead.' Oxford;
Thame, and Walli!lgford, tota llin~ in all about
BOO men . Arriving at the depot. (it would , bs
a great convenience and a still gre~tel' savi~g o~ t.~~!;~J:,~~(ji~,':~~i:d
time if the trains could be rnn direct to j,he
d epot) very little Urne was lost in dividinll" the
men into wo.rking -squads, who at once tackled
their jobs ' witl1 al) eagern ess that stamped t heln
immcdh~tcly n.s fl nen-union" men. '
The nature of tlie work, of conrse, I 1113 Y not
snecify in d etail; not UUl,t there is much 6ecr~t
about the material hand!cd, but ... hil s t tlie
Cenaor is li vill~ his short life of .undi s)}ut.ed auto ·
' crn.cy it: i" n ec?ssary fo~' a humble " T ommy"
like myielf to ,;tep war,ly when h e ventures to
describe work co nn ec ted with the Army,
Bllt
this I can sav: that some . of the work was dis:
agreeable and all of it was hard. unaccustomed
labour to' those takin~ part. But the ' apirit in
,··hi ch it WIUI un,lert"ken simply surprised the
writer as it would have done even Un most preju·

T,

YOl)R

ADA~$"'& 'SQNS

Blagrave Stl"~~t, have
quipped the. : Khaki
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for all'
in
Majesty's . SeiVice,
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whom . they- ,give
following ' :'Spe,cial
Terms ;'-'. . '
each ' for dup~te copies.
pre3entd. . •
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doz~ns •
1~/f

ll;util ou r job '~ns don e (and we

fiW~~k~~~r'~,ffi~~:~~~~~;~':1~~f~~

fi!"

it con siderably hefore tlmo-and went look lll
more 1). , But I ha<J plenty of opportunitiffl duro
ing tbe dav ' of ohserving most · of th<\ men at
work, ard I ea.n Ilon e.t1y "av I h""e never s:een
men work lil<e it iIi th e whole of a. lon g, var,(\(],
and obse.vvallt business career. I saw men , wl, o.
probably in all tlw\r life, have never ha.n<ll ~d
anythirif much heaVi er than a. pen, or whose
h&rdest task h"" b een the cultiv3tion of a pet
goreen, strn,,~linll likil Smithfield po rters wltJl
huge weights. often. in very ' unwield~ f?rm,. Jlnd
gleefully hauling their hurdelllJ b their appol1lt<'ld
place. '/N ay, more, again and again - I saw these
men pbsitivelv racinl!' each other ". to who
should ~e the 'first to deposit their loa<l ~ and rc·
turn tal tl,e rllilway wallon-for more I , And al!
this accomplished amid a never ceasing flow of
he&rty / Iaughter; and on unending' tornado of
joke and jest! _
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And /all without payor rewor<l! What a pic·
ture for the !sle.cker 'aild t h ' .trik,e r! Whtlt P..
leoson for kerbs~one' critics! What an answer to
the sn ~ers at our " dummy" rifles. and the clleop
jest that we were" playing at soldiets 't ! I can
honesU~ soy that I relt oroud at being A' comrade,
o! such dear, good fellows , ~nd' if the Volun·

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Sleepless . .'& '
Nerve-wo~n
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B~8iness Man's Testimony to

Dr. ciassell's 'Tabl~ts.,

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Poole: a. buet.
!1e&J' man, ; o~ J 60, In ..
firD\arY-1'Oaf!.; _ejlleI4·
l£r

'a a.ys·

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Oa&l!~U 8

, ll'ahlet& h\love 16UDPi\Y
' work<'d WODd,~~
D
m~. J had beCome; eo
eIees8ive)y " nervo1ts
and nlll-down tliat l '
would jump , at a
round. I had lo<i~ oon·
. 1Id",noo ill ,myoelf. and
the alerro~ -nnd
bU6inees aotlvity 1 ·00d
formerly
)lo,"~ed
. '. weie ,gone. , :My :dlf:~

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tion was 'YeTi

r~b\e,

otten there was pa.in ....nd 'WInd. a,nd 'a,t Jl1ght
J ooed to wake ap witb: & -start and '" Q,~eer
feeling of dcead. This., had ' gOdD!l ' qn , ,~~
monl.tiir I was ge!.tiq· moro.· a\1 fniore r~ •
down.· ';"1ie~De <kY .1 lie&<! _otl.lmlll", ",,-,
oured 9Y
• C~I1's ' TaI>IIIts. I ; gO't ,i!QUI,O. ~
and alm641t M lonCe I felt.'1lettel"•. · "attlraftl~' I
persevered.. a.'rid 'n0W;,l ami as well ..n~ " lUI
any man of
aCe.
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T'a
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·;....'!"...t.;a·..emed,

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men

(and I' onlooker.
am prcud to
one). I ashoda to
stick
,liced
Of becourse,
simple
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~POR~iTo

>I:1IL~Tja~on

c'ru1vas. : will ' shortly be in
who
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~ ':'e permitted
itt.le matters to ot}lers '
call ed upon to sl\<ltifice
years of one's life in build~rg up
securing It fairly deeent post, In
order to take ~P work in defence ot the country .
!l.t Is. 2<1. per <lay.
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I would ·like to state t hat fl'om personal . In~quiries I 'have mnde I 'find' th~ are.ln ·'Rell.d ing'
aloite large n'umbers of II st'ahed young men"
who fll~ve not receiv ed Lord Derby) letter, .. and
are' . now ?uietly gfi.nning amo~ g them!lelv~ O! . th'a~'
they ' are ', ' starr.e d," a nd as such relieved of the
possibility to serve. I' know a. works in .,the
to~ \" h1>re ' only a small 'staff is· emp\dye<I; , 'but
eVlln a'm{)ng them ' there are at least four men
wl"J6S ages
from 2'0 to 24, a~d: ~JlO might
easily be re1i~ve~t but IIpparent1y-. beCause th9
works contains machinery they are indi e~ri,,!in~te­
Iy , ".s!-arr~:: ' . ~'~es8 I~e", c?uld ~lOt per!.orm
mUllltloll work, If that IS the :dea, . more efficlCnt ·
1)1 ithan . men of other: hades.
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. ' I :do not wi~lt : , to be judged ' unpntrio~ic, for" as ,
It'-matter of fn<;t my services were ol{ered to th~
'Var, Il'epartmentr at th e commencement · of . the
weir ' but :were d eclined en the . ground that .there
w~ no opeJiings foT. tile ' work for which I was
Buited. Tliis would be all right except for the
fact that since that tillle th~usa,nds of young
Binj(le men lillve been taken on for similar work.
Therefore I ' certain,ly think t.he, man, .of forty
(lll!.d as : r~gard9 the age I am, of couroe, speaking
broadly) I should seriously consider his reply when
ca"vaBBed-, for ' it i6 possible tlja:t .Jllnny : thons.ands
of I I st.'rred " yonng men will be unhesitl},t m!!ly
jl!mped·.'.over on _. e'!'~rgenc:v.. ' and : ~};1 "?,,&p:led'
volunteers taken, Irresp~tlve of ·ohhgatmns · and
circumstan~es'y once they. arl' c ommi!~ to serve.
In his :speech' of Tueooay /;he Prime . Minis~er '1
emph<Lticail y states that AllL single men are ~ be
taken first. .Let us hope . this regulation wiR ' .be
strictly en~ol'Ced , and tha~ I' I~rge : ilUinbers . of
young eligIbles free of obhgatiOns of &ny ~Illd
not be permitte4 to shuflle t.h rnugh the sIeve.
FUrther, it is tile duty of ma.rrie,<J m~n to m~ke
them&elve6 assure4 \~"'t .. in th~ . Elve n 9- ~f , he~ng
. calleu . up
(neeessltatlllll:. :t.he \ sn-trl~ce. of
home .ntuation, and practlcally eve~~tbl1lJt tliey,
~ee~~; ' with -the ' ndditio!lsl knc\·wk1g'1··that·~heil" I ~,.~ii~~~~~~~~~~"'~"'---'
wives ..."d chiJd~en are 1Il for .an, excOO<l'!~l'flv
rough time) the Gcrl(enment, whuyh " I
found
a.bundant· money for, all other
fn}I:' compensation. ~ .them n,. · t.h'Allrs
loet: for.. the 1Innl. unpleaeant
relma,mls.
,employers, except ' i~ is<!I'8,~d,
keep situatipJl9- O~~\l for ; t1> O' , m
who will ~we.llt .him" who has
old, after the w.a!: :is.\over l
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I ¥lonrs Ia~thfu Iy,
~:!l),;,J:j:Ejllg)l~g, I, ve ntUre; a.s one

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Flm YEARS AT THE READING
:' BlSCIDT FACTORÂ¥. ~

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On Satu ·da'y· e\"oning, at the Olnb Room adjoining thT Marquis of Granby, tl,e shopmates
and a few ontside friends, · to the nurnbel' of 50,
met ·to uo lJO'Jlour: to an old shopmate, Mr. Hurry
Cogg. who has 'been employed in Mr. T. Casbllrn'~ department (H. and Po's) for 50 years.
He had reeently r eceived his clock from th~ firm,
but· hi& shopmates thought they would hke to
make him CI present" on their olVn"; so a soci~l
ga~heriI18" 'WIl8 arra!lged . , Mr. l'!. ·Johnson . was III
the c1lnir, . and dunng a bre\lk 111 the programme
called'. on Mr. J , Yutes (who five years ago was
the guest of the evening) to make tIle presenta,
tion "(hiel! 'consisted 01 lin upholstered arm· .
/lhai'r and a pair of -slippers. In n short sr eech
Mr. - Ya~ asked Mr, Cogg.' Jl\?ceptance 0 .tbe ,
presents;" Mr. Coggs ~id . t~cir k11ldne~6 surprIsed '
him' ho very much apprecIated the RIfts and the
,good' feelings of his sbopmateB. 'l'he' arrangementB for the evening wete ably cilrrlCd out by
Messrs. E. Johnson amI /G. Watkins . . A special
feature was wIlen. the th'Jee vetel:alls, Messrs. H.
'doggs, J. Yntes, a nd
. Rmitll (casc-maker~)
'c licked their glasses and dral)k each othor s
'healt1\. . amid the strains of ~. Dear" Old Pills. '(
'Capital song~ wen, sun~ by Messr~. E. Johll8oh.
G. ' W:at'kins • .W . J . Smith, ., C: _Games, ' J . Yates,
H . '~gg6 : II. HarrawR.y, G/}~elcher, ,F. Hal'dIIlR,
i}'. ,Edmonds, G. Harcllllg; E.~ . Sl!'lth, and , F.
lHea'n,' (piano)~' ·Mr. ·W . .' G.o~lfrey hlgh.~y !,mnsed
'the alldience wlth an exlubltion of an aeroplane
'flight:'" \I,r . W. 8 , l'aclley; the.' Rllop po~.t, .brouRht
down ·tlfil-!Touse w:ith hie specIQI song .' Sq,t)::-five
.to· 1915" , (tune "Tipperary").'
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:I n the, spring or' '65, ere I!'~st. of , us .were .~o.rn,
'Wheon 'laclies still wore cnnohnllB, and chlgnOll8
, '(lid adQrn,
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Old .. Barber COggs," clleery lad, did at the
Factory· start ;
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'Anll ,of its .work since tbat. loug ·time, old Harry's
. .{otio his part.
ChoruS·
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Sixty~~ to ~
.. et.en fifteen, . it:s
time, you kn ; • ..
Fifty, summers golden sunshlllQ, .fifty wintel's'
frost lind ' snow; , ' .
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T\jo)lgh, now .th." liglJt's reflected
'onco black. as _Jet,
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a long, long .time to keep on
I H,.rry's .uo.t don,e :ve~. _. ,
• : 11 Ma~y:
cllapges I'as ' he 'witnFsscd, man! mates
'November"
I" have come and gone, ,
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1 wI\ II h.e . started. there .wer~ hundreds, now to
..... tljo1fSllnds .they have grownl;
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Th?,qgh. . ~n places and positiops .Harry ' nevor set
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FO.f ' Q\liet;· steady ploddlDg ,pe~te~" man twe( e hard
, ·to lind,
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TrdUb'leiJ
to :a11. ~~ us,
<I;1:nrry's -had . hJs I
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s~ies 'aro aa;k ' 1-,J'I"llllel'K ~'~''',I~

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1915.