"Eyewitness'', quoted in the Manchester Guardian, says of the troops at Anzac, "All was done that men could do, but all was done in vain.''
He adds that that is Anzac's epitaph.
"All was done in vain'' has a painful implication.
The British instinct so strongly impregnating the blood of the colonial troops tends to produce intense disappointment at the surrender which was to be the goal.
In the breasts of many of the men of Anzac was a conviction that they could "win through''.
It was a great task, an almost humanly insuperable one, but to their everlasting credit, in spite of the severe gruelling which at times they received, there never was a note of despair, while they were many that told of confidence in their ability to wrest the prize from their powerful, numerous, and brave foes.
We in the dominion will better appreciate the words of a London evening paper, the Star: "So ends an enterprise whereon the highest hopes were built. The troops were always within a few miles of victory. The final cause of the failure was the inability of the Suvla troops to fulfil their contract with the Australians and New Zealanders advancing from Anzac.''
It is the crowning glory of the Australasians that, if on two occasions they had been adequately supported, the positions commanding the Narrows would have been theirs. - Sentinel.
• Piercing cries heard near the Fountain at an early hour the other morning startled the few belated pedestrians within earshot, and brought policemen hurrying to the spot.
A terrified ball of brown fur was seen to dash up Rattray Street with a long-eared spaniel in fierce pursuit.
Once he grappled with his prey, and once it escaped him, but not for long.
He secured a second hold, and the cries ceased.
Almost in a moment the police had concentrated on the spot in overwhelming force, and the lanterns of two constables and a sergeant revealed a very proud spaniel marching up and down with a huge stoat dead in his jaws.
• The Education Department has instituted what might be called physical instruction classes for remedial treatment, the arrangement being that at least one lesson should be given before December 25.
The selection of pupils for the class was made locally by Mr Roydhouse, physical instructor for the department in Otago, in conjunction with the head masters of several schools, parents being first of all communicated with.
As a result some 350 children assembled at the Union Street School yesterday morning, many accompanied by their parents, to take their first lesson.
The first steps, to get the children classified, were taken.
The boys were given a half hour's free play in the gymnasium, and were then sent home.
The whole number will assemble on Tuesday, January 18, when the final classifications will be made, and the different squads formed for the work to be done.
The defects from which the children are suffering seem to be badly placed shoulder blades, flat chests, round shoulders, or spinal curvatures, and it is anticipated that the work to be accomplished will greatly improve these. - ODT, 23.12.1915.
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
